The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice

Very strategically. Some of the money would make our part time policy director full time, so The Foundation can continue our policy work in 3 states, expand into 3 more, and federally. 

I would hire a full time, in-house fundraising person, to work towards raising the annual $1.3 million dollar budget to hire personnel to maximize our effectiveness, and eventually enough to open an office in each state, and ultimately each country.

Hire an in-house full time public relations person to increase our public profile, which assists fundraising and obtaining other help.

Some money would be used to pursue exoneration in our waitlisted cases.

All these steps would elevate our work. 

My biggest challenge is I lack the network to raise sufficient funds. I donated $1.5 million dollars, ultimately putting in $3 million. After 3 years, I couldn't keep self funding, so we became a volunteer organization, with 2 part timers. My goal is to have a full time staff again to increase our capacity- I know worked before and what to improve. The networking and training I will receive if I win will assist me in improving my network, and that can help with fundraising. Elevate us!!

I was exonerated by DNA evidence after 16 years in prison for a murder and rape I didn't commit-from age 17 to 32, which identified the real perpetrator. My mission in life is to free others in the same position I was, while also preventing it. I have a Masters Degree, and wrote a thesis on  wrongful conviction causes and prevention.  I also became a lawyer to pursue my dream of exonerating others as an attorney.

Using $1.5 million dollars of my compensation, and ultimately $3 million, I started The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice. We have freed 10 people; passed laws: video-taping interrogations; identification reform; DNA Database Expansion. As part of the It Could Happen To You coalition I am an advisory board member of, we passed the Commission On Prosecutor Conduct (independent oversight) Discovery Reform (sharing evidence automatically and early, not on the eve of trial); automatic exoneree expungement of charges. 

Current pursuits: NY: removing exceptions to videotaping interrogation. Pennsylvania: Commission On Prosecutor Conduct; exoneree compensation (PA doesn't have it). CA: Commission On Prosecutor Conduct; repealing the death penalty.

In the documentary short "Conviction" (On Amazon Prime) about my advocacy, I call attention to general justice reform issues.

The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice pursues policy changes aimed at preventing wrongful conviction while also seeking to free the wrongfully convicted. We have freed 10 people, and are currently pursuing exoneration 10 cases. We helped pass 3 laws, and another 4 with our coalition partner, It Could Happen To You. 

Per the National Registry of Exoneration, from 1989 forward there have been 2765 exonerations. Up to 120,000 thousand people in the United States are wrongfully imprisoned, while a Wayne State University study estimates 10,000 new wrongful convictions each year. The average length of wrongful imprisonment is 14 years. 

Wrongful conviction is a national problem in the United States, and around the world. The same systemic deficiencies that cause wrongful conviction in the US, cause them internationally.  

Prosecutorial misconduct is a major cause of wrongful conviction; we are seeking to pass the Commission On Prosecutor Conduct in New York, Pennsylvania, and California. 

Coerced, false confessions have caused wrongful conviction in 25% of DNA proven wrongful convictions; we are working on removing exceptions to video-taping. 

A black defendant is 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder; 3 1/2 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of sexual assault.

Most organizations in the field only take on DNA cases, whereas we take on both DNA and Non-DNA cases. DNA evidence is only available in 5 to 12% of all serious felony cases.

If any of our clients come up for parole, we seek their release that way so they can be free while we pursue exoneration for them; the other organizations don't.

We pursue policy changes that other organizations in the field don't, such as the Commission On Prosecutor Conduct.

The Foundation forms its own policy positions and pursues them, even if other organizations in the field have a different position. Everyone else is in lock step with The Innocence Project.

We use our platform to assist other organizations pursuing non-innocence related to criminal justice reform issues; others don't.

The Foundation was started by an exoneree; other organizations were not started by a personally impacted person. I am both an exoneree and an attorney!!

We regularly engage in speaking engagements; panel discussions; podcast interviews; and multi-media interviews; the organizations do so much less frequently. 

We have freed 10 wrongfully convicted people- that was effective because 10 people are free. We helped pass 3 laws: video-taping interrogations, which addressed coerced, false confessions-25% of the DNA proven wrongful convictions; identification reform, whereas misidentification caused wrongful conviction in 75% of the cases; DNA Database Expansion, which can lead to the identification of the actual perpetrator while exonerating the innocent.

We helped build a coalition in NY, with our partner, the coalition It Could Happen To You. It was effective because we built the coalition and passed legislation: the Commission On Prosecutor Conduct, which addresses prosecutorial misconduct. We passed Discovery Reform- sharing evidence by the prosecution and defense early in the process will result in trials that are fairer.

 We are working on repassing the Commission On Prosecutor Conduct and removing the exceptions to the law mandating video-taping interrogations. That will deter prosecutorial misconduct and coerced, false confessions.

We are continuing to build a coalition in Pennsylvania: we passed automatic expungment of criminal records of exonerees once cleared. We are working on passing compensation.

In California, death penalty repeal is the goal, and to pass the Commission.

We can identify innocence cases that can be won.