Nicole Godfrey

Assistant Professor

Faculty
Sturm College of Law
Clinical Programs
Civil Rights Clinic

ngodfrey@law.du.edu

Suite 335, Frank H. Ricketson Law Bldg., 2255 East Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208

Specialization(s)

Civil Rights Clinic, Clinical Program

Professional Biography

Nicole B. Godfrey received her J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, her B.A. cum laude from Boston University College of Arts & Sciences, her M.A. from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and an LL.M. in Clinical Legal Education from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Prior to joining academia, Professor Godfrey worked at several small civil rights firms and non-profit organizations, including Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York. From 2015-2022, Professor Godfrey supervised and taught students in DU’s Civil Rights Clinic as a clinical teaching fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor. Prior to returning to DU in 2024, Professor Godfrey directed the Housing Justice Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law.

View CV

Degree(s)

LLM, Clinical Legal Education, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2018
MA, International Human Rights, Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, 2013
JD, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2009
BA, International Relations, Boston University College of Arts & Sciences, 2004

Licensure / Accreditations

Admission to practice law (United States Supreme Court)
Admission to practice law (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits)
Admission to practice law (D. Colo., E.D. Mich., W.D. Mich., W.D. Okla. E.D. Tex.)
Law license (CO)
Law license (MI)
Law license (NY)

Featured Publications

Group Prayer in Federal Prisons, 103 NEB. L. REV. 101 (forthcoming 2024).
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Federal Prison Officials, and the Doctrinal Dinosaur of Qualified Immunity, 98 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY L. REV. 1045 (2023).
“How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Hurt Incarcerated People” (with Danielle C. Jefferis), in THE LEGAL AND SOCIAL RAMIFICATIONS OF PANDEMICS ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES (Claire L. Parins, ed., 2023).
Creating Cautionary Tales: Institutional, Judicial, and Societal Indifference to the Lives of Incarcerated Individuals, 74 ARK. L. REV. 365 (2022).
Punishing People with Mental Illness, 23 CORRECTIONAL MENTAL HEALTH REPORT 60 (2021).
Covid-19 in American Prisons: Solitary Confinement is Not the Solution (with Laura L. Rovner), 2 Ariz. St. L. J. Online 127 (2020)
“Inciting a Riot”: Silent Sentinels, Group Protests, and Prisoners’ Petition and Associational Rights, 43 Seattle L. Rev. 1113 (2020)
Institutional Indifference, 98 Or. L. Rev. 151 (2020).
Suffragist Prisoners and the Importance of Protecting Prisoner Protests, 53 Akron L. Rev. 279 (2019).
Holding Federal Prison Officials Accountable: The Case for Recognizing a Damages Remedy for Federal Prisoners’ Free Exercise Claims, 96 Neb. L. Rev. 924 (2018).
Chapman v. Bureau of Prisons: Stopping the Venue Merry-Go-Round (with Danielle C. Jefferis), 96 Denv. L. Rev. Online 9 (2018).