Innocence Project: The Wrongfully Convicted

"Innocence Project" is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing.


The original Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld as part of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University in New York City. It became an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2003, but maintains strong institutional connections with Cardozo.


In addition to working on behalf of those who may have been wrongfully convicted of crimes throughout the United States, The Innocence Project performs research and advocacy related to the causes of wrongful convictions.


The Innocence Project is a member of the Innocence Network, which brings together a number of innocence organizations from across the United States.


As of July 23, 2009, 240 defendants previously convicted of serious crimes in the United States had been exonerated by DNA testing. Almost all of these convictions involved some form of sexual assault and approximately 25% involved murder.