Press Release: 4/25/2025

AG Campbell Launches Justice Review Unit to Lead Office’s Conviction Integrity, Innocence and Wrongful Conviction Work

 



Names Donna Patalano, Former General Counsel at Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and Board of Bar Overseers Chair, as Director



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:



4/24/2025



MEDIA CONTACT



Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary



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Call Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary at (617) 727-2543



 Online



Email Sydney Heiberger, Press Secretary at Sydney.Heiberger@mass.gov



BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced the launch of her office’s new Justice Review Unit (JRU), formerly known as the Conviction Integrity Unit, which will be directed by Appellate Attorney Donna Patalano. The JRU is tasked with ensuring the integrity of criminal convictions obtained by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) by conducting independent and impartial reviews of innocence cases and offering leadership to develop best practices for post-conviction discovery protocols. This unit marks the first time that an AGO has created a robust process for evaluating innocence claims and providing technical assistance to other prosecutorial authorities.



According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 98 individuals have been exonerated in Massachusetts since 1990, reflecting approximately 1,379 years lost to wrongful incarceration.



“Communities are safer when people can trust that their law enforcement officials are securing justice, and when our justice system can recognize and learn from past mistakes,” said AG Campbell. “Our nation-leading Justice Review Unit will play a critical role in helping to address wrongful convictions, and I am confident that Donna’s experience makes her the perfect person to lead the charge.”



“Massachusetts has led the country on understanding conviction review and prosecutorial obligations to investigate innocence cases no matter when they come to light,” said Marissa Bluestine, Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. “The Attorney General's approach to conviction review balances prosecutorial independence with providing needed resources and support to take on these very challenging cases to achieve justice.”



“Congratulations to Attorney General Campbell for creating the Justice Review Unit, dedicated to expanding the office’s invaluable statewide role in promoting conviction integrity in the criminal legal system,” said Richard Cole, Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Conviction Integrity Task Force.“In that regard, the Massachusetts Conviction Integrity Task Force, consisting of key Massachusetts criminal justice stakeholders, including from District Attorney Offices and Massachusetts’ three innocence organizations, welcomes JRU Director Donna Patalano as a MCITF member, and looks forward to collaborating with Donna and the JRU in helping ensure best prosecutorial practices in the Commonwealth for preventing and remedying wrongful convictions and other miscarriages of justice.”



The JRU’s core missions include:




  • Screening applications under expanded criteria for accepting and investigating claims of innocence in cases prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office, and offer a new process for the voluntary transfers of conviction integrity matters from any other prosecutorial authority in the Commonwealth, both of which can be accessed through an online intake form;

  • Providing training and policy leadership, including making proposals for policies and best practices to help address and prevent wrongful convictions; and

  • Providing Discovery Assistance Review, a new technical assistance program available upon request by District Attorney’s Offices for discovery requests stemming from a conviction integrity claim.



Donna Patalano comes to the AGO after working as an appellate attorney at her own law firm, where she represented wrongly convicted individuals and conducted their innocence investigations. Donna also previously served as General Counsel at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, which included supervising the Integrity Review Bureau, the Appeals Unit, and conducting all internal investigations. At Suffolk, she led the creation of the Commonwealth’s first conviction integrity unit in 2012. As a prosecutor, she litigated or supervised fifteen exonerations and was counsel of record on more than 120 criminal appeals. She has also served as chair of the Board of Bar Overseers.



As Director of the JRU, Donna will work exclusively on JRU matters, reporting directly to the First Assistant Attorney General, and will conduct her work completely independently of the AGO’s Criminal Bureau. More information about the JRU may be found here.



The JRU’s formal launch comes during Second Chance Month, a nationally recognized celebration of fresh starts for people who have been impacted by the legal system. Created nearly a decade ago, Second Chance Month calls attention to the barriers faced by over 1 in 3 Americans with a criminal record by working to reduce the stigma of justice involvement and serve as a dedicated period to advocate for fair policies that give people a real opportunity to start fresh. This work begins by establishing a process to review post-conviction investigations and discovery, both core missions of the JRU.