Overview
Twenty-four powerful voices from the frontlines of justice reveal how they're revolutionizing a system that fails the innocent.
Over the years, history has uncovered thousands of wrongful convictions in the United States, involving children and adults, men and women of all backgrounds and colors, and in countries throughout the world. Unimaginable to most, and truly terrifying for some, being convicted for a crime that one did not commit is a bizarrely tortuous and profoundly isolating experience. But a decades-long movement is gaining more traction and renown by the day for their efforts to seek justice for victims. Champions of Innocence showcases real-life stories from inside the innocence movement, from lawyers to forensic scientists, journalists and authors, and, most importantly, from exonerees themselves that work for life-changing reforms. Edited by Saul Kassin, who pioneered the scientific study of false confessions, contributors include:
- Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld: Co-founders of the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization founded in New York City in 1992 dedicated to using DNA technology to reexamine postconviction claims of innocence.
- Jim McCloskey: Founder of the nonprofit Centurion Ministries in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1983, the first ever organization dedicated to freeing individuals who had been wrongfully convicted. Since then, Centurion Ministries has presided over the release of 70 innocent individuals from prison.
- Elizabeth Loftus: A cognitive psychologist who pioneered research on eyewitness memory—and how misinformation can produce false accounts. As an expert in court, she challenged convictions that were based on implanted false “memories.”
- John Grisham: after practicing law for about ten years, Grisham would go on to write more than fifty bestselling books, including most recently, Framed, co-authored by Jim McCloskey. Grisham serves on the board of directors of both Centurion Ministries and the Innocence Project.
- Yusef Salaam: In 1989, 15-year-old Salaam was wrongfully convicted in the infamous Central Park jogger case along with false confessors Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, and Kevin Richardson. Their convictions were overturned in 2002 and Salaam went on to become an advocate for reform, author of Better, Not Bitter, and an elected member of the New York City Council
- Erin Moriarty: A lawyer, Emmy Award-winning TV news reporter, correspondent for CBS 48 Hours, and founder of the true-crime podcast, “My Life of Crime,” Erin Moriarty investigates and reports on wrongful convictions.
- Amanda Knox: In 2009, 20-year-old Amanda Knox was convicted of murder in Perugia, Italy, as a result of a coerced confession that witnesses later discredited and flawed forensic science. Although she was definitively acquitted in 2015, the social media frenzy that trailed her through the case.
… and many more. The twenty-four stories told in Champions of Innocence will simultaneously blow your mind, piss you off, break your heart, and, if you’re lucky, fill you with a sense of relief that this did not happen to you.
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