The Justice Brandeis Innocence Project, which investigates cases of possible wrongful convictions and aims to shed light on injustices in the criminal justice system, has received a second $75,000 grant to continue the work it began on a provisional basis last year."This was a bit of a miracle," said Prof. Pam Cytrynbaum (AMST) about the grant from the Oklahoma-based Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

The project received the same amount from the foundation last year.

Cytrynbaum, an associate director at the Institute for Investigative Journalism, spent last year developing a provisional innocence project, working with student interns on cases, while also teaching two classes.

Unlike last year, this semester students in Cytrynbaum's "Investigating Justice" seminar will work on the Innocence Project's cases.

The class will serve as the "launching pad" of the project.

The New England Innocence Project, which only works on cases that prove innocence using DNA evidence, refers cases without DNA evidence to the Brandeis project.

"While most of the innocence projects focus on DNA evidence, 80 to 90 percent of the cases that need investigation have no DNA evidence," said Cytrynbaum, who has played a prominent role for several years in the relatively new practice of journalism-based innocence projects.

The grant will go toward paying her salary, student researchers, speakers and "all kinds of costs that go into really building something," she said, adding that she is looking into hiring an additional professional reporter "who can really move this along."

Cytrynbaum stressed that her teaching this year will be intricately tied to the Innocence Project case work.

"Students will be meeting with attorneys, delving into court documents, working with investigators . hav[ing] to master thousands and thousands of pages of police reports," she said.

Cytrynbaum attributed the project's success to the "incredibly smart" Brandeis students who "care tremendously about world outside them everywhere."

Micheline Frias '07, a student researcher and spanish translator with the project, said her experience has been very rewarding.

"When you read about the cases, the number of innocent people in jail, you can't turn your back on it," she said.

Frias, a journalism minor, said working on the project has made her remember why she "wanted to be a journalist" in the first place. Every other journalism course she has taken has been "theoretical." With the Innocence Project, "you were actually learning hands-on."

In addition to preparing students for professional journalism, Cytrynbaum said students learn about the shortcomings of the criminal justice system.

"It's astonishing, beyond shocking how often the system lets us down," she said.

University Provost Marty Krauss said, "This is clearly a terrific opportunity for students to work with outstanding journalists, gain hands-on knowledge [and] to participate in seeing wrongful convictions are exposed."

Editor's Note: Justice news editors Rachel Marder and Noah Bein are research assistants for the Justice Brandeis Innocence Project.