SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — For 25 years, the Illinois Innocence Project has worked to free the wrongfully convicted while pushing for reforms to prevent future injustices.

Founded in 2001, the organization began as a small effort rooted in student involvement, at a time when awareness of wrongful convictions was just beginning to grow nationwide.

“When the project started officially in 2001… wrongful conviction… was just becoming something that we were all aware of,” said founding director Larry Golden.

Over the past two and a half decades, the project has evolved into a statewide operation, now handling cases across Illinois and employing a growing team of attorneys, paralegals, and investigators.

Today, the organization operates with a three-part mission. That mission includes: advocating for those wrongfully imprisoned, educating future professionals and the public, and working to reform the criminal justice system.

“We advocate on behalf of innocent women and men who are wrongfully imprisoned… we educate… and then reform is the third part of our mission,” said director Stephanie Kamel

Kamel said that the work includes representing clients in court, training law enforcement, and working with lawmakers to pass legislation aimed at preventing wrongful convictions.

"There’s nothing I’d rather be doing," she added.

One of the project’s most unique aspects is its reliance on undergraduate students, who help investigate cases from the ground up.

“They really are the front line of the work that we do,” Kamel said. “This is real work… investigating these cases.”

Golden added that the model has remained central since the beginning, setting the program apart from others across the country.

“We’re the only undergraduate university… that uses our students to do investigative work."

That hands-on experience often proves life-changing for students, many of whom go on to careers in law, policy, or advocacy.

While the work can take years, often more than a decade per case, the most powerful moments come when a client is released.

“To see a person walk to freedom is just incredible,” Kamel said.

Golden echoed that sentiment. He called those moments “a blessing” after years of effort to prove a person’s innocence.

In its first 20 years, the project helped secure 12 exonerations. In just the past five years, that number has grown significantly, with 21 people freed.

"There’s no other place that we know of that’s doing this work," said Golden.

Beyond individual cases, the Illinois Innocence Project has worked to address systemic issues that lead to wrongful convictions.

That includes helping pass laws, like banning deceptive interrogation practices for juveniles, and launching a statewide police training program focused on wrongful convictions and best practices.

Since 2023, that training has been mandated for all incoming police cadets in Illinois, with more than 6,500 recruits already trained.

“We work collaboratively with law enforcement… to present the problem of wrongful convictions and how they can prevent it,” Kamel said.

Looking ahead as the organization marks its 25th anniversary, leaders said the ultimate goal is to reduce the need for their work altogether.

“Hopefully we will get to a point… where wrongful convictions will not be as big of a problem as it is today,” Golden said.

For now, the work continues. It’s powered by community support, student involvement, and a commitment to justice.

“All of our work… is done pro bono,” Kamel said. “We never charge our clients anything.”

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