Curriculum Vitae Robert C. Owen Bluhm Legal Clinic Northwestern University School of Law 375 East Chicago Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60661 (312) 503-0135 robert.owen@law.northwestern.edu Education Harvard Law School J.D. magna cum laude, 1989 Cambridge, Massachusetts University of Georgia M.A., 1986 Athens, Georgia (Speech Communication) University of Georgia A.B. summa cum laude, 1984 Athens, Georgia (Comparative Literature) Teaching Experience Clinical Professor, Northwestern University School of Law 9/13 to present Teach Clinical Practice: Criminal Defense The Death Penalty; supervise clinical students in work on pending capital cases: identifying litigation strategies, investigating and developing case facts, researching and drafting memos and pleadings, and preparing counsel for appellate arguments through moot courts. Clinical Professor, University of Texas School of Law 9/06-8/11 and 8/12-8/13 Co-direct Capital Punishment Center. Teach classes on Capital Punishment, Advanced Topics in Capital Punishment, and The Right to Counsel and the Death Penalty. Co-teach Capital Punishment Clinic class and supervise clinical students in identifying litigation strategies, investigating and developing case facts, researching and drafting memos and pleadings, and preparing counsel for appellate arguments through moot courts. Student evaluations: Rob is the best professor I ve taken at UT Law. He excels at explaining difficult concepts and enabling students to speak up. [T]he class was extremely well- organized one of the most effective lecturers I have had. This has been one of the best classes I ve taken at the law school and Professor Owen is the best professor I ve had. Owen CV - 1
Lead book group discussions for orientation of first-year law students. (Books included Julius Lobel s SUCCESS WITHOUT VICTORY; Lawrence Joseph s LAWYERLAND; Truman Capote s IN COLD BLOOD; and Herman Melville s BILLY BUDD.) Teach freshman seminar in the undergraduate Plan II Honors Program on the cultural life of capital punishment. Student evaluations: one of a select few teachers who genuinely and fully cares for and understands college students; phenomenal class and phenomenal teacher; This course has been of so much value to me intellectually and emotionally; I ve never had to work so hard and read so much for a single class, but I ve never appreciated a class so much. Second reader on nine undergraduate Senior Theses in the Plan II Honors Program. Collaborated with Thesis Director for each thesis to guide and supervise student research and writing on capstone requirement for graduation from Plan II Honors Program. Serve as faculty advisor in the undergraduate Plan II Honors Program s Sophomore Advising program, meeting individually with students who had expressed an interest in a career in law to review their academic plans and talk about their life goals. Led book group discussion as part of UT program for incoming freshmen, 2009, 2012. Visiting Clinical Professor, Northwestern University School of Law 9/11 to 8/12 Teach Clinical Practice: Criminal Defense The Death Penalty; supervise clinical students in work on pending capital cases: identifying litigation strategies, investigating and developing case facts, researching and drafting memos and pleadings, and preparing counsel for appellate arguments through moot courts. Teach The Modern Death Penalty in America: Doctrine and Reality (seminar on Capital Punishment law open to second- and third-year students). Adjunct Professor, University of Texas School of Law 9/98-9/06 (half-time appointment) Co-taught Capital Punishment Clinic class and supervised clinical students in work on pending capital cases: investigating and developing case facts, researching and drafting memos and pleadings, and preparing counsel for appellate arguments through moot courts. Developed and began teaching in 2002 undergraduate Plan II honors seminar Why Kill? Capital Punishment In Search Of A Rationale. Taught Plan II seniors in a year-long conference course (seminar) on racial discrimination and capital punishment. Owen CV - 2
Supervised the Honors Thesis research and writing of Plan II senior. Moderated panel of the undergraduate Plan II Honors Program's Senior Thesis Symposium, critiquing five student presentations covering a variety of legal issues. Selected Capital Litigation Activities In the United States Supreme Court, argued and won four death penalty cases; participated in litigating five other death penalty cases; wrote four amicus briefs; filed over 50 petitions for certiorari. Represented over 50 prisoners facing the death penalty in Texas, Washington, Arkansas, and the federal system. Represented Ernest Willis, exonerated from Texas Death Row. Have represented five prisoners on the federal Death Row. Presented more than a dozen oral arguments in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, and the Arkansas Supreme Court. Presented argument at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Prepared more than 20 petitions for clemency. Legal Experience Owen & Rountree, L.L.P. (Austin, Texas) 10/98-9/13 Partner in small firm engaged primarily in appellate and post-conviction defense of criminal cases in state and federal court. Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington (Seattle, Washington) 10/95-10/98 Represented indigent citizens accused of federal crimes at all phases of trial from initial appearance through appeal. Litigated federal habeas corpus matters (capital and noncapital) in federal district court and on appeal. Litigation Director, Texas Resource Center (Austin and Houston, Texas) 5/95-9/95 Supervised and directed all state and federal post-conviction death penalty litigation conducted by Resource Center attorneys. Determined budgets for litigation-related expenses. Owen CV - 3
