The ABA Death Penalty Representation Project is pleased to provide scholarships to attorneys wishing to attend capital defender training seminars who have a demonstrated need for financial assistance. These scholarships are intended to help defray some of the costs of attending valuable training programs. Our Project provides scholarships in two ways, through the conference organizers if the conference is organized by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts or directly if the conference is otherwise sponsored. Please see below for more details.
I. FOR PROGRAMS NOT SPONSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE U.S. COURTS:
Please check this page for updates on conferences for which we will be providing scholarship funds. For the following conferences, program organizers will administer the scholarship programs, and you should contact the program organizers directly for information.
Such conferences include:
- Bryan R. Schechmeister Death Penalty College (at Santa Clara University)
- NAACP LDF Capital Punishment Training Conference ("Airlie")
- Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association annual capital punishment training
- Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association "Loosening the Death Belt"
- Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Capital Punishment Seminar
II. FOR PROGRAMS SPONSORED BY THE A.O. OF THE U.S. COURTS:
The Project will only process scholarship application requests to attend conferences sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U. S. Courts. These conferences include but are not limited to:
- Habeas Skills Seminar
- National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar
- Persuasion Institute
- Anthony G. Amsterdam Post-Conviction Skills Seminar
If you wish to apply for a scholarship to attend one of these conferences, please fill out the scholarship application form and email it to deathpenaltyproject@americanbar.org. Please note that, due to limited resources, the Project is only able to fund one attorney or mitigation specialist per office per year.
Please also note that scholarship funds may only be used for transportation, accomodations, and/or conference fees. Personal expenses such as meals, dry cleaning, and local taxis are not eligible for reimbursement.