#130: Justin Brooks — Author of “You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent,” Founder of the California Innocence Project, Director of the LLM Program in Law at University of San Diego

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According to a recent study, about 4-6% of all those incarcerated are considered to be wrongly imprisoned. That’s over 70,000 people who are wrongly incarcerated every year.

Today’s guest, Justin Brooks has dedicated his life to representing those who have fallen victim to wrongful incarceration. Justin practiced as a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C., Michigan, Illinois, and California in both the trial and appellate courts. He was the founding director of the California Innocence Project at Cal Western Law School from 1999-2023, and under his direction the project freed 40 innocent people from prison (including former NFL player Brian Banks).

He’s been recognized several times by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California, and in 2010 and 2012, California Lawyer Magazine honored him with the “Lawyer of the Year” award. He was named “International Lawyer of the Year” by the California Bar International Section in 2020 and in the same year was named “Champion of Justice” by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.

In his latest book, “You Might Go to Prison Even Though You’re Innocent” he details the causes of wrongful convictions based on his experience of more than three decades as a criminal defense attorney and innocence organization director.

Justin took time to share his experience with us writing the book, over 30 years of legal work, and why everybody should care about wrongful convictions and the ramifications it has for our society.

This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!