Ocean Beach’s Justin Brooks, co-founder of California Innocence Project, is stepping down after 24 years
Brooks says he also will resign his tenured position at California Western School of Law.
Ocean Beach resident Justin Brooks, director of the San Diego-based California Innocence Project — which works to free people who have been wrongfully convicted — announced that he is stepping down from leading the organization he co-founded.
Brooks said he also will resign his tenured faculty position at the California Western School of Law.
“This was a tough decision that I have agonized about, but it is the right time. Twenty-four years is a long time for a founder to hang around,” Brooks tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, Brooks said he will continue his advocacy work in Latin America.
He told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he is stepping down “because it seemed the right time.”
“My staff are competent and know what they are doing,” he said. “Where I am needed more is south of the border, so I am going to find ways to expand that work.”
Brooks is the author of the newly released book “You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You’re Innocent.”
Brooks helped found the California Innocence Project in 1999. Since then, its work has led to the release of 37 innocent people. Among then was NFL hopeful Brian Banks, whose story later became a movie, “Brian Banks,” in 2019. Brooks was played in the movie by actor Greg Kinnear.
