The Criminal Justice Project

The director of the Criminal Justice Project is Professor Siegel, who also serves as Co-Director of the Center for Law and Social Responsibility. Professor Siegel's work through the Criminal Justice Project includes the handling of pro bono criminal cases (on which students assist with research), participation in the development of the New England Innocence Project (NEIP), in which students research and investigate cases of wrongfully convicted persons to secure their exoneration, development of legislation to improve the accuracy of the criminal justice system, and training criminal justice professionals in these areas.

The pro bono work includes the representation, along with members of a large Boston law firm, of an inmate seeking the testing of evidence in his case, in order to pursue the inmate's claim of wrongful conviction. The claims of the inmate were profiled on ABC's 20/20, and the Worcester Telegram-Gazette. The NEIP work includes participation in the development of the NEIP, along with four other area law schools and over a dozen outside lawyers. NESL students are able to participate in the work of NEIP through volunteer positions in which they conduct case screening and research. Students in his Mental Health Issues in Criminal Proceedings seminar perform research and writing on projects arising from practitioners and researchers in the field.

Professor Siegel has written articles on the history of the mental health defense of diminished capacity in criminal law and the ethical obligations of criminal defense lawyers when their former clients claim they were ineffective, as well treatise chapters on mental health issues in criminal law and the law of juvenile transfers.

2007 Report of Activities

  • Criminal Justice Project Director David Siegel continued to supervise students volunteering for the New England Innocence Project. As volunteers, students conduct case screenings and research of potential cases submitted to the NEIP. Five students reviewed cases for NEIP over the 2006-2007 school year and submitted their recommendations to the NEIP Review Committee.
  • As Chair of the NEIP?s Amicus & Policy Committee, Director Siegel also assisted in preparing comments responding to the ?Justice Initiative? Report of District Attorneys General Association and Attorney General, and testified in writing before the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee regarding electronic recording of custodial interrogations.
  • Project Director Siegel served as pro bono counsel on Commonwealth v. Francis Pelosi, at Suffolk Superior Court, a case on remand from the Supreme Judicial Court.
  • In February, 2007, the Public Service Project and 2006-2007 Fellow Stephanie Sprague organized a Law Matters session on the topic of Civil Gideon, involving the right to counsel in civil litigation. Criminal Justice Project Director Siegel participated in the panel, moderated by the Fellow.
  • Director Siegel served as moderator for the New England Law Review's 2006 symposium, "The CSI Effect: The True Effect of Crime Scene Television on the Justice System". He joined panels at the National Innocence Network National Conference, the New York University Child Study Center Grand Rounds, the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, and presented at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Annual Meeting in October, 2006, and was CLE instructor for Suffolk Lawyers for Justice CLE in May 2007.
  • Director Siegel continues to serve Suffolk Lawyers for Justice in various capacities, including chairing the Law Reform Subcommittee and as a member of the board of directors.

Pro Bono Cases

Arkansas v. Sullivan:
U.S. Supreme Court Petition in Opposition to Certiorari [PDF]
U.S. Supreme Court decision: Arkansas Supreme Court decision on Remand

Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. DiGiambattista:
Brief of Amici Curiae [PDF]
"SJC mulls taping of suspect interviews" - Boston Globe, 4/9/2004

Legislation

Professor Siegel drafted this bill, the Post Conviction Access to Forensic and Scientific Analysis Act, which has been introduced in the Massachusetts Senate as S. 178 and the Massachusetts House as H. 750 to ensure orderly and reliable access to forensic evidence and testing by persons who claim they were wrongfully convicted.


Presentations & Trainings