On March 3, 2009, the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project launched the official website for the Project, at www.innocenceprojectpa.org. The website has been conceived and constructed through the efforts of Villanova Law School over a period of several months, and will serve as a comprehensive resource for all interested in furthering the mission of the new non-profit Project.
The Project’s Mission Statement, the names of the members of its Board of Directors and its Advisory Board and profiles of the Project’s executive director Richard C. Glazer, and its legal director Marissa Boyers Bluestine, are accessible on the homepage along with facts about the history of exoneration efforts across the United States and a featured story about an individual who has been fully exonerated.
When those who believe that they have been wrongfully convicted and maintain that they are actually innocent write to the Project to request help, they will receive a written acknowledgement that includes a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with answers. If, after reviewing the FAQs, the recipients believe it is appropriate to proceed, they will be invited to fill out a Screening Questionnaire and provide other information, and send their response to the Project for evaluation.
Those seeking to support the Project with a tax-deductible contribution can obtain information on how to contribute by check made payable to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and mailed to its offices in Philadelphia, and how to contribute online, using a major credit card.
As the Project becomes fully operational, detailed information will be posted on developments in the law governing exoneration, recent exonerations in Pennsylvania and around the country, and other aspects of the ongoing work of the Project. In addition, the website will provide more details about ways that lawyers can provide professional services on a pro bono basis, ways that law students and undergraduate students can contribute to investigating and evaluating requests for help made to the Project, and how all interested persons can assist in other ways in advocating for those who seek to establish their actual innocence, thereby furthering the mission of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
The Pennsylvania Innocence Project acknowledges the work of Professor Anne Poulin of Villanova University School of Law School and Robert J. Watson, Webmaster and Web Development Specialist at Villanova University School of Law for their substantial contribution to the creation of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project website. |
