In 1989, Gary Dotson became the first person to be exonerated through DNA testing, which proved that he did not commit the rape of which he had been convicted. Since then, a total of 200 Americans have been exonerated based on DNA testing, and more than 300 have been exonerated based on other conclusive evidence of innocence. This wave of exonerations has fostered a new awareness among policymakers and the public that the criminal justice system is failing at one of its most critical functions: the reliable conviction of the guilty and exoneration of the innocent.

In 2000, a group of District of Columbia attorneys concluded that recent, high-profile exonerations in this region signaled shortcomings in our area's criminal justice systems that required local response. They formed the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) to identify and correct wrongful convictions in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia and to advocate for systemic changes that can prevent these injustices from happening in the future. Working with a network of pro bono lawyers and law students at six area law schools, MAIP provides investigative and legal assistance to indigent prisoners whose innocence can be proven by DNA testing or by other newly discovered evidence.

When it was first founded, MAIP was a board-run organization with a volunteer Executive Director. Despite this lack of resources, in 2001, MAIP secured the DNA exoneration of Marvin Anderson, a wrongfully convicted Virginia man who had served 15 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. In 2002, MAIP hired its first full-time employee, a Project Director who oversaw day-to-day office operations. With one full-time employee, an active Board of Directors, an Honorary Board of prominent community members, and an impressive cadre of volunteers, MAIP was able to screen cases, supervise volunteer student groups at several area law schools, monitor cases that had been referred to pro bono lawyers, and advocate for policy reforms designed to prevent wrongful convictions.

Over the past two years, MAIP has made gains for its clients, conducted groundbreaking policy research, and hired a more professionalized staff. In 2005, one of MAIP's cases was granted one of the first hearings under Virginia's Writ of Actual Innocence statute, and MAIP also released A Vision for Justice, a report of the Innocence Commission of Virginia (ICVA). The ICVA investigated 11 Virginia cases in which innocent persons had been convicted and exonerated, analyzed the causes of those wrongful convictions, and recommended reforms to Virginia law designed to prevent such convictions from occurring in the future. In addition, in July of 2005, MAIP was able to hire an attorney with extensive expertise in the area of wrongful convictions as its Executive Director, and in July 2006, MAIP was able to hire an experienced federal public defender as its Assistant Director

MAIP has received more than 2,700 requests for assistance from prisoners who claim that they are innocent. That direct assistance is the core of MAIP's work and mission. MAIP's staff works with law students and ultimately with a screening committee of pro bono lawyers to carefully screen each request, determining: (1) whether the prisoner might be innocent; and (2) whether DNA testing or a factual investigation could prove that claim. Potentially meritorious cases are referred to one of six law schools for investigation, under the supervision of qualified attorneys. When students uncover or confirm compelling evidence of innocence, MAIP finds pro bono attorneys to co-counsel with its attorneys on each case. Throughout the process, MAIP serves as a resource, providing training, supervision, case management, and administrative assistance.

MAIP also engages in policy and public education initiatives designed to encourage simple, commonsense reforms to improve the accuracy of the criminal justice system and to prevent future wrongful convictions. In the past year, MAIP's Executive Director has testified on behalf of legislation in Maryland that would mandate the electronic recording of all police interrogations; legislation in Maryland that would change procedures for conducting eyewitness lineups and photo arrays to make them more accurate; and legislation in the District of Columbia that would make it easier for exonerees to get their wrongful convictions expunged. In the coming year, MAIP will lead a coalition of Maryland organizations to push for three key criminal justice reforms, will be monitoring eyewitness procedures and appellate procedures in Virginia, and may push for the mandatory recording of interrogations in Virginia.