Today, it is estimated that approximately 3 percent of incarcerated people in the United States are innocent. Thankfully, there are Innocence Projects across the country who are dedicated to investigating and litigating claims of innocence. Without them, these innocent people would have no path to exoneration.

In this episode, I sit down with Jason Gichner, the Executive Director of the Tennessee Innocent Project. Since its founding in 2019, the Tennessee Innocence Project has won 9 exonerations, representing more than 230 years collectively served for crimes these people did not commit. The Tennessee Innocence Project’s 9 exonerations also represent 25% of all known exonerations in the history of Tennessee and they have achieved all of this in just 5 years. 

In our conversation, Jason and I talk about the factors that lead to innocent people being convicted. We discuss specific cases of their clients like Ricky Lee Webb, who served a 47-year sentence (the 4th longest in the history of the U.S.) for a murder he did not commit. Jason and I talk about how the Tennessee Innocence Project does its work and what new laws and policies could be put into effect in both Tennessee and nationwide to help prevent innocent people from being incarcerated. 

The Innocence Project is such an important organization. As Jason said in our conversation, this is a political issue – no one wants innocent people behind bars. I hope you will find this episode inspiring, and you’ll want to learn more about what we all can do to help support their important work.

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