Rev. Jesse Jackson believed that justice must be more than a promise — it must be practiced.
From the Civil Rights Movement to the fight against the death penalty, he stood with those demanding that our legal system reflect the dignity and worth of every person.
In Illinois, his leadership helped build the moral momentum that led to a historic moratorium on executions. Across the country, his voice strengthened movements working to confront racial bias, wrongful convictions, and systemic injustice.
At the Innocence Project, we carry forward that call: to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and build a system rooted in fairness — not fear.
His legacy reminds us that reform is possible when courage meets collective action.
Share your memories of Rev. Jackson below.
“The only way we are going to get accountability of law enforcement in this country is for civil society to have oversight and do it.” - @barrycscheck
Panel 6: Wrongful Convictions
Moderator: Dan Slepian, Producer, NBC Dateline
Josh Dubin, Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn
Vanessa Potkin, Director of Special Litigation, Innocence Project
Barry Scheck, Co-Founder, Innocence Project
JJ Velazquez Executive Director, Voices From Within
To watch the UJC Summit 2025 panel discussions visit unitedjusticecoalition.com/ujc-summit-2025
#UJCSummit2025
Fantastic exoneration today in Ada, Oklahoma!!! Perry Lott - 30 years in, 5 on parole, totally innocent.
A sexual assault conviction, a ridiculously suggestive ID procedure, and new DNA testing that proved innocence. Perry, a Navy veteran who went down at the age of 24, is an inspirational human. A mentor to prisoners, a sage and down to earth friend to all. And yes, this is Ada, the place where Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were exonerated in April 1997. Read the “Snitch” chapter in Actual Innocence and John Grisham’s The Innocent Man. The new DA Erik Johnson and his team did a great job. Adnan Sultan and Karen Thompson (now at ACLU NJ) did first rate work. Great to see local counsel Joe Norwood and prior local counsel Doug Parr, our friend and warrior for justice who worked as a law student on the Wounded Knee cases.
It was Perry’s day and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when he finished his courtroom peroration and press conference. As much as we respect what Erik Johnson and his whole office did for Perry, we cannot and did not forget to stress, as John Grisham has said, citizens of Ada who care about justice should not be comfortable until Tommy Ward is free and the threatened re-prosecution of Karl Fontenot is dropped. That is the original sin of injustice in Ada. This wrongful prosecution, wrought by the same jailhouse snitch and detectives who framed Williamson and Fritz, is recounted by Martin Mayer years ago his book “The Dreams of Ada” and wonderfully revisited the the three part Netflix series The Innocent Man. To be clear, Erik Johnson and his team had nothing to do with the Ward and Fontenot prosecutions and do not currently handle the post conviction matters — the predecessor DA Paul Smith, who inexcusably failed to exonerate Perry Lott five years ago, recused himself from reviewing the Ward and Fontenot matters.
Truth crushed to earth will rise again, no lie can live forever. Exonerate Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot.
Rosa Jimenez is exonerated after a 20-year fight for a crime that never even occurred. Now, let’s help her find a living kidney donor to end her battle with Stage 4 kidney disease. Kidney4rosa.com
Harry Belafonte was a sensational talent in all media, a courageous fighter for justice, and an inspirational leader for decades to all who cared about civil rights, opposed racism, and struggled for fairness in the criminal legal system. Watching “The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Host the Tonight Show,” documentary about an historic week in February 1968 when Johnny Carson gave his chair to Harry Belafonte, provides an important insight into Belafonte’s stature and ability to break through cultural and political barriers. Interviews with Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy just before both were assassinated, thoughtful dialogue with James Baldwin, Sidney Poitier, Buffy Saint-Marie, the Smothers Brothers, Paul Newman, and poet laureate Marianne Moore are riveting. It is a salutary reminder that Mr. Belafonte was ubiquitous influencer. He was also a stalwart supporter of wrongly convicted, including Rubin Carter, the Exonerated 5, and the Angola 3, to mention just a few. A truly great man has passed.
Thank you to @thebeatwithari for having me on to discuss the uphill battle we face of reforming the legal system responsible for locking up hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Watch the clip by clicking the link in my bio above.
Last week, Herman Williams came home after 29 years in prison thanks to the dedication of his attorneys Vanessa Potkin of @innocenceproject and Lauren Kaeseberg of the @illinoisinnocenceproject .
Herman was wrongly convicted in 1994 for the murder of his ex-wife. His conviction was overturned based on new DNA evidence in addition to faulty forensics, and police and prosecutorial misconduct.
According to @exonerationlist , over 43% of exonerations involve prosecutors withholding exculpatory evidence.
📸 : toritorsion / @innocenceproject
