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Wrongful Convictions in America — Life After Justice
Wrongful Convictions in America
Building an ecosystem of empowerment for wrongfully convicted individuals.

Wrongful convictions are not isolated mistakes — they reflect patterns in how cases are investigated, prosecuted, and resolved, and how survivors are left without support after.

Exonerations Since 1989
3,500+
innocent people officially exonerated in the U.S.
Each number is a life stolen — years of freedom, family, and opportunity lost forever.
National Registry of Exonerations, 2024
Years Stolen
20,000+
combined years lost to wrongful imprisonment
The average exoneree spends 8.7 years in prison before being cleared.
Innocence Project; National Registry of Exonerations
Black exonerees53%
Share of population13%
More likely convicted7×
Racial Disparity
53%
of exonerees are Black — despite being 13% of the population
Black Americans are 7× more likely to be wrongfully convicted than white Americans.
National Registry of Exonerations, Race and Wrongful Convictions
DNA Exonerations
375+
innocent people freed through DNA evidence
21 of those individuals served time on death row before DNA proved their innocence.
Innocence Project, 2024
No Compensation
36%
of exonerees receive no compensation whatsoever
12 states have no compensation statutes. Many exonerees leave prison with nothing.
Innocence Project; Stateline / Pew Research
2% est.
5% est.
10% est.
of 2M incarcerated — estimated innocent
Still Inside
120K+
estimated innocent people remain incarcerated today
Studies estimate 2–10% of prisoners are innocent. Even 1% = over 20,000 people.
Gross et al., PNAS; Zalman, Criminal Law Bulletin
93 Years Taken — Life After Justice
Our Board
93
Years Taken.
A Lifetime of Purpose.
Life After Justice was founded by Jarrett Adams and Antoine Day — leaders who survived wrongful conviction and now drive this work forward. Together with our board, they have collectively spent 93 years incarcerated for crimes they did not commit — nearly a century of stolen time, separated families, and delayed futures. That lived experience shapes every decision we make and fuels our commitment to ensuring no one has to rebuild alone, while driving the systemic change needed to prevent future harm.
Our Mission
Guided by lived experience.
Life After Justice works to secure freedom, support healing, and prevent future harm for people impacted by wrongful incarceration through data-driven strategic litigation, holistic mental health support, and research to drive systemic change.
Our Vision
A future where transformation & healing is possible.
We envision a future where people harmed by wrongful convictions can heal, rebuild, and thrive within a pioneering ecosystem of resources — and where the systems that caused harm are transformed.
Research: By Us, For Us — Life After Justice
Our Approach

Built From Experience.
Designed for Change.

Our work begins with lived experience — and extends across everything we do. We combine strategic litigation, holistic mental health support, and survivor-led research to address wrongful convictions at every stage: securing freedom, supporting healing, and preventing future harm. This integrated model allows us to turn experience into action, and action into lasting change. Survivors don’t just shape our work — they lead it.

Research: By Us, For Us
Tracing the Patterns That Drive Change.

We study the patterns behind wrongful convictions — how cases are built, where systems fail, and what happens after release. Grounded in the lived experiences of those most directly impacted, our research turns hard-earned insight into evidence that drives accountability, informs policy, and builds solutions rooted in truth. Through initiatives like Pleas for Freedom (the Alford Plea Project), the National Incentivized Informant Research Project, and the National Amplification Campaign, we translate lived experience into data—and data into action—strengthening advocacy, advancing accountability, and preventing future wrongful convictions.

Three Research Initiatives
The Work That Builds the Evidence.
Initiative 01

Pleas for Freedom: The Alford Plea Project

Alford pleas force wrongfully incarcerated people to make an impossible choice: accept a conviction for a crime they did not commit or remain in prison indefinitely. At Life After Justice, we call these “Pleas for Freedom.” Our project documents these cases, elevates survivor stories, and puts a mirror up to a system that makes freedom contingent on surrendering innocence.
Initiative 02

The National Incentivized Informant Research Project

Incentivized informant testimony is one of the leading — and most preventable — causes of wrongful convictions. Our preliminary findings show that at least 31% of known U.S. exonerations involved incentivized informants. This first-of-its-kind in depth and scope project examines the role of all types of incentivized informants in known wrongful convictions, partnering with researchers from Cornell University and Boston College.
Initiative 03

The National Amplification Campaign

The first-of-its-kind in depth and scope, survivor-led national survey designed by and for people directly impacted by wrongful incarceration and their loved ones. Guided by the principle “Nothing About Us Without Us,” this campaign gathers lived experience through a statistically reliable national sample to illuminate the real needs of the innocence community.
We transform lived experience and data into evidence that strengthens advocacy, advances accountability, and prevents future wrongful convictions.
Life After Justice