Contemporary Perspectives on Wrongful Conviction: An Introduction to the 2015 Innocence Network Conference, Orlando, Florida

Abstract

The Innocence Network is “an affiliation of organizations from all over the world dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted, and working to redress the causes of wrongful convictions.” Beginning in 1999 and 2000 in Chicago, Illinois, a small group of interested legal and social science scholars and clinic directors met at the Northwestern University School of Law to discuss ways to investigate and litigate claims of actual innocence. The first recognized National Innocence Conference took place at the California Western School of Law in 2002, and included 130 registered attendees. The Innocence Network, building upon the successful 2002 conference, formally established an advisory Board of Directors in 2005. An annual Innocence Network conference has been held each year since 2002, with the May 2015 conference in Orlando, Florida, generating more than 500 attendees, including 150 exonerees