MID-ATLANTIC INNOCENCE PROJECT

The people who come to MAIP for help have nowhere else to turn. Many have been convicted of terrible crimes and are despised and ignored by society despite their innocence. Often, they have never had competent legal representation. MAIP gives hope to people who feel that they are out of options.

We know how difficult correcting wrongful convictions is, which is why we also work to prevent them in the first place. We have helped pass 11 laws that would prevent or make it easier to correct wrongful convictions. We also work with the Conviction Integrity Unit at the US Attorney’s Office to reform the criminal justice system. We have also participated in large-scale reviews of evidence with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC and the Department of Forensic Science in Virginia.

Since the project began in 2000, we have helped secure the release or exoneration of 25 men in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region. These men spent a total of 423 years in prison-years that were not spent with their children and their families.