Clinic: Wrongful Conviction and Sentencing (3510)

Students in the Wrongful Conviction and Sentencing Clinic will work collaboratively on projects referred from the Minnesota Attorney General's Conviction Review Unit and study the systemic causes of wrongful convictions. The CRU was chartered in 2021 as an independent unit within the Attorney General's office to "conduct extrajudicial review of juvenile adjudications, criminal convictions, and sentences in cases with plausible allegations of actual innocence or manifest injustice." Students will investigate claims of wrongful convictions that have been pre-screened by the CRU and projects referred by the CRU. An accompanying classroom component will meet weekly to discuss assigned readings relating to systemic issues that lead to wrongful convictions and engage in collaborative "case round" discussions of clinic cases and projects. The clinic will require a minimum time commitment of 10-15 hours per week, inclusive of casework, the classroom component, and weekly or bi-weekly supervision meetings with the professor. Most casework can be completed remotely, but some investigative work may require travel to Minnesota.