Larry Golden points out that the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) at the University of Illinois Springfield uses undergraduate students in researching and reviewing cases, making it the only innocence project in the nation to do so.

"The young people who are coming in, their lives are being changed (by this work) and they’re telling us (that) right now," said Golden, a professor emeritus at UIS and the founding director of IIP in 2001, who is still involved in classes being taught at UIS. "We’re seeing the results of the seeds that got planted."

Golden accepted the Humanitarian of the Year award presented by the Greater Springfield Interfaith Association at its annual Thanksgiving Service at Temple B’rith Sholom on Nov. 24.

More:Illinois Innocence Project based in Springfield helps free man after 32 years behind bars

Also at the presentation was longtime IIP executive director John Hanlon.

The award comes on the heels of IIP, along with two other groups, working for the release of Danny Davis, a Cairo, Illinois, man who spent 32 years behind bars after pleading guilty to the murder and robbery of a woman who ran a convenience store in the town.

Davis, according to the Innocence Project website, endured "psychological and physical abuse" after being brought in for initial questioning, including being threatened with the death penalty.

Davis and his brother, Isaac, signed false confession statements implicating themselves and another person. Davis pleaded guilty, he told a judge, because "I (wanted) to live."

IIP has helped secure the release of 25 innocent people.

GSIA cited the project for its work for reform at "all levels of policy, policing and government to reduce and eliminate wrong convictions in Illinois."

Golden said receiving recognition from people outside "who don’t fully understand what we do but do understand the justice that comes out of the work that we do is so satisfying."

Several faith-based and justice-oriented groups, like the Springfield Dominicans, were particularly helpful to IIP in the early days, Golden said, when it had little funding outside of the university.

IIP also received the Humanitarian of the Year award in 2015. The second award reflected "the continued significance and statewide impact of their persistent and courageous advocacy for justice for the wrongfully convicted," according to GSIA.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788: sspearie@sj-r.com: X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.