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A Better Way: Uncoupling The Right To Counsel With The Threat Of Deportation For Unaccompanied Immigrant Children And Beyond, Laura Barrera

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

The stakes could not be higher in immigration court—families are separated; people are banished from their communities with little hope of ever legally returning; judges relegate individuals to seemingly arbitrary and indefinite detention in remote locations. Each of these hardships—and more—flow from the threat of deportation. As the Supreme Court noted in 1922, deportation “may result . . . in . . . all that makes life worth living.”

As has been the unfortunate norm in civil proceedings, many individuals face these trials without an attorney by their side because while the law states that respondents in immigration court …

Expanding The Right To Counsel In Eviction Cases: Arguments For And Limitations Of "Civil Gideon" Laws In A Post-Covid 19 World, Jennifer S. Prusak

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

With the cost of housing rising nationwide and incomes largely failing to keep pace with this increase, the United States is in the midst of interrelated affordable housing and eviction crises. The housing affordability metric that has long been the bedrock of American housing policy is that households should spend no more than thirty percent of their income on housing. This is no longer an attainable goal for many Americans. By 2017, forty-eight percent of renter households were “rent burdened”—they paid more than thirty percent of their income in rent. Over a quarter of American renters, or 11 million …

Patching The Patchwork: Moving The Civil Right To Counsel Forward With Key Data, Maria Roumiantseva

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

While the pandemic has exposed many long-standing realities about the United States, the destructive everyday crisis of eviction is top of mind as moratoria have now expired and rental assistance funds dissipate with no anticipated replenishment. Therefore, though this piece addresses legal representation in civil legal proceedings more broadly, we will start with an eviction story.

It can be taken as fact that not too far from where you are reading this piece, a tenant is facing an eviction unrepresented. She cannot afford a private attorney. She is income eligible for legal aid, but the office near her home …

“Fundamental Fairness”: Finding A Civil Right To Counsel In International Human Rights Law, Meredith Elliott Hollman

University of Richmond Law Review

Every other Western democracy now recognizes a right to counsel in at least some kinds of civil cases, typically those involving basic human rights. The World Justice Project’s 2021 Rule of Law Index ranked the United States 126th of 139 countries for “People Can Access and Afford Civil Justice.” Within its regional and income categories, the United States was dead last. The United Nations and other international treaty bodies have urged the United States to improve access to justice by providing civil legal aid. How did we fall behind, and what can we learn from the rest of the world? …

Gender Violence As A Penalty Of Poverty, Deborah M. Weissman

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The matter of gender violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV), has long been categorized as a particularly egregious crime. The consequences of IPV are profound and affect all members of the household, family members near and far, and the communities where they live. Gender violence impacts the national economy. Costs accrue to workplaces, health care institutions, and encumber local and state coffers. Survivors are deprived of income, property, and economic stability: conditions that often endure beyond periods of physical injuries. Offenders also experience economic hardship as a result of involvement with the legal system. They often face significant obstacles when …

2023 Champions For Justice 1-27-2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Civil Rights Without Representation, Joanna C. Schwartz

William & Mary Law Review

Although much recent attention has been paid to qualified immunity, the biggest threat to civil rights enforcement is actually the lack of lawyers able and willing to represent people whose constitutional rights have been violated. There are small, tight-knit communities of civil rights lawyers with expertise and passion in the cities of the Great Migration, but few civil rights attorneys practice outside those urban areas. Limits on attorneys’ ability to recover fees mean that even attorneys willing to take civil rights cases will have financial incentives to decline meritorious cases if they would be expensive to litigate or if the …

2023 Racial Justice Challenge: Housing Law, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

P*Law 2023, Center For Public Service Law

2022–2023 Flyers

This document provides the complete schedule for P*LAW Week 2023 at Cardozo School of Law, organized by the Center for Public Service Law. Held from January 23 to January 26, the week featured panels, workshops, and interactive events addressing pressing issues in public interest law. Topics included judicial independence, disability rights, reproductive justice, climate legislation, student mental health, comprehensive sexual education, and qualified immunity. Events also offered students career support through the PILC Fair prep session and Mentor Mock Interviews, fostering professional growth and public service engagement.

Deborah L. Rhode In Memoriam: Three Stories And Ten Life Lessons, Benjamin H. Barton

Scholarly Works

In this Essay, Professor Benjamin H. Barton offers a heartfelt tribute to the late legal scholar, Professor Deborah L. Rhode. Professor Barton reflects on Rhode’s prolific career, which spanned areas including legal ethics, feminism and women in the law, and lawyers as leaders. He also examines Rhode’s later works, which delved into more personal topics such as character, ambition, and legacy. Through personal anecdotes and life lessons, Professor Barton honors Rhode’s legacy as a model academic, mentor, and transformative force in the legal profession.

