With Project HOPE, President’s Engagement Prize winners Carson Eckhard(History Major), Natalia Rommen, and Sarah Simon will address the lack of support to wrongfully incarcerated people in Philadelphia and across the state.
Philadelphia has one of the highest incarceration rates of any big city in the United States, and from 1996 to 2018 the city found itself at the top of the list. Adding to this notorious distinction is Philadelphia's relatively high wrongful-conviction rate. For Penn seniors Carson Eckhard, Natalia Rommen, and Sarah Simon, these rates were more than just unfortunate statistics; they were a catalyst for them to help make profound changes in the criminal justice system.
What started out as their volunteer work with the Liberation Foundation, established by wrongfully convicted exoneree Terrance Lewis, has transformed into Project HOPE, a program to address the lack of legal and reentry support to wrongfully incarcerated Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians by serving as the core of an expansive advocacy network.
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