“Righting a Wrong: Post-Conviction DNA testing for Wisconsin’s Black, Latinx, and Native Communities”

The Wisconsin Innocence Project (WIP), a legal clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School, is the primary organization dedicated to providing pro bono legal assistance to wrongfully convicted people in Wisconsin. If granted this award, WIP intends to conduct an historic “look-back” to identify previous applicants or clients who may benefit from recent advancement in DNA testing. WIP will focus on Black, Latinx, and Native American applicants to address the extreme racial disparities at every level in Wisconsin's criminal legal system, including wrongful convictions.
In the last five years, several studies and reports have been released that confirm what WIP has seen through its own case analysis, investigation, and litigation: Wisconsin disproportionately incarcerates people of color. To address these disparities, WIP believes that recent advancements in DNA technology can provide meaningful results in historical cases where WIP was not able to successfully litigate in the past because of limitations of earlier DNA technology. WIP is currently investigating several cases that demonstrate the unique role the latest DNA techniques can play in reinvestigating innocence cases. However, without additional legal support and funds for testing, WIP does not have the ability to identify and investigate these potential cases.
The grant will allow WIP to perform an historical “look-back” by adding legal staff and providing funds for testing. By sifting through its prior cases and applicants, WIP aims to fully investigate at least ten cases of Black, Latinx, and Native clients, and obtain new DNA testing for as many as possible. By focusing on its historical cases, WIP will be able to quickly and cost-effectively identify cases that are now ripe for testing based on the advances in DNA technology.
In addition to exonerating Black, Latinx, and Native clients in Wisconsin, this program will work directly with our clients, communities, and representative organizations in Wisconsin to provide insight into the barriers these groups face in the criminal legal system. The conversations and insights from our investigations will allow us to better understand how disparities and biases permeate the system, leading to wrongful convictions and other injustices. From this experience, WIP will be able to begin working to overcome these barriers in Wisconsin.