Envision Innocence 2020
On October 22, the Tennessee Innocence Project held our annual fundraiser, Envision Innocence. Things looked a little different this year as the audience gathered for a virtual event hosted by Nashville journalist Demetria Kalodimos. The virtual luncheon featured a lineup of exceptional speakers discussing the impact of wrongful convictions, capped off with a musical performance by our friend, Eric Church.
Van Jones kicked off Envision Innocence 2020 speaking to the Tennessee values he learned growing up in Jackson and how those values are not applied within the state’s criminal justice system. The famed author, lawyer, and news commentator noted that we are “in the top 20 [states] for locking people up, but we’re not in the top 20 for lifting people up… We shouldn’t be bringing up the rear in exonerations.” Van observed that of the 2,683 exonerations in the United States since 1989, only 23 have been from Tennessee, and most of those exonerated have been white.
We are grateful to the players and coaches from the Tennessee Titans, Nashville Predators, and Memphis Grizzlies who partnered with us for this event and raised their voices about wrongful conviction as a racial justice issue. Titans players noted that when compared to innocent white individuals who are also charged, innocent Black men are twelve times more likely to be convicted of drug charges and seven times more likely to be convicted of murder charges. Tennessee exoneree William Arnold’s story is an example of the disproportionate justice afforded to Black Tennesseans.
In the TIP Annual Video, William shared his personal experience with wrongful conviction: “I didn’t make certain choices in life to be here. I did these things they say you’re supposed to do to achieve the American Dream, and now I’m in prison… It’s important to have entities that are willing to challenge what the district attorneys and the courts do.” In 2010, William was falsely accused of assaulting a child he was mentoring in Nashville. Just this year, his conviction was thrown out after evidence previously withheld by the prosecution came to light. The Annual Video also included an emotional interview with Mississippi exoneree and Tennessee resident Sabrina Butler, who described her experience being sentenced to death for a crime she did not commit.
Envision Innocence’s keynote conversation was between best-selling author Jon Meacham and Dr. Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five. Dr. Salaam was falsely accused in the infamous 1989 Central Park Jogger case when he was 15 years old. He described his mindset on the night he was arrested: “I am going to go to the cops. I’m going to tell them what I saw, and I’ll be home before my mom gets back…. I came home seven years later.” Dr. Salaam was exonerated by DNA evidence and now serves on the board of the Innocence Project. If you missed Dr. Salaam’s story, we encourage you to watch Envision Innocence on our Events page.
Thank you to our event sponsors and the supporters who donated to the Tennessee Innocence Project during this campaign! We cannot do this work without your support.