Staff Spotlight:

Wajiha Tamkeen, Legal Records Specialist

In innocence work, every document is a piece of the puzzle. And pulling those pieces together can change lives. As Legal Records Specialist at Georgia Innocence Project, Wajiha Tamkeen plays a crucial role in collecting and managing records to move cases forward and overturn wrongful convictions.

“My position is in charge of the legal records,” she explains. “Any records that come in, whether they’re from the client, the client’s families, attorneys, or other agencies, I digitize them, organize them, and make sure they’re up to date.” It’s meticulous, often invisible, work. And it is foundational.

Wajiha began as an intern at Georgia Innocence Project in 2023, starting in the intake department before moving to legal records. “That’s when I learned all the work that I’m doing now,” she says.

Her role supports multiple stages of a case. In the beginning stage, she sits with attorneys and other members of the legal team to review applications and determine case viability. “We look through the application materials…and discuss if there are options to move forward,” she says. Throughout screening and active litigation stages, her responsibilities for managing records continue to require precision and dedication.

That dedication has deep roots. Wajiha’s path to innocence work was sparked by an innate passion, nurtured by family, and reignited years later. After initially pursuing an accounting and business degree, she returned to college in 2020 as a nontraditional student. “I was listening to podcasts like Serial and Undisclosed,” she recalls. “It tapped my interest…I realized I was interested in these topics since I was a kid.”

Her young instincts, like writing about honor killings in grade school and discussing worldwide injustices around the family dinner table, suddenly aligned with her current studies and interests. Encouraged by a memory of her mother, who once told her, “I think you should go into law…you have that deep concern for people,” Wajiha pivoted. She pursued legal coursework in criminal and juvenile justice, and discovered Georgia Innocence Project.

Getting her foot in the door took determination. “I remember emailing Georgia Innocence Project at least twice or thrice,” she says with a laugh. That persistence paid off. An internship led to a part-time role, and eventually a full-time position, created just for her, that she cherishes to this day.

What keeps Wajiha going is the people behind the cases, her team at Georgia Innocence Project, supporters, the freed community, and individuals still wrongfully convicted.

She recalls one moment in particular: working on the records of a person whose case she had come to know intimately through documents, letters, and even childhood photos. “I had an idea of who this man was since he was a kid,” she says. “When he was finally exonerated and walked into the office, it was surreal. That was…the most gratifying moment…to see him in person. This is the fruit of our work, to see people free and happy.”

Moments like that transform paperwork into something profoundly human.

Still, Wajiha is candid about the challenges. The work can be tedious and emotionally heavy. The stories, often filled with trauma, injustice, and loss, stay with her. And beyond exoneration, she’s acutely aware that freedom doesn’t erase the damage done.

“Even life after exoneration is not easy,” she explains. Through her undergraduate research, she focused on the emotional toll: the struggle to rebuild identity, relationships, and a sense of belonging. “How difficult it is for them to reclaim their dignity…sometimes even in their families.”

She shares one example of an exoneree being recognized, and feared, by a child in a store. It’s a reminder that even after innocence is proven, stigma lingers.

Wajiha also wants people to understand a broader truth: wrongful convictions are not rare anomalies. They are rooted in systemic issues, misidentification, flawed evidence. “It could happen to anybody,” she says. “The whole justice system is designed to be the way it is, and the people who are most affected are primarily Black folks…for those caught in the system, even small missteps while on parole can send them back behind bars.”

Despite all of this, she remains grounded in purpose.

“What keeps me going,” she reflects, “is that even though we’re not exonerating someone every month…whatever little I’m doing every day is counting towards something bigger.”

“I’m like a tiny bird…trying to put out a fire with a droplet of water in her beak.”

Because change, as Wajiha shares, is built page by page, case by case, day by day. And when we all do our part, together, we can make a difference.

Georgia Innocence Project’s work to prevent and correct wrongful convictions is possible because of people like Wajiha. She is studying for the Law School Admission Test and planning to continue working at Georgia Innocence Project “in whatever capacity possible”.