Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic
| LW.11245 / LW.11427 Professor Bryan Stevenson Professor Anthony Amsterdam Professor Randy Susskind 3L students preferred Maximum of 10 students |
Not offered 2012-13 14 credits* Pre- or Co-Requisite: Eighth Amendment Law and Litigation is strongly recommended (see "Qualifications for Applicants" below) |
Introduction
The Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic will be offered to up to ten students as a one-semester 14-credit course in the Spring Semester. Students will have the opportunity to provide legal assistance to condemned prisoners on Alabama’s death row and 13 and 14-year-old children sentenced to life imprisonment without parole; they may also engage in research, writing and strategic project work aimed at confronting bias against the poor and people of color within the criminal justice system.
Course Description
The course will focus on the preparation of appellate briefs and collateral litigation in Alabama capital cases where many indigent death row prisoners are without counsel, and on providing legal assistance to young children condemned to die in prison for offenses that were committed at age 13 or 14. Students will be involved in the development of strategies for successfully challenging unconstitutional convictions and sentences, the investigation and collection of information from clients and witnesses, and the review of documentary evidence. Students also will aid in the development of non-litigation advocacy for indigent and condemned prisoners.
Fieldwork
Over the course of the semester, students will make frequent trips to the Deep South and work with death row prisoners, children sentenced to die in prison, and poor and minority communities traumatized by criminal justice system control. Students will work on pending cases that are currently being managed by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Fieldwork may include interviewing clients, client family members, and other potential mitigation witnesses, reviewing local court files, examining state documents and evidence, and collecting information through interviews with jurors, lawyers and other critical witnesses.
Students will have substantial responsibility in the preparation of petitions, briefs, motions and other litigation devices. Students may also work on impact litigation that is designed to improve the environment in which capital cases are litigated. Students will perform simulations of investigation interviews and other litigation techniques to enhance effectiveness in fieldwork. Students will also conduct moot arguments at the end of the term.
The Seminar
The seminar component of the course will complement the fieldwork with an intensive analysis of the legal, strategic, ethical and cultural issues which students confront in their cases, as well as a study of the broader political, social and institutional norms which influence litigation involving the death penalty or extreme sentences imposed on young children. The seminar will stress the importance of developing skills with respect to building relationships with clients, interviewing witnesses, identifying legal issues, and developing theories of relief. Cases assigned to students will be litigated in state and federal trial and appellate courts.
Qualifications for Applicants
The Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic will be offered in the Spring Semester. While there are no prerequisites for enrollment in the clinic, students should take Eighth Amendment Law and Litigation in the Fall of 2011.
Application Procedure
Students should submit via CAMS the standard application, resume and unofficial transcript. Applicants should submit as lengthy a response to Question 4 of the standard application as they feel necessary and may ignore the 300 word limit. The clinic assistant, Noelia Rodriguez, will contact you via email to schedule an interview. If you have questions regarding the application procedure, please contact Noelia Rodriguez at (212) 998-6459 or via email.
Student Contacts
Former clinic students currently employed by EJI can be contacted at 334-269-1803:
Marc Shapiro (‘03)
Alex Goldenberg ('07)
The students in the Spring 2011 clinic are:
| Ryan Becker Ed Han Isaly Judd Philip Kovoor Meghan Morris |
Angelo Petrigh Krystal Quinlan Ben Schaefer James Thompson Madelyn White |
* 14 credits includes 6 clinical credits and 8 academic seminar credits.
http://www.law.nyu.edu//academics/clinics/semester/equaljustice/index.htm