The Massachusetts Conviction Integrity Working Group (MCIWG), established by the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) in September 2018, includes Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, leaders from the Attorney General’s Office and the MBA, representatives from the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, senior trial counsel and an innocence program attorney from the Committee for Public Counsel Services, a former judge, a leading civil rights attorney, the director of the Boston College Innocence Program, the executive director of the New England Innocence Project, and the former executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services.
In March 2021, the MCIWG released a comprehensive guide, Conviction Integrity Programs: A Guide to Best Practices for Prosecutorial Offices, urging all 11 Massachusetts district attorneys' offices and the Attorney General’s Office to maintain effective conviction integrity programs to prevent and remedy wrongful convictions and other miscarriages of justice in Massachusetts.
Recognizing that a prosecutor’s highest obligation is to ensure that justice is done and to do so in a way that gives the public trust and confidence in our work, this guide serves as an important resource. We hope that it will help all offices to develop their own model of an effective conviction integrity program.
View the guide here: Conviction Integrity Programs: A guide to best practices for prosecutorial offices March 2021