Fellow Presents Prison Injustice

Perched on the arm of a red leather sofa in the Parlor Room of the Phillips Brooks House (PBH), Emily L.A. Maw told the story of Travis Hayes, who spent 10 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder.

Maw, PBH’s second-ever fellow, spoke about her role as the director of the Innocence Project New Orleans to members of the Harvard community yesterday.

Hayes was one of the 13 wrongfully convicted prisoners in Louisiana and Mississippi that the project has helped exonerate since its inception in 2001.

Even after Hayes’ supposed co-conspirator was proved innocent, it took the project more than two years to get him freed.

During her talk, Maw showed PowerPoint slides bearing the name, image, and time spent in prison of each of the men the project had helped get out of jail.

The Phillips Brooks House Fellows program began last fall with funding from Jonathan I. Kislak ’70. In September, the program brought its first fellow to campus: Dee L. Aker, the interim director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego.

The PBH fellow selection committee chose Maw from a pool of six candidates. Department administrator for PBH Zandra I. Kambysellis said the committee thought that both the diversity of Maw’s work and her young age would appeal to students.

“She was someone we thought that students could really relate to because she is an emerging professional, though very accomplished,” Kambysellis said.

On Wednesday, Maw participated in a dinner discussion with about 10 students in the Lowell House Junior Common Room.

Her time on campus will also include two lunch workshops with students, as well as a number of meetings with students and student groups.

Maw, a graduate of Edinburgh University and Tulane Law School, said she became interested in the death penalty in the United States after studying a case in college. After coming to the United States, Maw worked on death penalty cases for five years before getting involved with the Innocence Project.

“I really wanted to do something that had more of a collateral effect on the entire system,” Maw said. “The idea that you can do casework that has a broader impact was really exciting.”

—Staff Writer Lauren D. Kiel can be reached at lkiel@fas.harvard.edu