UOIT students to host Wrongful Conviction Day on October 6

In the Canadian criminal justice system, the objective is to ensure the guilty are convicted and the innocent are acquitted. But sometimes the wrong people still end up behind bars—and spend many years there for a crime they did not commit.

Students at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) have partnered with Innocence Canada (formerly the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted or AIDWYC) to raise awareness concerning these miscarriages of justice by hosting the third-annual Wrongful Conviction Day on campus Thursday, October 6.

Wrongful Conviction Day is an international campaign is designed to encourage organizations and the general public to set aside one day to focus on and discuss the causes of and remedies for wrongful convictions. UOIT is one of several post-secondary institutions across Canada participating this week.

The Social Science and Humanities Student Society and the Rotaract Club of DC and UOIT have organized a number of events on campus, including:

• Guess how many jellybeans are in the jar (number of jellybeans represents number of years an innocent person spent in prison) for a chance to win Raptors tickets.
• Sign/initial a poster that says “I stand with those who have been wrongfully convicted”.
• E-petition signing to show support for the wrongfully convicted.
• Live video blogging and tweeting throughout the event.

Details:

• When: Thursday, October 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Where: 61 Charles Street Building, second floor

Innocence Canada is a Canadian, non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, advocating for and exonerating individuals convicted of a crime they did not commit, and preventing such injustices in the future through legal education and justice system reform. In the years since its inception, the organization’s team of volunteers have reviewed hundreds of cases and have helped exonerate 20 innocent people who collectively spent more than 190 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. More than 50 pro-bono lawyers are currently reviewing close to 100 claims of innocence on the organization’s behalf.

For more information, please contact student-organizers Maha Khan or Alisha Gopaul.