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Related Organizations & Affiliates

re·la·tion - an aspect or quality (as resemblance) that connects two or more things or parts as being or belonging or working together or as being of the same kind (merriam-webster.com).

 

 

A Just Cause (AJC) seeks to align with organizations that have similar goals of correcting the injustice of wrongful convictions that sometimes occur in the U.S. Judicial system.   AJC wants to bring attention to the causes of this injustice and push for change.  If your organization is interested in forming a relationship with AJC, we would like to hear from you.  Please contact us. The goal of the AJC affiliate program is to create a network of organizations to help facilitate change.  Links to related organizations are listed below.

Fully Informed Jury Association

 

The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) is a United States national jury education organization, incorporated in the state of Montana as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. FIJA works to educate all citizens on their authority when they serve as jurors by propagating the following messages and working to:

 

  • Inform potential jurors of their traditional, legal authority to refuse to enforce corrupt laws;

  • Inform potential jurors that they cannot be required to check their conscience at the courthouse door;

  • Inform potential jurors that the cannot be punished for their verdict;

  • Inform everyone that juror veto-juror nullification-is a peaceful way to protect human rights against corrupt politicians and government tyranny.

Other Wrongful Conviction Websites

Following are links to additional websites that also advocate for the wrongfully convicted:

 
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT

The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. To date, 312 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 17 who served time on death row. These people served an average of 13 years in prison before exoneration and release. The Innocence Project’s full-time staff attorneys and Cardozo clinic students provide direct representation or critical assistance in most of these cases. The Innocence Project’s groundbreaking use of DNA technology to free innocent people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events but instead arise from systemic defects. Now an independent nonprofit organization closely affiliated with Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, the Innocence Project’s mission is nothing less than to free the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated and to bring substantive reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.

 

TRUTH IN JUSTICE

Our primary goal in founding Truth in Justice was to heighten public awareness of the epidemic of wrongful convictions. The Truth in Justice web site appears to be the first one of its kind, and traffic has been increasing rapidly. The case profiles here consist primarily of media reports, the majority of which are accounts of wrongfully convicted persons who have been exonerated. The articles profiling the innocent who remain imprisoned provide details of compelling evidence of innocence. Specific factors common to wrongful conviction -- faulty eyewitness identification, police and prosecutor misconduct, junk science and systemic flaws -- are also addressed. Arson and false allegations of a wide range of types of child abuse are examined closely, with experts' reports and links to specialists provided to assist innocent persons facing similar charges.

 

NORTHWESTERN CENTER ON WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

Since its founding following the 1998 National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty, the Center has been instrumental in the exonerations of 23 innocent men and women in Illinois. Before the founding of the Center, members of its staff were instrumental in 14 additional exonerations — including that of Gary Dotson, who in 1989 became the first person in the world to be exonerated by DNA.

 

CENTURION MINISTRIES

CM is an investigative agency with no religious affiliation. Centurion Ministries' mission is to free from prison those innocent individuals who had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the crimes for which they were convicted and sentenced to either life or death. Centurion is responsible for the exoneration of individuals who have--collectively--served 1083 YEARS in prison.

 

NATIONAL LEGAL AID

In its 2009 report, Justice Denied, The National Right to Counsel Committee, in partnership with NLADA, asserted that “there is a shocking disconnect between the system of justice envisioned by the Supreme Court’s right to counsel decisions and what actually occurs in many of this nation’s courts.”

 

THE CHAMPION-NACDL

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) encourages, at all levels of federal, state and local government, a rational and humane criminal justice policy for America -- one that promotes fairness for all; due process for even the least among us who may be accused of wrongdoing; compassion for witnesses and victims of crime; and just punishment for the guilty.

 

CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE (CSJ)

The mission of CSJ is to be a catalyst for broad-based progressive social change. CSJ works to build strategic relationships with and between diverse communities and organizations who are committed to addressing human rights and social justice issues and working towards building a more just society.

 

THE PRISON LEGAL NEWS

Prison Legal News is an independent 56-page monthly magazine that provides a cutting edge review and analysis of prisoner rights, court rulings and news about prison issues. PLN has a national (U.S.) focus on both state and federal prison issues, with international coverage as well. PLN provides information that enables prisoners and other concerned individuals and organizations to seek the protection and enforcement of prisoner's rights at the grass roots level. PLN is published by the Human Rights Defense Center.

 

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