A Message from the Executive Director
As we celebrate Black History Month and the start of 2021, we feel energized by the momentum for change building throughout the country. The challenges to systemic racism catalyzed by the Black Lives Matter movement and other grassroots organizations have not gone unheeded. This year promises progress in the advancement of justice at all levels of government – including the historic reform of criminal prosecution launched by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, with a transition team that includes our LSJLC attorneys. L.A. is poised to be a leader of reform on many fronts, and the students and staff in our clinics are prepared to seize the moment. We are excited to share some of our recent work with you, our supporters, who make this work possible.
-Elizabeth Bluestein
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LSJLC Attorneys Assisting with Transformative DA Transition
LSJLC faculty and staff attorneys played a leading role in newly elected L.A. District Attorney George Gascón’s transition team. On Jan. 25, the Policing Los Angeles Forum invited transition team members to discuss Gascón’s new directives on juvenile justice, conviction review, resentencing, immigration and death penalty prosecution. To learn more, listen to a recording of this session at "Progressive Reforms of Criminal Prosecution."
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SONY SOCIAL JUSTICE FUND MAJOR GIFT TO ADVANCE RACIAL JUSTICE
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| The Center for Juvenile Law & Policy (CJLP) at LMU Loyola Law School is pleased to announce that Sony Pictures Entertainment has committed $500,000 from the Sony Social Justice Fund to support the Collateral Consequences of Conviction Justice Project (CCCJP) in its continuing efforts to help clients reclaim their lives after incarceration. “Sony wanted to make a real-life impact on anti-racism in our community,” said Sean Kennedy, Kaplan & Feldman Executive Director of the CJLP, noting that the collateral consequences of conviction often have the most impact in disenfranchised communities. In many instances, CCCJP clients are left with few employment prospects following convictions for low-level, non-violent crimes. This exacerbates and perpetuates income disparities that already exist in communities of color, which are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. More>>
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|  | Save the Date: CJLP Everychild Symposium on Crossover Youth
On March 11-12, education, juvenile justice and dependency advocates will gather from across L.A. County and the nation to discuss lessons learned over the course of the Center for Juvenile Law & Policy’s Everychild Integrated Legal and Education Advocacy Project – and to develop strategies for advancing holistic juvenile justice, education and social work advocacy to “crossover children,” involved in both the dependency and juvenile justice court systems. More>> | |  | In the Nick of Time for LIJC Child Client
Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic students Thomas Tai ’21 and Leila Duntley ’21 in partnership with Adjunct Professor Gina Amato Lough successfully obtained a ruling for client RJ’s Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) for youth abandoned or abused by a parent. RJ's father's attempts to avoid service in the case left students in front of the judge just one day before RJ's 18th birthday, when the requested orders would no longer have been available. As we applaud the new administration's strengthened protections for immigrant youth, we celebrate with RJ, who is now on a path to lawful permanent residency. More>>
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The Social Worker Difference
Center for Juvenile Law & Policy social workers play a crucial role in the legal team’s support for their clients. Such was the case for client Mike B. and his family. With the court refusing to release Mike from a court-ordered placement due to the family's lack of housing, Supervising Social Worker Jeanette Lomeli navigated labyrinthine L.A. County housing agencies and Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) requirements to assist the family in moving into housing on the day before Christmas. “Often,” explains Jeanette, “our clients and their families lack fundamental and essential necessities, like housing or trauma-informed mental health treatment. The system is not designed to address these basic needs. A social worker can assess a client and their environment to identify the appropriate resources to help increase positive outcomes.” More>>
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|  | CJLP Releases Report on Impact of L.A. Deputy Sheriff Gangs
| |  | Prof. Culbert to retire as LCCR Clinical Professor and Director
Professor Mary B. Culbert is a mediator, trainer, educator, colleague and hero to the mediation community. As she retires from her lengthy tenure at Loyola Law School, including as Director of the Loyola Center for Conflict Resolution (LCCR), we take this opportunity to offer her a sincere thank you for her decades of dedication, commitment and service. Mary’s passion and vision have made LCCR “the Cadillac” of mediation centers – a now prominent and unrivaled program. More>>
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|  | CSLG Hosts Listening Session of SCOTUS Oral Arguments
The Center for the Study of Law and Genocide (CSLG) submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on October 29, 2020 supporting the plaintiffs in two Holocaust property restitution cases: Simon v. Republic of Hungary and Philipp v. Federal Republic of Germany. On Dec. 7, the day of the Supreme Court's oral arguments, the center hosted a listening session to discuss and comment on the court’s proceedings that day. Read more & listen>> | |  | Preserving Housing Rights in Times of Crisis
In the midst of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, with eviction moratoriums set to expire, experts warn that an “eviction tsunami” is fast approaching. Through the Shriver Landlord-Tenant Clinic, Loyola Law School students like Farah Modarres '22 provide vital protections to L.A.'s at-risk residents, helping struggling tenants fight unfair evictions and avoid homelessness. Last semester, Modarres, under the supervision of Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles attorney Andrés Rapoport, helped a 73-year-old client with a disability gain enough time to move out safely. More>> | |
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LSJLC In The News: Recent Highlights
- 'I Thought I Was Going to Die.' How Donald Trump’s Immigration Agenda Set Back the Clock on Fighting Human Trafficking
TIME Magazine, Oct. 30, 2020
- George Gascón Announces Transition Team for DA’s Office
MyNewsLA.com, Nov. 18, 2020 - More Than Half of Youths in L.A. County Juvenile Detention Facilities Were in Quarantine This Week
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 11, 2020 - ‘They’ve Been Hidden Too Long’: Report Details LA Sheriff’s Deputy Gangs and Violence Toward Communities of Color
L.A. Daily News, Jan. 13, 2021 - Report Urges Reforms for L.A. County Sheriff's Department, Where 'Deputy Gangs' Allegedly 'Escalate Uses of Force'
KABC-TV, Jan. 13, 2021 - California Launches Civil Rights Investigation of L.A. County Sheriff's Department
NBC News, Jan. 22, 2021 - California Public Schools Suffer Record Enrollment Drop
CalMatters, Jan. 26, 2021
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