Sharon Beckman

Sharon Beckman is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Boston College Innocence Program (BCIP) at Boston College Law School. Her work focuses on wrongful convictions and criminal justice reform through clinical education, direct client representation, and policy advocacy. She holds leadership roles on the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Eyewitness Identification, the Massachusetts Conviction Integrity Working Group, and the Innocence Network’s Ethics and Best Practices Committee.

• Education:
  • A.B., Harvard College
  • J.D., University of Michigan Law School (Editor-in-Chief of Michigan Law Review)

Her research and teaching emphasize wrongful convictions, criminal law, and constitutional law. She directs the BCIP, a program involving law and undergraduate students in investigating wrongful convictions and advocating for reform. Beckman also teaches the Innocence Clinic, Wrongful Convictions, and criminal defense litigation courses.

• Awards:
  • 2020 Massachusetts Lawyer of the Year
  • University Distinguished Teaching Award
  • Law School's Award for Faculty Excellence
  • Ruth-Arlene Howe Black Law Students Association Faculty Member of the Year Award

Her career includes clerkships for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (U.S. Supreme Court) and Judge Frank Coffin (1st Circuit), seven years in private practice specializing in criminal and civil litigation, and leadership in the New England Masters Swimming community (inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020).