New England Innocence Project

@newenglandinnocence.org

1364 Followers 1666 Following

Fighting for people & communities harmed by the criminal legal system. “Without freedom, we have nothing.” #FreeJasonCarroll #FreeUsAll

Urgent call to Action!: Contact your Massachusetts State Senator today to co-sponsor amendments 891 and 892 to support exonerees! Ask your MA state senator to co-sponsor Senate budget amendments 891 (to increase funding to the Exoneree Network to support families impacted by wrongful conviction and long-term incarceration) and 892 (to overhaul the compensation system for exonerees). We need your help to ensure that people impacted by wrongful convictions receive what they deserve!
A video preview of the sponsorship packet for the New England Innocence Project's annual storytelling event, Voices of the Innocent: Resistance and Joy.
A photo of Thomas Rosa with the case update that, more than 40 years after his arrest and 34 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Thomas Rosa is finally exonerated!
Whereas: International Wrongful Conviction Day was established on October 2, 2013, by the Innocence Network to raise awareness of the causes and harms of wrongful convictions, & to recognize organizations like the New England Innocence Project, Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) Innocence Program, & Boston College Innocence Program, as well as programs like the Exoneree Network, which collectively work to free innocent people from prison & support families impacted by incarceration; AND Whereas: According to the National Registry of Exonerations, there have been 3,724 known exonerations since 1989 nationwide, including 93 known exonerations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts & in Boston, there are 41 known exonerees, representing innocent individuals who lost a combined total of 674 years of liberty to wrongful incarceration, and there are an unknown number of wrongfully convicted people who have not yet been exonerated, some of whom still remain in prison; AND Whereas: In Boston, Black, Indigenous, & People of Color making up 78% of exonerees who were wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit, with systemic racism, coerced pleas, eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, inadequate legal defense, official misconduct, misapplication of forensic science, & unreliable and unrelated informant testimony being some of the major factors that contribute to wrongful convictions; AND Whereas: Wrongful convictions are an injustice that robs an innocent person of their life, liberty, & dignity and has an immeasurable personal, familial, emotional, & societal cost. An Act Preventing False Confessions (H.1847 / S. 1136) is one initiative, introduced and pending in the state legislature, that aims to prevent wrongful convictions from happening in the first place; NOW Therefore: I, Michelle Wu, Mayor of the City of Boston, do hereby declare October 2nd, 2025, to be: Wrongful Conviction Day in the City of Boston
A photo of Stephanie Hartung, Senior Staff Attorney at the New England Innocence Project, holding a poster of Edward Wright in front of the Massachusetts State House
The Exoneree Network: Empowering Wrongfully Convicted People in Freedom. The Exoneree Network empowers individuals and families who have suffered the trauma of long-term incarceration to heal and rebuild.
The Exoneree Network: Empowering Wrongfully Convicted People in Freedom. The Exoneree Network empowers individuals and families who have suffered the trauma of long-term incarceration to heal and rebuild.
Text on blue background: “Racial oppression and disparities are inherent in the criminal legal system. Racial justice is the very core of what we do, not just during Black History Month, but every day, every month, and every year.” Logo of New England Innocence Project with a fist holding the scales of justice.