Skip to content
Menu
About
About
Our Team
Our Board
Our Supporters
Victories
Freed and Exonerated Clients
Policy Changes
Other Accomplishments
Get Help
Get Involved
Get Involved
Contact Us
Hiring
Screener Portal
Our Stories
Hiring
Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
Donate
New Data Collection Volunteer Form
Step
1
of
5
- Demographic Information
20%
Thank you for your willingness to volunteer to review MAIP's archival cases. Please complete the required fields below.
Please note the following policies of this volunteer opportunity:
- You must have attended law school (in the US or a foreign country) to participate in this effort. By consent box below, you are self-attesting that this is true. - Please review the Reference Guide
here
before you proceed to ensure you understand how this effort will operate.
- Case documents will be shared with you via Google Drive. You must provide an email address in the "email to access Google Drive" field below that can access Google Drive to participate. If your organization has a firewall on Google Drive, then you are ineligible to participate. You can provide a personal email and/or access Google Drive from a non-work location as one workaround with approval from your organization.
- You will have 30 days to review a case. If you are unable to complete your review within that time period, you can request a one-time 14 day extension. If you are unable to complete the review by the end of extension, the case will be reassigned.
Consent to Volunteer Opportunity Policies
(Required)
I agree to the conditions regarding data access and deadline outlined above.
Consent to review of Reference Guide
(Required)
I have reviewed the Reference Guide linked above.
Name
(Required)
First
Last
Organizational Email Address
(Required)
Please enter your work email address.
Email to access Google Drive
(Required)
Please enter the email address you will use to access case files in Google Drive.
Please confirm that the email you entered above can access Google Drive. If you are unsure whether your organizational email can access Google Drive, please stop now and confirm with your Pro Bono Manager or email MAIP (automations@exonerate.org).
(Required)
Yes, I confirm the email entered above can access Google Drive
Organization/Firm
(Required)
Please select your gender identity.
(Required)
Woman
Man
Transgender
Non-Binary
Prefer Not to Answer
Race/Ethnicity
(Required)
American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian or Asian American
Black or African American
Hispanic or Latino/a
Middle Eastern or North African
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
White or European
Prefer not to answer
Occupational Status
(Required)
Please select the option that best describes your occupational status.
Licensed attorney (active/inactive/retired)
Law degree (JD, not licensed)
Paralegal
Law student
Other
Legal Experience
How many years of experience do you have in the legal field?
(Required)
If less than one year, please enter 0. Please include only years you have been employed in a law-related position. Please do not include law school or internships.
Have you previously screened case(s) for MAIP?
(Required)
Yes
No
Do you have experience practicing criminal law?
(Required)
For this question, you may include any internships or clinics.
Yes
No
Please indicate your previous criminal law experience.
(Required)
Public defender
Court-appointed indigent defense
Private criminal defense
Criminal defense-oriented internship/clinic
Criminal appellate attorney
Post-conviction attorney
Federal prosecutor
Local/regional/state prosecutor
Internship/clinic with prosecutor's office
Innocence claims (attorney)
Innocence claims (internship or clinic)
What types of criminal cases have you worked on?
(Required)
Please check all that apply.
Misdemeanors/violations
Felonies
Direct appeals
Post-conviction cases (other than direct appeals)
Innocence claims
Habeas corpus petitions
We would like to collect some limited opinion information from our volunteers, to include questions about criminal convictions, contributors to wrongful convictions, and the criminal legal system.
The questions in this section are completely voluntary. You are NOT required to answer them to participate in the archival data collection project.
If used in future data analysis, this information will be reported only in aggregate. Your individual responses will be kept
strictly confidential
. If you have any questions about this form, please contact the Screening Manager, Jennifer Kamorowski, at JKamorowski@exonerate.org.
Are you willing to answer some questions about your opinions related to criminal cases, wrongful convictions, and the criminal legal system?
(Required)
Yes
No
Wrongful Convictions and Proof of Guilt in Criminal Cases
Percentage of wrongful convictions
(Required)
Please think about misdemeanor and felony convictions in the United States, to include convictions based on plea agreements, judge trials, and jury trials. In your own estimation, what percentage (0 to 100%) of these cases are convictions involving people who are actually innocent? By actual innocence, we mean people who did not commit the crime(s) for which they were convicted, or any lesser included offense. For example, do not include in your estimate cases for which a person may have been guilty of 2nd-degree murder but not 1st-degree murder. Please do not include in your estimate cases that potentially involved weak evidence that arguably did not rise to proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Please enter a number from
0
to
100
.
For each of the known contributors to wrongful convictions, please indicate the extent to which you think the factor is present in wrongful convictions.
(Required)
Never (0%)
Very rarely (less than 5%)
Rarely (5 - 20%)
Occasionally (21 - 49%)
Frequently (50 - 75%)
Very frequently (more than 75%)
Government misconduct
Eyewitness misidentification
Flawed forensics
False confession
Incentivized witnesses who commit perjury
False accusations
Inadequate legal defense
Guilty verdicts not supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt
(Required)
Indepndent of cases involving wrongful convictions, please think about misdemeanor and felony convictions obtained through a jury trial in the United States. What percentage (0 to 100%) of these cases do you think are so weak that the prosecution is arguably unable to meet the burden of proof? In other words, what percentage of jury trials do you think end in a guilty verdict that is probably not supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt?
Please enter a number from
0
to
100
.
How often do you think most jurors understand and correctly apply the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal cases?
(Required)
Never
Seldom
Sometimes
Often
Almost always
Sentencing for Criminal Convictions
Generally speaking, what do you think about sentencing for criminal convictions in the United States?
(Required)
Too lenient
Usually fair
Too harsh
At what age do you think a person's youth should no longer be considered a mitigating factor for sentencing purposes?
(Required)
A criminal defendant's youth is sometimes taken into consideration at sentencing, which may result in a comparatively reduced sentence. From the options below, please indicate the age at which you think such consideration should no longer apply (put another way, the "cut-off" age).
I do not think youth/young age should be a mitigating factor in sentencing.
Younger than 13 years of age
13 years old
14 years old
15 years old
16 years old
17 years old
18 years old
19 years old
20 years old
21 years old
22 years old
23 years old
24 years old
25 years or older
For which of the following offenses is the death penalty an appropriate punishment?
(Required)
The death penalty is not an appropriate punishment for any crime
Intentional killing of an adult
Intentional killing of multiple adults
Intentional killing of a child (under 18 years of age)
Intentional killing of multiple children (under 18 years of age)
Intentional killing as a result of hate crime
Intentional killing resulting from an act of terrorism
Intentional killing of a police officer in the line of duty
Unintentional killing of an adult committed in the course of another crime
Unintentional killing of multiple adults in the course of another crime
Unintentional killing of a child (under 18 years of age) committed in the course of another crime
Unintentional killing of multiple children in the course of another crime
Unintentional killing as a result of hate crime
Unintentional killing resulting from an act of terrorism
Unintentional killing of a police officer in the line of duty
Rape of an adult
Rape of a child (under 18 years of age)
Consent
I agree to the privacy policy.
About
About
Our Team
Our Board
Our Supporters
Victories
Freed and Exonerated Clients
Policy Changes
Other Accomplishments
Get Help
Get Involved
Get Involved
Contact Us
Hiring
Screener Portal
Our Stories
Hiring
Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
Donate