The founding of Amicus

Amicus was founded in 1992, in memory of Andrew Lee Jones, the Lifelines pen pal of Jane Officer.

Despite a lack of scientific evidence linking him to the crime, Andrew was charged with murder and executed in Louisiana in 1991. Details of his mental illness were withheld by the prosecution, vital mitigation was not presented and he was represented by an inexperienced lawyer who had never tried a capital case. Andrew was convicted by an all-white jury in a trial that took less than a day.

Good legal representation could have saved Andrew’s life. Instead, his death led to the formation of Amicus.


Amicus was founded to fight for those in the US facing a death sentence, who are, for the sake of economy, history, and race, the most vulnerable in society. We are a due process, fair trials organisation and believe the greatest impact we can, and do, have is through frontline work both on the ground and remotely. We provide assistance on capital cases remotely through pro bono volunteers from our affiliate international law firms and clinics. We train and place lawyers and postgraduate students to work directly and remotely in capital defense offices across the US.


Learn more about Jane Officer and Andrew Lee Jones by watching the video below.