Hiring Initiative for the Womens Project: Creating Two New Attorney Positions

The purpose of the Wrongful Conviction Review Program is to provide high quality and efficient representation for potentially wrongfully convicted defendants in post-conviction claims of innocence. This program is funded under the FY13 (BJA - Wrongful Conviction Review) Pub. L. No. 113-6, 127 Stat. 198, 253. Post-conviction innocence claims are likely to include complex challenges to the reliability or accuracy of evidence presented at trial which fall mainly into three categories: eyewitness identification evidence; confession evidence; and forensic evidence. The goals of this initiative are to: provide quality representation to those who may have been wrongfully convicted; alleviate burdens placed on the criminal justice system through costly and prolonged post-conviction litigation; and identify, whenever possible, the actual perpetrator of the crime.

Northwestern University, in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions, will use its FY 2013 Wrongful Conviction grant to provide high-quality legal representation to inmates claiming factual innocence. The grantee will use its award to support the Women's Project within the Center on Wrongful Convictions by hiring a part-time senior attorney and creating a full-time fellowship position for a junior attorney, as well as fund travel to training. CA/NCF