For Students

A maximum of 15 law students are selected to participate in the Exoneration Justice Clinic. The law students enroll in the clinic for the entire academic year for academic credit. Each semester two undergraduate seniors, who are planning on attending law school after graduation, are also selected to participate in the clinic.

Students also participate in a nine-week summer internship program. Each summer three law students and three undergraduate seniors are accepted into the summer program. The students work full-time on wrongful conviction cases for monetary compensation.

All of these students participate in client intake work reviewing requests from prison inmates for legal representation based on claims of actual innocence. The students also investigate and litigate wrongful conviction cases, including participating in judicial proceedings. Students review trial transcripts, police reports, witness statements, forensic reports, and other case materials to discover evidence that would support overturning our client’s wrongful conviction. The students also conduct legal research and draft legal memoranda and judicial pleadings.

In addition, clinic students take on special projects, including legislative reform initiatives intended to prevent wrongful convictions, and assist our clients’ re-entry into the community after release from prison.

Program Details

During the fall semester, students are required to attend a weekly classroom component conducted by the clinical director. In the academic component, students discuss the causes of wrongful convictions, the relevant law that applies in this context, and application of the causes of wrongful convictions to their assigned cases. At the weekly meetings, students will also discuss the status of their wrongful conviction cases and any additional investigation required.

During the fall and spring semester, the students will also participate in the fieldwork component of the clinic, which will be supervised by Adjunct Professor Elliot Slosar, a staff attorney with the Exoneration Project in Chicago. These activities will include visiting the client at the Indiana prison, interviewing prospective witnesses, and making court appearances, among other things.

Students will work on eight cases each year. New cases will be added in the spring of each year by committee as availability allows.