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Oregon Innocence Network
helps free wrongly convicted
The group of University law and journalism students
investigates cases of convicts who claim innocence ■
BYGABE BRADLEY
NEWS EDITOR
Until recently, Oregon was one of
only two states in the country that did
n’t have a non-profit organization ded
icated to helping wrongly convicted in
mates prove their innocence.
That began to change a year and
a half ago, when Cheri Brooks was
a second-year law student at
the University.
"I was working for a lawyer — a de
fense lawyer in town,” Brooks said.
“He asked me if there was an inno
cence project at the U of O.”
When Brooks looked into the ques
tion, she found out that not only was
there no innocence project at the Uni
versity, there was no innocence project
whatsoever in Oregon.
“We kind of thought there should
be,” Brooks said.
Then Brooks and a group of stu
dents began trying to drum up interest
in the project.
“It’s the perfect type of thing for law
students because it’s an area that prac
ticing attorneys aren’t really working
on,” Brooks said. “People who are in
prison and who have been convicted
are just pretty much forgotten.”
The Oregon Innocence Network
was up and running six months after
the idea was conceived, and it is now a
student group recognized by the
ASUO. It includes both law students
and journalism students.
“Journalism students because of
their investigative techniques can do
some substantively helpful things,”
Brooks said.
Brooks said journalism students
have played a critical role in overturn
ing wrongful conviction in Illinois’ in
nocence project.
In the past, students have had the
chance to work for OIN for credit
through the law school. However,
this fall there will not be a class of
fered, though students are still en
couraged to volunteer.
“As soon as we started publicizing
this thing ... letters started pouring in,
you know, from inmates,” Brooks said.
“OIN is going to continue to work on
cases on a volunteer basis.”
Brooks, who graduated this year, is
leaving Oregon to work as a public de
fender in Philadelphia.
“That’s what I wanted to do; that’s
why I went to law school,” Brooks
said. “I see this as a part of that.”
She said she hopes OIN will contin
ue to take root in both the law school
and the journalism school.
Brook said one of the hardest parts
of the process is evaluating and investi
gating the many claims that come in to
determine which ones are provable.
“It just takes a lot of resources and a
lot of time,” Brooks said. “The second
step is trying to prove it, which is really
difficult. So it’s an uphill battle.”
Brooks said there is an urgent need
for someone to do this work and help
innocent people go free.
“I think there are some inmates
who claim innocence and are getting
their paperwork and their files
passed around.”
currently, me Diggesi struggle lac
ing OIN is a lack of resources, accord
ing to Brooks.
“Students who want to see this hap
pen need support,” Brooks said.
OIN lacks the funds to fully cover
the costs of investigating the number
of claims coming in.
“Eventually we’re hoping to have
some sponsorship,” Brooks said.
“We’re hoping this is something the
community will support and see the
need for.”
Law professor and OIN faculty ad
visor Joe Metcalfe said his role in OIN
is primarily involved in evaluating
claims to make sure they meet the
OIN criteria for further investigation.
Part of this involves making sure the
cases is in the right place in post-ap
pellate process.
Also, OIN only takes cases where
the defendants are claiming factual in
nocence, not cases where the defen
dants could get off on a technicality.
“We’re not simply another route to
appeal a conviction,” Metcalfe said.
Metcalfe said the experience of
fered by OIN can be valuable to
many students. They get the oppor
tunity to see how trials work and
some of the failings in the criminal
justice system.
Students interested in prosecution,
defense or any kind of trial work can
benefit from being involved in OIN,
said Metcalfe.
“Everybody understands that hav
ing an innocent person in jail serves no
one’s interest,” Metcalfe said. “We
have had a lot of student interest. I’ve
been very pleased.”
gabebradley@dailyemerald.com
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