Rodriguez At Fifty: Lessons Learned On The Road To A Right To A High-Quality Education For All Students, Kimberly Jenkins Robinson

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Swipe Right Into A Disciplinary Hearing: How The Use Of Dating Apps Could Earn An Attorney More Than A Bad First Date, Zachary S. Aman

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct seek to police the conduct of attorneys. Each jurisdiction adopts its own rules of professional conduct to apply to the attorneys licensed within it. Notably, the model rules prohibit any sexual relationship between the attorney and client unless that relationship precedes the attorney-client relationship. Traditionally, defining a "sexual relationship" was simple, particularly if the attorney and client engaged in sexual intercourse. The introduction of dating apps, however, has blurred the line.

This article outlines the inherent risks of attorneys using dating apps at a time when most newly-licensed attorneys make up the majority of …

Without A Will, There Is Still A Way: A Statutory Solution To Increase The Value Of A Small Estate And Aid In Reducing The Racial Equity Gap In Wisconsin, Isabella V. Avila Perez

Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review

For generations, communities of color have struggled to increase their generational wealth. Lack of access to estate planning tools leaves minority groups and low-income families compromised and more likely to die intestate. While the current probate system creates a safety net for those that die intestate, this comment aims to address the need for a statutory solution to aid in combatting Wisconsin's racial equity gap. More specifically, this Comment suggests how increasing and indexing Wisconsin's summary settlement and summary assignment small estate values to include estates of $100,000 or less will allow for more minority and low-income families to qualify …

Community-Based Justice Research (Cbjr) Project: Exploring Community-Based Services, Costs And Benefits For People-Centered Justice, Trevor C. W. Farrow, Ab Currie

Canadian Forum on Civil Justice

The CBJR Project is a collaborative international initiative featuring exciting new research exploring the costs and benefits of community-based justice. The CBJR Project partners include the Katiba Institute in Kenya, the Center for Alternative Policy Research & Innovation in Sierra Leone and the Centre for Community Justice & Development in South Africa, with collaboration and support from the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice and the International Development Research Centre.

Since 2018, the CBJR Project partners have been working to learn more about the benefits, costs and opportunities of providing and scaling various community-based justice services and initiatives, as well as …

A Living Legacy: The Katzmann Study Group On Immigrant Representation, The Honorable Denny Chin

Fordham Law Review

On March 9, 2023, hundreds of individuals—including immigration lawyers, advocates, government officials, academics, journalists, and philanthropists—gathered for a symposium at Fordham University School of Law entitled Looking Back and Looking Forward: Fifteen Years of Advancing Immigrant Representation. The symposium was organized by the Fordham Law Review and sponsored by law school centers and clinics, nonprofit organizations, and the Katzmann Study Group on Immigrant Representation (the “Study Group”). For members of the Study Group, the day was particularly poignant because several sessions at the symposium honored the life and accomplishments of the Hon. Robert A. Katzmann, the Study Group’s founder and …

The World Moved On Without Me: Redefining Contraband In A Technology-Driven World For Youth Detained In Washington State, Stephanie A. Lowry

Seattle University Law Review

If you ask a teenager in the United States to show you one of their favorite memories, they will likely show you a picture or video on their cell phone. This is because Americans, especially teenagers, love cell phones. Ninety-seven percent of all Americans own a cell phone according to a continuously updated survey by the Pew Research Center. For teenagers aged thirteen to seventeen, the number is roughly 95%. For eighteen to twenty-nine-year-olds, the number grows to 100%. On average, eight to twelve-year-old’s use roughly five and a half hours of screen media per day, in comparison to thirteen …

States’ Duty Under The Federal Elections Clause And A Federal Right To Education, Evan H. Caminker

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Fifty years ago, in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, the Supreme Court failed to address one of the preeminent civil rights issues of our generation—substandard and inequitable public education—by holding that the federal Constitution does not protect a general right to education. The Court didn’t completely close the door on a narrower argument that the Constitution guarantees “an opportunity to acquire the basic minimal skills necessary for the enjoyment of the rights of speech and of full participation in the political process.” Both litigants and scholars have been trying ever since to push that door open, pressing …

Inviting The People Into People's Court: Embracing Non-Attorney Representation In Eviction Proceedings, Gregory Zlotnick

Faculty Articles

Evictions often hide in plain sight-and so does one of the most effective responses. Studies uniformly confirm that represented tenants avoid evictions, and with it associated downstream effects, at appreciably higher rates than unrepresented tenants. Tenant representation is one of the most cost-effective anti-poverty interventions available in our housing system. Lawyers should support its expansion, even if and when it a non-lawyer serves as that intervenor in eviction court.

