Criminal Justice Reform Clinic

The Criminal Justice Reform (CJR) Clinic is a project of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center. The CJR Clinic, launched as a pilot project in the 2026-27 academic year, focuses on the application and enforcement of constitutional rights at the earliest post-arrest stages of criminal procedure. Students work for a full academic year on innovative litigation and policy strategies to advance the right to counsel and other constitutional protections affecting people accused of crimes.

Student Experience

Students will have an opportunity to develop their legal skills in an unusually broad range of litigation and policy contexts. Case work may include traditional civil rights litigation, pre-trial habeas corpus and mandamus petitions, state and federal criminal appeals, state and federal amicus briefs, and post-conviction writs. In the policy arena, students may work on projects involving review and development of court rules or legislation, drafting and presenting expert comments or testimony, and assisting in drafting of policy briefs. The Clinic trains students on not only the tools they will need to be effective advocates, but how to choose the best intervention to address legal problems based on facts, context, and relevant law. Students will engage with both the strategy and implementation phases of the Clinic’s reform efforts.

Project Selection

The CJR Clinic focuses its efforts on a small number of high-impact projects. There is no general intake or application process for prospective clients or cases at this time. When the Clinic has capacity to undertake new campaigns, they typically come from trusted partners in law and advocacy spaces. The Clinic, like the Deason Center, considers and engages in reform work across the country, with a particular affinity for cases in regions that historically see less outside engagement.

Due to the diverse nature of the work, Clinic students should expect to work with a variety of different types of clients, including people accused of crimes, lawyers seeking to develop institutional reform strategies on behalf of their clients, and groups seeking to change the broader functioning of their criminal justice systems. Students will be encouraged to see the relationships and opportunities connecting these different styles of representation.

Faculty Supervision

Director and Clinical Professor

Pamela R. Metzger

pmetzger@smu.edu

214.768.2598

Adjunct Clinical Professor

Nathan Fennell

nfennell@smu.edu

214.768.6973