Spring 2013: Capital Punishment Clinic

By Professor Patrick Metze, Director of the Capital Punishment Clinic. Originally published in the Spring 2013 Texas Tech Law Newsletter.

The third year of the Capital Punishment Clinic, including the four students selected, their integration with the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases office, and the classroom and field components.

From the Desk of Patrick S. Metze – Capital Punishment Clinic

The Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases office welcomed it's third Capital Punishment Clinic this past Spring semester. The office is the only statewide defender for capital cases expanding recently to eight regional offices throughout Texas. Our clients are, each of them, in the unenviable position of prolonged incarceration, generally single celled, alienated from family, and without hope of eventual release. Only four students are chosen from those that complete the Fall Capital Punishment seminar. Completion of the semester seminar indoctrinates the chosen students into the unique world of the capital defender.

This column is reproduced only in brief. Read the whole thing in the Spring 2013 issue at Texas Tech Law.