For more than 40 years, PCJP has been tirelessly advocating for persons who are incarcerated

The Post-Conviction Justice Project at USC Gould School of Law fights for second chances — through parole representation, parole-readiness workshops in prisons, courtroom representation and legislative advocacy. 



 A clinical program directed by professors Heidi Rummel and Michael Brennan with certified law student interns, PCJP works with men and women — many sentenced to life-terms for crimes committed in their youth over 20 or 30 years ago. Since 2008, PCJP has co-sponsored or written nearly every juvenile justice bill in California, impacting tens of thousands of lives.


News

Alumni Spotlight: Nina Rosser (’21)

While a student with PCJP, Nina won a hard-fought appeal in California’s First District Court of Appeal pertaining to juvenile culpability and the felony-murder law in California.

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Taking the Lead

Through litigation and, most broadly, through legislation, PCJP has led the way toward hope for incarcerated youth. Since 2008, PCJP has written or co-sponsored nearly every juvenile…

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“We believe in the power of hope.”

Heidi Rummel
Co-Director

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Clients Assisted
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Law Students and Alumni
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Life-Term Clients Released
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Workshops in 20 Prisons
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Life-Without-Parole Clients Released​

Hope: The Post-Conviction Justice Project

“The clinic plants little seeds of hope around the prison yards … and people start to change.”

— Charles, 2020 Client

Experiential Learning

“Law school classes taught me to think like an attorney, but PCJP made me an attorney.”

— Alex Hurd, JD 2016