
Rachel Moran
J.D., Chicago-Kent College of Law
B.A., Houghton College
Minneapolis, MN 55403-2009
Rachel Moran is an associate professor and founder of the Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic at the University of St. Thomas School of Law. The 2020 graduating class selected her as the law school’s Professor of the Year.
Moran focuses her scholarship on issues pertaining to police accountability, policing reform, and public access to records of police misconduct. In 2019 she was named a Bellow Scholar, a biennial national recognition for clinical professors engaged in empirical research that has significant potential to improve the quality of justice. In 2021 she received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship. Her articles have appeared in the Boston College Law Review, UC Irvine Law Review, Washington Law Review, Cardozo Law Review, Villanova Law Review, and Buffalo Law Review, among others. She has also provided commentary for the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, PBS NewsHour, and many other national, international, and local media outlets.
Moran attended law school at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she graduated with High Honors and served on the law review. While in law school Moran won numerous advocacy competitions and best advocate awards, including the national championship of the National Moot Court Competition, and was honored with the American College of Trial Lawyers Fulton Haight Award given to the national best appellate advocate. After law school Moran worked at a private criminal defense firm, representing clients on trial for offenses ranging from misdemeanors to first-degree murder. She then became an assistant appellate defender with the Office of the Illinois State Appellate Defender. In that capacity she argued numerous criminal appeals in Illinois appellate courts and the Illinois Supreme Court. Moran helped spearhead the office’s constitutional challenges to the mandatory transfer of children to criminal court, as well as the severe sentencing schemes that resulted in hundreds of children in Illinois serving life or de facto life sentences.
Before coming to University of St. Thomas, Moran taught as a Clinical Fellow at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Moran previously served as an adjunct professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and coached many mock trial teams, including two national best advocates and the 2015 National Trial Competition champions.
Selected Publications
Brady Lists, 107 Minn. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2022), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4054540
Doing Away With Disorderly Conduct, 63 B.C. L. Rev. 65 (2022), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3807607
Law Enforcement Perspectives on Public Access to Misconduct Records, 42 Cardozo Law Review 1237 (2021), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3552012
Police Privacy, 10 UC Irvine L. Rev. 153 (2019)
Contesting Police Credibility, 93 Wash. L. Rev. 1339 (2018)
In Police We Trust, 62 Vill. L. Rev. 953 (2017)
Ending the Internal Affairs Farce, 64 Buff. L. Rev. 837 (2016)
J-term 2023 Courses
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Spring 2023 Courses
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LAWS 734 - 01 | Controversies in Policing | - - - R - - - | 1430 - 1625 | MSL 242 | ||||
Description of course Genetics B/ Lab: |
Days of Week:- - - R - - - Time of Day:1430 - 1625 Location:MSL 242 Course Registration Number:22830 (View in ClassFinder) Credit Hours:
Instructor:Rachel Moran The Controversies in Policing seminar course focuses on controversial topics at the intersection of law and policing, including but not limited to the historical and current role of police; police unions; police use of force; police immunity and liability; police accountability and discipline structures; and movements to defund, abolish, or reform the police. The course provides students opportunities to learn about and grapple with some of the most pressing law enforcement issues of our time from a wide variety of legal, professional, and personal lenses. Schedule Details
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LAWS 948 - 01 | Clinic: Crim. & Juvenile Def. | M - W - - - - | 1500 - 1625 | |||||
Description of course Genetics B/ Lab: |
Days of Week:M - W - - - - Time of Day:1500 - 1625 Location:
Course Registration Number:22844 (View in ClassFinder) Credit Hours:
Instructor:Rachel Moran Students in the Criminal and Juvenile Defense clinic defend both children and adults accused of crimes in juvenile and criminal court. Working in teams, students represent clients from the beginning to end of their cases. Students appear in court regularly for a variety of hearings which may include arraignments, pre-trial conferences, motions hearings, plea hearings bench trials, jury trials, sentencing hearings, and expungement hearings. Students develop skills in fact investigation, client counseling, interviewing, negotiation, legal research, motions writing, oral argument, direct and cross examination, jury selection, and all other aspects of pretrial and trial litigation. In class, students learn criminal law-related doctrine and skills, and explore systemic injustices inherent in the legal system and students’ own roles in effecting change. Schedule Details
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LAWS 949 - 01 | Clinic:Adv. Crim&Juvenile Def. | - - - R - - - | 1635 - 1800 | MSL 242 | ||||
Description of course Genetics B/ Lab: |
Days of Week:- - - R - - - Time of Day:1635 - 1800 Location:MSL 242 Course Registration Number:22900 (View in ClassFinder) Credit Hours:
Instructor:Rachel Moran Students in the Advanced Criminal and Juvenile Defense clinic defend both children and adults accused of crimes in juvenile and criminal court. Participation in one semester of the Criminal and Juvenile Defense clinic is a prerequisite for applying. Advanced students may continue representing existing clients or receive new cases presenting legal issues they did not encounter during their initial clinic semester. The seminar portion of the class will focus on refining skills learned during the initial clinic semester, such as drafting memoranda and motions, investigating, crafting persuasive narratives, examining witnesses, and litigating hearings and trials. Prerequisites: LAWS 948 Schedule Details
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LAWS 950 - 19 | Supervised Resrch & Writing | - - - - - - - | - | |||||
Description of course Genetics B/ Lab: |
Days of Week:- - - - - - - Time of Day:- Location:
Course Registration Number:22933 (View in ClassFinder) Credit Hours:
Instructor:Rachel Moran Under the supervision of a faculty member, a student may receive up to two hours of course credit for researching and writing a substantial paper on a topic of the student's own choosing. The student must receive the instructor's per- mission to enroll in this course and must meet periodically with the instructor for discussion, review and evaluation. Each faculty member may supervise the research of no more than five students each semester. Schedule Details
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Summer 2023 Courses
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