Get to Know Us
We are just getting started, and we can’t wait to tell you about our clients. In the meantime, get to know what what we have been up to at The Tennessee Innocence Project.
At the Tennessee Innocence Project, we have accomplished so much since opening our doors in 2019. The organization has continued to fulfill its mission to free innocent people who are wrongfully convicted by providing critical legal services. We wanted to let you know about some of the work we’ve been doing and how we envision innocence for our clients moving forward.
We ended 2019 with a holiday cocktail reception at Ritchie Dillard Davies & Johnson in Knoxville. Over cocktails guests learned about the work the TIP is performing. Most importantly they heard from Exoneree Ray Krone (pictured above with guests) who spoke about the injustices he experienced before being exonerated by DNA evidence. After spending ten years on death row in Arizona, Mr. Krone became the 100th person exonerated with the use of DNA.
Having Ray Krone join us for this reception was truly inspiring and his story is one that empowers us here at TIP to continue doing our work and moving forward in correcting wrongful convictions.
In January, we hosted a movie viewing of “Just Mercy” at the Regal Green Hills in Nashville. "Just Mercy” is the story of Walter “Johnny D” McMillian who was wrongfully convicted in 1987 and sentenced to death. The movie catalogs attorney Bryan Stevenson’s journey to prove Mr. McMillian’s innocence. Illinois Exoneree and Advisory Council Member Jason Strong and Executive Director Jessica Van Dyke discussed the need for legal representation to the sold-out crowd of nearly 90 people.
In February, students with the Vanderbilt Prison Project at Vanderbilt University and the student chapter of TACDL (Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis signed Valentines to TIP clients and held a bake sale to benefit the organization. We love to see these communities engaged with our work!
Pictured left to right: TIP Advisory Council member Grace Skertich, Exoneree Sabrina Butler, and TIP Executive Director Jessica Van Dyke.
In February, alongside Mississippi Exoneree Sabrina Butler, Executive Director Jessica Van Dyke spoke to the Leo Bearman, Sr. American Inn of Court chapter in Memphis. Ms. Butler – who was the only woman on Mississippi’s death row for five years – discussed how inadequate legal representation and the failure to disclose medical evidence led to her wrongful conviction.
Photo Courtesy of LMU Law Review
Finally, TIP completed February as panelists at the Duncan School of Law at Lincoln Memorial University's Symposium “Modern Forensic Science, Expert Testimony, and Exonerations as Applied to Fire Investigation” in Knoxville. Board President Stephen Ross Johnson and Ms. Van Dyke presented about arson exonerations and the challenges of innocence work in Tennessee.
In March, we were pleased to be the recipient of a Nashville Bar Foundation grant. As a newer organization, this grant was incredibly meaningful to us – both in what it allows our organization to do and who bestowed the award. The Nashville Bar Foundation Fellows represent the best of the bar seeking justice for all.
In March, the organization focused on its social media and online presence. At TIP, we are striving to provide educational material for people that follow us online so that we can convey the importance of legal representation for those in Tennessee. You can follow us on the following social media platforms: Facebook at www.facebook.com/TNInnocenceProject, on our Instagram page at www.instagram.com/tninnocence, and Twitter @ProjectTenn.
In April, the Career Services office at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis announced a new opportunity for its students with the inaugural year of the Pro Bono Summer Program (PBSP). For its first year, PBSP will be partnering with the Tennessee Innocence Project. Students admitted to PBSP will assist remotely on TIP cases. Danielle Dudding Irvine, Bass, Berry & Sims Pro Bono Fellow, will lead and supervise this new summer project. A maximum of three Summer Fellows will be selected. The program will last for three weeks in June.
Fundraising efforts over the past year have helped TIP develop its infrastructure and improve litigation and investigative practices and resources. Although 2020 is presenting struggles for everyone across the globe and throughout our country, we, along with our pro bono partners are dedicated to providing quality legal representation. Every day we receive letters from men and women all over Tennessee asking for help.
As we roll into our second year, we are incredibly thankful for your support. This work is expensive, complex, and time-consuming, but it's worth it. Thank you for helping us connect with others, offering words of encouragement, and for financially supporting TIP. Come back and visit us for more updates to come!