[3] The libretto was based in part on the book Blind Injustice by Ohio Innocence Project co-founder Mark Godsey, and on interviews with those whose stories are portrayed.
Members of the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) young professionals committee met in early 2017 with members of Cincinnati's Young Professional Choral Collective (YPCC) to discuss devising choral music based on OIP's work;[1] YPCC's founding director, KellyAnn Nelson, saw the opportunity to create something larger.
[6][7][8] Librettist David Cote worked with director, dramaturge and CCM faculty member Robin Guarino to develop the opera's text in early 2018.
[11] The opera, which consists of one 90-minute act,[3][12] premiered at the Wilks Studio Theatre in Cincinnati's Music Hall on July 22, 2019, directed by Robin Guarino.
The main characters in the opera are all based on six real people who had been wrongfully convicted and later exonerated by the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP).
[12][13] Laurese Glover, Derrick Wheatt, and Eugene Johnson, known as the East Cleveland Three, were convicted on the basis of tainted evidence and misidentification by an eyewitness; they served 20 years in prison.
"[13] Cincinnati City Beat called it a "masterpiece", and declared that the only flaw was the small seating capacity, saying that the opera's powerful message deserved a broader audience.
[4] Blind Injustice has received positive feature coverage on ABC News, the New York Times and The New Yorker, among other outlets.