25 Jun 2018

Blue Ocean was honored to recently partner with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP) to enhance our community’s understanding of social injustices. Our combined goal is to gain the knowledge necessary to provide relevant and timely support to members within our community. We believe that life’s persistent question of ‘What are we doing for others?’ is one we must answer with action, time, and resources.

MAIP’s mission is to free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system in the hopes of preventing future injustice. According to The National Registry of Exonerations, currently 2,239 people in the United States have been exonerated – that’s more than 19,610 years lost. People who come to MAIP for help oftentimes have nowhere else to turn – and many have been convicted of horrendous crimes and are ignored by society despite their innocence. More often than not, these individuals have never had competent legal representation. MAIP gives hope to these people who may feel that they are out of options.

Blue Ocean team members were invited to enjoy a delicious breakfast at the Milbrook Park Apartments Banquet Hall, where MAIP speakers, Todd Kimmelman and Parisa Tafti, spoke about a difficult case they are currently working on, while also answering attentive questions from the audience. Lamar Johnson – MAIP’s most recent exoneree – told the audience about his story and the difficult journey he’s been through. Overall, it was a very powerful and emotional story for everyone at the event.

Blue Ocean made a generous donation to MAIP to further help the organization continue preventing and correcting the conviction of innocent people in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. These areas have one of the highest success rates in the country for exonerating those who have been wrongfully accused. It was an honor having three wonderful speakers from MAIP share their insight! This organization does incredible work within our community and we enjoyed learning more about what they do and why they do it. Here’s to another successful day of giving back to the community!

Founded in 2000, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project corrects and prevents the conviction of innocent people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. They are one of the most successful of the 54 innocence organizations in the country. They have helped to secure the release and/or exoneration of 27 innocent men who spent a total of 464 years in prison for crimes they did not do. They have also helped pass 13 laws that help improve the criminal justice system.