Innocence Project New Orleans celebrates 5th annual Stand for Justice Acadiana
LAFAYETTE, La (KLFY) -- The Innocence Project New Orleans held their 5th annual Stand for Justice Acadiana celebration where former wrongfully convicted inmates got to share their stories. and IPNO honored the memory of a late honorable judge.
The Innocence Project New Orleans is a nonprofit organization dedicated to freeing innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in Louisiana.
Jee Park, Executive Director of IPNO, said the work the organization does is vital.
"Being able to tell the stories of exonerees and the harms they experience in the criminal legal system is so important because only by knowing what we did wrong in causing these wrongful convictions can we make our criminal ecosystem more fair and more just," she said.
After stories were shared, the family of the late Honorable Judge Jules D. Edwards III received the 2025 IPNO Justice Award on behalf of Edwards for his commitment to justice in Louisiana.
"He was a highly respected judge in this jurisdiction who walked with so much compassion, so much fairness, and so we are so pleased that we're able to celebrate tonight, not just with our clients, but with judge Edwards' family," Park said.
Earline Brooks Colbert and her family experienced injustice when her brother Elvis Brooks was arrested in 1977 for a murder he did not commit and was sentenced to life in prison. Her brother served 42 years before being exonerated in 2022.
While her brother Elvis was incarcerated, her son Cedric Dent was arrested the 23 years-old, 20 years after her brother, for a murder he did not commit. Dent served 25 years before being exonerated four months after his uncle. Colbert said her faith helped her get through the decades without her son and brother.
"We are blessed and hopeful," said Colbert. "And by us sharing our story, we pray that it gives somebody else hope because that's a lot of innocent people."