UW Madison Scholar Interns with Renowned Exoneration Project
University of Wisconsin-Madison Scholar Shiloh Ajiginni spent the summer examining how attorneys build cases for people seeking to overturn wrongful convictions. As an intern with the Exoneration Project, he gained experience with legal research, case development and the realities facing people navigating the post-conviction process.
Working with the organization’s Intake Project, Shiloh screened complex applications for legal assistance. He analyzed affidavits, constructed case timelines and identified inconsistencies in witness accounts for attorney review. He also indexed trial transcripts and helped draft a section of an appellate brief, seeing how details drawn from years of court records can shape a legal argument.
Shiloh also spent time at the criminal courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue. There, he followed a weeklong murder bench trial before Judge Tyria B. Walton, observing courtroom strategy and the weight of judicial decision-making firsthand.
Outside the courthouse, Shiloh attended a legislative celebration marking the passage of an Illinois Certificate of Innocence bill. The legislation is intended to help exonerated people clear their records and gain access to compensation, connecting the casework he studied to broader efforts to address the consequences of wrongful convictions.
The internship strengthened Shiloh’s interest in a career in public interest law and gave him a clearer view of the responsibility attorneys carry when a person’s freedom is at stake.
