Larry's Legacy: A Tribute to Larry Hammond
Event Information
About this event
Join the Arizona Justice Project and friends of Larry Hammond to celebrate his life and his impact on wrongful convictions in Arizona.
Thursday, September 24th | 4:30pm - 5:30pm
You are invited to join the Arizona Justice Project and friends of Larry Hammond for this online tribute. You must register to receive the Zoom link, which will be sent out before the event.
Larry's Legacy
In the 1990s, Larry Hammond, a nationally renowned Phoenix criminal defense attorney, believed individuals in prison needed an organization that they could contact as a last resort for proving their innocence or correcting a manifest injustice. This was a pivotal time in the criminal justice system as DNA testing technology and other forensic disciplines advanced. These technological advances provided, perhaps for the first time in the history of the criminal justice system, conclusive evidence that innocent people have been convicted of crimes they did not commit.
Hammond, along with the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, founded the Arizona Justice Project in 1998, making it the 5th Innocence organization in the United States. Since then, the Project has helped free dozens of individuals in cases of innocence, manifest injustice, and excessive sentencing. Year after year, Hammond’s leadership brought together lawyers, investigators, forensic experts, law students and others to dedicate their time and expertise in working to correct one injustice at a time. Hammond’s family, especially his wife Frances, poured love and support into the Project’s existence.
The Chief, as the Project staff affectionately referred to him, passed away on March 2, 2020. Before Larry's passing, he reflected on the Project's growing community of supporters, writing, "There was a time when this Project in its infancy sometimes seemed like a very lonely endeavor. If it ever was as lonely as we sometimes felt it was, it certainly is no longer."
Organizer Arizona Justice Project
Organizer of Larry's Legacy: A Tribute to Larry Hammond
The Arizona Justice Project was established in 1998 and became the fifth organization in the United States created to help inmates overturn wrongful convictions. Today, there are more than 60 similar organizations worldwide.
Indigence is frequently associated with injustice and the quality of justice suffers as a result. To prevent denial of access to justice, members from the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice founded the Arizona Justice Project in 1998. Its mission is to represent indigent Arizona inmates whose claims of innocence or manifest injustice have gone unheeded. Every time an accused goes to prison without having received a fair trial, we are one step closer to the loss of our own freedoms. In fact, there is no greater punishment than that imposed on the innocent.
Cases Of Innocence Of Manifest Injustice
The Arizona Justice Project reviews and assists in cases of actual innocence or cases in which a manifest injustice has occurred. To date, the Arizona Justice Project has received over 5,000 requests for assistance, and currently has between 40 to 50 cases in post-conviction relief proceedings under the supervision of a review team. Oftentimes, the Arizona Justice Project is a last resort for men and women who have been failed by our justice system. Their voices would go unheard and sadly, many innocent people would remain wrongfully behind bars without the hard work of our Arizona Justice Project staff and volunteers.
