The death penalty for a defendant who did not participate in a violent felony that resulted in the death of someone simply would not pass constitutional muster and is clearly a step backward from policy, public health, and constitutional perspectives.
Given today’s political climate, nowhere is the interplay between politics and law more salient than in immigration law. If you are an advocate for a refugee, or represent someone seeking citizenship or asylum, part of the work is understanding the political ramifications of what you are trying to do.
While Legal Services Corp. has been demonized in various ways over the years as troublemakers or leftist political actors, studies tell us that providing access to basic services produces economic benefits for state and local governments.
There has been no voice at the policy table for the accused, incarcerated and paroled. We have an attorney general of the United States. We have a solicitor general of the United States. Yet, the defense is not, and has not been a part of policy decisions regarding criminal justice matters.
Law review articles serve our students, our faculty and the bar, while giving a voice to new ideas and to changes big and small that the law should contemplate (or not).
I am certainly awarethat those of you reading this article know what legal clinics are and do – you all know that students in clinics learn how to interact with clients, opposing counsel and judges; but they also learn that actual clients are more important than they seem in casebooks and that their work makes a positive difference in their client’s lives.
One of the educational challenges facing those of us in higher education (not just law) is teaching writing. The entry of what is often referred to as the millennial generation into higher education has shown a marked decrease in prior opportunities to write, to be critiqued, and, sadly, even to have been instructed in the basics of grammar, sentence structure and syntax.
The legal system plays a foundational role in a free society, and those who are called to this profession have an exciting opportunity to demonstrate their humanity while serving others.