News Archive
A message from Donna Elm, AACJ President: The Justice Project
Sep 12, 2005
We have seen the headlines trumpeting exonerations won by Barry Scheck in his "Innocence Project," as well as several exonerations and reversals of fortunes for convicted innocents locally. Eight years ago, concerned and dedicated professionals of AACJ were involved in the inception of Arizona's "Justice Project," the organization committed to reviewing non-capital cases of potential innocence or gross miscarriages of justice, attempting to correct these flaws in our criminal justice system. Starting from a modest conglomeration of attorneys headed up by Larry Hammond and housed by AACJ, the Project now works through both ASU and UofA Law Schools (Bob Bartels and Chad Noreuil up north, and Andy Silverman down south). We are proud that it boasts one of the best data bases in the country, has over 50 cases currently in court, and passed its 2000th application a couple of months ago!
The database and records are no longer housed at AACJ but are housed at Osborn Maledon. The firm has quietly continued for almost 8 years now to set aside a room with file cabinets for the files, has paid for all postage, mailing materials, etc, and has allowed Larry's assistant, Donna Toland, to devote a huge portion of time to coordinating the cases and maintaining the database.
Screening of referrals is done by Michelle Jensen who, with the rest of the "Project Management Team" of Larry Hammond and faculty coordinators, decide which cases to pursue. Law students (interning by working for the Project) assisted by private investigators then staff an "Evaluation Team" for in-depth investigation and research of a case that the Project has accepted. Part of the Evaluation Team is a volunteer criminal defense practitioner who meets with the students every two weeks for about 3-4 months, supervising their work and leading them to decide whether and how the case could and should be taken to Court by the Project. These supervising lawyers are then relieved of their responsibility, and others step in to litigate the issues that the Evaluation Team identified; volunteers can, of course, continue representation if they want to.
The Project has opportunities and need for more criminal defense attorneys to supervise students in Evaluation Teams. The commitment you would make is limited - twice a month, lasting about one semester - and the volunteer supervisor could in fact be a partnership or team of two or three lawyers working together with the students (that way there will be consistency and coverage if one is in trial, etc.) Volunteers average about 50 hours work total spread out over those months,. Many of your colleagues have volunteered for this, so ask them about their experience - the list of supervisor volunteers follows.
As a member of the Defense Bar, you have the knowledge and experience to make a difference in achieving justice for an innocently or wrongfully convicted person. You can mentor and teach law students at the same time for a minimal commitment. Please volunteer for this rich and rewarding experience of supervising students in evaluating a case.
To volunteer, or for more information, contact Larry Hammond.
Mail:
Larry Hammond, Osborn Maledon,
2929 N. Central, Suite 2100,
Phoenix 85012
Thanks to the Volunteer Supervisors:
Sam Adair, Adam Bleier, Marc Budoff, Bates Butler, J. Cabou, Scott Currey, Bob Dauber, Steve Dichter, Chris Dupont, Deb Euler-Ajayai, Bill Foreman, Rudy Gerber, Paul Hickman, Art Hinshaw, Bob Hirsh, Darrell Jackson, Danielle Jantich, Michelle Jensen, Bill Kirchner, Jim Knapp, Stephen Kunkle, Jess Lorona, Ivan Matthew, Diane Meyers, Dan Miller, Keith Olbricht, Richard Parrish, Bill Rothstein, Howard Schwartz, John Sears, Steve Sherrick, Sandy Slaton, Todd Stansbury, David P. Stoller, Earl Terman, Mike Terribile, Rhonda Beckerleg Thraen, Jon Trebon, Tracey Westerhausen, Ron Wood, Michael Ziemba.