Ilé Aña Olofí

10/09/2023

09/18/2023

October 2, 2023, is the International Wrongful Conviction Day. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the country and a high rate of wrongful convictions of innocent people. Since 1989, 85 innocent people have been exonerated in Louisiana. Eleven of those individuals were sentenced to death. There has been one exoneration for every three executions carried out in Louisiana. One out of three is a disturbingly high error rate for a punishment that can never be undone. If there is one out of three chance that an airplane would crash, the airline industry would come to a halt. Additionally, 95% of death sentences have been reversed in Louisiana because they were fundamentally flawed.

On October 2nd, Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO), Capital Appeals Project (CAP), Orleans Public Defenders (OPD), Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI), Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), ACLU-LA, and other organizations will gather on the steps of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court in New Orleans at 4:00 pm with innocent exonerees and their families, elected officials, religious leaders and community members for a Rally Against Killing The Innocent for people on Louisiana’s death row. There are people on Louisiana’s death row today who have serious claims of actual innocence. Daniel Blank, convicted of a 1997 murder, is one of them. DNA and fingerprint evidence from the crime scene point to another person for the murder, and yet, intellectually disabled Mr. Blank remains on death row.

The Rally Against Killing The Innocent will call attention to the innocent executed by the State of Louisiana, the innocent exonerated from Louisiana’s death row, and the innocent on Louisiana’s death row today. The Rally will demand that the Governor and our elected and appointed leaders stand up for the innocent on Louisiana’s death row. Given the grave risk that an innocent person may be executed, all individuals on Louisiana’s death row must be given a chance at life.

https://ip-no.org/rally-against-killing-the-innocent/

05/26/2023

Today would have been Terrence Meyers' 53rd birthday. In 1992, Terrence was arrested alongside his cousins, Glenn Davis and Larry Delmore. All three were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. IPNO signed on to Mr. Davis’ case in 2002 and discovered that the State had hidden evidence. In 2010, the State announced that they would not retry Terrence, Glenn, or Larry. Eighteen years after they were wrongly charged with second degree murder, all three were finally exonerated. Terrence Meyers passed away in his sleep on April 17, 2012.

05/02/2023

Check out my ongoing projects and consider giving a small donation. Mo dupe!

GiveNOLA Day, an initiative of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, is a one-day online giving event. For 24 hours, everyone who loves our region can support their favorite local causes by donating to one or more of 700+ participating nonprofit organizations.

04/14/2023

https://www.givenola.org/IleAnaOlofi

We are once again asking for your support!!

GiveNOLA Day, an initiative of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, is a one-day online giving event. For 24 hours, everyone who loves our region can support their favorite local causes by donating to one or more of 700+ participating nonprofit organizations.

03/29/2023

Performs at Columbia University

03/28/2023

The new logo for the project!!!

Our Ancestral Root Workers are the Righteous Shield of Justice

https://ileanaolofi.org/rootin-for-justice-project

03/13/2023

https://www.ileanaolofi.org/rootin-for-justice-project

Sidney Holmes, now 57, had been convicted of a 1988 armed robbery in Broward County.

03/13/2023

If you are out here doin' root work, you should be

03/12/2023

https://www.ileanaolofi.org/rootin-for-justice-project

Leon Benson was exonerated and released from prison on March 9, 2023, after spending nearly 25 years at Pendleton on a wrongful murder conviction.