About the Innocence Network
About Us
The Innocence Network is an affiliation of 67 organizations from all over the world dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted, and working to redress the causes of wrongful convictions. Currently, the Innocence Network consists of 55 U.S. based and 12 non-U.S. based organizations.
The majority of the Innocence Network’s members are based in the United States and are mainly focused on criminal justice reform in the United States, but the Network also includes non-U.S. organizations that meet its membership criteria. The Network maintains an International Committee, and we strongly encourage the development of sister networks across the world, such as Red Inocente, recognizing them as critically important partners in this work globally.
Please contact the Innocence Network Support Unit with any questions about Network membership or the membership process. If you are seeking legal assistance, please contact the Network member in your area.
Important Note: the Innocence Network Support Unit does not review claims of innocence. If you or a family member are reaching out with an inquiry for legal help or assistance, please click here to find an Innocence Network member organization in your area.
Network Statement on Exoneree Rights
As advocates for exonerees, we recognize the great need to make their transition easier by enhancing the availability of and access to the necessary assistance and resources. We are committed to that effort and believe exonerees should have the right to the following resources and services upon their release from prison, as needed or desired by the exoneree.
Network Statement Concerning Victims
In seeking the exoneration of innocent individuals who have been convicted of crimes, the Network is acutely aware that our representation may understandably concern victims of those crimes, as well as family and friends of those victims. We recognize that our involvement in many cases may create pain or anguish. Although these consequences are unintended, the Innocence Network seeks to minimize them, while remaining devoted to its mission to exonerate innocent individuals and reform the system. In so doing, the Network believes that it shares several fundamental values with victims.
History
The advent of new DNA testing methods in the early 1990s gave rise to a number of organizations dedicated to proving claims of innocence that had been almost impossible to prove without DNA. As research on the causes of wrongful convictions, including eyewitness misidentification and false confessions, proliferated, claims of innocence based on non-DNA evidence were on the rise, as were the number of innocence organizations, largely housed in law schools in clinical programs. By 2000, there were 10 programs that met in Chicago for what would be the first Innocence Network Conference, now held annually each spring.
In 2004, the member organizations decided to define their association as a loosely affiliated network. A group of organization directors developed a planning committee to create membership criteria and a structure to guide the work of the members. The first 21 official members of the Network were admitted in November 2005, and a Network Executive Board was established.
Over the last fifteen years, the Network has more than quadrupled in size with members in the United States as well as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Argentina, South Africa, Italy, and France. Its members include independent nonprofits as well as organizations affiliated in varying degrees with law schools or other educational institutions, units of public defender offices, and pro bono sections of law firms.
Job Openings at Network Organizations
Staff Investigator – Innocence Project of Florida
The Innocence Project of Florida, Inc. (IPF) is seeking a Staff Investigator with a demonstrated passion for social justice issues, beginning immediately in its Tallahassee, Florida office. The Staff Investigator will be a full-time position and will report...
Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) – Re-Entry Coach
About IPNO: Founded in 2001, IPNO is a nonprofit legal office that frees innocent people who are serving life sentences, supports them living well and fully in the world after their release, and advocates for sensible criminal justice policies that reduce wrongful...
Innocence Project of Florida – Staff Attorney
The Innocence Project of Florida, Inc. (IPF) is seeking a Staff Attorney with a demonstrated passion for social justice issues, beginning as early as April 2021 in its Tallahassee, Florida office. The Staff Attorney will be a full-time position and will report...
Managing Attorney – Georgia Innocence Project
Title: MANAGING ATTORNEY Position type: Full time, salaried, exempt Salary Range: $72,000+ (depending on experience) Benefits: Generous time off, flexible benefits (cafeteria plan), and professional development Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) is an independent,...
Assistant Attorney General, Conviction Review Unit – Great North Innocence Project
As one of Attorney General Keith Ellison’s criminal justice reform initiatives, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General is seeking an attorney to implement and direct a statewide Conviction Review Unit (CRU) to conduct extrajudicial review of criminal...
Writer and Editor – The Innocence Project
ABOUT THE POSITION The Innocence Project recognizes the immense power of strategic communications to advance legal and policy reform and, specifically, the importance of exoneration stories to the work of preventing wrongful convictions and achieving criminal legal...
Project Director for the Prosecutor Accountability Project (PAP) – Wake Forest University Law School
Job Description Summary The Project Director for the Prosecutor Accountability Project (PAP) at Wake Forest University Law School will manage and supervise research on behalf of the PAP, a newly established research and public information project whose mission is to...
Staff Attorney – California Innocence Project
California Western School of Law (CWSL) is looking for a CIP Fellow to work for the California Innocence Project (CIP). This position will be responsible for reviewing claims for innocence arising from convictions occurring within Southern California. The CIP Fellow...
State Policy Legal Fellow – The Innocence Project
This position provides a law school graduate who is passionate about public policy and committed to social justice with a two-year Innocence Project fellowship as the State Policy Legal Fellow (hereinafter, “the Fellow”). The Fellow’s work will focus solely on...
Operations Manager – Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project
Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project: Operations Manager Job Posting Job Summary The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project’s (MAIP) Operations Manager is responsible for enabling and maintaining the day-to-day function of the office. This part-time position oversees...