The following story was broadcast by WAND-TV on Oct. 2, 2023.
"Monday is National Wrongful Conviction Day and the Illinois Innocence Project hosted an initiative at the University of Illinois Springfield.
Interns and student volunteers placed 3,348 flags at the UIS Quad, which represent the number of wrongfully convicted people who have been exonerated since 1989. 514 of those flags specifically represent Illinoisans who have been exonerated in that time.
'The purpose of Wrongful Conviction Day is to highlight all the wrongfully convicted people not only in Illinois, but also in the United States,' said Kaylan Chardan, an intake and staff attorney with the Illinois Innocence Project. 'It's to honor them and also to honor the project and the mission to free those people who are wrongfully convicted.'"