Join the Illinois Innocence Project on Tuesday, September 23 for our campus-wide Lunch & Learn with IIP exoneree Jerry Herrington. This Lunch & Learn is the first in our monthly series featuring presentations and discussions with freed/exonerated individuals.
The Illinois Innocence Project is pleased to present "Stories of Justice: An Evening with Amanda Knox" on September 24, 2025 at the Union League Club of Chicago. Amanda will read from her newest book, FREE: My Search for Meaning and share her journey to reclaim her identity after spending 4 years in an Italian prison and enduring 8 years on trial for a murder she did not commit. Following the reading, there will be a panel discussion with Amanda and clients the Illinois Innocence Project has helped exonerate and/or release.
The Illinois Innocence Project, based at the University of Illinois Springfield, announced the full exoneration of six clients in Cook County today after they collectively served 124 years in prison for a murder they did not commit.
Today in court, Cook County Judge Alfredo Maldonado, with agreement from the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office, vacated the wrongful murder conviction of Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) client Jerry Herrington, dismissing all charges and fully exonerating him. IIP is based at the University of Illinois Springfield.
A Cook County judge has overturned the wrongful murder conviction of Brian Beals, who spent 35 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. The dismissal of all charges against Beals marks the end of a legal battle that began in 1988 when he was wrongly accused of murdering a 6-year-old boy in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.
The Illinois Innocence Project (IIP), based at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS), held its first mandated statewide Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance (WCAA) training for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Police Training Institute (PTI) recruit officers on Friday, March 31, in Urbana.
It's time to reconnect and celebrate! Join the Illinois Innocence Project at our Defenders of the Innocent event to support our fight to free the innocent, and honor the many freed and exonerated guests in attendance.
The Exoneree Band returns to the stage with special guest Amanda Knox. Freedom and a love of music bind these exonerees who collectively lost 100+ years of their lives to wrongful imprisonment for crimes they did not commit.
A Cook County judge vacated the wrongful murder conviction of longtime UIS Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) client Marilyn Mulero and dismissed all charges against her. Mulero, a victim of notorious former Chicago Detective Reynaldo Guevara, spent nearly three decades in prison for a 1992 murder she did not commit.
The Third Annual Defenders of the Innocent Award Reception was held on May 24, 2010 at the .
The Downstate Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield honored four individuals with Defender of the Innocent Awards on May 16, 2011. The awards were handed out as part of a 10th anniversary celebration and fundraiser at the Inn at 835 in Springfield.