Tireless advocacy for justice earns CU Law professor Chase Faculty Community Service Award
Professor Ann England has been a driving force in Colorado’s legal community for nearly two decades, championing the wrongfully convicted, training the next generation of lawyers and providing pro bono defense for those most in need. This year, her extraordinary service has been recognized with the University of Colorado’s Chase Faculty Community Service Award.
England, the Schaden Chair for Experiential Learning and Clinical Law Professor at Colorado Law, directs the school’s Criminal Defense Clinic. Her leadership and service extend far beyond campus, where her volunteer work has inspired colleagues, students, judges and attorneys across the state and nation.
In 2015, England founded the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP) at Colorado Law, thanks to a generous gift from Central Park Five exoneree Korey Wise. What began as years of reviewing handwritten letters from prisoners has become a nationally recognized program staffed with full-time attorneys, student advocates and policy leaders.
KWIP provides free legal and investigative services for incarcerated Coloradans with credible innocence claims, develops policy reform initiatives and delivers curricula on wrongful convictions to high school students. England continues to volunteer her time to the project, declining compensation for her role as faculty director.
Strengthening death penalty defense
England also co-leads the National College of Capital Voir Dire, a nonprofit that trains death penalty defense attorneys in effective jury selection. She organizes and hosts an annual three-day conference at CU Boulder, bringing in about 100 lawyers to learn the “Colorado Method” – a nationally recognized standard for capital jury selection. Her work has helped strengthen capital defense nationwide and contributed to the significant decline in death sentences over the last decade.
England’s service began long before she joined CU’s faculty, working nearly a decade as a public defender. She continues to represent indigent clients – including those experiencing homelessness – during summers when students are away. Colleagues describe her taking on dozens of cases each week with hardly any support, motivated purely by her commitment to justice.
She also has provided critical training and technical assistance to attorneys in municipal courts, elevating the quality of representation for low-income Coloradans. Judges and attorneys alike have praised her as an invaluable resource in efforts to improve fairness in local courts.
Beyond the courtroom
England’s community service reaches far beyond the legal system. She serves on the board of ACLU Colorado, coaches high school mock trial teams, and even lends her creativity as a designer to the Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center, crafting couture dresses from condoms for the nonprofit’s fundraising events.
Her students, many of whom now serve as public defenders and advocates, describe her as a mentor whose influence has shaped not just their careers but their sense of civic responsibility.
In recognizing England, the selection committee highlighted the breadth and depth of her contributions, from exonerations and policy reforms to mentorship and grassroots advocacy. She will be honored Monday at a reception at CU Boulder.
“Professor Ann England’s unwavering commitment to justice and tireless advocacy for the wrongfully convicted have transformed Colorado’s legal landscape, making her so deserving of the Chase Faculty Community Service Award,” said Joe Coleman, JPMorgan Chase business banking market manager. “Through founding the Korey Wise Innocence Project and leading national efforts in death penalty defense, she has inspired generations of lawyers and elevated the quality of representation for those most in need. JPMorgan Chase is proud to sponsor this award, celebrating extraordinary service and leadership that strengthens our communities and advances the cause of justice.”
The Chase Faculty Community Service Award – established in 1991 with a $100,000 donation – is funded annually by an endowment from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation through the CU Foundation. The endowment provides an annual award of $10,000 to a full-time faculty member at the University of Colorado who has rendered exceptional service in his or her community.