Diane E. Courselle
Professor of Law and Director of Defender Aid Program
B.A., Fordham University (1987), cum laude
J.D., Loyola University School of Law (1991), magna cum laude
dcoursel@uwyo.edu • (307) 766-3118 • 110 College of Law

Office Hours:
Tuesday - Thursday 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Open Door Policy

Diane Courselle joined the faculty as a Visiting Assistant Professor and Director of the Defender Aid Program in July 1998, and was then hired as a regular member of the faculty. She is currently a Professor of Law and Director of the Defender Aid Program.

After graduating from law school in 1991, Prof. Courselle clerked for Judge Henry A. Mentz of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and then for Judge Henry A. Politz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She then served as an attorney with the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City. She has also been a visiting assistant professor at the Loyola College of Law in New Orleans.

Courselle's primary areas of teaching and scholarship are criminal law and procedure. She directs the College of Law's Defender Aid Program, a clinical program in which third-year law students represent indigent defendants in criminal appeals and other post-conviction matters. She also teaches Criminal Adjudication and Federal Courts, and previously has taught Property, Legal Writing, and a seminar on Gender and the Law.

 Courselle's recent publications include: When Clinics are "Necessities, Not Luxuries": Special Challenges of Running a Criminal Appeals Clinic in a Rural State, 75 Miss. L.J. 721 (2006), and Slouching Toward Booker and Beyond the Court Embraces and Rejects the Role of Juries at Sentencing, 37 McGeorge L. Rev. 513 (2006). She is currently working on articles related to comparative sentencing policy and the ethical obligations of appointed counsel. She has been a frequent presenter in CLE programs and national conferences on such subjects as military tribunals, effective oral argument, and practice in rural communities.

Teaching:
Criminal Adjudication, Defender Aid Program, and Federal Courts

Publications:

Presentations

Courselle, D. (2008).  Can Judicial Discretion in Sentencing Work? Lessons From the United States and Ireland, Criminal Justice Seminar, University of Limerick, Ireland,  April 2008

Courselle, D. (2007).  Sentencing in the United States: Recent Developments, Criminal Justice Seminar, University of Limereck, Ireland (March 13, 2007).

Courselle, D. (2006).  Sentencing Guideline Law & Practice Post-Booker, McGeorge Law Review Symposium (March 10, 2006).

Courselle, D. (2005).  Current Issues in Criminal Law, CLE presentation, University of Wyoming, College of Law, Laramie, Wyoming (October 15, 2005).

Publications

Courselle, D. (2008).  Slouching Toward Booker and BeyondThe Court Embraces and Rejects the Role of Juries at Sentencing (forthcoming 2008).

Courselle, D. (2006).  AEDPA Statute of Limitations:  Is It Tolled When the United States Supreme Court is Asked to Review a Judgment From a State Post-Conviction Proceeding? 53 Cleve. St. L. Rev. 585 (2005-06)

Courselle, D. (2006).  When Clinics are "Necessities Not Luxuries": Special Challenges of Running a Criminal Appeals Clinic in a Rural State, 75 Mississippi L. J. 721 (2006).

Courselle, D. (2005).  Struggling With Deliberative Secrecy, Jury Independence, and Jury Reform, 57 S.C. L. Rev. 203 (2005).

Courselle, D. (2001).  Suspects, Defendants, and Offenders with Mental Retardation in Wyoming, Wyoming Law Review (2001).

Courselle, D. (1990).  Student Note, Davis v. Henry, Louisiana Teachers Gain the Right to Strike, 36 Loy. Law Rev. 477 (1990).

Affiliations, Associations, Consultation:

Co-counsel, Lawrence v. Florida, 127 S. Ct. 1079 (2007).

Court-Appointed Amicus Counsel, U.S. v. Hernandez, 10^th Cir. (2001), regarding admissibility of expert testimony on handwriting identification.

ABA Criminal Justice Section: Defense Function Committee and Re-Entry and Collateral Consequences Committee.

Rocky Mountain Innocence Center, Board of Directors; involved in legislative efforts leading to passage of Wyoming's Post-Conviction DNA Statute and in development of innocence-related externship program at University of Wyoming College of Law

Press releases:

• 9/18/2009 - UW Law Week Hosts U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
• 3/2/2009 - Wyoming Law Students Take a Bite Out of the Big Apple at Pace Competition
• 10/23/2003 - UW Law Week to Examine Death Penalty, Hate Crimes, Domestic Violence
• 5/17/2002 - UW Trustees Approve Personnel Items
• 2/15/2002 - Panel Focuses on Military Tribunals