LawClinic.TV

The Roiling Problem of National Identity - Citizenship and Immigration

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As with so much in American history, our receptivity to immigrants has moved in historical cycles. With nativism currently ascending, issues of national identity, citizenship and immigration are very much in the public eye and on Fordham Law School's agenda.

Here Gina DelChiaro, a recent graduate of the law school, talks about the importance of providing immigration law representation. Gina is really on target.

Through my work in our Criminal Defense Clinic I see the really devastating consequences of our current immigration laws. In one case, we represented a man with a steady job whose friend made a false accusation against him after the two had a disagreement. The friend never pursued the criminal case, which was eventually dismissed, but his brief detention was enough to bring him to the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Although he is now at liberty and pursuing an asylum claim, I am still hard pressed to understand who benefits when a productive person faces forced exile because of an arrest based upon a criminal case which turns out to be baseless.

I think many lawyers would agree that immigration law is a very demanding area, full of very technical regulations and practiced in a very unforgiving and difficult administrative arena. Because these issues are so important, and so difficult, I am particularly pleased that my very talented colleague Professor Gemma Solimene, will be offering her Immigrant's Rights and Access to Justice Clinic again this spring, after taking a little time away from that practice area. Gemma and her students do very fine work and I look forward to sharing their experiences next semester.

I want to close this post by noting that Fordham will be hosting a terrific conference, New Dimensions of Citizenship on Friday and Saturday, September 29 and 30. The organizers offer this tantalizing observation: "Today more people than ever live outside their countries of origin. As a result, our conceptions of citizenship, our identities as citizens, and our ideas about how best to prepare citizens to negotiate an increasingly diverse society are all in flux."

-- Ian Weinstein

Fordham, Law School, Clinical Legal Education, Law Clinic, Pro Bono Work, Legal Education, Legal Pedagogy, Teaching Law, Student Lawyers, Law Student, Immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Fordham Law Students Help Guantanamo Detainees

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A lot of us in the clinical legal education community have been thinking about collaboration since the wonderful Clinical Section Conference on that theme.  One very interesting and important current example of collaborative work among law students, public and private sector lawyers and a variety of governmental and non-governmental actors, is the ongoing litigation regarding the men detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. This work is probably the most outstanding current example of the very important role the bar plays in our civil society. 

Lawyers from across the political spectrum have stepped forward to work on behalf of the Guantanamo detainees, including my colleague, Martha Rayner, who founded and runs the International Justice clinic at Fordham. 

Martha and her students represent a handful of clients detained at Guantanamo.  Martha's deep concern for her clients, her readiness to throw herself into those deep and uncharted waters and her passion for the work are so true to character. 

Like the many private sector lawyers who have embraced these cases, Martha has already given a tremendous amount of time and energy to this cause, traveling to Bahrain, with students, to meet with clients' family members and down to Guantanamo, where students are not permitted, to see clients. 

Litigating these cases is like stepping into a legal twilight zone - right now all the litigation is stayed (a legalism for suspended animation) while the courts are considering the legality of Congressional efforts to prevent or strictly limit judicial review of these cases.  The Congressional action was just one of the virtually unprecedented legal twists in this rapidly developing and uncharted area of the law.

Martha was uncertain about how these cases would work in the clinical setting, here she comments on the wonderful opportunities for collaboration.

-- Ian Weinstein

Legal Education, Guantanamo Bay, Fordham Law School

Fordham Law Students Find Collaboration is Key Skill to Success

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We clinical legal educators talk a lot about collaboration, but I sometimes wonder if our students see the value in learning and working collaboratively.  In my experience, two or more people in true collaboration add up to much more than the sum of the parts - if they can really listen to each other and figure out how to use each participant’s strengths and insights. 

I think I have learned to suspend my tendency to jump to conclusions, just a bit, and give myself time to appreciate the insights and ideas of others.  I think I have learned that some ideas are good, even if they are not my own, but I still wonder about my students.  Do they value collaboration and do they believe it is a skill that can be learned?  I am told my students will be going out into a world in which group work will be the norm and recent experience tells me that many of my students appreciate how important it is to develop their collaborative skills.

Here is Dan Gross, a student in Martha Rayner's clinic for International Justice, talking about how valuable the collaborative aspect of the work is to him.

-- Ian Weinstein

Fordham Students Collaborating with Legal Heros for Guantanamo Prisoner Rights

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The private Bar's response to Guantanamo has really been fabulous. More than 450 lawyers have joined forces within the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) to represent detainees and their response really gives me hope for the future of the legal profession. 

I know it makes many people gag when I say it, but I am proud of my profession and my colleagues at the bar.  As I see it, a diverse array of lawyers from all across America, with a wide variety of beliefs and political orientations, have invested a significant amount of time and effort in these cases because they share a fundamental belief in the rule of law.

I think these folks are heroes and as one of my intellectual heroes, Howard Gardner has pointed out in his Good Work Project, professions need heroes if they are to remain with the values that make them something more than groups that share technical proficiency.

Of course working with heroes may pose an educational challenge.

I have sometimes worried that students would be overwhelmed by very experienced lawyers and I worried a little about that for our International Justice students with the lawyers involved with CCR. Not to give in to stereotypes, but I have the idea that big firm lawyers can sometimes be quite aggressive and may not have the inclination to give students room to learn. But I think that has not been a problem here and that the students have really been inspired by the work of the lawyers they have met.   

Here is Martha Rayner, Director of the Fordham Clinic for International Justice, making the very important point that no one knows the answers in these cases and that has worked to her students’ advantage.

The International Justice clinic’s representation of clients detained at Guantanamo has also given Martha and her students the opportunity to meet with Representative Jerrold Nadler, some of their clients' family members and human rights activists both here and abroad.

-- Ian Weinstein

Guantanamo in the news: The Wall Street Journal had a front page article on 6/2/06 that mentions some of the work that CCR lawyers are doing on behalf of the Guantanamo detainees (subscription required).

Fordham Law School, Legal Education, International Justice, Guantanamo Bay

Students’ Human Rights Work Opens Up Career Options

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Here is Ashok Mathai, a student in Martha Rayner’s International Justice Clinic at Fordham Law, talking about how much he has learned from meeting and working with a range of folks concerned about human rights. I am particularly struck by the important lesson Ashok articulates about lawyer roles and career choices. 

Although I will surely continue to question and doubt, as that is my nature, these comments confirm how important it is for all of us to reflect upon the many aspects of collaboration in our work and teaching.  

-- Ian Weinstein

Human Rights, Legal Education, Clinical Law, Fordham Law School