Habeas Project

Credit Hours: 4 hours
Graded Course
Offered: Fall and Spring. May be taken up to two times; strong preference for two semester commitment
Open to: 3L

In the Habeas Project, Mercer Law’s nationally recognized post-conviction defense legal clinic, students work closely with a faculty supervisor to provide direct representation for those unable to afford counsel whose constitutional rights have been violated.

Since 2006, the Project has handled dozens of cases pending before the Georgia Supreme Court and various Georgia Superior Courts in post-conviction matters, in which litigants no longer have the right to appointed counsel. In the clinic, Professor Meagan Hurley supervises student case work and mentors in all aspects of representation: client visits, investigation, case planning, brief drafting, and their understanding of larger constitutional criminal law concepts with rules of evidence, appellate/post-conviction rules and procedures, and legal writing and client counseling techniques. Qualified students may sign their clients’ briefs, in addition to engaging in oral advocacy in a variety of courts. The Habeas Project has had remarkable success in a number of appellate and post-conviction cases – including the September 2023 exoneration of an innocent client after 22 years of wrongful conviction and incarceration.

See Course Catalog for official description.