Profile
Professor David A. Singleton is director of the Chase Constitutional Litigation Clinic, in which students represent incarcerated individuals and former offenders in claims of denials of rights.
Following graduation from law school, Professor Singleton received a Skadden Fellowship to work at the Legal Action Center for the Homeless in New York City, where he practiced for three years. He then worked as a public defender for seven years, first with the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and then with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. After moving to Cincinnati in 2001, Professor Singleton practiced at Thompson Hine before joining the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a nonprofit law office, as executive director in 2002. He first joined the Chase faculty in 2007 as a visiting professor.
Professor Singleton earned a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in economics and public policy at Duke University.
To Love or Not to Love: The Possibility, Promise and Peril of Mutually Transformative Attorney-Client Friendships, 46 Seton Hall L. Rev. 743 (2016)
What is Punishment? The Case for Considering Public Opinion Under Mendoza-Martinez, 45 Seton Hall L. Rev. 435 (2015) SSRN
“Representing Sex Offenders,” chapter in Monroe Freedman and Abbe Smith, How Can You Represent Those People?, Palgrave MacMillan (2013).
Kids, Cops and Sex Offenders: Pushing the Limits of the Interest Convergence Thesis, 57 How. L. J. 353 (2013) SSRN
Interest Convergence and the Education of African-American Boys in Cincinnati: Motivating Suburban Whites to Embrace Interdistrict Education Reform, 34 N. Ky L. Rev. 663 (2007) Hein Online
Panelist, “Back-End Advocacy: Second Chances and Second Looks,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Presidential Summit & Sentencing Symposium, in conjunction with Georgetown University Law Center (October 2020)
Recognized by Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber in its “We Are Making Black History” campaign to recognize works of area African American residents (February 2020).
Speaker, “Prosecutorial Reform,” NAACP National Convention, Philadelphia, PA (July 14, 2015)
Speaker, “Criminal Justice Reform,” All Lives Matter – A Social Justice Dialogue, as part of a Major League Baseball-sponsored community forum, Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH (July 10, 2015)
Speaker, “The Clemency Project 2014,” The Dayton Chapter of the Federal Bar Association event, Miamisburg, OH (July 9, 2015)
Keynote Address at Harvard Law School's annual public interest dinner. (April 16, 2015)
Co-recipient, “YWCA Racial Justice Award” during the YWCA Heart to Heart Racial Justice Breakfast at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH. (March 17, 2015)
Panelist, National Summit on Collateral Sanctions, ABA/NIJ event, Washington, D.C. (February 2015)
Panelist on criminal justice reform, University of Cincinnati. (February 2015)
Panelist, “Where We Stand,” a prime time program on WLWT Channel 5, which looked at issues on criminal justice and the black community for Black History Month. (February 2015)
Panelist, “The Elephant in the Room: A Conversation About Race,” Northern Kentucky University. (February 2015)
Quoted in “Hunter Trial Spotlights Racial Divide,” Cincinnati Enquirer, http://cin.ci/1sct7vR. (December 7, 2014)
Interviewed by Huff Post Live about felon disenfranchisement, http://huff.lv/1w6vYdN. (November 2014)
Presenter, disccused the chapter he wrote for How Can You Represent Those People, titled, "Representing Sex Offenders,” University of Cincinnati – Blue Ash.
Participated on a plenary panel on "The PDS Effect: Transforming Law Schools into Institutions for Change" for the PDS in the Legal Academy Conference, Washington D.C. at Georgetown.
Presenter, “Race and Criminal Justice in Ohio,” Hamilton County Criminal Defense Bar.
Presenter, University of Dayton School of Law discussing representation of unpopular clients.
Co-Leader, How To Incorporate Social Justice Teaching Into Clinical Legal Education, 2014 AALS Conference on Clinical Legal Education, Chicago, IL (April 2014)
Residence Restrictions, Monitoring, and Supervision Issues, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, New Orleans, LA (March 2014)
Reverse Debate on the Death Penalty (with Joseph Deters), Beyond Civility Series, Cincinnati Bar Association, Cincinnati, OH (February 2014)
Incorporating Interest Convergence Theory into Advocacy, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Houston, TX (February 2014)
Gideon's Army: the Film, Arkansas Bar Association Criminal Law Section, University of Arkansas and the National Park Central High Historic District, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (December 2013)
How to Conduct Theory-Driven Voir Dire, Lawyers Club of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (October 2013)
Interviewed by Cincinnati Enquirer, “Did You Say You Wished African-Americans ‘Weren’t There?’”, (August 24, 2013)
75th anniversary of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, University of Cincinnati College of Law, Cincinnati, OH (August 27, 2013)
Merlin G. Pope, Jr. Diversity Leadership Award, Cincinnati Human Relations Commission Annual Luncheon (May 2013)
Law Day Speaker for Dayton Bar Association (May 2013)
Cincinnati Magazine’s “Big Ideas” (November 2012)
