Prosecutors want to challenge the trustworthiness of information turned up by the Innocence Project, but what information about students and classes should it be able to look at?

Cook County prosecutors have "subpoenaed the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of ... journalism students" who have worked on the Medill Innocence Project. Over the past 3 years, the students have worked on the case of Anthony McKinney, who was convicted of a murder that took place in 1978. The idea is to find out if the "students believed they would receive better grades if witnesses they interviewed provided evidence to exonerate Mr. McKinney." 

“We’re not trying to delve into areas of privacy or grades,” Ms. Daly said. “Our position is that they’ve engaged in an investigative process, and without any hostility, we’re seeking to get all of the information they’ve developed, just as detectives and investigators turn over.”...

But if the school gives in to such a demand, say advocates of the Medill Innocence Project and more than 50 similar projects (most involving law schools and legal clinics), the stakes could be still higher, discouraging students from taking part or forcing groups to devote time and money to legal assistance....