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Wikipedia Draft

Northern California Innocence Project

Formation	2001; 16 Years Ago
Founded at	Santa Clara School of Law at Santa Clara University
Type	Non-Profit Organization
Purpose	Exoneration Justice Reform
Headquarters	500 El Camino Real Santa Clara, CA 95053
Region	United States of America
Affiliations	The Innocence Network
Website	http://law.scu.edu/ncip/about/

Current Article Status

•  Based on the current article, https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Northern_California_Innocence_Project the only information present is a couple sentences briefly describing what the Innocence Project is.
• It also states when the NCIP was founded

Northern California Project

The Northern California Innocence Project(NCIP) is a legal based organization at the Santa Clara University School of Law in Santa Clara, California. The organization revisits previous convictions of individuals who are believed to be innocent of their crimes. Justice has been attained for 19 individuals who have collectively spent 235 years in jail. They are a a non-profit clinical program of Santa Clara University School of Law, which looks to promote a more fair, effective and compassionate criminal justice system. They also take compassion and attempt to protect the rights of all parties involved so that they too may have an adequate trial. NCIP is a member of the national Innocence Project network of similar organizations. The NCIP was created in 2001 by Kathleen “Cookie” Ridolfi and Linda Starr, during this time new legislation in California (CA Penal Code Section 1405) had permitted convicted inmates to seek DNA testing to prove their innocence. 

Founding

The Northern California Innocence Project was established after a landmark amendment that was adopted by the California District Court. CA Penal Code Section 1405 provides currently incarcerated convicted person should seek DNA testing to reveal exculpatory evidence. Kathleen "Cookie" RIdolfi and Linda Starr worked as trial and appellate attorneys for the Criminal Justice System. After numerous years of practice, they realized an opportunity to improve the errors within the system and free wrongly convicted individuals. In 2001, they co-founded the NCIP. The current executive director of the Northern Innocence Project is Linda Starr.

Mission

The Northern California Innocence Project looks to primarily protect the rights of the innocent as well as make a more fair, effective and compassionate justice system. They primarily look to exonerate people whose case allows DNA evidence to be available and be retested in the light of an exoneration. The NCIP promotes for more research and advocacy in wrongful convictions. The NCIP foresees a criminal justice system that correctly divides the innocent from the guilty along with treating all with their inalienable rights and compassion.

Some of the Innocence Project's successes have resulted in rescuing innocent people from death row. The successes of the project have fueled American opposition to the death penalty and have likely been a factor in the decision by some American states to institute moratoria on judicial executions.

Works Cited

• 2005 California Penal Code Sections 1404-1405 :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: PROCEEDINGS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2005/pen/1404-1405.html
• Northern California Innocence Project. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from http://law.scu.edu/ncip/
• The Faces of Wrongful Conviction. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2017, from https://www.scribd.com/document/258172021/The-Faces-of-Wrongful-Conviction
• Smith, A. (n.d.). In Praise of the Guilty Project: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Growing Anxiety about Innocence Projects . Retrieved October 26, 2017, from http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fhybrid13&div=20&id=&page=
• Medwed, D. S. (2003). Actual Innocents: Considerations in Selecting Cases for a New Innocence Project. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&=&context=nlr&=&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fscholar.google.com%252Fscholar%253Fhl%253Den%2526as_sdt%253D0%25252C19%2526q%253Dinnocence%252Bproject%252Bcalifornia%2526btnG%253D%2526oq%253Dinnocence%252Bproject%252Bcalif#search=%22innocence%20project%20california%22  Volume 81 : Issue 3
• Murphy, K. (2017, June 06). Death penalty in California: State Supreme Court holds high-stakes hearing Tuesday. Retrieved October 27, 2017, from http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/05/death-penalty-in-california-state-supreme-court-holds-high-stakes-hearing-tuesday/

Wikipedia Outline

Northern California Innocence Project

The Northern California Innocence Project is a legal based organization in Santa Clara, California. The organization revisits previous convictions of individuals who are believed to be innocent of their crimes. The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) is a non-profit clinical program of Santa Clara University School of Law, which looks to promote a more fair, effective and compassionate criminal justice system. They also take compassion and attempt to protect the rights of all parties involved so that they too may have an adequate trial. The NCIP was started in 2001 by Kathleen “Cookie” Ridolfi and Linda Starr, during this time new legislation in California (CA Penal Code Section 1405) had permitted convicted inmates to seek DNA testing to prove their innocence. 

