RESOURCES!

Welcome to the Ohio Innocence Project at Cincinnati Law, where our goal is simple: we want to free every innocent person in Ohio who has been convicted of a crime they didn't commit.

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Our work includes helping develop and advocate for lasting criminal justice reform through legislation as well as launching Ohio Innocence Project University, an active network of student groups at colleges across the state.

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The CSU|LAW Terry Gilbert Wrongful Conviction Clinic provides legal assistance to incarcerated individuals in Ohio with claims of actual innocence or manifest injustice. Cuyahoga County has the tenth most exonerations nationwide since 1989, accounting for more than one-third of all exonerations in Ohio.* The Clinic aims to provide support to wrongfully incarcerated individuals from our community and beyond, most of whom are from underserved communities that routinely face racial discrimination, endure high levels of poverty, and experience greater inequities in the criminal justice system. 

Beyond Guilt aims to do for over-punished prisoners who admit guilt what innocence projects have for wrongfully convicted persons who claim actual innocence. Beyond Guilt is one answer to criminal legal system reform efforts that focus narrowly on a more palatable side of the reform movement—freeing innocent prisoners and people convicted of low-level, non-violent offenses at the expense of individuals convicted of more serious offenses, including violent crimes.

Our Mission

To exonerate the wrongfully convicted in Ohio, and to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
 
The Wrongful Conviction Project:

• Screens applications and conducts investigations to evaluate innocence claims by analyzing the reliability of the evidence presented at trial.

• Obtains expert analysis of forensic evidence with particular focus on changes in acceptable scientific reliability.

• Provides quality representation to individuals who have been wrongfully convicted, by presenting newly discovered evidence through Motions for New Trial or similar legal procedures, resulting in their exoneration.