John,

As Latinx Heritage Month closes out, I wanted to take a moment to share the unique challenges that Latinx people, like myself, face in our criminal legal system, and highlight the opportunities to amplify our insights and wrongful conviction experiences through the Innocence Project Speakers Bureau.

It’s no secret that racial bias and economic status play major roles in wrongful conviction. Poor people and people of color are especially vulnerable at every point in the legal process. And according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 1 in 5 Hispanic people in the U.S. lives in poverty, a rate 6% higher than the national average.

People living in poverty who are wrongly accused of crimes are less likely to be able to afford the legal assistance they need, and language barriers can make accessing those resources even harder. Take Orlando Boquete, for example — he only spoke Spanish at the time of his trial, and because of that, he was unable to navigate the complicated legal system. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Race and ethnicity can also taint suspect development. Exoneree Fernando Bermudez said that he felt his race and ethnicity were factors in his wrongful conviction. “The detective saw me as someone who was disposable. They saw a young Latino male and thought I was ‘just another criminal,’” Fernando said. In his case, officers did not pursue other suspects, ignored other leads, and did not consider his alibi.

Fernando and Orlando are two of the 414 Latinx people who have been wrongfully convicted and exonerated since 1989, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. What’s more, 40% of Latinx exonerees who falsely confessed to crimes said that they “did not fully understand spoken English,” according to a study published in the UCLA Law Review.

At the Innocence Project, we work every single day to make the criminal legal system more just and equitable — and part of that work includes sharing the stories of those who have been most-impacted by wrongful conviction. 

That’s why we created the Speakers Bureau — to connect wrongful conviction experts, from staff to exonerees, with schools, companies, and organizations around the world. If we want to mitigate the injustices and disparities that happen every day in this system, then we need to uplift everyone who’s been impacted.

If you’re looking to learn directly from Innocence Project experts and courageous exonerees, learn more about our Speakers Bureau.

We look forward to collaborating with you on your next event,

Alicia Maule
Digital Engagement Director
Innocence Project