Dear John,

Every day, we fight to free wrongfully convicted people from prison, but this work doesn’t just impact them. The trauma of wrongful conviction affects their families, friends, and entire communities — and it can be harrowing for wrongly incarcerated mothers who had their children ripped away from them during their incarceration.

More than 60% of women in prison have children under the age of 18 and nearly 80% of women in jail are mothers, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Incarcerated women are more often single parents or primary caretakers than incarcerated men. This means that their incarceration is likely to have a major impact on their children and family members. Many children of incarcerated mothers are placed in foster care.

Ahead of Mother’s Day, we invite this compassionate and justice-seeking community to send a special note to wrongfully convicted moms like Renay Lynch, Michelle Murphy, and Rosa Jimenez. Let them know how much you support their resilience.

Wrongly incarcerated moms like Renay have missed holidays, their children’s birthdays and graduations, and births of grandchildren, undeservedly. Renay spent 26 years in prison before finally being released in January 2022.

After her exoneration earlier this year, Renay said, “I have waited 26 years for this day to come. That’s days without seeing my children grow up, days without holding my grandchildren, days that I will never get back. I’m grateful to finally have this weight lifted.”

All of the mothers we’ve worked with have persevered through the worst of times, and they deserve to be honored and recognized for their relentless pursuit of their freedom.

So this Mother’s Day, take a moment to send an uplifting note to wrongly convicted moms to celebrate their strength and resilience.

Thank you for your support,

— The Innocence Project Team