User:Sym.Jones32/sandbox

= Wikipedia Draft =

Current Article Status

 * Based on the current article, https://en.wikipedia.org/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.

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://en.wikipedia.org/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

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

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.

Truth behind the lies of the LAW

 * The Justice System sometimes fails to acknowledge individuals Human Rights
 * 1) The 6th 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
 * 2) Any two people share on average, 99.9% of their DNA, meaning that only 0.1% of your DNA is unique to you.
 * 3) DNA profiling has actually helped acquit and convict suspects I many crimes including rape and murder.
 * 4) 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.