Cardozo Launches the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice

Cardozo Launches the

Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice with a $15-Million Gift from the Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation

Law school’s largest-ever gift will help train lawyers in the proper use of forensic evidence in the courtroom

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$15-million gift from the Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation has funded the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law, which will train law students and practicing lawyers in the correct use and evaluation of forensic evidence, and advocate for justice reform on issues involving scientific evidence. The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice will work to improve the handling of scientific and forensic evidence in courtrooms around the country and expose the frequent misuse of so-called “junk science” in cases.

Contrary to popular public perceptions in the media, misapplied scientific evidence frequently has a detrimental and underreported impact on individuals in the legal system. The Center will focus on correcting the misuse of scientific data, research and analysis in the pursuit of justice.

“It is essential that trial lawyers have a deep understanding of scientific evidence. The acceptance of and reliance on junk science has caused untold damage to the legitimacy of the court system and countless lives,” said Melanie Leslie, Dean of Cardozo School of Law. “The Perlmutters’ generous gift, and the new team at the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, will enable Cardozo to train generations of lawyers in the proper use of forensic science.”

The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice will be overseen by Executive Director Joshua Dubin, a prominent civil rights attorney and trial strategist.

Derrick Hamilton, who spent over 20 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, will serve as Deputy Director. Hamilton studied the law while incarcerated and has worked on many appeals and parole cases. He was exonerated in 2015 after successfully convincing prosecutors of his innocence and received a $7 million settlement from New York State.

The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law will include an online and in-person continuing legal education program for practicing attorneys as well as the Perlmutter Freedom Clinic, a rigorous field clinic for Cardozo students. In the clinic, students will work on pro bono cases involving individuals facing imprisonment and those incarcerated through the improper use of forensic science and other deficiencies in the criminal legal system.

“The Perlmutter Freedom Clinic will provide students with hands-on experience integrating

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Joshua Dubin, Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law and civil rights attorney

Derrick Hamilton, Deputy Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo Law and exoneree

scientific evidence into legal decision-making and provide them with an understanding of how courts employ scientific proof,” said Dubin. “Students will play a role in working to exonerate the wrongfully convicted and learn how to make a successful challenge and admit evidence based on forensic science.”

The Perlmutter Freedom Clinic will also work on clemency cases for those serving unfair sentences, building on Cardozo’s rich criminal justice offerings for students which include the Criminal Defense Clinic and the nationally recognized Intensive Trial Advocacy Program, one of the most comprehensive boot camp programs in the country training law students as trial lawyers. Additionally, the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice will support the work that Cardozo has been doing for over a decade with the National Forensic Science College in partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Federal Defender Office. “We are going to give justice to those who have been forgotten and who have no other recourse,” Hamilton said. “We are going to be able to open doors for a lot of people who are forgotten and in prison.”

The Perlmutter Foundation and its founders, Laura and Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, have generously supported a diverse spectrum of causes, including the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, the Innocence Project, as well as universities, cultural centers and first-responder organizations. ?

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