We proudly present the 2025 Maureen Rowley Award to Tom Innes, former Project Board member and current Director of Prison Advocacy with the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
Maureen Rowley served as Chief Defender for the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She and Tom both played important roles at the time of the Project's establishment in Pennsylvania 16 years ago, and, like Maureen, Tom has devoted his career to fighting for indigent defendants.
Tom Innes holds the unofficial title of the longest-serving attorney at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, having joined as a trial lawyer in 1978. Tom formed the Prison Services Unit in 2000 in response to conditions faced by Defender Association clients at the Philadelphia county jails. Since then, Tom has tirelessly advocated for better conditions and more transparency at the jails, including around the horrible conditions during the COVID 19 pandemic and more recently.
In addition to this broad policy advocacy, Tom helps individual clients, families, and Defender staff members navigate the broken county jail system as best they can. When he can, he advocates for our staff and clients among his contacts across the system, including taking our calls to assist when we have a Philadelphia client set to be released and want transport to proceed as smoothly as possible. He is always willing to help.
Tom was a part of the working group to establish the Pennsylvania Innocence Project more than 16 years ago and he served as a Project Board member for many years, providing critical insight during our formation and evolution. He is a long-time, steady supporter and a good friend to many in our network.
Please join us for the special presentation of the 2025 Maureen Rowley Award to Tom Innes at our annual event in Philadelphia on May 8th. Learn more and purchase your tickets today at
this link.