200th person proven innocent in Innocent Project(Congratulations are in order)

This is such a pimpslap to these Rule of Law freaks.

In the first 10 years, that's how long the process was to free 100 innocent prisoners. And now they do it in 4? You have to give it up to this advocacy project group.

This is such a "Shutdown" on all people who said it would dry out after a few "Innocent" in the system. What a lame freaking talking point.



Game Over...

Happy 2-0-0 th. We can't give Jerry back his time but we can give back his innocence. And the Innocence Project did just that.
Thank god for a group like this. We all need something like this if we are ever in a situation like this.


link:

www.innocenceproject.org...

CHICAGO, IL; April 23, 2007) – With new DNA tests proving that Jerry Miller did not commit a brutal rape in Chicago for which he was convicted in 1982, the Innocence Project said today that Miller is the 200th person in the nation exonerated through DNA evidence.

In 1981, Miller was arrested and charged with kidnapping, raping and robbing a woman in downtown Chicago. He was convicted in 1982 and served 24 years in prison. Eleven months ago, he was released on parole as a registered sex offender, requiring him to wear an electronic monitoring device at all times and prohibiting him from answering his door on Halloween or leaving his job for lunch. Miller, who served more than three years in the military, was 22 years old when he was arrested and is now 48. DNA testing on semen from the rape proves that Miller did not commit the crime – and instead implicates another man as the actual perpetrator.

“Like many of the 200 people who have been exonerated through DNA, Jerry Miller lost nearly his entire adult life because of a wrongful conviction. It’s impossible to put ourselves in his shoes, but we all have a moral obligation to learn from these exonerations and prevent anyone else from enduring this tragedy,” said Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project.

Miller, who always maintained his innocence, was convicted based on eyewitness misidentification. The victim in the case was approached by a man in a parking garage at night; he beat, robbed and raped her, before locking her in the trunk of her car and attempting to drive out of the garage. Attendants recognized that the car the perpetrator was driving actually belonged to the victim, and stopped the car before it could leave. The perpetrator fled on foot, and the attendants released the victim from the trunk of the car. Both of the attendants identified Miller as the perpetrator, and the victim provided a more tentative identification at trial.

A rape kit was not collected after the attack (because the rape was so brutal and caused injuries that made it impossible), but semen on the victim’s clothing that could only have come from the perpetrator was recently subjected to DNA testing, which proves Miller’s innocence. The Cook County State Attorney’s Office joined the Innocence Project and the Cook County Public Defender’s Office in a joint motion to vacate and dismiss Miller’s conviction.

Our Law system just got "SONNED" for it's 200th time. And in 4 years they have proven innocent 100 people? Never give up the fight. This organization is hella impressive.

Hate to say we told you so.









[edit on 23-4-2007 by MRGERBIK]

Here's background on the organization:

About the Innocence Project The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal clinic affiliated with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and created by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992. The project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. As a clinic, law students handle case work while supervised by a team of attorneys and clinic staff.

Most of our clients are poor, forgotten, and have used up all legal avenues for relief. The hope they all have is that biological evidence from their cases still exists and can be subjected to DNA testing. All Innocence Project clients go through an extensive screening process to determine whether or not DNA testing of evidence could prove their claims of innocence. Thousands currently await our evaluation of their cases.

DNA testing has been a major factor in changing the criminal justice system. It has provided scientific proof that our system convicts and sentences innocent people — and that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events. Most importantly, DNA testing has opened a window into wrongful convictions so that we may study the causes and propose remedies that may minimize the chances that more innocent people are convicted.

As forerunners in the field of wrongful convictions, the Innocence Project has grown to become much more than the "court of last resort" for inmates who have exhausted their appeals and their means. We are a founding member of The Innocence Network, a group of law schools, journalism schools and public defender offices across the country that assists inmates trying to prove their innocence whether or not the cases involve biological evidence which can be subjected to DNA testing. We consult with legislators and law enforcement officials on the state, local, and federal level, conduct research and training, produce scholarship and propose a wide range of remedies to prevent wrongful convictions while continuing our work to free innocent inmates through the use of post-conviction DNA testing.

