The Open Society Foundations has announced a $5 million challenge grant to bolster a campaign to establish a $20 million reserve fund for the Innocence Project.

Based in New York City, the criminal justice advocacy organization is dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reform of the criminal justice system. Since 1992, a total of three hundred and seventeen people, including eighteen who served time on death row, have been exonerated by DNA evidence; the Innocence Project was involved in a hundred and seventy-three of those cases.

Open Society will provide up to $5 million to the organization, beginning with an initial grant of $1 million. Subsequently, it will award $1 million for each $2 million raised by the organization.

"Today, I can think of no organization better placed than the Innocence Project to demonstrate the need for reform and to show the way forward," said OSF president Chris Stone. "By showing us all how we can learn from our mistakes — even the most tragic ones — the Innocence Project has inspired substantial improvements in the administration of justice. We are confident that they will expand on their record of excellent work."