OUR HISTORY
Founded in 2001, Innocence & Justice Louisiana—formerly Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO)—started as a fellowship for a single lawyer focused on freeing innocent people from prison. Today, we are one of the most respected and successful innocence and resentencing organizations in the country providing comprehensive post-conviction legal representation and support across all 64 parishes in Louisiana. We are also one of the oldest innocence organizations in the United States and a founding member of the Innocence Network.
A Two-Decade Legacy of Freedom and Justice
Innocence & Justice Louisiana takes on the hardest cases—those others are not equipped to handle. Our specialized full-time staff attorneys and investigators work together to provide the highest quality legal representation at no cost to our clients or their families. We devote our time and resources to freeing innocent and unjustly sentenced people who might otherwise die in prison, largely because they are unable to afford their own court and law enforcement records, let alone a lawyer, investigator, or forensic testing.
Within our network, we are known for our strong winning track record on innocence cases—whether those where DNA evidence can prove innocence or where our dogged investigation has unearthed evidence hidden by the state or undiscovered by the trial lawyer. Since 2001, we are proud to have freed 47 factually innocent people who collectively served nearly 1,200 years in prison across Louisiana and Mississippi.
Between 2001 and 2012, we represented wrongfully convicted people from Mississippi. Our first Mississippi exoneree was Cedric Willis in 2006. Recognizing a need for a dedicated Mississippi-based innocence organization, we helped to establish and launch the University of Mississippi’s Innocence Project, now known as George C. Cochran Innocence Project in 2007. As the George C. Cochran Innocence Project solidified its innocence work in Mississippi, we turned our focus to wrongful conviction and unjust punishment cases in Louisiana.
Our attorneys are recognized as some of the state’s preeminent experts in post-conviction law and wrongful conviction compensation proceedings. Because of our work, New Orleans has the highest exoneration rate per capita of any city in the country. Every innocence case we have taken on has resulted in our client being freed.
Expanding Beyond Innocence: The Unjust Punishment Project
In 2019, Innocence & Justice Louisiana launched the Unjust Punishment Project (UPP) to fight for people serving extreme, disproportionate sentences under Louisiana’s habitual offender laws. Rooted in the state’s 1806 Slave Code, these laws have long been used to imprison Black Louisianians for life for minor, non-violent crimes. In 2025, a grant allowed us to expand our focus to unjustly incarcerated women.
Since its founding, the project has freed 29 clients serving life sentences. In just 5 years, UPP has become one of the most successful resentencing initiatives in the country, helping restore hope and dignity to people written off by a system built on punishment over justice.
Building Support Systems for Life After Prison
In 2018, we opened the Re-entry House with the generous support of a donor. The Re-entry House provides sanctuary for our recently released clients in need of temporary housing. Nestled in a quiet New Orleans neighborhood, this home offers up to two freed clients a fully furnished, rent-free place to live for 6 to 18 months. With shared living spaces, a large backyard, and regular in-person support from our Client Services Division, residents have the security and foundation they need to plan for and build their futures.
Our Client Services Division helps with individualized re-entry support—including housing, transportation, mental health care, job training, and civil legal guidance—because freedom alone isn’t enough.
Training Future Advocates: Our Legal Education Programs
In 2021, we partnered with the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU to launch Louisiana’s first Wrongful Conviction Clinic through funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. This intensive, hands-on program trains future lawyers in the fight for post-conviction justice. Students work alongside Innocence & Justice Louisiana attorneys to reinvestigate real cases, conduct legal research, and contribute directly to efforts to free the innocent.
Holding Systems Accountable: LLEAD and Legislative Reform
In 2022, we launched the Louisiana Law Enforcement Accountability Database (LLEAD.co)—a public database tracking police misconduct across the state. LLEAD aggregates thousands of misconduct records from over 600 agencies across the state, enabling the public, journalists, and lawmakers to identify patterns and push for reform.
Beyond our legal work, Innocence & Justice Louisiana has driven policy change at the Louisiana legislature.
We have helped pass and expand laws related to wrongful conviction compensation and the DNA testing of evidence in closed cases. We helped to pass a law that recognizes a free-standing factual innocence legal claim. Less than half of the states have such a statute providing a pathway for innocent people in prison to be freed. We have led major reforms in eyewitness identification procedures and expert testimony.
We’ve also fought and defeated many harmful proposals that would have made it harder for innocent people to be freed by lifting up stories of wrongful incarceration.
