Sadly there are so many wrongful conviction cases in this country, and we get hundreds of messages and requests to consider cases.
Our class is very small, and unfortunately we are not able to take on nearly as many cases as we would like. Our course takes place every spring semester, and we have 15 students who work on 5 cases. Our students pick their top cases from several dozen that we bring forward to them. It is a long and arduous process, and we have very little help or resources.
Note that we are not a legal clinic and we do not formally represent people. Rather, our students thoroughly reinvestigate cases, and they create short documentaries that advocate for innocence if that is what they conclude. In some cases, we work alongside lawyers and even become part of the legal team. In other cases that don't have representation, we try to help secure it. Sometimes we succeed with a prison release, as occurred with Valentino Dixon, Eric Riddick, Keith Washington, Arlando “Tray” Jones III, Kenneth Bond, Muti Ajamu-Osagboro, and Terrel Barros, and as will hopefully occur with some of the other cases that are still progressing, but sometimes we reach dead ends. We can only guarantee that we try our best, and our students pour their hearts and souls into these projects, as do we.
We wish you and your loved ones all the best during these difficult times, which we know are particularly compounded for those in prison, and especially the wrongfully convicted.