Current Status of the Article

•  Based on the current article, https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Northern_California_Innocence_Project the only information present is a couple sentences briefly describing what the Innocence Project is.
• It also states when the NCIP was founded

What I will Add to the Article

  More Detailed Introduction/Background Information

• The Current Introduction does not grasp the reader’s Attention
• Add Pictures of NCIP and quick facts
• Update the current information that is present
• Add the Purpose of the Innocence Project

Background Information on the Founder/Organization

• Information on the altered Penal code that encouraged this project to start
• Kathleen Ridolfi holds numerous titles and positions that could speak to her character and her purpose
  • Ridolfi displays a lifetime commitment in improving the justice system
• Ridolfi is a feminist
  • Active citizen in improving/assisting Women’s rights
• Collegiate Professor for the past 2 decades
• Numerous areas of specialty

Information on people/cases that benefitted from the NCIP

• In 1996, four men were in a car when the front passenger turned around and shot and killed the passenger in the seat directly behind him.
• A team with the Northern California Innocence Project based at Santa Clara University ended 12 years of dogged legal wrangling last week when their client was cleared of molestation charges that put him in prison and made him register as a sex offender-Ed Easley

Works Cited

• "2005 California Penal Code Sections 1404-1405 PROCEEDINGS" . Retrieved 27 September 2017
•  "Northern California Innocence Project" . Retrieved 27 September 2017
• Can DNA Demand a Verdict? Accessed October 13, 2017. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/science/forensics/.
• Pierre-Dixon, Rolonada. "Santa Clara Law Centennial Book." ISSUU. Accessed October 19, 2017. https://issuu.com/santaclarauniversity/docs/centennial-book-web.
• "Kathleen “Cookie” Ridolfi, on the “Innocence Project”." Thursday Morning Dialogue. Accessed October 19, 2017. https://www.thursdaymorning.org/event/kathleen-cookie-ridolfi-professor-at-santa-clara-university-law-school-and-the-director-of-the-northern-california-innocence-project/.
• Rubin, Sara. "After 30 years in prison for murder, a chance of a new trial." Monterey County Weekly. April 13, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017.
• Rubin, Sara. "A Monterey man approaches 30 years in prison for a grisly murder he claims he didn’t commit." Monterey County Weekly. December 04, 2014. Accessed October 12, 2017.
• Waters, Michelle. "NCIP Client to be Freed, With Strings." Santa Clara Law. October 13, 2017. Accessed October 19, 2017. http://law.scu.edu/news/ncip-client-to-be-freed-with-string

Life After Death ( Article Outline for NCIP)

Summary of Article

Jack Sagin was a 71-year-old man that was convicted in 1985 for the murder of Paula Durocher and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Sagin filed numerous appeals and was finally granted an opportunity to stand in a court and receive a fair and just trial for his conviction.  Sagin was represented by the Northern California Innocence Project. His new legal team argued that there is new evidence obtained from that night that would possibly have changed the outcome of the trial.

Main Ideas (Supporting Evidence)

Truth behind the lies of the LAW

• The Justice System sometimes fails to acknowledge individuals Human Rights

1. The 6^th Amendment guarantees a citizen a speedy trial, a fair jury, an attorney if the accused person wants one and a chance to confront the witnesses who are accusing the defendant of a crime.
2. When Sagin was fist convicted he was sentenced with no parole due to his criminal background and run-ins with the law.
3. In the initial trial, the Plaintiff only had a witness and no hard evidence to convict Mr. Sagin. Resulting, in the attorney arguing that based on his criminal history and background he is the likely person to have murdered Durocher.

The NCIP in Action

• The Northern California Innocence Project(NCIP) is saving lives and changing the Justice System

1. A team of attorneys and law students that look to represent convicted inmates who seek DNA testing to prove their innocence.
2. California adopted a new Penal Code (CA Penal Code Section 1405) which allows convicted felons to revisit their closed cases to proves their innocence using DNA.
3. There are a lot of people within our justice system who are locked in cages for their entire lives based on circumstantial evidence. The Innocence Project allows people to get their lives back, they take simple human rights that are inalienable and give it back to the people that society “fears the most”. The NCIP is saving lives and identifying flaws in our justice system that we should direct our attention to.

  DNA, Is DNA enough to give this man a fresh start?

• DNA is actually vital for all living beings. Everyone learns in grade school that DNA is importance to inheritance as well as coding genetic information on life and its processes. But can DNA be enough to get someone out of Jail

1. DNA is actually unique to each individual. DNA is actually formed in a unique sequence that can be distinguished from the DNA patterns of other individuals
   1. Any two people share on average, 99.9% of their DNA, meaning that only 0.1% of your DNA is unique to you.
2. DNA profiling has actually helped acquit and convict suspects I many crimes including rape and murder.
3. DNA is present in all types of evidence left behind at a crime scene, including blood, hair, skin, saliva, and semen. Scientist can analyze the SNA in evidence samples to see if it matches a suspect’s DNA

• The case now currently hinges on the DNA testing of evidence collected at the scene and stored in locker since. Experts actually found the DNA of five different men on various items and none matching Sagin.

