At the Tennessee Innocence Project, our mission is clear: to free innocent people wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit, to raise awareness of this pressing issue, and to drive policy reforms that prevent future wrongful convictions.
Imagine your loved one is charged with a crime they did not commit. You know them, their character, and their innocence. Yet, despite the truth, the allegations are terrifying, and the stakes are incredibly high. You may think that if they are truly innocent, the justice system will protect them.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
Since 1989, more than 3,400 people across the United States have been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted. Collectively, these innocent individuals lost more than 30,000 years of their lives behind bars for crimes they did not commit.
That’s where we step in.
Founded in 2019 as Tennessee’s first full-time innocence organization, TIP focuses on three key areas:
Investigating and litigating claims of actual innocence to secure exonerations for those wrongfully imprisoned in Tennessee.
Training law students and attorneys on litigating innocence cases and preventing future wrongful convictions.
Driving policy reforms that enable the discovery of wrongful convictions and provide remedies for those who are wrongfully convicted.
In just five years, TIP has secured seven exonerations, accounting for a total of 194 years lost by innocent individuals. But our work is far from over. In 2023 alone, we received 180 new applications from individuals convicted in over 50 Tennessee counties, with more arriving daily.
Our commitment to justice remains unwavering. As Jason Gichner, our Executive Director, states, "Every wrongful conviction represents a tragedy—both for the individual whose life is taken from them and for the integrity of our justice system. At the Tennessee Innocence Project, we stand firm in our belief that every innocent person deserves to be heard, to be believed, and ultimately, to be freed."
Despite limited resources, we continue to carefully review every case, selecting the most compelling ones to pursue. Together, we are building a future where wrongful convictions become a thing of the past, and justice truly prevails.
“Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”
- Representative John Lewis