19 September 2022
(Chicago, IL) – Exonerees from across the country and leadership from the business, legal, and mental health communities are stepping out for an intimate evening with the committed advocates behind Life After Justice at the first annual Reimagine Justice Soirée, Thursday, October 6, 6:30 p.m., Aster Hall, 900 N. Michigan Avenue; a VIP reception for sponsors precedes the event at 5:30 p.m. Details, purchase tickets and sponsorships, and make donations at https://www.lifeafterjustice.org/reimagine-justice. Funds from Reimagine Justice 2022 will support our strategic litigation and holistic mental health and wellness empowerment programs. Learn more about Life After Justice https://www.lifeafterjustice.org.
Exonerees created Life After Justice (LAJ), and the majority exoneree-led Board of Directors’ approach is rooted in the knowledge, expertise, and understanding from the lived experience of its leadership. With over a combined 100 years lost to wrongful incarceration, the LAJ Board’s lived experience is a guiding light for the organization’s efforts to reimagine true justice for those wrongfully convicted. Their goal is to fulfill LAJ’s mission to battle injustice for the wrongfully convicted and support them in reclaiming their lives after justice. Co-founded by lawyer, author, and exoneree Jarrett Adams and musician, business owner, and exoneree Antione Day, the organization bridges the gap for exonerees offering the services and tools to help them make the transition to a stable life.
With the guidance of clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Darlene Perry, LAJ has developed a holistic mental health and wellness program specific to the needs wrongfully convicted individual and their families.
“Readjustment to life after incarceration requires a unique approach to therapy. The lived experience of our founders and board members has guided Dr. Perry’s critical work for exonerees. A portion of the funds from Reimagine Justice will fund the initial pilot group of specially trained therapists and their exoneree clients,” says LAJ’s Executive Director, Joi Thomas Adams. Learn more about Dr. Perry at https://psevolution.com.
At the same time, co-founder Jarrett Adams is leading several strategic litigation efforts on behalf of LAJ to free wrongfully convicted individuals, change the laws that made wrongful conviction possible, and end the preventable injustice of wrongful conviction.
The organization primarily selects cases where individuals were wrongfully convicted without DNA evidence. Supported by ill-conceived legislation and poorly written laws, innocent individuals are convicted because of what LAJ calls the “Five to Fix” - misidentification, false confession, official misconduct, misleading forensic evidence, and perjury/false accusation. Funds raised from Reimagine Justice will support these litigation efforts.
“The event name says it all – we’re here to Reimagine Justice. There is so much work to be done around justice reform, and we want to reimagine justice so that wrongful convictions and the inequity of the justice system are a thing of the past. We believe addressing wrongful convictions plays a significant role in helping to rebuild our justice system so that it is equitable for all citizens. Today, as many as 230,000 individuals in jail are innocent. Wrongly incarcerated individuals have lost 24,695 years of their lives to date, and the vast majority are people of color. Women are not exempt. Between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by 475%. Growth in the women’s state prison population nationwide is exploding at twice that of men, with many of these primary earners and caregivers languishing in prison without cause and due process,” explains Joi Thomas Adams. For more information, see the 2021 Annual Report of the National Registry of Exonerations at https://psevolution.com.
Join us for Reimagine Justice, October 6, 2022, VIP Reception, 5:30 p.m., Soirée, 6:30 p.m., Aster Hall, 900 N Michigan. Tickets for the Soirée only are $100; law school and college student tickets are $50 at https://bit.ly/LAJrj2022tix. Sponsorships are available ranging from $1,500 to $15,000+ at https://bit.ly/LAJrj22sponsors.
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Media Contacts
Life After Justice:
Joanna Broussard
joanna@bizmarkgroup.com
312-331-0133