Wrongful Conviction Day 2019

TODAY, Wednesday, October 2nd, is Wrongful Conviction Day – the annual international observance dedicated to ending wrongful convictions and highlighting the plight of those convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Georgia Innocence Project and the Innocence Network urge you to help raise awareness about the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions on this important day. Learn more and join the discussion at:   #WrongfulConvictionDay  @gainnocence  iwcd.org 

Then join GIP and friends at 7pm TONIGHT at the Georgia Beer Garden (Edgewood Avenue in Atlanta) to share lessons from the day and try your hand at wrongful conviction trivia, written by GIP attorney Adam McClay.

Raising Awareness In Georgia

This year for Wrongful Conviction Day, exonerees, GIP, and others will speak to over 1,200 students in over a dozen Georgia schools about how and why wrongful convictions happen, and how they can be prevented.  Some of the many speakers and participants include:

Bobbie Jean Johnson – 40 years of wrongful imprisonment

Calvin C. Johnson, Jr. – 16 years wrongful imprisonment

Clarence Harrison – 17 years wrongful imprisonment

Jimmie Gardner – 27 years wrongful imprisonment

John White – 22 years wrongful imprisonment

Marquis Jackson – 19 years wrongful imprisonment

Pete Williams – 22 years wrongful imprisonment

You can get involved too!

TODAY, on Wrongful Conviction Day, take some time to think about and discuss the negative impact that human factors such as implicit biases and memory malleability can play on our criminal legal system’s promise of justice. Here are some tools to help you start the discussion:

  • Atlanta Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce recorded a few messages about human factors in wrongful convictions. Share Coach Pierce’s lessons with others:
Coach Pierce (center) with exonerees who spent 142 years wrongfully imprisoned.
Story time with DeKalb County public library.

GIP’s Wrongful Conviction Day efforts were supported in part by a grant from the Atlanta Bar Foundation.

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