Cultures of Resistance

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world, with a criminal justice system that is marred by racial and class-based disparities. These inequities are present at every step of the criminal process—from arrest, to prosecution, to sentencing—and lead to wrongful convictions and inconsistent sentencing that disproportionately affect people of color and low-income individuals. The discriminatory and punitive nature of the criminal justice system in the United States impinges upon the civil and human rights of individuals. Moreover, mass incarceration undermines communities, reinforces pre-existing inequalities, and breeds injustice.

Cultures of Resistance supports the reform of the United States criminal justice system to achieve a fairer, more equal system of justice. That is why CoR applauds the work of the Innocence Project, a leading national litigation and public policy organization that promotes a more just society by addressing the failings of the U.S. criminal justice system. As a non-profit legal clinic, the Innocence Project fights for the rights of individuals who were unjustly punished by a faulty legal system. As a leader in criminal justice reform, the Innocence Project advocates for systemic change that will protect and promote the civil rights of innocent citizens by preventing wrongful convictions.

Founded in 1992, the Innocence Project has been a forerunner in challenging wrongful convictions through the use of DNA evidence, which since 1989 has helped exonerate nearly 280 innocent inmates of the U.S. prison system—some of whom were on death row. Their revolutionary work helps demonstrate the systemic injustice of the legal system in the United States and provides a groundwork for reform.

Among the priorities of the Innocence Project is the creation of criminal justice reform commissions in each state. These commissions already exist in some states, and they function as investigative bodies that examine the causes for wrongful convictions. They also recommend and help implement improvements to the criminal process at all levels. The commissions ideally include experts from all aspects of criminal justice—from crime victims to judges—to bring varied perspectives into reform-making and to strengthen the mechanisms of justice through a democratic, rather than top-down, process.

The following video is of a speech given by Cornelius Dupree, who went to prison at 19 years old for a crime he did not commit, and who was released many years later thanks to the Innocence Project's commitment to justice.

If you are inspired by the groundbreaking work of the Innocence Project, you can visit their action page to learn about ways you can help exonerate innocent people and help reform the US criminal justice system.