We hope that this site will raise awareness and concern about the failings of our criminal justice system. It is a facet of our society that eventually touches all of its citizens. The prospect of innocents languishing in prison or, worse, being put to death for crimes that they did not commit, should be intolerable to every American, regardless of race, politics, sex, origin, or creed.

I don't mean any disrespect for the law because people who truely need to be locked up should be. There is just something inhuman about our law system or any one for that matter which is it's potential for abuse. Who makes laws is the first question we need to ask? This is going to vary from country to country but are most people who make laws going to make laws that will hurt themselves? What about the people who enforce the laws? Then it gets down to the people who are going to decide upon the punishment.

When anything major happens police are out looking for the person who commited the crime. What if they can't find anybody? Do we just find somebody else? The person who was most likely to commit the crime?

We can get into social class the people who can afford a decent lawyer over the people who can't.

I am also going to have to say that I believe the US justice system is more fair than quite a few others but it's not perfect. I don't think it ever could be. The really sad part about this is that most people will never even care untill something happens and it is them under the spotlight. And when that happens, who is going to be there for them? In the publics eyes they will be a criminal. Somebody who is not worth hiring for a job. Somebody who is not good enough to vote.

I give this group two thumbs up.

Originally posted by Styki
I don't mean any disrespect for the law because people who truely need to be locked up should be. There is just something inhuman about our law system or any one for that matter which is it's potential for abuse. Who makes laws is the first question we need to ask? This is going to vary from country to country but are most people who make laws going to make laws that will hurt themselves? What about the people who enforce the laws? Then it gets down to the people who are going to decide upon the punishment.

When anything major happens police are out looking for the person who commited the crime. What if they can't find anybody? Do we just find somebody else? The person who was most likely to commit the crime?

We can get into social class the people who can afford a decent lawyer over the people who can't.

I am also going to have to say that I believe the US justice system is more fair than quite a few others but it's not perfect. I don't think it ever could be. The really sad part about this is that most people will never even care untill something happens and it is them under the spotlight. And when that happens, who is going to be there for them? In the publics eyes they will be a criminal. Somebody who is not worth hiring for a job. Somebody who is not good enough to vote.

I give this group two thumbs up.

The simple answer is someone needs to fill that jail cell. Those jail cells were built for a reason. Is Mumia Jamal innocent? He can't even get a fair trial. This is why our justice system doesn't want to review these cases. There is so much that can be turned over and show that no one provided a solid case in their proceeding.

The "Duke" students got a taste of what it's like to be poor. Instantly accused and thrown out to the public to be judged. But these students like one of them said, had the financial resources to present themselves in proper legal representation.

You have people like Rush Limbaugh and O'reilly who will never cover a group like this because it scares them to death. These types of pundits want to blame any target that isn't wealthy or white

What happens when this group reaches 1000? It's around the corner sooner than we think. What will we say then after we hit 1000? What about 5000? These are lives at stake.

I have about finished a book I recently purchased called The Innocent Man, by John Grisham. Actually it is the only non-fiction Grisham has done (he says because non-fiction takes so much work/research). I implore anyone to read this, who is interested in knowing the truth about the scam we call our legal system. The book is one of those you can't put down. It tells a story that happened just an hour or so from where I live (Ada, Okla), so that adds a little extra twist for me, but it will open your eyes to the truth about cops, detectives, the whole ball of wax. It shows you that the police could decide to pin anything on anyone, and they can make it stick no matter whether you are innocent or not. Check out your local used bookstore, I bought mine for three bucks.

reply to post by MRGERBIK
Thanks for posting this. I did a lot of independent research into the US prison system when I was at Uni. Couldn't believe what I was reading half the time. Wackenhut and the Prison-Industrial Complex etc. Race, politics, expediency and lots of $$$. Ignoring the websites peddling agendas...official stats offer evidence that the system is failing a lot of people.

The Innocence Project shines a bright light into the dirty corners and should promote honest debate. Populist politics and quick fixes lead to people put in prison who shouldn't be there. Vicious circles indeed...

If anything, IP shows that sentencing and death penalties aren't the black and white choice that most people like to believe. With the highest prison population per capita in the world...either Americans have a genetic predisposition towards criminality or the system is wrong. Those 200 innocent people offer persuasive evidence that it's the system that's wrong...

Flagged to promote awareness and maybe change a few minds on ATS...