New England Innocence Project Honors Ropes & Gray Pro Bono Legal Team with “Arc of Justice” Award at Inaugural Storytelling Event, Dec. 3

The New England Innocence Project will honor a pro bono Ropes & Gray litigation team with the 2019 ARC OF JUSTICE award at the Voices of the Innocent: Still We Rise storytelling event on December 3 at City Winery Boston.

The inaugural ARC OF JUSTICE award recognizes a New England Innocence Project partner who has demonstrated unparalleled commitment, tenacity, and courage to "bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice" for innocent people convicted of crimes they did not commit. The New England Innocence Project celebrates Ropes & Gray as the first recipient of this award for the firm’s partnership in helping to free Gary Cifizzari, an innocent Massachusetts man wrongly convicted for a crime he did not commit, and who was released in July 2019 after serving 35 years in prison.

“It is our distinct honor to present the inaugural 2019 ARC OF JUSTICE Award to the Cifizzari Team of Ropes & Gray for their fierce, compassionate, and steadfast partnership to free an innocent man from prison and effect lasting change in the criminal legal system by challenging unreliable forensic science. Through this close partnership, Ropes & Gray demonstrated tremendous perseverance pulling the arc toward justice and succeeding,” said Radha Natarajan, Executive Director of the New England Innocence Project.

The New England Innocence Project (NEIP) is a non-profit committed to correcting and preventing the wrongful convictions of innocent men and women in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine. Through pro bono legal and investigative services, education, systemic reform efforts, and support as exonerees rebuild their lives, NEIP is devoted to ensuring justice within the criminal legal system. Visit New England Innocence Project at NewEnglandInnocence.org for more information and to get involved.