The women-led initiative reviews potential wrongful incarceration trials and builds a strong case of innocence for attorneys to pursue exoneration

By Ayshat Abdurzakova

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) student group Pen for Justice started in February and is already taking on multiple innocence cases. As Canada’s first affiliate chapter of the American organization, Youth for Innocence (YFI), the group grants students an opportunity to be involved in the justice process. 

The team reviews and organizes hundreds of pages of transcripts and important legal documents, creates timelines and highlights key evidence from the case. These documents are either provided by YFI, collected through outreach from inmates or contacts connected to the incarcerated. 

The initiative trains members to investigate innocence cases, understand court processes and how to interpret legal documents. They put an emphasis on the fact that you are working with actual evidence and real people.   

“It’s doing all the grunt work to make the process of exoneration much faster,” said Miah Slater, president of Pen for Justice. “It’s also just presenting cases to lawyers and kind of serving it on a silver platter, almost just to show this is a strong case.”

This work is all in hopes that an attorney will take on the case pro bono, either to pursue an appeal or assist in an application for ministerial review under 696.1 of the Criminal Code, which could lead to a new trial for the accused.  

At the moment, the student group solely works on U.S. cases but is hoping to expand its reach to local Canadian cases. 

The group was started to show wrongfully incarcerated folks that people are advocating for them, said Slater. 

“People are vulnerable, are marginalized, are abused. They face human rights abuses every day, but for somebody to be in prison for a crime they didn’t commit is just horrendous,” she said. 

According to the U.S. National Registry of Exonerations, over 3,000 cases of wrongful convictions have been reported since 1989. In Canada, the Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions has recorded about 89 cases since 1956.

Members of the group say working on an initiative like Pen for Justice makes them feel like they can make a difference in the justice system. 

“You feel helpless when you read [wrongful conviction cases]. So knowing that we could potentially help deter situations like that from happening again. It’s also very powerful,” said Emily Jose, vice president of Pen for Justice.

Volunteers engage with the cases deeply and turn their desire for change into action as they comb through documents to hopefully uncover details others may have missed.

“You’re looking at real evidence — you’re kind of a mini detective,” said Slater. “I think people who are incarcerated will forever remember the people that helped them.” 

There is a growing interest in Pen for Justice, with about 30 official members and a total of 135 sign-ups for their info session. Open to TMU students from all programs, the group is looking for committed individuals who believe in the right to a fair trial and overall justice. 

“Justice for us is also taking action, no matter how little it might seem. Because I think inaction is what got us here,” said Noella Kidimbu, the vice president of media for Pen for Justice. “ I think, justice is having the courage to look at all of this in the eye and wanting to do something about it.” 

Slater is currently reaching out to federal prisons in Canada to distribute pamphlets sharing information about the initiative, but she says it can be challenging to get resources into prisons. The group is also connecting with other organizations for referrals for people in prison who need assistance on innocence cases, as well as legal professionals who may be willing to provide guidance to students behind Pen for Justice. 

Spreading awareness is a large aspect of the initiative, especially on the Pen for Justice Instagram page, which regularly posts cases of wrongful convictions in both Canada and the U.S. In future meetings, exonerees are scheduled to speak and share their experiences with the justice system, providing Pen for Justice members an in-depth understanding of the purpose and impact of their work. 

“It makes you really feel like you can make a change,” said Margaret Salguero vice president of communications. “And it feels like we’ve been proving it.”