Justin P. Brooks

Exonerating the wrongly convicted is the mission of this California Western School of Law professor, who heads up the California Innocence Project. Since 2000, he's won the release of five inmates, some who spent more than two decades in prison. This year, he has petitioned for a new trial for William Richards, convicted in 1997, after two hung juries, of the beating death of his wife. Prosecutors contended Richards was the only one at the crime scene, but Brooks has uncovered DNA evidence revealing someone else was there. Brooks also teaches a course based on the Innocence Project that offers students firsthand experience working with practicing criminal defense lawyers. He's also executive director of the Institute for Criminal Defense Advocacy, created to improve the quality of criminal defense representation.