Preview

What Is The Innocence Project?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1029 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The Innocence Project?
The Innocence Project is when someone who is convicted of a crime that they did not commit, yet, they go through Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to prove their innocence. The definition of DNA is a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information and the fundamental and distinctive characteristics or qualities of someone or something, especially when regarded as unchangeable. The Innocence Project is a full time process, they analyze and view each case and go through the DNA testing to prove them innocent. They perform testing by the use of the DNA technology to free innocent people which provided irrefutable proof, so that the people who have …show more content…
The eyewitness/misidentification is the most helpful factor do the wrongful convictions followed to the DNA testing. This element has made a huge change in wrongful convictions through DNA testing in the world. The major element is something they call improper forensics in which this case means that they compare hairs by looking through a microscope, bite marks, fire tools that they must have used that left marks on, and shoe prints. They look for match markings as possible for …show more content…
At the beginning, I never heard of the Innocence Project, I wasn’t too sure what it was and what it meant, but as I read and explored the website to learn more about it. It was very interesting and sad that so many people went to prison for so many years for a crime that they did not commit. Also watched the videos of how each case was handled and how they were convicted. Dealing with those cases back then seemed hard because of the technology, it was hard for people to test the DNA or evidence of how the crime went down. I understand a little better now and getting the idea of how the Innocence Project works, and how they solve cases, getting the cases and handling

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Evidence at a crime scene, such as blood, DNA, fingerprints, or shoeprints all help forensic investigators determine what might have occurred and help identify or exonerate potential suspects.…

    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Introduction:Dna evidence has been known for many years in crime scenes.Dna evidence was first discovered in 1986.Dna evidence can find anyone by finding blood,skin cells,hair,saliva,and semen.Dna evidence can be good at finding people 95% at a time,because of the cells in the dna.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Brandon L. Garrett's book, Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong, he makes it very clear how wrongful convictions occur and how these people have spent many years in prison for crimes they never committed. Garrett presents 250 cases of innocent people who were convicted wrongfully because the prosecutors opposed testing the DNA of those convicted. Garrett provided simple statistics such as graphs, percentages, and charts to help the reader understand just how great of an impact this was.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many of which can affect the outcome of an identification. Just by simply changing a few ways they handle a witness they can avoid a misidentification. When conducting a lineup, the witness should be told that regardless of the outcome the lineup the investigation into the crime will continue on. After they completed the lineup the witness should complete a statement of confidence, stating how confident they are about the person they identified (Innocence Project, 2015). This way police can judge how the witness feels about the lineup. A police officer should have a good understanding of how a witness feels. According to Wells et al. (1998) researchers have realized that there is an importance in the confidence of the eyewitness. Even the Supreme Court has had eyewitnesses rate their certainty which has been taken into account of the eyewitness accuracy (p. 14). It can be intimidating going up in front of a courtroom. The confidence of a witness plays a huge part in court. Even if the suspect is the wrong one the jury is more likely to believe a confident witness over one who is…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lying informants, incorrect eyewitness reports, and the improper use of forensic science are many reasons that people are wrongfully convicted. Thankfully, there have been incredible advances in the technology used to test DNA that can now be used to help these wrongfully convicted people get back to the free world. It’s terrible to think of the years that they lost or even the lives that they might have lost if they were given the death penalty, but at least organizations like the Innocence Project are doing what they can to exonerate these wrongfully convicted people. The story of Kenneth Ireland is a sad tale of a young man falsely committed of raping and murdering a woman. He spent nineteen and a half years in prison for a crime he did not commit, missing out on his entire twenties and most of his thirties. These years are critical for people as they go to college, begin a career, and start a family. These are years that he cannot get back, but he is very fortunate to have the ability to move on as a free man as he looks towards the…

    • 1763 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The reliability of eyewitness identification has attracted concern from legal professions in England for a number of years, particularly following the acknowledgment of the erroneous identifications responsible for convicting Adolf Beck in 1904. The case was followed by the Establishment of the Court of Appeal in England and Wales (Bromby, MacMillan & McKellar, 2007). Mistaken eyewitness identification testimony was central to the convictions of innocents who were later exonerated by forensic DNA testing (Gary L. Wells). Although through studies information has been acquired about how to decrease the likelihood of mistaken identifications, many courts around the world still conduct identification using approaches largely unsupported by scientific…