This paper argues that the legal profession should embrace and expand existing pathways for training eligible and interested individuals, regardless of whether they are licensed attorneys, to assist tenants facing eviction. …

Breaking Free From "Crime-Free": State-Level Responses To Harmful Housing Ordinances, Jenna Prochaska

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Municipalities throughout the country enforce broad and harmful crime-free housing and nuisance property ordinances (CFNOs)—local laws that encourage landlords to evict or exclude tenants from housing opportunities based on their contact with the criminal legal system or calls for police help. There is little evidence that CFNOs are effective at achieving their stated goal of increasing community safety, and there is significant evidence that they harm Black and Latinx communities, survivors of domestic violence, individuals with disabilities, and low-income tenants and communities more broadly. Despite more than a decade of legal advocacy successfully challenging CFNOs using a range of legal …

“Fundamental Fairness”: Finding A Civil Right To Counsel In International Human Rights Law, Meredith Elliot Hollman

Law Student Publications

Every other Western democracy now recognizes a right to counsel in at least some kinds of civil cases, typically those involving basic human rights. The World Justice Project’s 2021 Rule of Law Index ranked the United States 126th of 139 countries for “People Can Access and Afford Civil Justice.” Within its regional and income categories, the United States was dead last. The United Nations and other international treaty bodies have urged the United States to improve access to justice by providing civil legal aid. How did we fall behind, and what can we learn from the rest of the world? …

"No Evictions" Policies: Evaluating The Disparate Impact Of Auto-Rejection On Black Women, Mehreen Tariq

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Looking Inward: Building A Restorative Legal Aid Agency, Andy Froelich

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

What To The Marginalized Person Is The American Dream

Florida A & M University Law Review

I will organize this Note around three themes Douglass articulated in his speech. These themes, which remain timely and relevant over 170 years later, are (1) the importance of attending to those most impacted by injustices; (2) the responsibility of each of us to address the injustices we see in the world around us; and (3) the practice of remaining hopeful in the face of what, at times, may feel like daunting circumstances. I will structure this Note around these three themes as I consider what the American Dream means for marginalized persons. Throughout, I will weave in examples of …

What, To The Marginalized Person, Is The American Dream, Deidre Keller

Journal Publications

I will organize this Note around three themes Douglass articulated in his speech. These themes, which remain timely and relevant over 170 years later, are (1) the importance of attending to those most impacted by injustices; (2) the responsibility of each of us to address the injustices we see in the world around us; and (3) the practice of remaining hopeful in the face of what, at times, may feel like daunting circumstances. I will structure this Note around these three themes as I consider what the American Dream means for marginalized persons. Throughout, I will weave in examples of …

Advancing Racial Justice Through Civil And Criminal Academic Medical-Legal Partnerships, Yael Cannon, Vida Johnson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The medical-legal partnership (MLP) model, which brings attorneys and healthcare partners together to remove legal barriers to health, is a growing approach to addressing unmet civil legal needs. But MLPs are less prevalent in criminal defense settings, where they also have the potential to advance both health and legal justice. In fact, grave racial health inequities are deeply intertwined with both civil and criminal injustice. In both spheres, health justice is racial justice. Building on the experiences of the authors in their respective civil and criminal law school clinics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., this Article argues that academic …

Canadian “Dreamers”: Access To Postsecondary Education, Elise Mercier, Sean Rehaag, Francisco Rico-Martinez

All Papers

Youth with precarious legal status (PLS) in Canada are entitled to access primary and secondary education regardless of their immigration status. However, once they graduate from high school their opportunities for postsecondary education are highly constrained. This article sets out an argument for expanding postsecondary educational opportunities for PLS students, drawing on the example of the only existing program in Canada targeting such students: York University’s “Access for Students with Precarious Immigration Status Program”. The article considers possible legal impediments to the establishment of such programs, including offenses under Canadian immigration legislation, and argues that charges against postsecondary institutions or …

Changemakers: From The Classroom To The Courtroom: Miguel Garcia, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Due Process Deportations, Angelica Chazaro

Articles

Should pro-immigrant advocates pursue federally funded counsel for all immigrants facing deportation? For most pro-immigrant advocates and scholars, the answer is self-evident: More lawyers for immigrants would mean more justice for immigrants, and thus, the federal government should fund such lawyers. Moreover, the argument goes, federally funded counsel for immigrants would improve due process and fairness, as well as make immigration enforcement more efficient. This Article argues the opposite: Federally funded counsel is the wrong goal. The majority of expulsions of immigrants now happen outside immigration courts— and thus are impervious to immigration lawyering. Even for those who make it …

Un-Erasing Race In A Medical-Legal Partnership: Antiracist Health Justice Advocacy By Design, Danielle Pelfrey Duryea, Peggy Maisel, Kelley Saia

Faculty Scholarship

This Article covers a potential response to a Massachusetts state law which has been interpreted to require health care providers and birthing hospitals to report to state authorities any infant born to a person taking medication of opioid use disorder. While the statute mandates reports where a professional has "reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering physical or emotional injury" as a result of substance dependence at birth, the Article highlights that many institutions report all infants born to persons with substance abuse disorders, regardless of risk of harm, for fear of penalty for failure to report. As …

Evaluating The Pro Se Plight: A Comprehensive Review Of Access To Justice Initiatives In Ohio Landlord-Tenant Law, Caleigh M. Harris

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.