Northern Illinois University law students will soon have another opportunity to gain valuable real-world experience when they represent prisoners in federal court this fall.

The NIU College of Law and the P. Michael Mahoney (Rockford) Chapter of the Federal Bar Association recently announced their partnership and launch of the Prisoners’ Rights Program.

The students will be supervised by adjunct professor and Rockford attorney Lisa Jensen, and will handle cases involving allegations of civil rights violations. The students will have the cases from the beginning, including filing court papers, interviewing the client and witnesses, drafting interrogatories, and eventually conducting the trial in front of a jury.

The vast majority of prisoners file cases pro se, making it very difficult to reach the trial stage.

The Prisoners’ Rights Program will add to the list of experiential learning opportunities offered by the NIU College of Law for its students. The Civil Justice Clinic and Criminal Defense Clinic, also located in Rockford, along with the Health Advocacy Clinic, located in Aurora, are part of the law school’s history of public service and mission to provide hands-on experience for students to advocate on behalf of clients.