Justice Advocate Jennifer Thompson
NCIP friend Jennifer Thompson knows firsthand that wrongful conviction has far reaching consequences, not only for the innocent man or woman who loses years in prison but also for the original victims, families, law enforcement and potentially other victims of the true perpetrator. Twenty years ago, she was forced to confront the fact that the man she identified as her rapist was innocent. She had sent Ronald Cotton to prison for eleven years for a crime he did not commit. Ms. Thompson describes her traumatic experience in an op-ed that appeared in Sunday’s edition of The Hill. She writes, “This case crystalized for me why it is so important to have laws in place that protect the innocent. Those laws would be important enough if they only protected the innocent, but they do so much more.”
One of those laws is the Justice for All Act which is currently up for reauthorization by Congress. Originally passed in 2004, the Justice for All Act established the Kirk Bloodsworth Postconviction DNA Testing Grant Program which provides funds to help review cases for possible testing, locate and test evidence to exonerate the innocent. According the the National Institute of Justice, this program has resulted in at least 20 exonerations through 2013, including the exoneration of NCIP client Johnny Williams. NCIP joins Jennifer Thompson in urging Congress to pass the Justice for All Act as a necessary step to truly bringing justice to all.
By Jessica Seargeant
