About Us
When the Center on Wrongful Convictions launched in April 1999, wrongful convictions were viewed as anomalies — rare exceptions to an otherwise well-oiled criminal justice machine. We know now, however, that prisons and death rows around the country are populated by countless individuals who have been wrongly convicted: innocent people doing someone else’s time.
The Center on Wrongful Convictions is dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice. To date, the Center has exonerated more than forty innocent men, women, and children from states around the country, and it receives thousands of inquiries a year. The CWC also houses some of the nation’s leading legal experts on false confessions and police interrogations and has helped exonerate more than twenty false confessors.
Staff
Steven Drizin
Co-Director (currently on leave)
Sara Sommervold
Deputy Director
Gregory Swygert
Co-Director
Rachel White-Domain
Adjunct Professor of Law
Dolores Angeles – Legal Assistant
Barbara Honeysucker – Legal Assistant
Marian Tomlinson – Intake Team Member
Gary Tomlinson – Intake Team Member
Sponsors
Change Agents
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries around the world. PepsiCo’s scale is generated by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, and Tropicana. PepsiCo’s Juice portfolio includes Tropicana, Naked Juice, Kevita, and IZZE.
The seasoned professionals of The Chicago Trust Company, N.A., a Wintrust Wealth Management Company, have proudly offered comprehensive trust solutions and objective estate planning guidance to individuals and institutions throughout the Chicago and southern Wisconsin areas since 1991, making the financial and testamentary goals of our clients a reality.
Leadership Sponsors
Advisory Board
The Center on Wrongful Convictions Advisory Board is made up of Chicago-area leaders in the legal profession who support and facilitate the work of the Center by serving as ambassadors for the Center, securing private support, and providing collaborative and pro bono assistance to the Center’s legal work.
Andrew W. Vall
Jenner & Block
Charles H. R. Peters
Schiff Hardin LLP
Floyd Abramson
Fox Swibel Levin & Carroll LLP
Gary M. Elden
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
James I. Kaplan
Quarles & Brady LLP
Jeanne Bishop
Office of the Cook County Public Defender
Jeffrey E. Stone
McDermott Will & Emery
Jeffrey Singer
Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney
John G. Levi
Sidley Austin LLP
John R. Schmidt
Mayer Brown
Jonathan Quinn
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
Luis Pinedo
Rivers Casino
Sean Berkowitz
Latham & Watkins LLP
Stuart J. Chanen
Chanen & Olstein
Terri L. Mascherin
Jenner & Block
Justice Council
The Justice Council of the Center on Wrongful Convictions (CWC) consists of young professionals and emerging leaders in the legal and business professions who support the CWC’s mission. The Justice Council works to raise money for the CWC, expand its constituency, and educate the general public about wrongful convictions and the urgent need for criminal justice reform.
David Luger
President
Charles DeVore
Vice President
Josephine Park
Treasurer
Kara Amouyal
Fundraising Chair
Jen Huelskamp
CWC Liaison
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