    • 107 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    us history

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages

    _____ 5. The Innocence Project is an organization that seeks to get convicted killers out of prison.…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The innocence project and forensic science are two forms that can help determine who the actual preparatory was and can help people who have been wrongly convicted in a crime he/she did not commit. In many cases the forensic such as DNA, blood sample, or semen and other evidence that have been lost or even wrongly tested can end up becoming a big mistake that can send someone to jail that did not commit the crime. In the article, Forensic Problems and Wrongfully Convictions (2009) states that, the most wrongful convictions involve more than one contributing cases, for example, if an eyewitness may have wrongly identified an innocent person, and in the same case a forensic analyst may have testified that hairs from the crime scene match the defendant’s hair. In the jury’s eyes, the eyewitness testimony is strengthened by the forensic evidence (Forensic Problems and Wrongfully Convictions, 2009). Not always the eye witnesses are right with what they say so having the right forensic evidence can help with determine who is actually the perpetrator. Such as this case were the eyewitness was not so good and also a lot of the evidence was miss communicated.…

    • 1479 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    These wrongful convictions played a major role in more than 75% of wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing (The Innocence Project, 2010). Although eyewitness testimony can be critical evidence before a judge or jury; 30 years of strong social science research has proven that eyewitness identification is often unreliable. The research which was conducted by the Innocence Project revealed that the human mind is not like a tape recorder or video camera; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall the instance exactly how it occurred. Nevertheless, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene, it must be documented carefully and retrieved methodically and quickly, or it can be contaminated (The Innocence project 2010). We as people can carry fibers, through our clothing, skin and hair that can cause the contamination of a crime scene just by not following proper procedure. Furthermore, in these types of cases, DNA has proven what scientists already know, that eyewitness identification is frequently…

    • 2876 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A wide variation of causes have been referred to as factors that add to events of wrongful convictions. Generally speaking, however, most events of wrongful convictions involve more than one contributing factor. Organizations, such as the innocence project, that focus on helping those who have been wrongfully convicted were created to fuel the research behind understanding the causes of wrongful convictions and how to best avoid them from happening in the future. In 2012, to create a universal records of exonerations, the University of Michigan Law School and the Center of Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law generated a website, National Registry of Exonerations. This website provides a breakdown of the different factors that may contribute to wrongful…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization that exonerates innocent individuals through the use of DNA testing. Moreover, they work to reform the criminal justice system in order to prevent further injustices that will occur. The United States criminal justice system is centuries years old and does not live up to the same standards as it once did. The American people are not equal. Minorities and the lower classes are not treated equally in our justice system. There have been far too many advancements in our world today to still be wrongly accused for crimes and paying the ultimate price for them.The system is starving for reform to ensure that every single American citizen is equal and treated accordingly to his or her inalienable…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unjust Conviction

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The most disturbing fact individuals are faced with today, is that innocent people have been sentenced to death, and lots of them. Statistics show that one hundred thirty people, wrongfully convicted people, were sentenced to death and were lucky to, eventually be exonerated and released. It is also said that DNA, can’t guarantee the court system won’t execute innocent people(Schabas23). Obviously, if someone is convicted and later found innocent a judge can release him/ her from prison, but unfortunately not from the grave. Twenty-one inmates have been released since 1993, including seven from the state of Illinois alone(Banner7). Many of these cases were discovered not because of the normal appeals process, but as a result of many new scientific techniques, investigations, and the dedicated work of multiple attorneys. In 1993, the Death Penalty Information Center was asked by…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Innocence Project's nationwide work provides social problem work to free innocent prisoners, expose injustices and prevent wrongful convictions throughout the United States. The matriculation of individuals into state penitentiaries continues to stigmatize offenders as well as ex…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The current methods of fingerprinting that involve subjective comparison and matching of fingerprinting has led to disapproval of the method. Extensive testing has shown that the results of fingerprint testing are not valid (Schmalleger, 2011). Fingerprint matches are now being done by experts, those fingerprints that have been previously been examined to make identification of suspects were presented to the same experts in a different context and the results were different. Similarly, DNA evidence for identification of criminals has been marred by several problems. Surreptitious DNA collecting, presentation of partial DNA profiles, and fake DNA evidence; cast doubts on the DNA evidence presented in courts (Schmalleger, 2011).…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    First, it would be good to clear up several popular misconceptions. The vast majority of criminal cases do not involve DNA evidence. Just as fingerprint evidence, although available for decades, is seldom a conclusive factor in a prosecution, DNA evidence will likewise, even though it is increasingly available and more determinative, will not be a factor in a large majority of cases.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays