The number of people incarcerated in the United States has steadily risen over the past 35 years. Today, 20 percent of the world’s prisoners—totaling 2.3 million people—are in U.S. confinement, meaning that approximately one in 110 members of our adult population live in prison. Mass incarceration can lead to unconstitutional conditions of confinement, poor medical and mental health treatment, and violence. Additionally, law enforcement can sometimes engage in practices—such as stop-and-frisk—that are invasive of privacy rights or are discriminatory. The clinic provides an opportunity for students to confront the injustices of this system and make a significant difference in the lives of their clients. Students develop and investigate new cases, interview and counsel clients, draft pleadings, conduct discovery (including taking and defending depositions), negotiate settlements, draft briefs, appear in court and conduct trials. Working in pairs, they perform all aspects of their client’s representation under the close supervision of a mentor who is both a practicing attorney and a full-time member of the Cardozo clinical faculty.

In addition to casework, the clinic includes a seminar component. In the seminar, students learn substantive and procedural law in federal civil rights actions, build the lawyering skills and competencies important to litigation, and discuss the ethical issues that typically arise in civil rights litigation.