(New York, NY; December 10, 2013) – The Innocence Project welcomes two new members to its Board of Directors: John A. Kaneb, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of HP Hood LLC; and Ekow N. Yankah, Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law.
“The Innocence Project is thrilled to welcome Mr. Yankah and Mr. Kaneb to its Board of Directors,” said Sen. Rodney Ellis, Texas State Senator and Innocence Project Board Chair. “Mr. Kaneb brings to the Innocence Project a wealth of experience in business and on nonprofit boards, as well as a history of strong support for our policy reform agenda, and Professor Yankah brings a deep commitment to issues of justice and much needed critical thinking on criminal law and political theory. We are grateful for their leadership and experience, which will be instrumental in helping us meet our mission of exonerating the wrongly convicted and improving the criminal justice system.”
John A. Kaneb and his family acquired HP Hood LLC, one of the country’s largest branded dairy processors, in 1995 and increased its annual sales from $600 million to about $2.3 billion. Prior to that, the Kanebs bought a controlling interest in Gulf Oil and tripled its sales to $4.6 billion before selling it in 2005. Besides his business work, Kaneb is a Trustee Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. He is also an Emeritus Trustee of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Emeritus Trustee and former Chairman of the Board of McLean Hospital. He has worked on other boards and groups including the Board of Fellows of the Harvard Medical School. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission in 2004 and was named vice-chair of that commission. Kaneb is also part owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Ekow N. Yankah joined the faculty of Cardozo School of Law in 2008, after teaching at the University of Illinois School of Law, and serves as the faculty advisor for a number of student organizations including the Cardozo Democrats, the Cardozo American Constitution Society student chapter and the Unemployment Action Center, and has been awarded an Inspiration award by his Cardozo students. Yankah holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Columbia University School of Law, graduating with honors, and a post-graduate degree from Oxford University, where he was awarded a Lord Crewe Scholarship. Throughout his work, Yankah explores the intersection of analytical jurisprudence, criminal law and political theory. His current work explores republican theories of political obligation grounded in civic duty and its relationship to law generally and criminal law in particular. Yankah is also the Co-Chair of the New York Democratic Lawyer’s Counsel, the voting rights organization of the Democratic National Committee, on the New York Executive Board of the American Constitution Society and a Board member of the Law and Humanities Institute.
The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. It was founded by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld in 1992 as a student clinic at Cardozo School of Law. In 2004, the Innocence Project became an independent nonprofit (still closely affiliated with Cardozo). Its 15 member Board of Directors oversees a staff of approximately 70 full-time employees and an annual budget of approximately $10.6 million, plus an additional $5 million in donated legal services.
To date, 311 people nationwide have been exonerated through DNA testing. The Innocence Project has assisted in 171 of these exonerations. In addition, dozens of states have implemented critical reforms to prevent wrongful convictions.
