Welcome

Thank you for visiting the Institute for Actual Innocence. Please take time to visit our website and find out more about our program.

The Institute for Actual Innocence works to identify and exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Students, faculty, and practicing lawyers collaborate to assist Virginia prisoners in post-conviction relief.  The Institute is part of a national community of innocence projects committed to improving the administration of justice in the United States. The Institute pursues exonerations through post-conviction statutes called writs of actual innocence.

A rich educational experience for law students is mission critical.  Students experience a rigorous introduction and then immersion into the world of case reinvestigation. The Institute’s for-credit program has  academic and clinical learning frameworks.  Both teaching dimensions focus on providing a top-flight educational experience for the student.  The program integrates legal theory with  teaching fundamental, practical principles that surround criminal case investigation.  Students partner with legal, scientific and policy leaders in their work.   

A core goal of the Institute is to expose students to the importance of public service in the life of a lawyer.  The Institute is devoted to the belief that institutions have a duty to act in a public-spirited way and to connect with those at all levels of society, especially those at the margins of society.