Image Source: Skip Sterling
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear NCIP Supporter,
It has been quite a winter at NCIP. In January, we celebrated the exonerations of long-time clients Zavion Johnson, Darwin Crabtree, and Glenn Payne. So much good news in such a short time may give the impression that justice comes swiftly. But our work takes time – sometimes decades –
and can happen only with a persistent team dedicated to uncovering the truth and to achieving justice for our clients.
The NCIP team extends beyond our stellar attorneys, and includes staff who ensure and manage our funding, oversee our operations, promote our work on our website, on social media, and in the community.
Our work is made possible through collaborations with pro bono law firms, volunteer attorneys, legislators, investigators, forensic experts, law students, and increasingly, with the cooperation of law enforcement. NCIP’s last five exonerations were all obtained through cooperation with district attorneys offices which is consistent with the national trend of more prosecutor’s offices working to remedy wrongful convictions.
Collaboration is also essential to our policy reform efforts. This legislative session, NCIP, working with the California Innocence Project and Loyola Project for the Innocent, joins other coalition partners on four bills that address causes and consequences of wrongful conviction. Exonerees are crucial members of the coalition, informing us and legislators as to their experiences in the criminal justice system and advocating for change by testifying before the legislature. Their advocacy informs and inspires change.
The ACLU of Northern California has also been an invaluable part of our coalition for criminal justice reform since the beginning of our policy efforts years ago. NCIP will honor their significant contributions to the innocence movement under the leadership of Policy and Advocacy Center Director, Natasha Minsker, at our Justice For All Gala on April 12th.
The NCIP team continues to grow with each new partnership and we recognize that collaboration leads to innovation. Recently, we met with Japanese legal scholar Mari Hiryama, who hopes to use innocence work in California as a model for Japan. We have also begun exploring how artificial intelligence may be useful to or might negatively impact our criminal justice reform goals by talking with our colleagues at Santa Clara University.
Our team is so fortunate to be celebrating with Zavion, Darwin and Glenn. And we recognize that these successes would not have been attainable without support from people like you.
Thank you for being an important member of the NCIP team.
Sincerely,
Linda Starr
Executive Director
NCIP News
Glenn Payne's 1991 conviction vacated-- |
Darwin Crabtree's 1991 conviction vacated thanks to new evidence and recently enacted NCIP-sponsored legislation. |
Charges dropped against Zavion Johnson--changes in science no longer support conviction or retrial. |
NCIP Launches its 2018 Policy Agenda
On January 1, 2018, NCIP-sponsored Senate Bill 336, which expands the eligibility of wrongfully convicted people to receive re-entry services took effect. Building on its policy success over the last several years, NCIP looks ahead to the upcoming legislative session.
More>>
Case Spotlight: The Case of Jeremy Puckett
For the last sixteen years, Jeremy Puckett has been seeking justice. Puckett first wrote to NCIP asking for assistance in 2012. Since that time, our thorough re-investigation of his case has uncovered overwhelming evidence of his innocence.
More>>
NCIP Clinic Students Featured on ABC7 News
NCIP clinic students are offered the chance to do life-changing work while learning how to practice law. Over the last year, clinic students had the amazing opportunity to help reverse Glenn Payne's conviction.
More>>
Featured Stories
Perspectives: Taking My Own Advice
NCIP Volunteer Attorney Catherine Boyle spent 20 years raising a family before jumping back into the legal profession. In this Perspectives piece, she shares her thoughts on the importance of standing up for what you believe and taking action.
More>>
NCIP's Justice For All Awards Gala
NCIP's annual Justice For All Awards (JFA) Gala will be held at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco on April 12th. At the gala, we thank our key supporters and celebrate the accomplishments of the exonerees they have helped to free.
More>>
Cultural Exchange with Japanese Legal Scholar
On February 15, NCIP welcomed Japanese legal scholar Mari Hiryama to our office. Mari is researching innocence work in California to the extent it may inspire criminal justice reform in Japan.
More>>
On the Calendar
NCIP In the Media
• New evidence frees wrongly convicted man from having to register as sex offender in the San Jose Mercury News featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr
• Bay Area man who spent 13 years in prison found not guilty in the San Francisco Chronicle featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr
• Man’s name cleared based on new evidence and new California law in the Lake County News featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr and NCIP Supervising Attorney Paige Kaneb
• Paradise man has decades-old molestation convictions overturned in the Oroville Mercury Register featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr and NCIP Supervising Attorney Paige Kaneb
• After 15 years in prison, father is freed because of questionable evidence in shaken baby case by Associated Press and featured in over 300
publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times
• Innocence Project scores trio of wins in a month in the Daily Journal featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr and NCIP Supervising Attorney Paige Kaneb (subscription required)
• State makes it hard for wrongly convicted to be compensated for lost years in the San Francisco Chronicle featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr
• San Jose man exonerated of child molestation and kidnapping on ABC7 featured NCIP Executive Director Linda Starr and NCIP clinical students
• He said he didn’t kill his daughter. It took 15 years in prison for him to prove it in the Sacramento Bee featured NCIP Supervising Attorney Paige Kaneb
• Bill would allow compensation for more who were wrongfully imprisoned in the San Francisco Chronicle featured NCIP Policy Liason and Attorney Melissa O'Connell
