Legal experts estimate the national rate of individuals wrongly convicted of crimes is between 3-5%. Since 2009, the U-M Law School Innocence Clinic has been correcting injustices inflicted upon Michigan residents. As of late 2023, students and faculty in the clinic have helped 41 people regain their freedom.

The unseen effects of confinement and other carceral control policies extend far beyond a prison’s walls, says Professor Heather Ann Thompson. LSA’s Carceral State Project aims to document and confront forces of carceral control, through both scholarship and community action.

UM-Dearborn’s Aaron Kinzel uses his life story and personal experience with incarceration to teach students about the criminal justice system.

U-M brings Prison Creative Arts Project to Brazil, exploring the power of performance in prisons, hospitals, and underprivileged areas.

For 25 years, the Prison Creative Arts Project has inspired inmates statewide to mine fertile, creative territory and create bold, original work.