Ropes & Gray Pro Bono Team Recognized for its Outstanding Partnership to
Free an Innocent Man from Prison and Effect Lasting Change in the Criminal Justice System
The New England Innocence Project honored Ropes & Gray partner Kirsten Mayer and a pro bono Ropes & Gray litigation team with the 2019 ARC OF JUSTICE award at the Voices of the Innocent: Still We Rise storytelling event on December 3 at City Winery Boston.
The inaugural ARC OF JUSTICE award recognizes a New England Innocence Project partner who has demonstrated unparalleled commitment, tenacity, and courage to "bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice" for innocent people convicted of crimes they did not commit.
The New England Innocence Project celebrates Ropes & Gray as the first recipient of this award for the firm’s partnership in helping to free Gary Cifizzari, an innocent Massachusetts man wrongly convicted for a crime he did not commit, and who was released in July 2019 after serving 35 years in prison.
“It is our distinct honor to present the inaugural 2019 ARC OF JUSTICE Award to Kirsten Mayer & the Cifizzari Team of Ropes & Gray for their fierce, compassionate, and steadfast partnership to free an innocent man from prison and effect lasting change in the criminal legal system by challenging unreliable forensic science. Through this close partnership, Ropes & Gray demonstrated tremendous perseverance pulling the arc toward justice and succeeding,” said Radha Natarajan, Executive Director of the New England Innocence Project.
While the namesake quote, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice," is attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr., the concept was originally invoked by an abolitionist, Theodore Parker, who was born in Lexington Massachusetts. Recently, Former Attorney General Eric Holder added an important postscript: "The arc bends toward justice, but it only bends toward justice because people pull it towards justice. It doesn’t happen on its own."
“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the entire team who worked to ensure that Mr. Cifizzari was justly released from prison while the Court decides his Motion for New Trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence,” said Kirsten Mayer, litigation partner at Ropes & Gray. “The firm is proud to support the critical work carried out by our colleagues at The New England Innocence Project.”