Boston College Law School has been recognized for its role in helping Massachusetts become one of the most successful states not only to win the release of the wrongly convicted, but also to help them reacclimate to life on the outside.
As the Boston Globe observed in an article about the 2022 Innocence Network Conference in Phoenix, Ariz., in April, “Massachusetts had an outsized presence, with only three other states sending more representatives. In the past three years, at least 22 people have been freed from Bay State prisons.”
The report mentions the experiences of Boston College Innocence Program’s (BCIP) former clients Frances Choy, Christopher “Omar” Martinez, and others freed from wrongful conviction in Massachusetts. Among the outcomes is a growing network to help finance, educate, and retrain those returning to society.
The story also features a photo of Martinez hugging Professor Sharon Beckman, director of the BCIP.
“It’s really good having a second family,” he told the Globe as he stood with Beckman, BC staff, and students who helped free him after nearly 20 years in prison. “It’s a family that supports you, a family that cares about you, a family that shows you that you are part of them.”
Read the full Boston Globe article.