The Downstate Innocence Project conducts research and investigative activities in cases where there is a strong likelihood that an inmate is actually innocent. The Downstate Innocence Project, housed in the Institute for Legal and Policy Studies, was recognized as the only undergraduate innocence program at the National Innocence Project conference in San Diego in mid-January of 2002. It is still one of a few acknowledged undergraduate innocence programs in the country.
Students in the Legal Studies program and other degree programs provide research and investigative assistance to individuals who have been arrested, tried, found guilty, and imprisoned for crimes they most likely did not commit.
One of the most current cases the Project focused its efforts on is the Julie Rea Harper case. On July 26, 2006, the jury found her not guilty at the new trial. To learn more about that case visit: www.justiceforjulieandjoel.org
