Clinic News
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Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil speaks at UNC Death Penalty Project event
March 7th, 2014
The law students sat quietly as capital defense attorney and Wake Forest Law Professor Mark Rabil described the experience of watching one of his clients be executed. Covered in a sheet with IVs trailing from his arms, the man looked around at the roomful of people who would watch him die. His eyes rested on …
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Innocence and Justice Clinic Director Mark Rabil tells Reuters repeal of Racial Justice Act violates due process
June 20th, 2013
(Reuters) – North Carolina’s governor, hoping to resume executions in his state, on Wednesday signed the repeal of a law that has allowed death row inmates to seek a reduced sentence if they could prove racial bias affected their punishment. The Racial Justice Act, the only law of its kind in the United States, had …
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Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck visits with Wake Forest Law students
April 18th, 2013
The network of legal organizations that works to prove the innocence of people who have been wrongfully convicted of serious crimes is holding a big annual conference in North Carolina. The Innocence Network’s conference opens today in Charlotte, and some of the expected 500 people attending are dozens of people who were convicted of crimes …
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Wake Forest Law host Dallas’ first black DA as he discusses his crime fighting experiences
April 12th, 2013
Craig Wakins made history in 2006 when he became the first African American in Texas history to be elected as a District Attorney. Watkins continues to make waves with his decidedly different approach to prosecution. The Dallas County DA shared his insight and highlighted his office’s approach to battling crime last week as part of …
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Co-founder of Innocence Project Barry Scheck to speak to students, alumni at Charlotte Center on Wednesday, April 17
April 11th, 2013
CHARLOTTE — The Wake Forest University School of Law will host Barry Scheck, co-founder and co-director of the national Innocence Project, at a reception beginning at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, at the WFU Charlotte Center. Scheck will speak to students, faculty and alumni about the latest developments in the “innocence movement” followed by …
Recent Items
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“They’re Not Only Naive… [They Are] Being Economically and Budgetarily Unwise”
April 23rd, 2013
Professor Rabil has some strong words for legislators considering to repeal North Carolina’s landmark Racial Justice Act. Speaking to Star News, Professor Rabil had this to say: “Can the legislature legally retroactively repeal a law that people have already filed claims under? Generally speaking, I think the answer is going to be no, but that …
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This Could Happen to You
April 9th, 2013
On April 3, 2013, Brian Banks signed with the Atlanta Falcons and is now a part of their 90 man roster. Right now you may be asking yourself, why do I care, and how could I make this happen to me? But there’s a lot more to this story. in 2002, Brian Banks was …
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“It looks like Damien Echols finally killed someone.”
March 22nd, 2013
These three young boys were found brutally murdered. When police speculated about the assailant, the juvenile probation officer assisting at the scene said a local teenager, Damien Echols, was “capable” of committing the murders, stating “it looks like Damien Echols finally killed someone.” That was pretty much all it took. The small town West …
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More Casualties From Suicide than Combat is a Wake-up Call for America
March 5th, 2013
Part of human nature is the propensity to ignore long-term consequences in order to deal with short-term problems. Americans are no exception to this instinct, in fact, we are outliers. Modern America has cultivated and refined the primal drive for instant gratification, weaving it directly into the DNA of our culture. As a result, our …
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His Family Died in a Fire, and He Served 27 Years for Their Murder
March 1st, 2013
A lot of people may feel like David Gavitt should have died with his family, but that doesn’t mean he killed them. Source: http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201302259629/Headline-News/Prof-touts-happy-ending-to-the-saddest-case-I-know
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A Thousand Days Without Trial
March 1st, 2013
Bradley Manning waited over 1,000 days in jail before his recent plea in which he admitted being the source behind hundreds of thousands of documents released to Wikileaks, but contested that his actions “aided the enemy”. The Verge.com has an in-depth series on the Manning case, and most-distressingly it exposes the federal government’s increasing use of …
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Darryl Hunt Writes Column on Racial Justice Act
February 9th, 2013
Here is a recent column by Darryl Hunt on the Racial Justice Act, which legislators are threatening to repeal: http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/columnists/article_7a61ba26-6ffe-11e2-b7dc-0019bb30f31a.html
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Innocence Network and Innocence Project Urge Georgia Board to Reconsider Decision and DA to lift execution warrant
September 21st, 2011
(ATLANTA, GA; September 20, 2011) Today the Innocence Network and the Innocence Project submitted a letter to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles urging the board to reconsider its decision denying clemency to Troy Davis who is scheduled to be executed tomorrow. The letter urges the Board to stay Davis’ execution so that it …
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Prosecutors want Innocence Commission to exclude prisoners who pleaded guilty
June 13th, 2011
Prosecutors across the state have mounted an effort to block defendants who plead guilty from appealing to the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, a state agency that examines claims that a prisoner may have been wrongly convicted. “Continue reading”
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Innocence Network Presentation April 2011
April 7th, 2011
Prof. Turowski invited to present at National Innocence Network Conference April 7th – 10th. “It is a privilege and honor to be asked to appear on a panel and conduct a roundtable discussion with fellow wrongful conviction advocates from 60 programs, including 15 from outside the US”, states Turowski. Formed in 2006, the Innocence Network …
