Today marks the start of our June match campaign, where your gift
will be doubled for 2X the impact. Help us find and free more innocent people and provide critical support as exonerees rebuild in freedom.
As we see in our work every day, to someone who has been wrongfully convicted, freedom means everything. And after suffering the trauma of long-term incarceration, finding community and having support is essential to the healing process. This is never more clear than at the annual Innocence Network Conference, where exonerees and freed people from across the globe come together to process their shared experiences, celebrate freedom moments, and unite in the fight against injustice.
This year's Innocence Network Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, was the most attended conference in the event’s 20-year history. Nearly 300 exonerees and freed people from around the world participated. They collectively lost more than 5,560 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. In total, 35 people attended from New England, including exonerees, freed people, family members, and advocates. Together, we witnessed the joy, emotion, healing, and abounding hope, as well as many “firsts” for those who spent decades of their lives wrongfully imprisoned — the first time on an airplane, the first time in a swimming pool, the first time enjoying an ice cream under the sun — and more. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch a video of the conference experience below.
“I belong to a special group of people, I really do.”
“The conference was just amazing. I’m at a loss for words. There’s nothing that can describe it,” says James Watson outside the ballroom where conference attendees had just listened to short stories shared on stage by others in the community. James was exonerated in November 2020 after serving almost 41 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. “Seeing this here and actually living it — the love that’s here, the friendliness — it’s amazing. Sometimes you don’t want to leave,” he adds. “It’s sad and it’s happy. I feel change coming. It feels great.”
Albert Brown, an exoneree who spent 38 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, stands under a canopy of palm trees that shade him from the Arizona sun. “This is more than I expected,” Albert says. “It just felt good to be associated with so much goodness. When we connect, we uplift each other. And when we do that, we unify and we become stronger,” he adds. “I didn’t think there were a lot of people like me. I’ve met people from all over, I’m like ‘wow.’ I belong to a special group of people, I really do.”
Your support makes freedom possible and helps bring
our community together to heal after a traumatic injustice.
Make a gift today and every dollar you give will be
matched (2X) until June 30, 2023 (up to $25,000).
