Jennifer L. Givens
- Associate Professor of Law, General Faculty
- Director of the Innocence Project Clinic
Jennifer Givens is a director of the Innocence Project Clinic. Prior to joining the clinic in 2015, Givens worked as an assistant federal defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and as a senior staff attorney with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, where she represented death-sentenced inmates in state and federal post-conviction proceedings. Her career successes include securing a grant of clemency for a severely mentally ill client and winning a life sentence for an intellectually disabled client, both of whom were sentenced to death in Virginia. She has argued before state trial courts and U.S. district courts in Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as the Virginia Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Givens has served as an adjunct professor at Temple University School of Law and has regularly spoken at local and national capital habeas corpus trainings and conferences. She is a member of the Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia bars.
Education
- J.D.DePaul University College of Law1997
- B.A.Furman University1994
“Chasing Justice: The Monumental Task of Undoing a Capital Conviction and Death Sentence,” 70 Ark. L. Rev. 255 (2017).
HeinOnline (PDF)
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Richard C. Schragger, Virginia Counties Are Declaring Themselves ‘Sanctuaries’ for Second Amendment. Will It Affect Gun Laws? (USA Today)
Richard C. Schragger, ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary’ Movement Grows in Virginia as Democrats Ready Gun Control Measures (U.S. News & World Report)
Cale Jaffe, ABA Rules Could be a Climate Activist’s Sword (Environmental Law Institute)
Richard C. Schragger, Why Arlington and Fairfax Can’t Tax Plastic Bags — and Why That Might Change (The Washington Post)