Grand Haven, MI (WGHN) – Humanity for Prisoners is a non profit organization that provides personalized problem-solving services for people in Michigan’s prisons. The office is located in Spring Lake.
Today July 24th marks the 20th anniversary of Maurice Carter’s release from prison and has been declared Maurice Carter Day by HFP. Maurice Carter spent 29 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Carter was convicted of shooting and wounding an off-duty police officer on December 20, 1973 in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
A team of University of Michigan law students has appealed to the Michigan Parole Board and Governor Whitmer for a posthumous pardon. Humanity for Prisoners founder, Doug Tjapkes, led a 9-year battle to free Carter and clear his name. Carter was finally released on a medical commutation on July 24, 2004. But he died three months later and his name was never cleared.
Humanity for Prisoners founder, Doug Tjapkes, led a 9-year battle to free Carter and clear his name. The legal effort was led by the University of Wisconsin Innocence Project, and assisted by the Chicago Innocence Project, Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, and the Toronto-based Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted. Those efforts culminated 20 years ago.
Carter was finally released on a medical commutation on July 24, 2004. But he died three months later and his name was never cleared. That is why the University of Michigan Law School Sentence Commutation Project has filed a posthumous pardon application on his behalf. The application describes in detail the weaknesses in the government’s case and why Carter
should be pardoned for a crime he didn’t commit.
“We continue to learn more about the causes of wrongful conviction and how they can lead to convicting an innocent person. Time and death should not prevent righting a wrong,” said Marla Mitchell-Cichon, former director of the Cooley Law School Innocence Project and board member for Humanity for Prisoners.
Maurice Carter and his story inspired Tjapkes to establish Humanity for Prisoners in 2001. The organization, based in Spring Lake, provides personalized problem-solving services to incarcerated men and women throughout Michigan.
“We want every person in prison to know they matter,” said Executive Director Mark Hartman.
July 24th marks the 20th anniversary of Maurice Carter’s release from prison and has been declared Maurice Carter Day by HFP. But Tjapkes is hoping for vindication,
“Maurice Carter Day symbolizes the resilience, strength, and unwavering spirit of a man who faced injustice with dignity and grace. This day also serves as a stark reminder of the flaws in our criminal justice system and the devastating impact wrongful convictions have on innocent men and women, their families, crime victims and the community at large,” Tjapkes said.
The Carter story is told in Doug Tjapkes’ book SWEET FREEDOM, available on the HFP website. Also here.
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