When an innocent client finally walks free, that’s when the months of planning I do as a social worker at the Innocence Project kicks into high gear. I help our clients adjust to life outside of prison and deal with the emotional and psychological effects of having been wrongfully convicted, which never go away.
First though, with every client we start the same way: we buy toiletries, set up a cell phone, and fill out forms for a new ID. Many of us take those things for granted, but they mean so much to someone who walks out of prison with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.
This month, we’re celebrating the Innocence Project’s 27 years of fighting for justice by raising money for our Exoneree Fund.
The Exoneree Fund pays for housing, food, medical care, transportation and more for our clients during the first year of their transition to life after wrongful incarceration. Will you make a contribution of $30? 100% of your gift will pay for basic essentials.
For Archie Williams (above alongside his attorneys Vanessa Potkin and Barry Scheck), freedom meant his own train pass to get around on his own after 36 years in Louisiana’s infamous Angola prison for a crime he did not commit. Photo by Innocence Project New Orleans.
For Belynda Goff (above), a victim of negligent police work and prosecutorial misconduct, freedom meant her first eye exam in 23 years. Photo by Suzy Salamy.
We established the Exoneree Fund because most of our clients leave prison without any compensation from the state. For those who do receive state compensation, it can take years; for some, there is no compensation at all.
Our policy team is working to change the law so that all exonerated people receive compensation, but a client walking out of prison can’t wait for that support. They need a safe place to live, access to quality medical care they’ve gone without, and the necessities that we all count on for our dignity and autonomy as people. The Exoneree Fund lets us give our clients these first elements of a life of freedom that they’ve anticipated for so long.
Started in 1992 as a legal clinic at Cardozo School of Law, the Innocence Project is now an independent nonprofit, affiliated with Cardozo, that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
