Innocence Program
Fighting Wrongful Convictions Across Massachusetts
We identify and fight to overturn wrongful convictions across the state. Our attorneys represent indigent state defendants who have been convicted and punished for crimes they did not commit. We accept both DNA and non-DNA based innocence claims, with special attention to cases involving eyewitness identification, flawed or invalidated forensic science, and false confessions.
We don’t fight alone.
The CPCS Innocence Program is part of the Committee for Public Counsel Services: the Massachusetts state agency tasked with providing lawyers to people who cannot afford an attorney. We are organized under the CPCS Private Counsel Division.
We regularly partner with other innocence organizations, including:
- The New England Innocence Project (NEIP), a non-profit serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont
- The Boston College Innocence Program, a legal clinic focused on cases in which forensic evidence is not enough to prove innocence
We also belong to the Innocence Network, a group of organizations from all over the world dedicated to fighting wrongful convictions.
If you want to know more about the CPCS Innocence Program, contact our staff. Press inquiries should be directed to our director, attorney Lisa Kavanaugh. We regularly accept students for volunteer and internship positions at our office in Boston, Massachusetts. To get involved, please reach out!
Apply for AssistanceÂ
Filling out one of the below questionnaires. Kindly only send us the questionnaire and no other case-specific material unless and until we ask for more information.
Learn More
For more info about the CPCS Innocence Program or to get involved, search our directory to contact our staff. Press inquiries should be directed to Program Director Lisa Kavanaugh.
Disclaimer: The CPCS Innocence Program is supported by Grant Nos. 15PBJA-24-GG-01938-POST, and 15PBJA-24-GG-02897-WRNG awarded by the National Institute for Justice. The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice Program, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the SMART Office, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions on this website are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice.
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