The Downstate Illinois Innocence Project held its inaugural reception and presentation of Defenders of the Innocent Awards on March 4 at the Pasfield House in Springfield.

Honorees included Chicago-Kent College of Law Prof. Richard Kling and attorney Susana Ortiz, whose pro bono representation of Herb Whitlock resulted in his release from prison on Jan. 8 after serving 21 years for a crime he did not commit.

Also honored were State Sen. Mattie Hunter and State Representatives Paul D. Froehlich and Arthur L. Turner for their work on legislation that established a Justice Study Commission to examine non-capital exonerations and propose reforms.

The legislators also supported amendments to the post-conviction forensic testing statute that require fingerprint evidence from crime scenes to be entered into the FBI Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Aimed at identifying actual perpetrators of crimes, the legislation is important in two cases that the Innocence Project is working on.

The project is an initiative of the Institute for Legal, Legislative and Policy Studies at the University of Illinois in Springfield. For more information, call co-director Larry Golden at (217) 553-7171.