1. ased on the DNA recorded and reported, the NCIP is presented with the challenge of persuading the Judge that they had to leave DNA at the crime scene.

Works Cited

Can DNA Demand a Verdict? Accessed October 13, 2017. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/science/forensics/.

Rubin, Sara. "After 30 years in prison for murder, a chance of a new trial." Monterey County Weekly. April 13, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017.

Rubin, Sara. "A Monterey man approaches 30 years in prison for a grisly murder he claims he didn’t commit." Monterey County Weekly. December 04, 2014. Accessed October 12, 2017.

Northern California Innocence Project

https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Northern_California_Innocence_Project

The Northern California Innocence Project is a legal based organization in Santa Clara, California. The organization revisits previous convictions of individuals who are believed to be innocent of their crimes. The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) is a non-profit clinical program of Santa Clara University School of Law who looks to promote a more fair, effective and compassionate criminal justice system. They also take compassion and attempt to protect the rights of all parties involved so that they too may have an adequate trial. The NCIP was started in 2001 by Kathleen “Cookie” Ridolfi and Linda Starr, during this time new legislation in California (CA Penal Code Section 1405) had permitted convicted inmates to seek DNA testing to prove their innocence. You can imagine all the individuals that are locked up in our Prison systems wrongfully in hopes to one day prove their wrongful conviction. Both women looked to rectify errors within the justice system and free the innocent people. The NCIP is not federally funded wither, in fact, they raise they own money to do their own tasks. Only starting in 2001, thousands and thousands of inmates have reached out to the innocence project in search of help with their cases. The NCIP has gained justice for 19 individuals who have combined spent over 230 years in the penitentiary. I plan to add more information to this article in regards to the prison history and tendencies within California. I also plan to look at the high rights aspects of this state and other and see if the NCIP has encouraged others to adopt a similar program. 

Looking back on the human history of human rights, and even American history on human rights. Sometimes as a society, we neglect to acknowledge the unalienable rights that people are born with, with the NCIP being literally based on human rights. One doesn't realize that it is based off even the most simple document in United States History. The Bill of Rights, which is found in our constitution. When the Bill of Rights were created they were created with the idea that all men are equal in the sense that, since we are all human, we are born with certain inherent, natural, and unalienable rights. The NCIP, looks to protect the basic human rights that are found within our constitution. In particularly, resisting the 6th amendment, which guarantees a citizen a speedy trial, a fair jury, an attorney if the accused person wants one, and the chance to confront the witnesses who are accusing the defendant of a crime, meaning he or she can see who is making accusations. The NCIP looks to grant people right and fair trials even with new information presented. I believe that is amazing because there are numerous amount of individuals who are sitting, well who are stuck in our prison systems with no way out for a crime they probably didn't even commit. America also has to recall that there were major prison sweeps in history that incarcerated a large amount of not only the US population but a massive population of the African American communities within the United States. There is extensive and valuable research everywhere to add to this document, based off their website and just basic US history, this article could benefit from having more information on the Wiki page. The NCIP is doing such a compelling job for our society, that is baffling that there isn't more information on this topic. I look forward to adding onto this Wikipedia document.

Sym.Jones32 (talk) 15:02, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Article Evaluation-LGBT Rights in the Dominican Republic

• Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
  • Everything in the article is related to the main topic of the article which is LGBT rights within DR.
• Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • I believe the article is neutral for the most part but I believe it may make the reader appeal more towards possibly granting gay rights considering there are none. Also the laws in the Dominican Republic directly incriminates people for expressing themselves.
• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • The viewpoint that gay rights are wrong is extremely overrepresented
• Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
  • The citation links do work and they do support the claims made in the article
•  Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted? 
  • The sources are coming from government documents and pages and articles by LGBT groups
• Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
  • I think the information is pretty up to date, I don't believe there has been any political change in the Dominican Republic that would make the information inaccurate.
•  Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? 
  • The only conversations going on are conversations in regards to the certification of the links used within the article to sight things.
• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
  • No the article is not apart of WikiProjects
• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
  • We actually have not discuss this specific topic of gay rights, but in relationship to other things we have mentioned in class, i know the discrimination of gays within this country is wrong.