PBCBA BAR BULLETINS PBCBA Bulletin - January 2020 | Page 8

In January 2018, Melissa Nelson’s office
created the first conviction integrity
unit (CIU) in Florida. There are now two
additional units in Florida—the 13th
Judicial Circuit under State Attorney
Andrew Warren, and the 9th Judicial
Circuit under State Attorney Aramis Ayala.
According to Nelson’s CIR report, the
purpose of the division is to “review and
investigate claims of actual innocence, and
provide analysis and assistance to address
the prevention of errors/issues which
might lead to a miscarriage of justice.”
Additionally, the State Attorney’s Office
for the Fourth Judicial Circuit recognizes
“When an innocent man or woman is
convicted and the guilty person is not held
accountable, justice as a whole suffers.”
The recognition by some State Attorney’s
Offices that wrongful convictions represent
injustice everyone should confront and
support is an important, and major, shift
in prosecutorial thinking. It is never too
late to right a wrong. This fight requires
your financial support in order to ensure
the continued progress of IPF. There are
worthy causes within the legal profession
involving financial inequities and reforms
which seek to even the playing field for civil
litigants in their quest for remuneration.
But, there is no more important award then
the award of freedom to someone who has
spent decades in prison for a crime they did
not commit. Your contribution is in human
capital, in the forgotten. There are many
more in Florida prisons awaiting relief
for wrongful convictions. Annually, more
than 1,000 requests for inmate assistance
are received by IPF, the organization
committed to finding and freeing the
innocent in Florida prisons, helping
exonerees transition back into a changed
society, and working to reform the criminal
justice system. However, operating entirely
from grants and donations, IPF cannot
function without community support.
Join the Innocence Project of Florida, the
Palm Beach County Bar Association, and
Florida exonerees who have benefitted from
the work of IPF - and your contributions -
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN
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in supporting this event. The money raised
goes directly to fund the litigation support
for these cases, including critical DNA
testing, which alone averages $ 5,000 per
case. Please consider a firm or individual
sponsorship to the Fourth Annual Stand
Up for Innocence Comedy Event to be held
February 6, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. at the Kelsey
Theater in Lake Park.
To pledge a sponsorship, inclusive of
tickets to the event, or make a donation to
IPF, please go to www.FloridaInnocence.
org. To learn about additional sponsorship
opportunities or more about the event,
please contact Nellie King at 561-833-1084,
or via email at Nellie@CriminalDefenseFla.
com.
1 To
learn more about the Innocence Project
of Florida, go to www.Florida Innocence.org
or view IPF’s video, Unlock the Truth: http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoov5aNwn9U.