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The History of Texas Policy Reform Efforts Related to Wrongful Convictions by the Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, cites specific reforms which would strengthen our justice system to identify real criminals while protecting the innocent.
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The Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University provides legal representation to clients having DNA evidence to prove innocence, and is a resource for public policy research and model legislation for post-conviction DNA testing, evidence preservation, eyewitness identification, gaining confessions, and crime lab oversight. The Project also shares information on creating state Innocence Commissions.
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The Northwestern University School of Law, Center on Wrongful Convictions provides example cases and research information describing the common factors which lead to wrongful prosecution and convictions and identifies specific remedies in areas of eyewitness identification, false confessions, police misconduct , and snitches.
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The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (CCFAJ), a model criminal justice reform commission, provides a significant body of research, including expert testimonies and reports from other states, to support its recommendations to further strengthen the integrity of our criminal justice system in each of these areas:
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The New York State Bar Association's Task Force on Wrongful Convictions study identified government practices as a primary cause of wrongful convictions. Problem practices in over half of the cases included relying on false evidence (including informant testimony), failure to disclose exculpatory evidence (Brady Violations), poor evidence collection and handling by law enforcement, and refusal to investigate reasonable alternative leads. The study also confirmed eyewitness misidentification as the most prevalent single cause of wrongful convictions.
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"Exonerations in the United States 1989 Through 2003" by Samuel R. Gross, published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Vol. 95, No.2), discusses 340 exonerations and provides an analysis of national wrongful conviction data by crime, race, and age. Furthermore, this report notes the disturbingly large number of exonerations from death row and calls into question the tremendous risk of false capital convictions.
Resources for the wrongfully convicted and their advocates:
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Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 64 Motion for Forensic DNA Testing
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Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 11. Habeas Corpus
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Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, Chapter 103 Compensation to Persons Wrongfully Imprisoned
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Innocence Network Brief Bank provides examples of amicus briefs seeking appellate court intervention.
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Actual Innocence Awareness Database provides relevant information from current news and journal articles, books, reports, legislation, and other resources
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The State Counsel for Offenders, Appellate Section, may provide legal assistance to indigent individuals seeking assistance with filing a writ of habeas corpus. Request for assistance must be made by the TDCJ inmate and must include an I-60 addressed to:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
State Counsel for Offenders Division
Appellate Section
2503 Lake Road
P.O. Box 4005
Huntsville, TX 77342-4005
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Life After Exoneration assists exonorees with access to re-entry services, advocates for important legislative and policy reforms, and works to build local networks of support, including recent organization efforts in Texas.
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Mothers [and Fathers] for the Advancement of Social Systems, Inc. (MASS) is an non-profit organization that provides case research and investigation services supporting an outside attorney to help free the wrongfully convicted. MASS also links individuals released from TDCJ with re-entry services.
MASS, Inc.
P.O. Box 225067
Dallas, TX 75222
Tel. 214-821-8810
Fax. 214-824-6891
Innocence Projects:
University of Houston Law Center
100 Law Center
Houston, TX 77204-6060
The Texas Innocence Network only considers cases involving incarcerated inmates with persuasive claims of actual innocence which have reached the end of the appellate process.
Texas Center for Actual Innocence
The University of Texas School of Law
727 E. Dean Keeton Street
Austin, TX 78705The Center for Actual Innocence considers all requests from inmates who have claims of actual innocence, except capital cases.
1304 Texas Avenue
Lubbock, TX 79401The Innocence Project of Texas accepts actual innocence claims in which the person is currently incarcerated in Texas, has been convicted, and has exhausted their appeals.
100 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10011
The Innocence Project generally accepts cases involving biological evidence or DNA. Requests for assistance must include a brief factual summary of the case and a list of the evidence used against the defendant.
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