College Offers Criminal Defense Attorneys the Skills Needed to Save Lives

Each year, hundreds of criminal defendants face the ultimate punishment—death. For a criminal defense attorney, representing a client who could be put to death if convicted is a daunting task that requires novel insight, skills and knowledge. The Clarence Darrow Death Penalty Defense College helps criminal defense attorneys meet the monumental challenge of providing the highest caliber representation to individuals charged with capital crimes. It has relocated from the University of Michigan Law School to the DePaul University College of Law, where it will operate through the Center for Justice in Capital Cases (CJCC). The CJCC represents defendants in death penalty cases.

“The College of Law will make a fitting new home for the Darrow College because of the law school’s proven commitment to defending capital defendants and because it will allow the college to continue to operate in partnership with the University of Michigan Law School,” said Glen Weissenberger, dean of the DePaul College of Law. “Relocating the Darrow College to DePaul will allow us to build on what has already proven to be a productive collaboration.”

Participation in the college is limited to 42 criminal defense lawyers annually. All are involved in pending capital cases. They receive capital defense instruction through lectures and demonstrations and also participate in unique small-group workshops where they can hone their skills by working on their actual cases.

“A defendant charged with a capital offense needs an attorney who is versed in death penalty defense,” explained DePaul Law Professor Andrea Lyon, who founded the Darrow college in 2000 at the University of Michigan and has served as its director since its inception. Lyon, a noted criminal defense attorney, also is director of DePaul’s CJCC. She will continue as director of the death penalty defense college.

“The college works to ensure that lawyers representing those charged with capital crimes have the necessary tools to make the difference between a sentence of life in prison or death,” said Lyon. “It’s about saving lives.”

Since its establishment, attorneys have worked on an estimated 120 cases through the college. Of those, Lyon said she knows of only one that did not result in a plea bargain or life instead of a death sentence. In that one case, the defendant dismissed his attorney and asked to be executed, according to Lyon.

The number of prisoners under the sentence of death has shown a decrease nationally. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, at the end of 2003, there were 3,374 prisoners under the sentence of death in 37 states and the federal prison system. That number was 188 less than the previous year. Better trained criminal defense attorneys, who have acquired the unique skills needed to represent defendants facing the death penalty, could reduce those numbers even further, which is one of the goals of the death penalty defense college.

The University of Michigan Law School, along with the American Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois, all will continue to co-sponsor the college along with DePaul.

“The Clarence Darrow Death Penalty Defense College provides hands-on assistance for attorneys who are currently representing death-eligible defendants,” said Evan Caminker, dean of the University of Michigan Law School. “The U-M Law School has been pleased to host the college from its inception. As DePaul now assumes the role of host for the 2006 college, we look forward to continuing our sponsorship of this valuable program.”

Founded in 2000 by the DePaul College of Law, the CJCC is a resource for capital defense attorneys nationwide. The center’s Death Penalty Legal Clinic gives students an opportunity to acquire outstanding real-world experience by working on active cases. For more information about the death penalty college or the CJCC, contact the CJCC at 312/362-5837 or www.law.depaul.edu/cjcc.