Eric Blackmon is a paralegal with the MacArthur Justice Center, where his work is focused on complex civil litigation cases. He is an artist and poet committed to reforming the system that once wrongfully convicted him. Eric spent more than 15 years in Illinois state prisons for a crime he didn't commit. He is on the board of the Prison+Neighborhood Arts/Education Project, an organization he has worked with for over a decade, initially as a student while incarcerated. He was a fellow with the University of Chicago's Pozen Center for Human Rights and is seeking his bachelor's at Northeastern Illinois University.