A group of students at the University of Cincinnati College of Law are doing their part to make life better for those who may have been wrongly convicted.

The American justice system is not perfect, but it's the best system available. Sometimes, however, innocent people are sent to prison. As Enquirer reporter Sharon Coolidge reported last week, the Ohio Innocence Project re-examines evidence using new technology that may not have been available when crimes were committed. It is one of several dozen such programs throughout the country. It is patterned after the original Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.

The first case addressed by UC students involves the case of Christopher Bennett, who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide charges in the 2001 death of his best friend, Ronnie Young.

Prosecutors argued that Bennett was the drunk driver of a van that crashed into another car, killing Young outside Canton. But Bennett, who suffered brain damage that erased his memory of the accident, has since written to the Innocence Project, which agreed to look into his case. Students have found evidence, including blood, scalp fragments and hair in the wrecked van that places Bennett on the passenger's side and are lobbying for a reversal of his conviction.

When the Innocence Project was first announced in September 2003, Cincinnati defense attorney William R. Gallagher, who is the project's legal adviser, rightly said: "The Innocence Project is necessary in Ohio. It's clear that every state has some population of innocent inmates notreleased in the normal process."

The actions of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan offer an example. He issued a moratorium on the death penalty after Northwestern University Journalism students found numerous flaws in cases. Thirteen death-row inmates were exonerated.

Our justice system rightly places most criminals behind bars when they are convicted of crimes, but it's useful that programs such as the Innocence Project are available when the system fails.

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This feature appears on Mondays. Is there someone or something you have encountered that makes life better in Greater Cincinnati? Send your suggestions to Ray Cooklis at rcooklis@enquirer.com.