Minnesota Attorney General’s Office – Conviction Review Unit
SEE SYMPLICITY POSTING 19964
Attorney General Keith Ellison is seeking externs for the fall 2021 semester to work—either remotely or in person—in the first-ever Conviction Review Unit (CRU) in Minnesota.
Background to Minnesota’s Conviction Review Unit
The purpose of a CRU is to identify, remedy, and prevent wrongful convictions. Each case the CRU accepts for review will have a strong indication that the person imprisoned could be innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. In August 2021, the CRU began accepting applications from incarcerated individuals who believe they are wrongfully convicted of a felony in Minnesota.
Duties and Responsibilities
The newly established Conviction Review Unit creates an ideal setting for externs. Students will complete a variety of work, and they can do so remotely. Externs will screen cases as they come to the CRU. Externs will research information about the applicant’s conviction, sentence, and post-conviction proceedings. They will assess the priority level of incoming cases based on several nuanced factors that have been established by the CRU. Externs may meet with attorneys who represent applicants, develop investigatory plans, interact with state agencies to gather evidence, and interview witnesses and experts.
Each extern will also be assigned to one ongoing case within the CRU. These cases will involve strong claims of wrongful conviction. Externs will conduct research and write memos and recommendations, and their work may culminate in a recommendation or presentation that goes directly to Attorney General Ellison.
Externs will work under the supervision of Carrie Sperling, who started as the CRU Director on April 1. Ms. Sperling has spent the past two decades studying, teaching, and correcting wrongful convictions. As a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and at Arizona State’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Sperling led collaborative efforts to overturn wrongful convictions. Recently, the Clinical Legal Education Association awarded Sperling and her Wisconsin Innocence Project students an honorable mention for their work in overturning the murder convictions against a married couple in Georgia.
Qualifications:
The externship is open to all law students currently enrolled. No prerequisite courses are required. Course work including criminal procedure, forensic science, social psychology, criminology, fact investigation, legal research, and legal writing would be helpful but not required. Familiarity with databases and Microsoft Office are also helpful.
Students will not be able to practice as a certified attorney in this externship.
Location:
Externs may work either remotely or create a hybrid of remote and in person work. Most work will be done individually, but all externs will meet as a group each week for “round table” discussions about their work. This discussion may take place remotely.
Semester:
Accepting applications for Fall 2021
Potentially offering positions in Spring 2022
Hours:
This externship requires a minimum of 3 credits (135 hours during the semester) and will accept students who would like to take a maximum of 6 credits (270 hours during the semester).
Compensation:
This position does not include financial compensation.
Application Information:
Applicants should submit a short cover letter and resume. See Symplicity posting 19964.
Closing Date:
Application accepted until positions are filled.
Employer Contact Information:
Carrie Sperling
Assistant Attorney General
carrie.sperling@ag.state.mn.us
To learn more about the Conviction Review Unit, check out the AG’s website, this article, or this podcast.