The students in the Advanced Seminar for Public Interest Lawyering—the project-based academic class offered to 2L Stein Scholars—are off to an inspiring start. Working in four teams, the students have partnered with the following public interest law organizations to advance these important areas of work:
- In conjunction with The Legal Aid Society’s Survivor Re-Entry Project, Stein Scholars are surveying each state’s vacatur laws for victims of sex trafficking, in preparation for drafting a practitioner’s guide on post-conviction advocacy that will be distributed nationally to assist attorneys seeking to vacate the criminal records of victims of human trafficking.
- Several students have partnered with the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the Center for Reproductive Rights to develop a set of four fact sheets on HIV and AIDS, Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Sexual and Reproductive Rights, and Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Services. The finalized fact sheets, which will incorporate commitments and goals previously made in various international treaties, will be distributed at two upcoming United Nations conferences: Commission on the Status of Women on March 14–24, 2016, and Commission on Population and Development on April 11–15, 2016. The project supervisor for this group, Estelle Wagner ’15, the international advocacy coordinator for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, is a proud graduate of the Stein Scholars Program and of the advanced seminar!
- The Federal Pro Se Project, a new pilot project of the City Bar Justice Center based in the Eastern District of New York courthouse, will benefit from the efforts of Stein Scholars in a variety of ways. In addition to streamlining online forms, the students will be designing and drafting documents that seek to explain key terms, timelines, best practices, and the steps associated with appearing pro se in federal court.
- Four students have teamed up with the New York Civil Liberties Union to create a know-your-rights brochure for women prisoners, medical professionals, and the Correctional Association in order to explain the rights and protections contained in the newly expanded anti-shackling law recently signed by Governor Cuomo.
In addition to ample opportunities for class-wide conversations about their projects and broader public interest topics, this year’s advanced seminar students will benefit by visits from four Stein graduates, each of whom will share advice and reflections about their current positions and career paths: Dan Hafetz ’10, assistant counsel to New York City Housing Authority; Rachel Kleinman ’05, senior counsel with NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Afua Atta-Mensah ’04, director of litigation for the Urban Justice Center Safety Net Project; and Leena Khandwala ’04, associate with Claudia Slovinsky & Associates, an immigration law firm.
Stay tuned for final updates at the conclusion of the spring semester!