October 11th, 2012
NEIP hosted a picnic for New England exonerees and their families on Sunday, October 7th at our new office right off the Boston Common. New England exonerees and their families joined NEIP staff for a day of food, games and discussion. This is the second annual exoneree picnic. Guests in attendance included Dennis Maher, who spent 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and Betty Anne Waters, who put herself through law school to prove her brother Kenneth’s innocence. The event was designed to give exonerees the chance to discuss their struggles and successes adjusting to life after being freed from prison.
While some exonerees have found jobs, started families and bought houses, many struggle with the lack of resources available to help them transition to life on the outside. People who are proved innocent are often not eligible for the same post-release services available to people who are released after they complete their prison terms.
NEIP provides pro bono legal assistance to inmates who have claims of actual innocence. The New England Innocence Project’s mission is to represent persons wrongly convicted in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Vermont and to advocate for the reform of our criminal justice system. It is the New England Innocence Project’s vision that no one in New England will ever go to prison for a crime he or she did not commit.
Please consider making a donation so that we can continue to fulfill our mission of helping the wrongly convicted in New England.