What happens in our criminal legal system impacts communities far beyond what happens to individual criminal cases and with individual defendants. There are continuing national and statewide efforts to reform our criminal legal system and to reduce incarceration rates. Texas A&M has a rich and varied curriculum to prepare students to practice in this vibrant legal field. A consistently high percentage of the Law School’s graduates, nearly 25%, work in our criminal legal system as either prosecutors or defense attorneys.

Through the Criminal Law, Justice & Policy Program students have an opportunity to learn about criminal law, to critically analyze criminal policy, and to develop ​ legal skills through a large variety of courses, including hands-on work with our Criminal Defense Clinic, Innocence Project, and Externships. You can earn a Criminal Law, Justice & Policy Concentration.

• Program Director Cynthia Alkon launches her new textbook Negotiating Crime:  Plea Bargaining, Problem Solving, and Dispute Resolution in the Criminal Context (Carolina Academic Press), co-authored with Professor Andrea Schneider. This groundbreaking, first of its kind textbook covers all of the processes through which criminal cases are resolved in the United States beyond trials. Texas A&M School of Law Dean Robert Ahdieh and Aggie Dispute Resolution Program Director Nancy Welsh joined Alkon and Schneider to discuss the book at a reception on November 11, 2019, at Texas A&M School of Law.



• Wrongfully-Convicted Amanda Knox, Anna Vasquez Visit Texas A&M Law

  Texas A&M University School of Law's Innocence Project clinic welcomed Amanda Knox, Anna Vasquez and Prof. Mike Ware, Innocence Project of Texas Executive Director. Knox and Vasquez shared their stories of being wrongfully convicted and exonerated after serving time behind bars.
  ► Learn more.

• Criminal Law, Justice, & Policy Concentration

• Innocence Project
• Externship Program

• ​Criminal Law and Procedure Practice Area

• Criminal Law Society

  The Texas A&M University School of Law Criminal Law Society promotes dialogue and activities regarding criminal justice practice, scholarship, and policymaking.
  
  Blair Duroy
  
  President, Texas A&M School of Law Criminal Law Society

  Meet Blair

  Blair Duroy attended Texas A&M (Double Ag, Whoop!) and graduated with a bachelors in International Studies focusing on politics and diplomacy. In her 1L summer, Blair worked at the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s office (TCDA).  She worked with the 371st District Court.  During her 2L year, Blair worked with both our school’s Innocence Project of Texas clinic and Mosaic Family Services.  She returned to the TCDA’s Office after her 2L year and worked with the 432nd District Court.  She is currently serving as the President of the Criminal Law Society with the hope educate students about the criminal justice system and foster discussion around criminal law issues.  After graduation, Blair hopes to return to the TCDA’s office.

  Travis Hammack
  
  Vice President, Texas A&M School of Law Criminal Law Society 

  Meet Travis

  Travis Hammack wants to work in indigent defense after graduation. He has interned for two criminal defense attorneys in Ft. Worth and for the Northern District Federal Public Defender as well as the Dallas County Public Defenders. At Texas A&M Law he has participated in the Innocence Project Clinic and will be with the Immigrant Rights Clinic in the Fall of 2021.

  Alexis Archer
  
  Treasurer, Texas A&M School of Law Criminal Law Society

  Meet Alexis

  Lexi is a 2L pursuing a concentration in criminal law. She graduated from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi with a B.S. in Biomedical Forensic Science. She interned for the Nueces County District Attorney’s Office in Corpus Christi for 2 terms, where she worked in the child protection unit. Last summer, she worked for the Tarrant County Office of Judicial Staff Counsel and Special Magistration, where she conducted research on mental health matters and reviewed post-conviction writs. She is also a member of the mock trial team and an academic support TA. After graduation, Lexi hopes to work as both a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.