Making an Exoneree

Making an Exoneree is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes. The organization achieves its mission primarily through an extraordinary and unprecedented university course in which undergraduate and law students work together across multiple schools to reinvestigate likely wrongful conviction cases. They produce short documentaries and create digital platforms for each case, calling for exonerations and prison releases. The program originated at Georgetown University, where Marc Howard and Marty Tankleff have taught the course every spring semester since 2018. Over the past seven years, the Georgetown program has covered 30 cases and contributed to 9 prison releases. In the Spring 2023 semester, Princeton University piloted a "Making an Exoneree" course with four additional cases, and it has already resulted in the release of multiple individuals. Now at four universities, 12 people (who have served over 200 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit) are free through the Making an Exoneree program. Many others are also now represented by counsel and/or are receiving significant media attention.