Philanthropist Jeffrey Deskovic to Speak at Sundance Film Festival

Jeffrey Deskovic, founder of The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, will be sharing his story and thoughts on the justice system and necessary prison reform at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23. The presentation will be held in question-and-answer format and hosted by Entourage star Adrian Grenier as part of The Collective Experience.

The Collective Experience is an invitation-only retreat held annually in Park City, UT during Sundance Film Festival. Its mission is to unite influencers, entrepreneurs and artists to create, collaborate and catalyze social impact through film and technology. Additional participants include Paul Oakenfold, Brooklyn Decker and Kweku Mandela.

"The Collective Experience is such an impressive gathering of influential thinkers and doers. The collective brainpower of this group gives us the opportunity to do incredible things," Deskovic said. "I am honored to be a part of this group and help channel our influence towards one singular mission of social good."

Deskovic founded The Deskovic Foundation to fight wrongful imprisonment as a result of his own wrongful conviction at the age of 17. In 1991, Deskovic was convicted of raping and murdering a fellow HIGH SCHOOL student and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison (People v. Deskovic, 210 A.D.2d 579 2d Dept. 1994, Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Department.). Sixteen years later, in 2006, he was cleared of the crime after DNA EVIDENCE identified the actual perpetrator, who, in the meantime, had murdered another woman. Deskovic and the Foundation now work to fight for the release of the wrongfully imprisoned, reintegrate exonerees after years of wrongful imprisonment and educate the public on wrongful convictions.

The Foundation is currently in the midst of a fundraiser on Indiegogo in order to further the 501(c)(3) nonprofit's mission. Funds raised will enable The Deskovic Foundation to continue advocacy, policy reform and share best practices on the front lines of law enforcement including police academies, the judiciary, prosecutors and defense attorneys. All donations are tax deductible. To learn more about Jeff's story and the Foundation, or to contribute to the campaign, visit the Indiegogo page at http://bit.ly/DeskovicIndie.

ABOUT THE JEFFREY DESKOVIC FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE

The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to working with the actually innocent who are or have been wrongfully imprisoned. The Foundation employs a trained staff of attorneys and seasoned investigators, and links exonerees to a support network to assist with their reentry into society. The Foundation's mission is exoneration, education through public awareness and policy reform, and exoneree reintegration. Learn more at http://www.deskovic.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.