Witness to Innocence will honor the Death Penalty Representation Project at its 10th Anniversary Gala Celebration this fall in recognition of the Project’s “steadfast commitment and courageous work to ensure that all those who are facing the death penalty be provided with qualified, competent lawyers at every step of the process to ensure a fairer and more accountable system of justice in the United States.” Witness to Innocence is a nonprofit organization founded by death row exonerees to empower survivors of death row across the country.
The gala will also honor Senator Patrick Leahy; Madeline deLone, the Executive Director of the Innocence Project; the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Community Defender Office of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the European Commission; and Linn Washington. The celebration’s keynote speaker will be Sister Helen Prejean, an advocate best known for her non-fiction book Dead Man Walking. The gala will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 2013. More information about the event can be found at http://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/gala-about.html.