Students at the Cornell Law School are assisting attorneys in the appeals of death row inmates. For some, the work has taken them off campus to interview law enforcement authorities, witnesses, former jurors and, in one case, a convicted killer, in hopes of discovering state misconduct that might lead a court to overturn the defendant's conviction or sentence.

In the last two semesters at Cornell, more than two dozen students have participated in the Law School's Death Penalty Clinic and received a gritty examination of one of the most controversial issues in America: capital punishment.

Cornell visiting law professor John Blume, a South Carolina attorney who specializes in capital punishment cases, says providing students with experience in capital cases helps strengthen their law school education.

"One of our basic goals is to give students ample amounts of practical experience to supplement the theoretical knowledge they gain at law school," said Blume, one of the founders of Cornell's Death Penalty Clinic. "Work at this level can be an exhilarating and worthwhile experience for students in that it presents them with a part of the justice system that is often not explored in such depth in law school."

The Death Penalty Clinic pairs students with defense attorneys who are representing death row inmates in an appeal of their convictions. The work of the clinic primarily centers around the post-conviction process, immersing the students in investigative work, and, where possible, taking them to crime scenes.

"Working on these cases and with experts and accomplished attorneys has given me a better understanding of how to frame a case, write a brief, and advocate a position," said third-year law student Jim Steigerwald. "This experience is less theoretical than most law school teachings; it's great preparation for the future."

Currently students are researching and drafting briefs for an attorney representing a convicted killer in Arizona. Students also have contributed research on a case heard before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month. Last year, Cornell law students traveled to Georgia to interview law enforcement officials, witnesses and other key figures involved in the trial of an Atlanta man, Emanuel Hammond, who was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death.

For Ivy League law students whose experience with convicted killers and criminal law is relegated to John Grisham novels or TV's "Law and Order," the opportunity to interview Hammond on death row was disquieting.

"It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least," said recent graduate John Bueker, who spent 10 days in Atlanta last March re-examining the case. "I'm 27 and this guy was probably the same age and here we find ourselves together because of different circumstances: He's sitting on death row and I'm in law school." Bueker is now a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in Boston.

Law School graduate Anton Dawson also worked on the Hammond case and came away with an education the faculty and textbooks could not provide. "You see the human side of the case," he said. "It's completely different from anything you read in a transcript or an opinion. For someone like myself, who's from a generic, middle-class, white background, this was a very sobering experience."

The Death Penalty Clinic is part of the broader Death Penalty Project at Cornell. The project's general aim is similar to those of the now defunct death penalty resources centers. These centers, prominent in the South, provided death row inmates with qualified counsel and other resources to ensure a well-directed defense. But Congress eliminated funding for these centers in 1995, forcing many to close. Blume said the lack of federal support for these centers has left many on death row without the necessary resources to mount life-saving appeals.

"The Death Penalty Project attempts to address the shortage of training and resources for defense attorneys who are willing to undertake these difficult cases," Blume said.

Aside from providing defense attorneys with student help, the Death Penalty Project also plans to work in collaboration with other law-related associations, like the American Bar Association, to develop training programs for court-appointed counsel in capital cases as well as assist in the development of amicus curiae strategies. Future projects include producing a national litigation manual and developing new relationships between academics and attorneys.

Blume, who was instrumental in the creation of the Death Penalty Project, is the former director of a death penalty resource center in South Carolina and has been the counsel of record in 11 capital cases argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. He came to Cornell in 1992 as a practitioner-in-residence, and he joined the faculty as a visiting professor this fall.