Senior Staff Attorney, Texas Resource Center (Austin, Texas) 1/93-5/95 Represented indigent Death Row prisoners in all phases of state and federal post-conviction proceedings; trained and supervised less experienced staff attorneys; supervised TRC's Trial and Appeal Project. Assistant Public Advocate, Kentucky Dept. of Public Advocacy (Frankfort, Kentucky) 8/92-1/93 Member of Capital Trial Unit, three-lawyer team responsible for statewide defense of capital cases at trial. Staff Attorney, Texas Resource Center (Austin, Texas) 6/89-8/92 Represented indigent Death Row prisoners in state and federal post-conviction proceedings. Wrote extensively (pleadings and briefs), conducted evidentiary hearings, and did factual investigation. Publications Owen, Robert C., and Meredith Martin Rountree. Overlooked Guidelines: Using the Guidelines to Address the Defense Need for Time and Money, 41 HOFSTRA LAW REVIEW 623-634 (Spring 2013) Owen, Robert C. Absolute Power, Absolute Corruption, in Paul Wright and Tara Herivel, eds., PRISON NATION: THE WAREHOUSING OF AMERICA'S POOR (2003). Owen, Robert C., and Melissa Mather. Thawing Out the Cold Record : Some Thoughts On How Videotaped Records May Affect Traditional Standards Of Deference On Direct And Collateral Review, 2 J. APP. PRAC. & PROCESS No. 2 (Summer 2000). Honors and Recognitions (2007-2013) Received medal from the Bar of the City of Paris, France, for work in defending human rights, 2011. Recognized as Appellate Lawyer of the Week by the National Law Journal, 2010. Named a Public Interest Success Story, Harvard Law School s Celebration of Public Interest, 2008. U.T.-Austin Student Bar Association award for faculty member who goes above and beyond for the student body, 2008. Owen CV - 4
Texas Law Fellowships award for Excellence in Public Interest, 2008. Texas Lawyer magazine named the U.T. Capital Punishment Clinic an Impact Player in 2007. Selected Invited Presentations (2007-2013) Academic Audiences Discussant, Same Effects, Same Causes: Comparing/Contrasting Punitiveness in the Capital and Non-Capital Realms, at Mass Incarceration and the Death Penalty, symposium sponsored by the Capital Punishment Center, 2013. Panelist, Lynching s Legacy and Contemporary Capital Practice, a t L yn c h i n g a n d t h e D e a t h P e n a l t y, symposium sponsored by the Capital Punishment Center, 2012. Panelist at The American Death Penalty in the 2 1 s t Century: The Direction of Legislative Change and the Prospects for Legislative Abolition, symposium sponsored by the Capital Punishment Center, 2010. Panelist, Let My People Go : The Impact of the Criminal Justice System on Black Communities, a part of Bringing Human Rights Home, a symposium presented by the Law School s Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, 2009. Panelist and discussant, Individualization, Proportionality, and Victim Impact in Capital Punishment Stories: Perspectives and Retrospectives on Landmark Death Penalty Cases, symposium co-sponsored by the Capital Punishment Center and the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, 2007. Co-Presenter (with Meredith Martin Rountree), Death Row Inmates in Cyberspace, Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, 2007. Moderator, Capital Representation in Transition: Emerging Standards and Effective Enforcement, symposium sponsored by the Capital Punishment Center, 2007. Student Audiences Featured speaker, Death Penalty Awareness Day event, National Lawyers Guild student chapter (Northwestern Law), 2012, 2013, 2014. Guest lecturer, Tel Aviv University Law School / Northwestern University School of Law Executive LL.M. program (Prof. David Scheffer) (discussing U.S. capital punishment law), 2014. Guest lecturer, Northwestern University School of Law (Chicago Field Studies program) (Prof. Rob Warden) (discussing current legal and political issues surrounding capital punishment), 2014. Featured speaker, Troy Davis, the Death Penalty, and Justice (program sponsored by the Owen CV - 5
Northwestern University Human Rights Project, ACLU, and PILG), 2011. Guest lecturer, Harvard Law School class on capital punishment (Prof. Carol Steiker), 2011. Featured speaker, U.T.-Austin student chapter of the American Constitution Society, 2010. Supreme Court Review and Preview (with Professor Jordan Steiker) of capital punishment decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court s Term and the Court s pending cases, 2007-2009. Featured speaker on current legal and political issues surrounding capital punishment, ACLU of Texas program for summer law clerks, 2005-2010. Featured speaker, U.T.-Austin Public Interest Law Association, 2007, 2010. Featured speaker, U.T.-Austin undergraduate Black Honor Students Association, 2008. Guest lecturer in UT-Austin undergraduate Sociology, Government, and Freshman Signature courses, 2007-2009. Featured speaker, undergraduate Plan II Honors Pre-Law Society, 2007. Legal Audiences Keynote Addresses National Conference of Federal Public Defender Capital Habeas Units, 2011. Twelfth Annual National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, 2007. Presentations on Supreme Court Litigation Top Ten Supreme Court Death Penalty Opinions You Need To Know. Capital defense training sponsored by the Washington Death Penalty Assistance Counsel, 2011, 2013 Review of the criminal law decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in October Term 2009. CLE organized by Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington, for local attorneys appointed in federal criminal cases under the Criminal Justice Act, 2010. Faculty, Supreme Court Advocacy Institute, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 2009, 2011, 2014. Litigating and Winning Penry Claims. Capital defense training presented by the Capital Punishment Center and the Texas Defender Service, 2008. (With Professor Jordan Steiker), Winning Death Penalty Cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, Austin chapter of the American Constitution Society, 2007. The Developing Contours of the Right to Counsel in Death Penalty Cases. CLE program sponsored by the ACLU of Texas, 2007. Owen CV - 6
