ACCURACY & JUSTICE WORKSHOPS
Accuracy & Justice is a project to bring together exonerated death row survivors and criminal justice practitioners, including groups of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges or other professionals, in facilitated workshops about the causes of wrongful convictions and potential strategies for enhancing conviction integrity and reducing wrongful convictions in the future.
An Accuracy & Justice workshop is an approximately two-hour session with a panel of three exonerated death row survivors and an attorney-facilitator with in-depth knowledge of the law and a specific expertise in wrongful capital convictions. Each workshop group’s size and composition may vary.
If your organization is interested in hosting an Accuracy & Justice workshop, please contact speakers@witnesstoinnocence.org.
ACCURACY & JUSTICE WORKSHOPS
TO DATE
We have conducted A&J workshops across the U.S.
Surveys of practitioners after workshops show their impact:
A&J workshops were beneficial to their professional development
the personal stories of the exonerated death row survivors were “very important” components of the workshop
would recommend that other criminal justice professionals participate in an A&J workshop
Past Workshops:
April 14, 2023 - Florida's 19th Judicial District Public Defender's Office
March 9, 2023 - Berkeley Law (CA), American Constitution Society Chapter, Death Penalty Clinic, Abolitionist Collective at Berkeley, Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, Defenders at Berkeley
March 3, 2023 - Athens-Clarke County (GA) District Attorney's Office
March 2, 2023 - University of Georgia Law School, American Constitution Society Chapter
February 28, 2023 - Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law American Constitution Society Chapter
January 19, 2023 - Gwinnett County (GA) District Attorney's Office
October 20, 2022: Wichita Police Department - mini workshop embedded within Evocavi's 5-Day Science-Based Interview Course for Investigators
October 20, 2022 - Los Angeles County (CA) District Attorney's Office - CIU Training
September 15, 2022 - Baylor Law School (TX), American Constitution Society Chapter
April 14, 2022 - Georgia State University College of Law, Criminal Law Society
March 8, 2022 - New York University School of Law, American Constitution Society Chapter
February 25, 2022 - University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law, American Constitution Society Chapter
November 3, 2021 - Salt Lake County Utah District Attorney's Office, Utah
October 27, 2021 - Willamette University (Oregon), American Constitution Society Chapter
May 12, 2021 - Gideon's Promise, Law School Partnership Project Fellows
April 26, 2021 - University of Missouri, American Constitution Society Chapter
April 22, 2021 - University of Arizona, American Constitution Society Chapter
April 19, 2021 - UC Hastings, American Constitution Society Chapter
April 16, 2021 - Northern Illinois University, American Constitution Society Chapter
April 9, 2021 - Metropolitan Public Defender's Office, Portland, Oregon
March 26, 2021 - American Constitution Society, Student Convention
January 29, 2021 - Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney's Office, Virginia
October 23, 2020 - Wyoming State Bar Association
October 8, 2020 - Dallas District Attorney's Office and Criminal Investigation Unit
August 7, 2020 - WTI members spoke to the Washoe County, Nevada Public Defender's Office.
July 30, 2020 - The Orlando, Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala welcomed WTI members.
July 1, 2020 - WTI members did two presentations for the 18th Judicial District Colorado. One for the Conviction Review Unit and one for the Top Prosecutors.
May 7, 2020 - Open audience workshop
October 28, 2019 - San Joaquin District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar and her office welcomed Witness to Innocence exonerees for an A&J workshop and brought them to a presentation for high school students.
September 24, 2019 - The Office of the District Attorney of King County in Seattle held an A&J workshop for around 80 attorneys and members of law enforcement.
"Prosecutor's Partners - Witness to Innocence: Death Row Survivors" featuring King County (Washington) DA Dan Satterberg interview Ray Krone and Randy Steidl following the Accuracy & Justice workshop with his office.
August 19 - 20, 2019 - The Office of the District Attorney of Colorado's 5th Judicial District hosted exonerees at two A&J workshops for groups of prosecutors and law enforcement in Eagle County and Summit County.
