Everyone
Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic
Juvenile criminal justice reform is the project of the Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing (JIFS) Clinic, and the battle plan is high-quality, diligent representation of juveniles in adult prisons, one client at a time. The JIFS Clinic functions as a team, with the student laboratory (AKA the Fishbowl) as its nerve center. Everyone helps everyone else, and the results speak for themselves: eight successful resentencings, all of them for clients serving life or functional life without parole; eight successful parole hearings, some for clients the clinic has represented for more than a decade; and three successful juvenile transfer hearings for former minors.
The graduating class of the JIFS Clinic does not shy away from tough, high-profile cases. They take on clients that other attorneys give up on and pour their passion and commitment into their cases until they win. JIFS students’ briefs, motions, and memoranda serve as models for attorneys throughout California – showing them that even impossible cases can lead to great results.
Finally, for the JIFS graduating class, representation doesn’t end when the client is released from prison. True to our model of holistic representation, students are still fighting for their clients on the outside, making sure they have housing, jobs, treatment, and support. The quality of the graduating class hasn’t gone unnoticed; every JIFS graduating student is employed in a top public defender office, judicial clerkship, public interest agency or fellowship, or a major law firm.