The Catholic University of America

 

Cara H. Drinan
 

 

Associate Professor
(Office) 202-319-5508
drinan@law.edu 

 
Professor Drinan joined the faculty in 2006 as a visiting professor and scholar-in-residence. She joined the full-time faculty in the fall of 2007. She teaches Contracts, Criminal Procedure, and Women and the Law.  

Before coming to the law school, Professor Drinan was an adjunct professor at George Mason University, where she taught Constitutional Law: Criminal Process and Rights.  Prior to joining the academy, as a litigator in private practice, Professor Drinan worked on a wide range of issues, including federal regulatory compliance matters, contract disputes, employment matters, civil rights issues, a patent infringement suit, and an Oklahoma death penalty appeal.

Professor Drinan holds a B.A., summa cum laude, from Bowdoin College, an M.A. from Oxford University in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. She was a 1995 recipient of a Truman Scholarship and a 1997 recipient of a Marshall Scholarship.
 
Professor Drinan's scholarship focuses on indigent defense reform and the death penalty.
 
 
Law Review Articles
  • Systemic Indigent Defense Litigation: A 2010 Update, 7 Tenn. J. Law & Policy 8 (2010).
  • The National Right to Counsel Act: A Legislative Solution to the Nation’s Indigent Defense Crisis, 47 Harv. J. Leg. 487 (2010). 
  • The Third Generation of Indigent Defense Litigation, 33 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 427 (2009).
  • Toward a Federal Forum for Systemic Sixth Amendment Claims, Wash U. L.R. (on-line companion), Oct. 22, 2008, available at http://lawreview.wustl.edu/slip-opinions/toward-a-federal-forum-for-systemic-sixth-amendment-claims/.   
  • The Revitalization of Ake: A Capital Defendant’s Right to Expert Assistance, 60 Okla. L. Rev. 283 (2007). 
 
Other Publications
  • A Legislative Approach to Indigent Defense Reform, Issue Brief for the American Constitution Society, July 13, 2010, available at http://www.acslaw.org/publications/issue-briefs/a-legislative-approach-to-indigent-defense-reform-0  
  • Lost in the Shuffle: The Other Indigent Defendants in Georgia, Champion Magazine, Summer 2008. 
  • “Backlog” Death-Penalty Rationale Fatally Flawed, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 16, 2008.
  • Protect the Mentally Ill, National Law Journal, April 16, 2007.
 
Select Academic & Professional Presentations
  • Invited Panelist, AALS New Law Teachers Conference (upcoming June 2011, Washington, D.C.) (Plenary Session on Teaching Methods)
  • Panelist, Law & Society Conference (upcoming June 2011, San Francisco, CA)(Presenting work-in-progress, Graham on the Ground)
  • Invited Speaker, William & Mary Law School (March 2011, Williamsburg, VA)(The Indigent Defense Crisis: Reform at the Macro and Micro Level)
  • Invited Speaker, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (March 2011, Urbana, IL)(Why Lawyers Matter: Pursuing National Indigent Defense Reform)
  • Invited Speaker, American University, Washington College of Law (September 2010, Washington, D.C.)(Paths to Indigent Defense Reform)
  • Invited Speaker, American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, Indigent Defense Project (July 2010, Washington, D.C.)( A Legislative Approach to Indigent Defense Reform)
  • Invited Symposium Speaker, University of Tennessee College of Law (May 2010, Knoxville, TN)(Systemic Litigation as a Solution for Excessive Workloads)
  • Invited Colloquium Speaker, University of Georgia Law School (October 2009, Athens, GA)(The National Right to Counsel Act: A Legislative Solution to the Nation’s Indigent Defense Crisis)
  • Invited Speaker, AALS New Law Teachers Conference (June 2010, Washington, D.C.)(Section on Women in Legal Education Breakfast)
  • Invited Panelist, AALS New Law Teachers Conference (June 2008 and June 2009, Washington, D.C.)(Junior Faculty Feedback)