The Criminalized Survivor, Detention, and Justice Clinic (CSDJC) is a 1 or 2-semester clinic in which students will focus on avenues of relief for individuals who have been imprisoned for killing their abusers, or who have committed other crimes arising out of their circumstances as abused persons. These individuals are described as “criminalized survivors. Most of these incarcerated persons are women who were unable to introduce evidence of their abuse at trial or at sentencing as it relates to the offenses for which they were convicted. Students may seek sentencing mitigation, clemency, and parole and develop re-entry strategies that focus on the particular needs of this cohort. They may engage in legislative and policy changes to improve outcomes for criminalized survivors. Students may examine ways to use human rights norms in international and regional settings in their work. Students will have opportunities to develop appellate law-related skills and learn how best to work with and on behalf of incarcerated adults.
Enrollment Options and Credit Hours
• Full year (fall and spring semester) – 4 credit hours per semester
• Fall semester only – 4 credit hours
• Spring semester only – 4 credit hours
Skills Learned
• Client centered, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate interviewing
• Factual investigation
• Case theory and case planning
• Counseling
• Negotiation
• Legal research and application of facts to law
• International human rights law; international and regional forums where they can be applied on behalf of clients
• Review case files, discovery
• Written advocacy
• Drafting pleadings
• Drafting policy papers
• Drafting proposed legislation
• Oral advocacy
• Working with expert witnesses
• Incorporating interdisciplinary fields of knowledge
• Ethical representation
• Collaboration
• Lawyering across cultural divides
• Identifying structural contexts affecting law and legal problems/critical thinking skills
• Case file management
Requirements
• Pre- or Co-requisite courses: Gender Violence, the Law, and the Criminalized Survivor (RWE)
Resources
Recent Projects, Reports, & Research
- Domestic Violence and Brain Injury: A Service Provider’s Guide
Brain injury is a serious and often undiagnosed consequence of intimate partner violence (IPV). One survey of women recruited from domestic violence shelters found that nearly 75% of them had sustained at least one brain injury from physical blows or strangulation, and approximately half had suffered multiple brain injuries. Brain injury causes physical, psychological, and behavioral problems that can impact every aspect of a survivor’s life, especially their service needs. The purpose of this guide is to provide information about the causes and prevalence of brain injuries in survivors, describe the ways that brain injury manifests in survivors, and provide recommendations for domestic violence service providers to screen and accommodate survivors’ brain injuries. Additional resources for service providers as well as survivors are included at the end of the guide along with a 2-page for survivors. - Domestic Violence and Brain Injury: A Health Care Provider’s Legal Guide
In recent years, a growing body of research has highlighted a troublingly common occurrence affecting survivors of intimate partner violence: brain injuries. In light of this recently discovered connection, health care providers have a critical role to play to assist survivors of violence, many of whom may have a limited ability to advocate for themselves, determine if they have a BI, and learn how to manage it. This guide draws on reports, policy papers, and recommendations from health care experts to create awareness of the relationship between brain injury and intimate partner violence and the important role of health care providers in efforts to improve health and social justice outcomes for survivors. - UNC Criminalized Survivor Detention and Justice Clinic leads national partners to submit its Universal Periodic Review report to the United Nations Human Rights Council: From the Cradle to the Grave: The Lifelong Criminalization of Survivors
- Repeated Victimization Repeated Criminalization UNC CSDJC Policy Report
- CSDJC students, Katrina Smith and Kathryn Turk, present on issues related to criminalized survivors to the Criminal Defense Roundtable of NCAJ.
- Resource Guide for NCAJ Presentation
Faculty
Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law, and Director of the Criminalized Survivor, Detention, and Justice Clinic
