By Jon Hart J.D. ‘15
Jon Hart is a Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) and Santa Clara University School of Law graduate. He recently completed a graduate research fellowship with NCIP after having taken both the beginning and advanced NCIP clinical classes while a law student at Santa Clara Law.
When I was considering my law school options, I distinctly remember asking a Santa Clara Law admissions advisor about NCIP and discovering that this is the only law school in Northern California that has an innocence project. One of the main reasons for my selecting Santa Clara Law was that it included NCIP.
Jon Hart is sworn in to the State Bar by Santa Clara County Judge Jose Franco. Photo courtesy of Jon Hart
My experience with NCIP was one of my most enriching experiences as a law student. I had the privilege of being a research assistant for Legal Director Linda Starr and Supervising Attorney Paige Kaneb on an appeal for a client’s compensation after he was declared factually innocent. We won the appeal in a published opinion, and it was fulfilling to see the court affirm legal arguments that I played an important part in developing. It was even more fulfilling to help a client receive compensation for nearly two decades spent wrongfully incarcerated. NCIP enabled me to help make a significant difference in a client’s life. Not many law students have that opportunity.
The NCIP class is an eye-opening introduction to the issues that plague our criminal justice system and lead to wrongful convictions. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned is that procedural issues and deadlines can “make or break” a client’s case. Case after case that we studied in class demonstrated that procedure and deadlines can be just as important to a client’s success as any substantive claims we may have. This lesson is true and useful to students whether they go on to practice civil or criminal law.
After graduating from Santa Clara Law in December 2015 and passing the February 2016 bar exam, I am now embarking on a career as a public defender. The lessons I learned at NCIP will make me a significantly better attorney. I’m grateful for the opportunity that NCIP provided me to help free people who are wrongfully convicted.
