California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic
The California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic (formerly known as California Innocence Project) provides representation to individuals who are wrongfully convicted, with the goal of securing their release from prison.
The Innocence & Justice Clinic is a year-long clinic, with new students starting every Fall and continuing to work with the Clinic in the following Spring semester. Students receive a total of 8 credits (4 units of academic credit for the fall term, 4 units of academic credit for the spring term). Students will screen, investigate, and litigate post-conviction innocence claims, working alongside experienced post-conviction attorneys to seek the release of wrongfully convicted individuals in California. The clinic will include a seminar that meets for 3 hours a week that orients students and equips them to work on innocence cases.
Please visit the website back in early 2026 to find the applications for the 2026-2027
academic year.
Our office provides post-conviction legal representation to incarcerated individuals who were convicted in select counties in Southern California and have a legitimate claim of factual innocence. If you believe you or someone you know may qualify for our assistance, we encourage you to read through the outlined criteria and mail a completed application to our office. Please note that the incarcerated individual must be the one to submit the application. All instructions can be found in the application linked below.
For any questions, please feel free to email us at CWInnocenceandJustice@cwsl.edu. IJC has a waitlist and it can take months or even years to review each request for legal assistance. We appreciate your patience.
Nuestra oficina brinda representación legal posterior a la condena a personas encarceladas que fueron condenadas en condados selectos del sur de California y tienen un reclamo legítimo de inocencia fáctica. Si cree que usted o alguien que conoce puede calificar para nuestra asistencia, le recomendamos que lea los criterios descritos y envíe por correo una solicitud completa a nuestra oficina. Tenga en cuenta que la persona encarcelada debe ser quien presente la solicitud. Todas las instrucciones se pueden encontrar en la solicitud vinculada a continuación.
Para cualquier pregunta, no dude en enviarnos un correo electrónico a CWInnocenceandJustice@cwsl.edu. IJC tiene una lista de espera y puede llevar meses o incluso años revisar cada solicitud de asistencia legal. Agradecemos su paciencia.
California Western Innocence & Justice Clinic (CWIJC) accepts a small number of volunteers to work with our organization each year. All volunteers must complete an application, submit to a screening interview, and agree to attend a volunteer training session. Though we welcome your interest in volunteering with CWIJC, we have limited resources to screen, train, and supervise volunteers and so we are unable to accept all applicants.
Here is some basic information about volunteer opportunities with CWIJC:
- CWIJC will not accept volunteers who are under 18 years of age.
- Law student volunteer opportunities will be reserved for students enrolled at CWSL.
- Volunteers without a law degree or law school training will typically be doing administrative tasks like scanning and sorting mail. This work must be done in person at the CWIJC office during business hours (8am to 5pm Monday through Friday).
- Attorney volunteers must attend an attorney volunteer training session. Our next session will be held on October 1st from 5:30-7:30pm.
- If you work at a law firm that wants to facilitate a pro bono attorney training please reach out to CWInnocenceandJustice@cwsl.edu to arrange a session.
- CWIJC is always interested in volunteers with specialized training relevant to our cases (e.g. interpreters, private investigators, retired law enforcement, medical doctors, forensic experts, psychologists, social workers etc.).
Making an Impact
The clinic trains the next generation of attorneys, giving them hands-on experience. Students help identify, investigate, and litigate claims of actual innocence. Since its inception, the clinic has helped to free or exonerate more than 40 wrongly incarcerated individuals and has been instrumental in changing laws and policies in California related to preserving evidence, litigating innocence cases, and compensating exonerees.
Faculty Director
Professor Amy Kimpel is an Associate Professor of Law and the Executive Director of the Innocence and Justice Clinic at California Western School of Law. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the University of Alabama School of Law where she supervised students working on trial, expungement, and post-conviction cases. Earlier in her career, Professor Kimpel worked at the Judicial Council of California in its Criminal Justice Services Office, and as a public defender for both the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. and the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender in San Jose. As a public defender, Professor Kimpel tried twenty-five cases in federal and state court and argued before the Ninth Circuit twice. She has been a criminal defense lawyer since 2009, and she expanded her practice to include post-conviction cases in 2015. She earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University.
Support the Clinic
Give nowYour contributions aid in our mission to provide high-caliber representation to individuals who are wrongfully convicted with a goal of securing their release from prison while training the next generation of attorneys to be zealous advocates.
California Western Innocence and Justice Clinic
Want to know more about the incredible work at IJC? Reach out to learn how to help fund the clinic's work or how to join as a student at California Western.