Alex Andalis, class of 2009, discusses his experience in the criminal defense clinic at BC Law, and his mentor, Professor Sharon Beckman.

Boston College Law School Webcast Archive

Alex Andalis '09 and Professor Sharon Beckman

In 2020, the Boston College Innocence Program secured the exoneration of clients Frances Choy and Ronnie Qualls and the release of a third client pending further litigation. The program has also made significant contributions to law and practice reform efforts. The Boston Bar Journal asked BCIP’s Director, Boston College Law Professor Sharon Beckman, to comment on what is behind the program’s success and to share a lesson learned in her clinic.

Boston College Law School Faculty Papers

Learning from Omar: The Case for Public Funding of Postconviction Innocence Defense

Panel One: Best Practices to Identify and Rectify Wrongful Convictions
Sponsored by the Rappaport Center for Law & Public Policy
Moderator: Sharon Beckman, Associate Clinical Professor; Director, Innocence Program, BC Law School
Panelists:
<ul>
<li>Ira Gant, Staff Attorney, Committee for Public Counsel Services Innocence Program</li>
<li>Cynthia Garza, Assistant District Attorney, Conviction Integrity Unit, Dallas District Attorney’s Office</li>
<li>Chief Justice Mark D. Martin, North Carolina Supreme Court</li>
<li>David Meier, Board Member, New England Innocence Project; Todd & Weld</li>
</ul>

Criminal Justice Reform Conference Panel One

A Boston College Innocence Program event
About Jennifer Thompson:
Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint in her apartment when she was a college student. Based on her mistaken eyewitness identification of him as her assailant, Ronald Cotton served 11 years of a life sentence before DNA proved his innocence. Jennifer and Ronald became unlikely friends and advocates for social justice reform. Their memoir Picking Cotton, written with Erin Torneo, is a New York Times best seller. Since her 2000 New York Times op ed "I was certain but I was wrong," Jennifer has been one of the Innocence Movement's most compelling witnesses to the harms of wrongful conviction and one of the nation's most persuasive voices for death penalty abolition and criminal justice reform. She was the Innocence Network's 2014 Champion of Justice. She is the Founder and President of Healing Justice, an organization that provides support to all who are harmed by wrongful convictions.
About Wrongful Conviction Day:
Wrongful Conviction Day is an international initiative to educate people about the causes and remedies of wrongful convictions and their tremendous personal and social harms.
About the Boston College Innocence Program:
The BC Innocence Program is a clinical legal educational program where students and faculty study the problem of wrongful convictions and work together to remedy and prevent these injustices. Supervised by Professors Sharon Beckman and Charlotte Whitmore, and in collaboration with the Committee for Public Counsel Services Innocence Program and the New England Innocence Project, BC Law students investigate and evaluate innocence claims, represent prisoners seeking relief from erroneous convictions, and work on amicus briefs, public policy initiatives, and interdisciplinary research projects. The BCIP, which is a member of the national Innocence Network, also provides undergraduate internships and supports public education and attorney training on topics relating to wrongful convictions. For more information about the BC Innocence Program contact Sharon Beckman at beckmans@bc.edu.

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Alex Andalis '09 and Professor Sharon Beckman

Learning from Omar: The Case for Public Funding of Postconviction Innocence Defense

Criminal Justice Reform Conference Panel One

Healing the Harms of Wrongful Conviction

Search LIRA@BC Law

Search

Resource type (2)

Creator (8)

Keyword (0)

Collection (2)

Availability (2)

Subject (5)

Results

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Learning from Omar: The Case for Public Funding of Postconviction Innocence Defense

Criminal Justice Reform Conference Panel One

Healing the Harms of Wrongful Conviction

Alex Andalis '09 and Professor Sharon Beckman