Join the Rally Against Killing the Innocent on October 2, 2023

October 2, 2023 is the International Wrongful Conviction Day.  Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the country and a high rate of wrongful convictions of innocent people. Since 1989, 85 innocent people have been exonerated in Louisiana. Eleven of those individuals were sentenced to death. There has been one exoneration for every three executions carried out in Louisiana. One out of three is a disturbingly high error rate for a punishment that can never be undone. If there is one out of three chance that an airplane would crash, the airline industry would come to a halt. Additionally, 95% of death sentences have been reversed in Louisiana because they were fundamentally flawed.

On October 2nd, Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO), Capital Appeals Project (CAP), Orleans Public Defenders (OPD), Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI) and other organizations will gather on the steps of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court in New Orleans at 4:00 pm with innocent exonerees and their families, elected officials, religious leaders and community members for a Rally Against Killing The Innocent for people on Louisiana’s death row.  There are people on Louisiana’s death row today who have serious claims of actual innocence.  Daniel Blank, convicted of a 1997 murder, is one of them. DNA and fingerprint evidence from the crime scene point to another person for the murder, and yet, intellectually disabled Mr. Blank remains on death row.

The Rally Against Killing The Innocent will call attention to the innocent executed by the State of Louisiana, the innocent exonerated from Louisiana’s death row, and the innocent on Louisiana’s death row today.  The Rally will demand that the Governor and our elected and appointed leaders stand up for the innocent on Louisiana’s death row.  Given the grave risk that an innocent person may be executed, all individuals on Louisiana’s death row must be given a chance at life.