John —

Hi, I’m Liz Vaca, and I’ve had the privilege of working at an incredibly wonderful, passionate, and devoted organization for the past 30 years — the Innocence Project. I’ve been the executive assistant to the co-founders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld here since they founded the organization in 1992.

I can’t believe it’s been 30 years since our very first meeting, when Barry, Peter, and a few Cardoza School of Law students who decided to take a leap of faith, set off on this journey and ended up dedicating their life’s work to freeing wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing. I never could’ve imagined then that Barry and Peter’s vision would grow into this nationally recognized and respected organization with the power to transform the criminal legal system. And I certainly never imagined there would be a documentary series about our work and the Innocence Network on Netflix!

I can still remember the 20 eager Cardozo law students packed into one small room on that first day. Today, I am blown away by all we have accomplished as a team since then. The Innocence Project has helped exonerate more than 239 innocent people since we started. And our policy team has helped pass countless reforms across the country. It’s just incredible, and I’m so excited to make an even greater impact in the years to come.

To help celebrate our 30th birthday, two wonderful donors, John O’Farrell and Gloria Principe, have offered a challenge to our supporters: If 200 Innocence Project supporters donate any amount by midnight on Aug. 29, they’ve pledged to donate $20,000 to support our shared work.

Would you consider joining the challenge so our team can continue to make a difference and free more wrongfully convicted people in the decades to come? [[link removed]]

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I’ve been reflecting a lot on those early days this week, and one thing I’ll never forget is the flood of mail we received after Barry went on The Phil Donahue Show in 1993 and asked wrongly convicted people to “write the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School for help.” We anticipated we’d receive maybe a few hundred letters, but we received thousands of requests for help. There were mail bins stacked floor to ceiling in the office — a clear sign that the system needed repair.

I truly can’t fathom a world without the Innocence Project. The impact this team has had on so many lives over the past three decades has motivated all of us to do this challenging and extremely necessary work.

I hope that you’ll continue to support our mission of freeing the innocent and repairing the unjust criminal legal system. If you can, please make a donation in honor of our 30th anniversary and help us reach our 200-donor goal. It will be greatly appreciated. [[link removed]]

Our entire team sincerely appreciates every single person who has donated, shared a post on social media, contacted their local lawmakers, or even just told a friend about our work. Without you, none of this work over the last 30 years would be possible.

Cheers to 30 more years!

Thank you,

Elizabeth Vaca
Executive Assistant to Co-Founders and Special Counsel
Innocence Project


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The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone. Founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the organization is now an independent nonprofit. Our work is guided by science and grounded in antiracism.

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