The Georgia Innocence Project is a non-profit corporation based in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Its mission "is to free the wrongly prosecuted through DNA testing, to advance practices that minimize the chances that others suffer the same fate, to educate the public that wrongful convictions are not rare or isolated events, and to help the exonerated rebuild their lives."
It was founded in August 2002 by
September Guy and
Jill Polster, and was headed by Executive Director
Aimee Maxwell. Georgia Innocence Project is now headed by Executive Director Clare Gilbert. Cases that are accepted are assigned to a team of a volunteer lawyer and two interns. Thirteen people have been exonerated by the organization's efforts, the first two being
Clarence Harrison in August 2004, and
Robert Clark Robert, Bob, or Bobby Clark may refer to:
Television and film
*Robert Clark (actor) (born 1987), American-born Canadian television actor
*Bob Clark (1939–2007), Canadian filmmaker
*Bob Clark (television reporter), retired American television rep ...
in December 2005.
On January 22, 2007, a third Georgia Innocence Project client, Pete Williams, was freed after spending 21 years in prison. In 1985, a jury convicted Williams for the rape of a
Sandy Springs
Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...
woman. Williams was exonerated based upon DNA evidence. The organization's fourth successful case is that of John White, now 48, who was released from
Macon State Prison on December 10, 2007, after twenty-eight years in prison. Through the efforts of the Georgia Innocence Project, the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an independent, statewide agency that provides assistance to Georgia's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investiga ...
(GBI) performed DNA testing that proves White is innocent of the August 1979 rape, aggravated assault, burglary and robbery for an attack on an elderly woman in
Meriwether County
Meriwether County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,613. The county seat is Greenville, home of the Meriwether County Courthouse. The county was formed on ...
.
The current president of the Georgia Innocence Project is
Emory University School of Law
Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University and is part of the University's main campus in Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the Am ...
Professor Julie Seaman.
Georgia Innocence Project has had cases featured in many podcasts, including the
Undisclosed (podcast)
''Undisclosed'' is a podcast about wrongful convictions in the United States. It is hosted by Rabia Chaudry, Susan Simpson, and Colin Miller. Rabia Chaudry started it with fellow attorneys Susan Simpson and Colin Miller. The podcast started by i ...
, Breakdown and
Actual Innocence
Actual innocence is a special standard of review in legal cases to prove that a charged defendant did not commit the crimes that they were accused of, which is often applied by appellate courts to prevent a miscarriage of justice.
Overview of ...
. GIP Exoneree Calvin C. Johnson co-authored ''Exit to Freedom'' with Greg Hampikian.
See also
*
List of wrongful convictions in the United States
This list of wrongful convictions in the United States includes people who have been legally exonerated, including people whose convictions have been overturned or vacated, and who have not been retried because the charges were dismissed by the s ...
*
List of exonerated death row inmates
This list contains names of people who were found guilty of capital crimes and placed on death row but later found to be wrongly convicted. Many of these exonerees' sentences were overturned by acquittal or pardon, but some of those listed were ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Georgia Innocence ProjectUndisclosed PodcastBreakdown Podcast
Government watchdog groups in the United States
Criminal defense organizations
Innocence Project