Spring 2014: Capital Punishment Clinic

By Professor Patrick Metze, Director of the Capital Punishment Clinic. Originally published in the Spring 2014 Texas Tech Law Newsletter.

Spring 2014 report on the Capital Punishment Clinic's fourth iteration, with Suraiya Syed and Deniz Pinkerton chosen as students embedded with the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases.

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

The Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases office welcomed it's fourth Capital Punishment Clinic this past Spring semester. The office is the only statewide defender for capital cases with 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. This semester only two students were chosen from those that completed the Fall 2013 Capital Punishment seminar. Completion of the 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 2014 issue at Texas Tech Law.