Editing Innocence Project (section)

==Work==
The Innocence Project originated in [[New York City]] but accepts cases from other parts of the country.{{refn|Intake is currently closed in Arizona, California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Puerto Rico<ref name="submissions" />}} The majority of clients helped are of low socio-economic status and have used all possible legal options for justice. Many clients hope that DNA evidence will prove their innocence, as the emergence of DNA testing allows those who have been wrongly convicted of crimes to challenge their cases. The Innocence Project also works with the local, state and federal levels of law enforcement, legislators, and other programs to prevent further wrongful convictions.<ref name=about /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Innocence Project New Orleans partners with JusticeText to litigate wrongful conviction cases |url=https://justicetext.com/ipno/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=justicetext.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Innocence Project |url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/profiles/786-innocence-project |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.law.upenn.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Los Angeles Innocence Project partners with Cal State LA to fight for wrongfully convicted |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/video/los-angeles-innocence-project-partners-with-cal-state-la-to-fight-for-wrongfully-convicted/ |publisher=CBS News|access-date=2023-06-06 |language=en-US}}</ref>

All potential clients go through an extensive screening process to determine whether or not they are likely to be innocent. If they pass the process, the Innocence Project takes up their case, resources permitting. About 2,400 prisoners write to the Innocence Project annually, and at any given time the Innocence Project is evaluating 6,000 to 8,000 potential cases. In addition to their co-directors and a managing attorney, the Innocence Project has six full-time staff attorneys and nearly 300 active cases.<ref name=contact-faq>{{Cite web|title=Contact/FAQ|url=https://innocenceproject.org/contact/|access-date=2022-01-18|website=Innocence Project|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=Innocence |title=Eyewitness Identification {{!}} NYXT |url=http://www.nyxt.nyc/innocence-project/eyewitness-identification/ |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=Eyewitness Identification {{!}} NYXT}}</ref>

In almost half of the cases that the Innocence Project takes on, the clients' guilt is reconfirmed by DNA testing. Of all the cases taken on by the Innocence Project so far, about 43% of clients were proven innocent, 42% were confirmed guilty, and evidence was inconclusive and not probative in 15% of cases. In about 40% of all DNA exoneration cases, law enforcement officials identified the actual perpetrator based on the same DNA test results that led to an exoneration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/How_often_do_DNA_tests_prove_innocence_in_your_cases_Does_testing_ever_prove_guilt.php |title=How often do DNA tests prove innocence in your cases? Does testing ever prove guilt? — The Innocence Project |publisher=Innocenceproject.org |access-date=2015-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105175457/http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/How_often_do_DNA_tests_prove_innocence_in_your_cases_Does_testing_ever_prove_guilt.php |archive-date=2015-01-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Social Justice & Racism - Temple Sinai Summit |url=https://www.templesinainj.org/social-justice-and-racism |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=www.templesinainj.org}}</ref> 
Overall, the Innocence Project's DNA exonerations identified several contributors of wrongful convictions,  including mistaken eyewitness identifications, invalid forensic science, false confessions, informants who lied, and government misconduct.<ref> B. Garrett (2011). Convicting the Innocent. Harvard University Press.</ref>