Professor Binny Miller Shares the Herbert S. Garten Special Project Award and the Alan J. Davis Award
Oct. 3, 2018
As a member of the working group comprising the Maryland Juvenile Lifer Parole Representation Project (MJLPRP), Professor Binny Miller has recently shared in two pro bono awards: the 2018 Herbert S. Garten Special Project Award from the Maryland State Bar Association and the Alan J. Davis Award from the law firm Ballard Spahr. The Garten award recognizes a project that enhances legal services available to low-income people while the Davis award recognizes exemplary legal representation in a matter involving the public good.
The MJLPPP was formed to recruit and provide training to lawyers representing inmates in Maryland who were effectively sentenced to life without parole for offenses committed when they were juveniles, and to serve as a clearinghouse for information. The existing parole process presents obstacles that prevent even model juvenile lifers from being considered for parole. Legal representation in this process is critical, but the vast majority of these inmates do not have representation. In addition to her work with the project, Miller, who co-directs the Criminal Justice Clinic, has been working for more than two years with student attorneys to advocate on behalf of juvenile lifers, some of whom are now in their 60s. Student attorneys have represented clients on motions to correct illegal sentences and in parole proceedings, have testified before the Maryland legislature, and have assisted Miller in writing an amicus brief filed in the Maryland Court of Appeals.
The Maryland Juvenile Lifer Parole Representation Project is a working group that includes Families Against Mandatory Minimums; the University of Baltimore Law School Juvenile Justice Project; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; the Maryland Office of the Public Defender; the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland; the Maryland Restorative Justice Initiative; the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law Clemency Project; and the AUWCL Criminal Justice Clinic.
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