Project Grant 2020FABX0002

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $598,409 Project Grant under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CFDA 16.746) to Life After Justice, a minority-owned non-profit organization, to enhance their capacity to identify, investigate, and litigate non-DNA wrongful convictions involving incentivized informants. Key activities include specialized case intake, thorough case investigation, consultation with experts, and litigation. The grant aims to prevent and...

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $286,542 Project Grant under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CFDA 16.746) to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in New Orleans, Louisiana. The grant will fund a Conviction Review Unit within the office's Civil Rights Division to review hundreds of potential wrongful conviction cases, including those not represented by the local Innocence Project organization. The review process will involve re-analyzing...

The Travis County District Attorney's Office, in partnership with the Innocence Project of Texas (IPTX), received a $599,504 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) and Wrongful Conviction Review Program (CFDA 16.746). The grant will fund a two-year "Confession Review Team" initiative to strategically review homicide cases handled by the Austin Police Department's Homicide Unit from...

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $575,000 Project Grant under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative and Wrongful Conviction Review Program (CFDA 16.746) to the Los Angeles Innocence Project, Inc. The grant will fund three full-time attorneys to build a faulty forensics database, obtain forensics-related discovery and trial transcripts, investigate and litigate claims of actual innocence for indigent defendants, and train criminal defense attorneys on...

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $600,000 Project Grant under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) and Wrongful Conviction Review Program (CFDA 16.746) to the California Innocence Project Foundation (CIPF). The funding will support CIPF's efforts to review, investigate, and litigate claims of wrongful conviction from prisoners convicted in Southern California counties. CIPF plans to work with conviction integrity units, where available, to free the...

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $600,000 Project Grant under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CFDA 16.746) to the Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO) to review potential wrongful convictions caused by inadequate legal representation. IPNO, a non-profit organization, will systematically review 246 criminal cases with top screening grades and arrest dates prior to the 2011 implementation of Louisiana's public defender standards. The grant funding will support IPNO's case...

This $600,000 Project Grant award from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CFDA 16.746) supports the Thomas M. Cooley Law School Innocence Projects (CIP) Statewide Wrongful Conviction Project in Michigan. The project will allow CIP to continue its existing partnerships with the Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit and the Michigan Attorney General Conviction Integrity Unit, as well as develop new collaborations with other...

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $599,996 Project Grant to the New Jersey Innocence Project (NJIP) at Rutgers University-Camden under the federal Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) and Wrongful Conviction Review Program (CFDA 16.746). The grant will enable NJIP to expand its capacity to provide high-quality legal representation and case investigations to more people in New Jersey seeking exoneration and release from wrongful convictions. Specifically,...

The University of Nebraska College of Law (UNL) was awarded a $600,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Capital Case Litigation Initiative (CCLI) and Wrongful Conviction Review Program (CFDA 16.746). The funding will support UNL in establishing a statewide Innocence Clinic to review claims of innocence from incarcerated individuals in Nebraska. The primary goals are to raise awareness of wrongful convictions, exonerate the wrongfully...

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded a $1,500,000 Project Grant to the State of Illinois Attorney General's Office to establish a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). The CIU will review and investigate violent felony cases where new, credible evidence of innocence has been discovered or where new technologies allow for testing of remaining evidence, with a focus on DNA analysis. Key activities to be supported include screening and reviewing potential...