Posted: 2009.7.2
Clinical Professor Ben Kempinen, director of the Prosecution
Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School, gave technical
assistance to the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association in a
successful petition to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin to adopt
American Bar Association (ABA) rule changes that require
prosecutors to act when informed of a wrongful conviction. The
Supreme Court revised SCR 20:3.8 on June 17, 2009, to address the
responsibilities of a prosecutor when evidence of a wrongful
conviction becomes known.
The court's action, requested by state prosecutors and supported by
the Department of Justice, Public Defender, Wisconsin Association
of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the UW Law School’s Frank J.
Remington Center, makes Wisconsin the first state to change its
ethics rules based on new ABA Model Rules adopted in February
2009.
The ABA’s new subsections (g) and (h) to Rule 3.8 were enacted in
response to the increasing number of science-based exonerations
across the nation.
Kempinen Assists with Petition Leading to Supreme Court Ethics Rule Revision
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