11 May 2023
Professor Danielle Jefferis (second from left) and a team from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law have received the 2023 Clinical Legal Education Association's (CLEA) Award for Excellence in a Public Interest Case or Project. Professor Jefferis previously taught as a Visiting Professor in the Civil Rights Clinic (CRC) at Denver and was a member of a team of clinic faculty and student attorneys that advocated for the rights of Seifullah Chapman, whose attorney was initially seeking help in securing him adequate medical care.
The CRC team successfully challenged the constitutionality of Mr. Chapman's convictions, resulting in his release from prison in 2018 and reunion with his family after being separated from them for more than a decade. In 2022, Mr. Chapman received a $300,000 settlement from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
CLEA Co-Presidents (l and r, respectively) Professor Gautam Hans and Professor Lynnise Pantin presented the award to (2nd from l to r) Professor Jefferis; Professor Laura Rovner, Director, CRC; Professor Nicole Godfrey, former CRC Visiting Professor, currently Associate Clinical Professor at Michigan State University College of Law; and Annika Adams, JD'21, CRC Student Attorney 2019-20, 2020-21, currently associate at Highlands Law Firm.
For more on Mr. Chapman's case and the work of generations of CRC student attorneys: www.law.du.edu.