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.
Innocence Network Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Innocence Network acknowledges the historical and pervasive systems of racism, privilege, inequity, colonialism, sexism, and oppression of minority groups present both in the United States and throughout the world. These historical and systemic forms of injustice represent the repeated failures of our institutions and systems–including institutions like the Innocence Network–to uphold values of equity and justice, particularly for Black and African-American people, for Indigenous people and communities of color more broadly, and for the LGBTQ+ community.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to our work redressing the causes of and advocating for the eradication of wrongful convictions. Diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments make us better colleagues and better advocates, as we take opportunities to learn from each other and grow. To promote justice and equity for all, the Innocence Network commits to advocating for, enacting, and embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Network, as well as throughout the work of the Network and its member organizations.
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
Network Coordinator – Innocence Project
ABOUT THE INNOCENCE PROJECT The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist the wrongly convicted who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. The...
Staff Investigator – Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Mission: The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to exonerating those who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit and preventing innocent people from being convicted. That mission is coupled with a twofold...
Paralegal – Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Mission: The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to exonerating those who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit and preventing innocent people from being convicted. That mission is coupled with a twofold...
Reentry Social Worker – Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Mission: The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is a non-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to exonerating those who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit and preventing innocent people from being convicted. That mission is coupled with training law...
Attorney Fellowship – Exoneration Project
About the Exoneration Project: The Exoneration Project (EP) represents individuals who have been convicted of crimes of which they are innocent. We investigate and litigate post-conviction cases with the goal of exonerating the wrongfully convicted. The EP has a...
Staff Attorney – Exoneration Project
About the Exoneration Project: The Exoneration Project (EP) represents individuals who have been convicted of crimes of which they are innocent. We investigate and litigate post-conviction cases with the goal of exonerating the wrongfully convicted. The EP has a...
Case Analyst – Georgia Innocence Project
Title: Case Analyst Position type: Full time, hourly, non-exempt Salary: $17 – $19/hour, depending on experience Benefits: $650/mo. cafeteria plan benefits, generous PTO, professional development training SUMMARY: Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) is an...
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...
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...