No Crime Wrongful Convictions: A TEDx talk by Professor Henry

The popular image of a wrongful conviction is that of an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime committed by someone else. But what if I told you that over one-third of all people who have been exonerated were wrongly convicted of crimes that never happened in the first place?

Jessica S. Henry is an award-winning author, professor, legal commentator, social justice advocate, and blogger. After obtaining her J.D. from N.Y.U. School of Law, Henry served as a public defender in New York City for nearly a decade. Her new book, “Smoke But No Fire: Convicting the Innocent of Crimes that Never Happened,” won the 2020 Montaigne Medal award for most thought-provoking book and the INDIE forward Book of the Year Award (Silver, Political and Social Science). She also was the recipient of the First Horizon Award for superior work by a debut author. Henry’s research and teaching focus on wrongful convictions and severe sentences, such as the death penalty and life without parole. Henry frequently appears as a commentator about criminal justice and the criminal legal system on national and local television and radio, and is widely cited in the mainstream media. In 2015, Henry received the Montclair State University Distinguished Teacher Award for excellence in teaching.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx