Policy Reform

Outreach and Reform

Through our casework, IPNO brings to light the failures in the justice system that lead to wrongful convictions. IPNO uses the lessons we learn from our exonerations to advocate for criminal justice reform that will bring greater fairness to the administration of justice in Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Our cases involve many of the same issues that plague jurisdictions across the country, overlaid with the issues of race and poverty that can define access to justice in the South. We try to ensure that the litigation of individual cases also functions as a gateway to reform, bridging the gap between the theoretical lessons taught by legal scholars, forensic scientists, and other innocence projects on the one hand and the in-the-trenches decision-making of defense lawyers, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials on the other. 

Reform at the Legislative and Local Level

IPNO works to educate the legislature about issues ripe for reform. In that capacity, IPNO has provided expert testimony and information to assist in the passage of Louisiana's 2005 compensation statute for the wrongfully convicted, the 2001 passage of a bill giving prisoners access to DNA testing in post conviction proceedings, the extension of the application deadline in 2004, 2006 and 2008 and general efforts to improve standards of indigent defense. Click here to find out more about past reform successes and here for IPNO's current reform projects.

To schedule an IPNO or Exoneree speaker for your group, please contact us.