On Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, the Loyola Project for the Innocent (LPI) hosted a panel discussion titled "Error to Action: How Fighting Wrongful Convictions Can Drive Systemic Reform" in honor of the 11th Annual International Wrongful Conviction Day. The event featured LPI’s Executive Director Joe Trigilio; exoneree Victor Platas; staff attorney from the Governor’s Commission on Revising the Penal Code Joy Haviland; Project Director of the Felony Murder Elimination Project, Daniel Trautfield ‘27; and panel moderator LPI Senior Director Adam Grant ’10. The panel focused on the critical role of legal advocacy in overturning wrongful convictions and shaping meaningful policy reform.
“Victor Platas is an exoneree and sits on this panel today because his conviction was vacated due to legislative reforms that Daniel, also on this panel, took part in enacting,” said LPI’s Executive Director Joe Trigilio. “We cannot always rely on the court system to correct injustices, or, especially, to prevent future injustice. That’s why LPI is proud to say that over the last 7 years, we have successfully sponsored 11 different bills in California that aim to address prior wrongful convictions and prevent new ones.”
"Ideally, we want all our clients exonerated and compensated for everything they've been through,” said panel moderator LPI Senior Director Adam Grant ’10. "But the reality for many people and LPI, is that we just want to get them out of prison, reunited with their families, and give them a chance to piece together the rest of their lives. We are trying to get them home in any way possible, and these new legislative reforms are helping us do that.”
Every year on Oct. 2, LPI commemorates Wrongful Conviction Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about the pervasive issue of wrongful convictions. LPI’s central mission is to advocate for wrongly convicted people by training law students to provide the highest quality of representation while advocating for systemic reform. Since its inception, LPI has successfully exonerated 20 clients who collectively served 490 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. To learn more about LPI and their work, please visit here.