Presentations on Persuasion and Legal Advocacy Capital Defense Training ( Writer s Workshop ), sponsored by the Washington Death Penalty Assistance Counsel, 2011 National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2007, 2009, 2010. Federal Capital Habeas Project Bring Your Own 2255 Case Training, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2009, 2010. Making the Case for Life XI. Capital defense training sponsored by the Southern Center for Human Rights, 2009. Federal Death Penalty Strategy Session capital defense training sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2009. Presentations on Habeas Procedure and Appellate Practice Recent Developments in Federal Habeas Corpus Law and Practice, After the Appeal: Personal Restraint Petitions and Federal Habeas Corpus Relief, training sponsored by the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Washington and the Washington Defender Association, 2015. Overcoming Barriers to Claim Consideration, National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2014. Litigating State Misconduct, National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2014. Error Preservation and the Nuts and Bolts of Federal Capital Direct Appeals. Federal Death Penalty Strategy Session capital defense training sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2009. Basics of appellate and post-conviction litigation in capital cases. Making the Case for Life XI, sponsored by the Southern Center for Human Rights, 2009. 28 U.S.C. 2255 litigation and late-stage post-conviction litigation. National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2008. Appellate practice, procedure, and strategy in death penalty cases. Life in the Balance, capital defense training sponsored by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, 2008. Constitutional criminal procedure and habeas corpus decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in October Term 2006. Eastern Washington Capital Training Conference, 2007. Representing federal prisoners in post-conviction litigation. National Federal Habeas Corpus Seminar, sponsored by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 2007. Presentations on Trial Practice Owen CV - 7
Faculty, Annual Capital Case Seminar, Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, 2012. Faculty, Bring-Your-Own-Case capital trial defense training, sponsored by the National Consortium for Capital Defense Training and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2012. Effectively developing and presenting mitigating evidence. Capital defense training sponsored by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, 2008. Selected Other Public Presentations To Foreign Representatives Presented introduction to the American system of capital punishment to students and professionals from Argentina visiting the University of Texas at Austin under the auspices of the Fundacion Universitaria del Rio de la Plata (FURP), 2005-2010. Briefed Mr. David Schwake, First Secretary (Political) of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany (by invitation) regarding current legal and political issues surrounding capital punishment in the U.S., 2009. Met with Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, to discuss serious flaws in T e x a s legal system of capital punishment, 2008. To Policymakers and Other Public Audiences Testified in committee hearings in both the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives during the 82nd Regular Session of the Texas Legislature (2011) concerning Senate Bill 122, a proposal to amend Texas post-conviction DNA testing statute (Chap. 64 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure). Moderated A Special Hearing on Capital Punishment: Perspectives at the Death House Door, a public hearing held at the Texas Capitol to consider current controversies surrounding the death penalty. Panelists included Texas State Sen. Rodney Ellis, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, former Texas death row chaplain Rev. Carroll Pickett, award-winning independent filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert, and award-winning journalists Maurice Possley and Steve Mills of the Chicago Tribune, 2008. Keynote address, annual conference of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, 2007. Service to Northwestern University School of Law (Bluhm Legal Clinic) Professionalism Committee, 2014-2015. Owen CV - 8
Professional Service, Activities, and Memberships Member, ad hoc group of expert capital defense litigators convened by the Defender Services Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to consider responses to recent changes in federal law limiting post-conviction appeals for death-sentenced prisoners, 2008. National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Board of Directors, Texas Defender Service (non-profit law office representing indigent prisoners in capital cases), 2000-2008. Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1995-1998. Co-chair, Death Penalty Committee, 1996-1997. Washington State Committee To Examine Death Penalty Representation (Member of blue ribbon committee, headed by Washington Supreme Court Justice Richard Guy, which drafted new appellate and trial rules to govern death penalty cases), 1996-1998. Washington State Death Penalty Representation Panel (Member of five-person body with statewide jurisdiction appointed by Washington Supreme Court to assess qualifications of attorney applicants seeking appointment in death penalty cases), 1998. Bar admissions Illinois (all state courts); Texas (all state courts); U.S. District Courts (Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas); U.S. Courts of Appeals (Fifth and Ninth Circuits); U.S. Supreme Court. Owen CV - 9