This year is the 25th Anniversary of the founding of what is now known as the Great North Innocence Project. In 2018, when I joined what was then the Innocence Project of Minnesota as executive director, I dove into an exploration of our organization’s history, reading through notes on its founding and early board meeting minutes to get a sense of how it all started and who made our work possible.
I’m eager to kick off this milestone year by sharing some of that inspiring history with you. As the year goes on, we’ll share more stories, interviews with some of our founders and early leaders, and build up momentum to the 25th Anniversary Benefit for Innocence: True North on September 23, 2026! It takes a lot of work and dedication to create a nonprofit organization and make it a success. I’ve found that learning more about our visionary founders, volunteers, supporters, pro bono partners, board members, and staff on whose shoulders we stand is humbling, motivating, and fills me with gratitude. It’s only because of them that our organization has freed fifteen people from the horrors of wrongful convictions and imprisonment and made meaningful systemic changes to our criminal legal system. I hope you enjoy learning about our history too.
First, a little background. In 1989, inspired by new DNA testing technologies that could allow proof of wrongful convictions, Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck founded the Innocence Project in New York. Over the next few years, other innocence organizations around the country followed suit. To help support this growing group of organizations fighting wrongful convictions, the Innocence Project created a support organization called the Innocence Network.
In December of 2000, Minnesota attorneys Jennifer Kramer and Mary Mateer attended a conference at Northwestern University Law School hosted by the Innocence Network. This 3-day conference outlined steps to set up an innocence organization. Hamline University School of Law was also exploring the same possibility. Through Professors Robin Magee and Angela McCaffrey, second-year student Randall Morris began to gather materials and information to start an innocence organization at Hamline.
In January of 2001, the groups came together and formed a steering committee, with Jennifer Kramer as its chair. The other steering committee members were Mary Mateer, Kelly Madden, Jim Ostgard, Hamline University Law School Dean Ed Butterfoss, Professor Jerry Krause, Roger Kramer, Bruce Hanley, John Riemer, Juan Hoyos, Randall Morris, and Professor Sue Myster.
The steering committee met regularly, and by May of 2001 had accomplished significant initial goals and objectives. They named the organization the Innocence Project of Minnesota (IPMN) and agreed to apply for nonprofit (501c3) status. Hamline Law School generously agreed to give IPMN office space and other resources. Hamline law and undergraduate students would have pathways to engage with the organization, and IPMN would be able to tap into resources of the Forensic Sciences Program at Hamline (Sue Myster, Director). IPMN would also continue to explore cooperation and resources from other law schools in the Twin Cities.
The first celebration and fundraiser for this nascent nonprofit organization, a black-tie affair called the Innocence Ball, took place on September 22, 2001, with Innocence Project (NY) founder Barry Scheck as the honorary event chair. Our organization has evolved significantly since those early days, and we are deeply indebted to its visionary founders and early guiding stars for all the success and progress we’ve achieved.
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