Basalt Police Sgt. Aaron Munch, Kwame Ajamu, Gary Drinkard, Sabrina Butler-Smith, and Basalt Police Chief Greg Knott in Eagle County/Megan Tackett/Aspen Daily News
April 11, 2019 - We conducted an A&J workshop in Brooklyn, NY, with Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, their Conviction Integrity Unit, and a large group of prosecutors in his office.
March 2019 - As part of the outcome of Accuracy & Justice workshops, Kirk Bloodsworth helped author a paper titled "Prosecutors and Public Defense" along with the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College.
December 11-12, 2018 - Exonerees met with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Conviction Integrity Unit Head Patricia Cummings, and over 400 prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
September 25, 2018 - At the Washington State 60th Annual Judicial Conference, we conducted an A&J workshop after being selected through a competitive proposal process.
June 21, 2018 - We conducted an A&J workshop for 35 senior prosecutors from offices located across the United States at the ‘Elevating the Voice and Role of Prosecutors’ Conference held at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The conference was sponsored by the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution.
April 20, 2018 - Our April workshop was for 25 senior prosecutors from the office of State Attorney Andrew Warren, 13th Judicial Circuit, in Tampa, FL. The three participating exonerated death row survivors also shared their stories with approximately 75 staff members from the DA’s office after the workshop.
Policy impact: State Attorney Andrew Warren (Hillsborough County, FL) established a new, first-ever Conviction Review Unit after this A&J workshop.
Death row exonerees Sabrina Butler-Smith, Ray Krone, and Randy Steidl with State Attorney Andrew Warren
December 8, 2017 - We conducted an A&J workshop for 15 attorneys from the Criminal Division of the office of Pete Holmes, Seattle City Attorney in Seattle, WA.
October 23, 2017 - We organized and led a 90-minute workshop for elected prosecutors and criminal justice experts as part of a day-long national convening of DA’s sponsored by Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) in Philadelphia, PA. Elected officials in attendance included: Aramis Ayala, State Attorney, 9th Judicial Circuit, Orlando, FL; Mark Dupree, District Attorney, Wyandotte County, Kansas City, KS; Kim Gardner, Circuit Attorney, City of St. Louis, MO; Eric Gonzalez, Acting District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY; Marilyn Mosby, State’s Attorney, City of Baltimore, MD; Melissa Nelson, State Attorney, 4th Judicial Circuit, Jacksonville, FL; Kim Ogg, District Attorney, Harris County, Houston, TX; and Andrew Warren, State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit, Tampa, FL.
Policy impact: State Attorney Aramis Ayala (Orange-Oceola Counties, FL) established a new, first-ever Conviction Review Unit after attending this A&J workshop.
Sabrina Butler-Smith and State Attorney Aramis Ayala
October 6, 2017 - We conducted the first A&J workshop for 20 senior prosecutors from the office of Jeff Rosen, District Attorney of Santa Clara County, CA. The three participating exonerated death row survivors also shared their stories with approximately 100 staff members from the DA’s office after the workshop.
FAQ about A&J
What is expected from an organization that hosts a workshop?
Witness to Innocence (WTI) expects the host organization to provide a conference room where the agreed-upon number of workshop participants and the WTI team can be comfortably accommodated. WTI does not provide coffee or snacks for the workshop, but the host group is welcome to do so.
What is the format of the workshop?
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Brief Introductions of the WTI team and workshop participants
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Introductory presentation by the attorney-facilitator
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Brief background presentations by the three exonerated death row survivors on the panel
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Questions for the exonerated death row survivors from the attorney-facilitator
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Questions for the exonerated death row survivors from the workshop participants
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Facilitated conversation between exonerated death row survivors and workshop participants about the causes of wrongful convictions and potential strategies for preventing wrongful convictions in the future
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Workshop participants complete and return evaluation forms
If my agency, department, or organization is interested in hosting an Accuracy & Justice workshop, what is the next step?
Contact speakers@witnesstoinnocence.org.