Josh Dubin, executive director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, and Derrick Hamilton, deputy director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, speak at the Perlmutter Center's opening event at Cardozo School of Law. Photo courtesy of Sari Goodfriend

The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law last week commemorated the launch of a new legal clinic dedicated to training attorneys and law students about the dangers of "junk science" that far too often ungirds wrongful convictions.

The opening celebration featured remarks from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, whose office has for years served as a model for prosecutor's offices across the country for taking a progressive tack on wrongful convictions and working to root out successful prosecutions that it agrees were secured through faulty evidence or misconduct.

The new center will be led by Executive Director Josh Dubin, a prominent civil rights attorney and reform advocate; and Deputy Director Derrick Hamilton, who was formerly incarcerated and won his own exoneration after serving a 21-year sentence in which he earned a reputation as the go-to jailhouse lawyer for the assistance he provided to fellow inmates.

Dean of Cardozo School of Law Melanie Leslie speaks at the launch event of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice. Photo courtesy of Sari Goodfriend.

From left to right: Josh Dubin, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Derrick Hamilton. Photo courtesy of Sari Goodfriend.

The Freedom Clinic will focus on clemency cases, offer pretrial assistance to attorneys in the use of junk science in court and work to overturn wrongful convictions involving scientific evidence. The Forensic Science Education Program will offer courses for lawyers, judges and others in the proper use of scientific evidence.

Gonzalez hailed the Perlmutter Center as part of an important movement to restore fairness to cases that have been decided with the use of junk science.

The center will support and build upon the work of the National Forensic College, in which Cardozo Law has been engaged for over a decade as co-sponsor with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

The center is supported with a $15 million donation from Laura and Isaac Perlmutter, who spoke at the event. The center is composed of the Perlmutter Freedom Clinic at Cardozo Law and the Perlmutter Forensic Science Education Program.

Cardozo Law Dean Melanie Leslie, Yeshiva University President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, students from the Freedom Clinic, criminal justice attorneys and professors were all also in attendance to the event.

From left, Derrick Hamilton, Josh Dubin, Isaac Ike Perlmutter, Laura Perlmutter, University President Ari Berman and Cardozo Dean Melanie Leslie. Photo courtesy of Sari Goodfriend.