Holding the Line in Practice: Inside the Washington University Wrongful Conviction Clinic 

 

Every wrongful conviction case requires the work of dozens of people to correct an injustice. And for the past five years, teams of students at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis have been part of that fight. 

 

MIP began its Wrongful Conviction Clinic at Wash U in 2021. As part of the program, law students meet for a weekly lecture, taught by MIP Legal Director Rachel Wester. They learn about typical hallmarks of innocence cases, the region’s post-conviction laws, and more.

 

But the majority of the students’ time each week is spent working hands-on with real MIP cases that are actively in investigation or litigation. They interview witnesses, meet with clients, draft pleadings, write research memos, and create chronologies or casts of characters. 

 

Some of the most critical work in innocence cases happens before they ever reach a courtroom. Having a team of dedicated students to take on some of this legal work and investigative preparation helps expand the amount of assistance MIP can offer its clients.

 

This semester, eight students signed up for the clinic. In addition, four students from the fall semester chose to continue their work as “advanced” clinic participants. It can take months to even establish a foundation of understanding in these complex cases. An extra semester can mean deeper work, more progress, and even stronger resolve to help MIP’s clients.

 

Savannah Fisher is one advanced clinic student who chose to stay on for a second semester. She said that by the end of her first semester in the clinic, she was only just starting to get a grasp of the two cases she’d been assigned to. 

 

“Now I get it,” she said after those first 12 weeks. “And I want to keep going. My claws are in these cases, and it’s going to be very hard for MIP to get rid of me. My plan is to continue volunteering once I’m done with school and then do pro bono work. It’s just so important to me. And now that I’m on these cases, I want to see them through.”

 

Diving into these real-world wrongful conviction cases can sometimes be a surprising awakening for law students. Before arriving at the clinic, many don’t realize just how much time it can take to free an innocent person. It can also be jarring to recognize the scale of opposition that MIP faces in our geographic region. 

 

“Most of the time, students are shocked by how long the exoneration process takes and how fierce the opposition is,” Wester said. “We talk at the beginning of the semester about what the post-conviction landscape looks like in Missouri. Those conversations always include case examples, and it’s sometimes the first moment where students see how post-conviction law and statutes play out in real life. Seeing that Lamar Johnson, for example, applied for assistance with MIP in 2010 and was not exonerated until 2023 is shocking to them.”

Helping MIP work through its wait list backlog

 

Case preparation isn’t the only avenue where Wash U clinic students help MIP with its real-world work. They also help assess and make decisions about cases where applicants are still waiting for help.

 

After an incarcerated person applies for MIP assistance, their case goes through a long screening process. To determine whether MIP can take on that case, we analyze the trial and appellate records, police reports, existing evidence, and potential legal avenues for exoneration. 

 

The MIP wait list currently includes more than 800 cases. 

 

But the students in the Wash U clinic are helping MIP reduce that backlog. Students are divided into groups of two or three, then assigned a case off MIP’s wait list. Each group spends the entire semester digging into the details of the case, gathering records and information, and preparing to make a recommendation to MIP on whether they should take on the case. 

 

“The feedback from last semester was universally that what students enjoyed the most was the case screen assignment because they felt the responsibility of telling an applicant’s story,’” Wester said. “They really took the pressure seriously. They knew it was their job to be thoughtful and thorough and give the applicant a voice — to be their advocate.”

A vital intro to the real-world legal system

 

Clinic students play a crucial role in moving cases forward at MIP, whether that’s making the recommendation to move a waitlist case to the next stage, or supporting investigation and litigation of active cases. 

 

But this work also teaches the next generation of lawyers about what can go wrong in the criminal legal system — and how they can be part of the solution when they begin their careers.

 

Not all clinic participants will pursue innocence work after graduation. Many will go on to private practice or civil work. Some will work in underresourced public defenders’ offices, fighting to keep wrongful convictions from happening in the first place. And some may even land in prosecutors’ offices. Whichever path they take, students can learn critical lessons from the Wrongful Conviction Clinic that can shape a more just legal system, piece by piece.

 

“This is why clinics and summer programs are so important,” Wester said. “Even if these students go into private practice or into some other line of work that’s not innocence or post-conviction, the fact that there is a generation of lawyers educated about these topics is critical.”