Clinical: Pro Bono Research Project for the Public Defender Service of DC

The Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia is seeking student help on a research memo for a committee responsible for drafting the Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions for D.C. The Drafting Committee has representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the D.C. Superior
Court Bench, the DC Office of the Attorney General, the private criminal defense bar and PDS on it.

The assignment is to start with 2 cases involving arson that both talk about the interest of the offense of arson being to protect against "conduct endangering human life" and "offending the security of
habitation or occupancy." You would research DC and Maryland law
answering specific questions on the cases, and write a memo for the
Committee.

Deadline is October 24, 2008

If you are interested, please contact Lee Branson
(lbranson@law.harvard.edu) in the Clinical and Pro Bono office and she
can provide you with more details of the project.