John —

At the Innocence Project, we see so many people being locked up for things they didn't do, and far too often in our criminal legal system, it's Black and brown communities who are criminalized and discriminated against the most. The work we do on the policy team is all about changing that system to make it more just and equitable for all.

And I’ve got to say, 2021 was a big year for us. We worked with partner organizations, including members of the Innocence Network, to enact 20 state-based reforms in 16 states across the country. (But before I dive into the details and tell you all about them, could I ask you to chip in and help us reach our end-of-year fundraising goal?)

The legislation we enacted will help reveal wrongful conviction, advance police and prosecutorial accountability, improve compensation for exonerees, and more. Here’s a breakdown of some of the policies we helped enact this year:

Reforming police practices

• Ohio, Washington, and Delaware passed laws requiring police to record interrogations.
• Illinois and Oregon became the first states in the nation to ban the use of police deception during interrogations of juveniles.

Revealing innocence

• Virginia passed a law to make closed criminal investigatory files publicly available.
• West Virginia passed a law creating a statutory mechanism for people to seek relief from their convictions when science has evolved or when experts repudiate past testimony.
• New Hampshire made several changes to their existing post-conviction DNA testing law.

Compensating exonerees

• Montana and Maryland both passed laws that increase the compensation exonerees can receive for each year of wrongful incarceration.
• Idaho became the 36th state to pass a compensation law, offering $62,000 per year of wrongful incarceration or $75,000 for each year on death row, and $25,000 for each year on parole or the sex offender registry. 
• Rhode Island passed its first-ever compensation law, establishing a payment of $50,000 per year of wrongful incarceration.

Addressing prosecutorial practice

• Minnesota passed a law to track and regulate the use of jailhouse informants.
• Oregon passed a law to improve the discovery framework.
• Connecticut made significant improvements to its discovery framework through the courts.

Regulating forensic genetic genealogy

• Maryland became the very first state to implement a complete regulation of the use of non-suspect DNA in criminal investigations. 

Advancing accountability

• New Mexico reformed qualified immunity, which will allow New Mexicans to recover damages from the government when their rights are violated by law enforcement.
• Michigan established a Task Force on Forensic Science through an executive order.
• Maryland passed a statute to make police disciplinary records publicly available.

Stopping the death penalty

• Virginia became the first southern state to abolish the death penalty. 

I know that was a long list, but that’s the whole point! We’ve been able to do so much this year, and that’s because of this community’s support.

So I want to say thank you to everyone who’s donated, contacted their lawmakers, or shared a post on social media. Without people like you chipping in, this work doesn’t happen — especially not at this scale. 

But the work isn’t over. We’ve got big plans for 2022, and we’ll need your help to make them a reality. So please, make a donation before the deadline and help us continue this work — and if you donate now, your contribution will be matched on a one-to-one basis by two of our foundation funders.

Thank you so much for your support,

Rebecca Brown
Director of Policy
Innocence Project