North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence

Our History

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2000, the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence was established to coordinate the efficient and effective review and investigation of innocence claims forwarded from law schools, journalists, defense attorneys, and others involved in the criminal justice system. The Center has become a driving force behind recommendations for criminal justice reform which increase both the reliability of convictions and the public’s confidence in our justice system.

Our Mission

The Center’s primary mission is to identify, investigate, and litigate credible claims of innocence asserted by indigent, unrepresented inmates convicted of a felony in North or South Carolina. We are committed to obtaining justice for people imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, for the victims of those crimes, and for the actual perpetrators. Our secondary mission is to educate policymakers, the public, and legal and law enforcement communities about the factors that contribute to wrongful convictions, and to promote emerging solutions that help increase the reliability of convictions. The final prong of the Center’s mission is to support our clients in their difficult reentry back into society. Promoting systematic changes to our criminal justice system helps:

• Prevent the true perpetrators from victimizing others

• Save people from years of suffering due to wrongful imprisonment

• Increase public confidence in the system

• Decrease cost to taxpayers