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Enrollment in this clinic will fulfill the HLS JD pro bono requirement.

Required Class Component: Criminal Justice Appellate Clinical Seminar (1 winter classroom credit + 1 spring classroom credit). This clinic and course are bundled; your enrollment in the clinic will automatically enroll you in this required course.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: None.

By Permission: Yes. Applications are due October 2, 2024.

Add/Drop Deadline: November 18, 2024.

LLM Students: International students on F-1 student visas are required to have Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization; LL.M. students on F-1 visas are not eligible for CPT.

Multi-Semester: This is a winter-spring clinic (2 winter clinical credits + 2-3 spring clinical credits).

Placement Site: Washington D.C. office.

Students will participate in an externship with the MacArthur Justice Center in Washington, D.C., working on appeals before federal circuit courts and/or the U.S. Supreme Court that raise important issues related to civil rights and the criminal justice system.

Students will learn the ins-and-outs of litigating appeals in the field criminal justice, including general appellate strategy and skills, and emerging issues in the criminal justice system. Under the supervision of the director of MJC’s D.C. Office, students will have the opportunity to make a substantial contribution to the office’s ongoing appellate cases, including performing research and draft legal analysis for briefs that will be filed in federal court. Depending on the particular matters students work on, this may also include participation in client interaction and strategic decision-making, analysis of factual records, and participation in moot oral arguments (depending upon the stage of their assigned appeals). Students may also have the option of continuing the clinic remotely in the spring semester, allowing more substantial involvement in their assigned appeals and increased exposure to appellate litigation.

MJC is one of the nation’s premier civil rights organizations and champions criminal justice reform through litigation, in areas that include police misconduct, rights of the accused, issues facing indigent prisoners, the death penalty, and the rights of detainees. The organization’s Washington, D.C. office focuses specifically on appellate litigation as a vehicle for achieving change in these areas.

Examples of issues raised in MJC appeals include:

Unsettled questions of criminal procedure under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments (search and seizure, privilege against self-incrimination, right to a jury, right to counsel); Issues facing indigent prisoners, including the constitutional rights of prisoners to be free from cruel and unusual treatment by prison officials and access to courts; Constitutional challenges to the use of solitary confinement in the prison system; Fundamental trial rights under the Due Process Clause, including issues unique to capital trials; Challenges to certain discriminatory executive actions outside of the criminal justice system, including discriminatory practices of Immigration and Custom Enforcement and discrimination against Muslim travelers at the border.

Students admitted to the clinic will be supervised by Amir H. Ali, nationwide Executive Director of the MacArthur Justice Center, and Devi Rao, who directs the organization’s D.C. Office.

Application: Students interested in this clinic should submit a resume, an unedited writing sample, and a statement of interest (less than 300 words) that includes: (i) the student’s reason for applying to the clinic, including particular criminal justice issues the student is interested in, and (ii) any prior exposure to appellate and/or criminal justice issues. Applications should be submitted to clinical@law.harvard.edu by the deadline above.

Successful completion of appropriate written work in this offering satisfies the professional writing requirement for matriculants to the J.D. program from 2023 onward.