Known for his years of landmark litigation, which set standards for the use of DNA evidence in courts throughout the country, Barry Scheck has spearheaded a nationwide movement to re-examine the fairness and efficacy of our criminal justice system.

A longtime advocate for DNA testing, Scheck co-founded The Innocence Project in 1992 with his colleague Peter Neufeld. This non-profit legal clinic has used DNA evidence to exonerate more than 200 wrongfully imprisoned people, some of whom were on death row or had been incarcerated for decades. Profiles of the exonerated can be found at www.innocenceproject.org.
 
In Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution and Other Dispatches from the Wrongly Convicted, Scheck exposes the rampant mishandling of evidence and coercive interrogation techniques that have plagued the legal process. The book was described by Publisher’s Weekly as “an alarming wake-up call to those who administer our justice system that serious flaws must be addressed to protect the innocent.”

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the 2002 Innocence Protection Act (a bill that later was passed), Scheck described DNA testing as “a great ‘learning moment’ in the history of our criminal justice system....It permits us to identify as never before the causes of wrongful convictions and their remedies for the good of the entire system.”
 

The program was fantastic and a big success. The Dean said it was the best speaker program we have had at the school since he has been here.

Dickinson School of Law of the Penn State University

The impact of Scheck’s work has been resounding. He has organized a network of “innocence projects” in universities throughout America. In 2003 The State of Illinois initiated a special commission “to study and review the administration of the capital punishment process to determine why [it has resulted] in the imposition of death sentences upon innocent people.”

Scheck is perhaps best-recognized as the DNA expert on the O.J. Simpson defense team. He has served as Counsel in many high-profile cases, including the Louise Woodward “Nanny Murder” case and the Abner Louima sexual assault case, which was a lightning rod for the issue of police brutality. He has covered the Oklahoma City bombing and other high profile trials for NBC News.

He is a commissioner of forensic science for New York state and a frequently sought-after expert by many agencies, including the FBI. A Professor at the Cardozo School of Law, he is Director of Clinical Education for the Trial Advocacy Program and the Center for the Study of Law and Ethics.

Scheck received his B.S. from Yale and his law degree from UC Berkeley and is a former staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society. He also is the President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In 1996 he received their highest award as the Most Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer in America.