Civil Rights in the Criminal Legal System Clinic

Course Description

The Civil Rights in the Criminal Legal System Clinic represents people who have suffered civil rights violations while incarcerated or under criminal justice supervision. Clinic students utilize litigation and other legal advocacy tools to vindicate their clients’ rights by developing legal theories, analyzing potential claims, making strategic decisions, and drafting pleadings, briefs and other litigation documents. Through the clinic seminar, students explore different approaches to public interest lawyering, consider the limits of litigation as a tool to achieve social change, and review case studies of efforts to challenge mass incarceration.

Fieldwork

Students in the clinic work on fieldwork projects, which include litigation and other forms of legal advocacy. Students are responsible for leading all work on their projects. This may include a wide range of tasks, such as drafting pleadings or briefs, interviewing clients, conducting legal research, devising legal strategy, negotiating with opposing counsel, and appearing at oral argument. Examples of recent cases and projects include:

• Advocating for the release of people sentenced to life in prison via representation in parole proceedings and in litigation asserting a state constitutional right to resentencing.

• Filing administrative appeals and state court lawsuits on behalf of an incarcerated people illegally sentenced to solitary confinement in violation of New York’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act (HALT Act);

• Developing legal theories to challenge systemic violations of the HALT Act by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and serving as co-counsel in Fields v. Marscutello, a class action challenging DOCCS’ implementation of the HALT Act;

• Representing a jailhouse lawyer in his federal appeal of a First Amendment challenge to North Carolina’s prohibition on peer legal assistance prohibition in its state prisons and restrictive prison mail access policies;

• A federal lawsuit asserting a novel First Amendment theory regarding the right to speak on the internet for people on parole or post-release supervision.

Seminar

The seminar component of the clinic covers foundational questions about the role of lawyers and litigation in achieving social change as well as substantive and skills issues that arise in fieldwork. Students consider the limitations of litigation in addressing constitutional and civil rights violations in the criminal legal system, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to lawyering, such as movement lawyering and client-centered lawyering. The seminar will also include case studies of litigation and other advocacy efforts to challenge mass incarceration.

Learning Outcomes

• Attain an understanding of various tools lawyers utilize to vindicate constitutional and civil rights within the criminal legal system;
• Develop abilities to identify bias, racism, and oppression in the criminal legal system and to analyze critically the roles of the law, lawyering, and legal institutions in fostering bias, racism, and oppression;
• Develop skills in client interviewing and counseling, including cross-cultural competence, and an appreciation of the unique challenges that attend to representing people who are detained or incarcerated;
• Sharpen written and oral analytical skills through written reflections, seminar discussions, and fieldwork.

Application Procedure

Students interested in applying for the clinic should submit the standard application, resume, and transcript online through CAMS. Some students may be interviewed by Professor Karteron. If you have questions regarding the application procedure, please contact Professor Karteron.

Student Contacts

Jahne Brown
Zoe Chang
Morgan Hale

* 7 credits include 5 clinical credits and 2 academic seminar credits per semester.