Professor Robert Lancaster and the eight students in the LSU Law Parole and Re-entry Clinic met for class at the downtown Baton Rouge headquarters of The Louisiana Parole Project on Monday evening, Oct. 23, for a very special occasion.
“We’ve never had the opportunity to hold class like this before,” Lancaster told his students at the start of class, “but after the phenomenal success we recently had, I thought it’d be great for all of us to come together to share our experiences—now that we’re all on the outside.”
During the previous week, on Wednesday, Oct. 18, six students in the Parole and Re-entry Clinic assisted clients with their hearings before the Louisiana Parole Committee. All six clients had spent more than 20 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, and five of them were initially sentenced to life. Now, for the first time since being released, they were meeting with with the LSU Law students who helped secure their long-sought freedom.
“He didn’t miss a beat for me from day one,” said Jerry, one of the newly freed men, as he sat beside third-year LSU Law student Chandler Thornton, who assisted him at the parole hearing. “He had memorized that brief, and boy, he couldn’t wait to tell it. I appreciate it every single day.”
Along with Thornton, the other LSU Law students who assisted clients at their hearings were Francis Doan, Mekkah Husamadeen, Lainie Lacey, Patrick Riley, and Charlisse Walters. Lancaster, who serves as Assistant Dean of Experiential Education, also won release for a client at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women.
“Students always do a great a great job for clinic clients, and the clinic has a high rate of success before the Parole Committee. However, this week was exceptional in that every client the clinic assisted obtained a favorable vote for release,” Lancaster said. “These clients have demonstrated their rehabilitation and are no longer a risk if released. They will return to their communities and be productive citizens and demonstrate that everyone is worthy of a second chance.”
The Parole and Re-Entry Clinic is one of six clinics at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center providing students with the opportunity to earn course credits as they work with real clients on real cases. The vast majority of its clients have served more than 25 years in prison, many having been given life sentences for crimes they committed when they were juveniles or young adults.
In the clinic, students meet with the clients regularly to interview and prepare them for their hearing before the Louisiana Committee on Parole. They continue to assist clients upon their release with legal issues related to their successful reentry into society.
Founded in 2016, the Louisiana Parole Project is a nonprofit organization that serves as both a human services provider and an advocacy organization. As the partner agency for the Parole and Re-entry Clinic, students work on clinic clients’ cases in conjunction with the Louisiana Parole Project team, which also supports the clients through the parole and re-entry process.
Adreaynne Hutchison, a 2022 LSU Law alumna, joined the Parole Project as staff attorney in July. She first worked with the nonprofit as a student in the Parole and Re-entry Clinic, and was honored by the Louisiana State Bar Association last spring with the 2022 Law Student Pro Bono Award for her success in the clinic.
“I loved that clinic. I lived in that clinic,” Hutchinson recalled in a recent profile by the Parole Project. “I would greet professors as they came in to work in the morning and stay late just to do as much work as I could. I would even watch live hearings online in between classes to understand the Parole Board and their process as best as possible.”
Third-year LSU Law student Mekkah Husamadeen participated in the clinic last semester but returned to Angola on Oct. 18 to assist her client, Jonathan, at his parole hearing.
“I had worked with him since January and I initially represented him at a clemency hearing, which made him eligible for parole,” Husamadeen explained. “Although I’m not in the clinic anymore, he wanted to be assisted by me again, and I wanted to see the case through.”
During the clinic’s class on Oct. 23, the newly released clients shared some anecdotes about how they were adjusting to life outside the walls of Angola. They talked about having difficulty sleeping through the night—some because they’re not accustomed to sleeping with all the lights off, others because they’re too excited to greet the next day of freedom—as well as the simple joys of walking unrestricted through their neighborhood or to a local store.
“I’m like a kid seeing things for the first time—and I want to see everything,” said Donald, one the newly released clients who was assisted by Lainey Lacey. “Just something as simple as walking down the grocery store aisle and looking at all the things on the shelves is so exciting … but prices are ridiculous!”
They also talked about the assistance they received from LSU Law students, with some admitting they weren’t exactly sure what a student could do for them at the outset of the process.
“I told her when I met her, ‘I don’t know why I need you,’” said one client, Paul, as he sat beside a smiling Charlisse Walters. “But she did a real good job. Real thorough. I mean, here I sit—and I’m grateful for her.”
Original source can be found here.