Sean O’Brien is the University of Missouri Board of Curators Distinguished Teaching Professor at UMKC School of Law, where he has taught criminal law and procedure since 2005. He also serves as the Habeas Assistance and Training Counsel for the Eighth Circuit through the Defender Services Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. He has represented people in death penalty cases across the country since 1983, and he has qualified as an expert witness on standards of performance for capital defense lawyers in state and federal courts throughout the United States. His Supreme Court cases include Schlup v. Delo, which set the “actual innocence” standard in federal habeas corpus proceedings, and Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal, which empowers habeas courts to prevent the execution of insane prisoners. He directed the research and writing of the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death Penalty Cases, 36 Hofstra L. Rev. 677 (2008), and publishes and lectures nationally on death penalty, indigent defense and related mental health issues. Professor O’Brien has served as the Jackson County Public Defender, Executive Director of the Missouri Capital Punishment Resource Center, Chair of the MoBar Criminal Law Committee, and President of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He has been recognized for decades of successful work to free the innocent and prevent unjust executions. Prof. O’Brien’s most recent exoneration, Sandra Hemme, served more than forty three years for a crime she did not commit, making her the longest-serving exonerated woman in American history. In 2016, the Missouri Bar presented him the Spurgeon Smithson Award for improving access to justice. Other recognitions for his work on behalf of poor people include the KCMBA Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), the Jackson County Legal Leaders Award (2005), The Lawyers Association of Kansas City Justice Charles Whitaker Award (2004), Missouri Lawyer’s Weekly Lawyer of the Year (2003), Northwest Missouri State University’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2006), The UMKC Alumni Achievement Award (2002), the NLADA National Sentencing Project Award (2008), UMKC’s Daniel Brenner Writing Award (2008), the UMKC N.T. Veatch Award for creative scholarship and service, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Benedictine College (2005). Professor O’Brien is the 2023 University of Missouri-Kansas City Alumnus of the Year.