Reflections on Innocence, Justice and Courage with John Grisham & Deirdre Enright
- 17 hours ago
- 4 min read
With more than 300 million books sold worldwide in 42 languages, bestselling author John Grisham is a literary titan. He is also a longtime advocate for justice, serving on the board of the Innocence Project, which has helped secure the freedom of hundreds of wrongfully convicted people.
On April 23, at the 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival, Grisham arrived at The Paramount Theater alongside Deirdre Enright, founder and director of the University of Virginia Innocence Project, for a fireside chat that blended storytelling, legal insight, and firsthand experience. The audience moved between laughter and stunned silence as Grisham and Enright shared story after story of wrongful convictions—and the heartbreak, determination, and hope that drove the fight to free the innocent and confront injustice.
The whole of the event—Innocence, Justice and Courage with John Grisham & Deirdre Enright—was an outflow of the day’s earlier events at the Civic Futures Summit and years of the Festival serving as a container for momentum around justice.
Below are some clips of the evening’s most quotable moments.
“...there aren’t really that many innocent people in prison, right?
The United States imprisons nearly 2 million people, the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Even conservative estimates suggest that tens of thousands of those behind bars are innocent. John Grisham reflected on this staggering truth: “I practiced law for 10 years and never had a client that was wrongfully convicted...and I thought it was that way everywhere…boy was I wrong.”
"Why do we do Innocence work?...There's a lot of bullies in the criminal justice system"
When asked what motivates her to take on such demanding work, for comparably very low pay, Enright doesn’t hesitate: “I grew up hating bullies...there’s a lot of bullies in the criminal justice system.” In what she describes as an “unbalanced and underfunded system,” that conviction fuels both her and the students of the UVA Innocence Project, whose guiding principle is simple: “outwork the other side.” Their relentless efforts challenge junk science, expose the unreliability of jailhouse informants, and confront other systemic failures that contribute to wrongful convictions.
The Innocence Project has helped exonerate and free 257 innocent people. 205 of those convictions were overturned through DNA analysis alone.
"That's the most courageous thing you will see."
Many innocent people facing criminal charges are offered plea deals. Some accept them to avoid the risk of a harsher sentence, while others steadfastly maintain their innocence and refuse to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit, choosing instead to serve their sentence until they are exonerated. Grisham and Enright praise that courage, pointing to the well-known Virginia case of Keith Harward as a powerful example.
"These problems are not supposed to be there...the system is supposed to work."
Grisham describes the origin and realities of Innocence Projects scattered across the nation. “They’re not supposed to exist,” he notes, since our criminal legal system promises fairness. Yet, the need for these projects persists. Grisham praises the work Enright does with the UVA Innocence Project - since 2008, they have helped secure more than a dozen exonerations.
“There’s tens of thousands of innocent people in prison, how can this happen?"
Grisham and Enright discuss why so many innocent people are convicted. The top reason for a wrongful conviction is unreliable eyewitness testimony. Enright notes that we, as humans, are bad at being witnesses - the details we pay attention to in a criminal situation may not be relevant to a conviction. Individuals who are interrogated often cannot recall simple details. And an emotionally charged eye witness testimony can easily impact a jury, more so than facts alone. “That’s how bad we are,” she comments.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NIGHT
During the pre-show reception and toast, Grisham praised Enright, saying, “She has fought the good fight for many years…. She’s a relentless fighter. She does the heavy lifting. I get to sit back, watch her, and write about it.”
Grisham noted that he is continually drawn to the intensity in stories he encounters in his work with the Innocence Project: “Every wrongful conviction story I’ve heard deserves a book”
Paul Beyer joined Martize Tolbert on stage to open the evening. Audience members then rose from their seats to meet those around them, sharing what had drawn them there and setting a tone of connection and community before the conversation began.
The evening also featured a Nonprofit Showcase in the lobby of The Paramount Theater, giving attendees the opportunity to connect with local and statewide organizations working for justice and reform. Sixteen nonprofits engaged with hundreds of participants throughout the night. See the full list below.
Following an audience Q&A, both speakers left attendees with a challenge: remain hopeful, engaged, and committed to the pursuit of justice. Progress can be slow, and victories can be hard-won, but their impact is profound and deeply personal. As audience members exited the theater, the nonprofit organizations waiting in the lobby offered something equally important—practical opportunities to turn awareness into action and make a tangible difference in the lives of their neighbors.
LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM TOM'S RELATED WORK
Explore some of the programs, partnerships, and conversations we’ve helped convene to support reentry, restorative justice, and stronger community well-being.
2026: Tom Tom hosted its annual Jail Tours & Restorative Justice Conversations with Central Virginia Community Justice.
2026: Tom Tom, The Fountain Fund, and the City of Charlottesville put on a One Stop Shop, gathering dozens of service providers who gather monthly to offer a single point of resources for those returning from jail and prison.
2024: Tom Tom partnered with the Fountain Fund and Equal Justice USA to convene a Reentry Summit focused on strengthening coordination among service providers and fostering a comprehensive, cross-sector approach to supporting successful reentry.
2024: A Coming Home program featured a Reentry Simulation with UVA Law, alongside a One Stop Shop, Reentry Summit, and a film screening on the Bridge Ministry.
