Topic: Public Interest
76 results
Briefs Fall 2017
Innocence Clinic Victories
The Michigan Innocence Clinic has secured the release of three clients from prison this year, two of whom were exonerated. Desmond Ricks, who, in 1992, was charged with murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison, was released in May.
Features Spring 2017
A Girl, Her Wonder Dog, and a Supreme Court Ruling
Last Halloween was momentous for Brent and Stacy Fry and their 12-year-old daughter, Ehlena. While Ehlena’s peers were getting ready for trick-or-treating, the young girl and her retired service dog, Wonder, were at the U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments in their disability-rights case Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools.
Impact Fall 2017
Stephen and Faith Brown: Planning for the Next Generation of Leaders and Best
“We decided to make Michigan our ‘child’ in terms of estate planning,” says Stephen. “We both benefitted greatly from our Michigan education, particularly in our careers.”
@UMICHLAW Fall 2017
Pediatric Residents Join Michigan Law Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic
Melissa* was at wit’s end. Her daughter Olivia’s school district did not agree that special accommodations were necessary for the little girl, who has a feeding disorder and needs reminders and encouragement to help her eat and use the bathroom.
Cover Story Spring 2017
Can Detroit Schools Be Saved?
Think of everything you’ve heard about Detroit Public Schools in recent years: gym floors buckling, walls covered in toxic black mold, archaic math books scattered around the classroom floor of an abandoned school. A state bailout and restructuring plan. Teacher shortages, fraud charges against suppliers, and what The New York Times described as a “chaotic mix of charters and traditional public schools,” in which students in many charters as well as traditional public schools lag behind in testing and other metrics.
Now set those ideas to the side for a moment, and meet Stephen Chennault III, known as Trey.
@UMICHLAW Fall 2017
International Dignitaries and Michigan Law Students Develop Guidelines on Refugee Protections
Hungary, after lining 109 miles of its border with razor wire, passed a law requiring asylum-seekers to remain in camps constructed from shipping containers while their cases are reviewed—a process that could take years. Human rights groups condemned the action, but does it violate international law?
Features Spring 2017
South Africa Externship Turns 2L into Education Change Agent
During her externship semester, Joh helped a local school principal successfully install an app that can coordinate information-gathering around enforcement of a consent decree. It was during a phone call—a hushed conversation in a tiny library in South Africa—when Katie Joh realized she already had begun her career as an agent of change.
@UMICHLAW Fall 2017
Inaugural Fiza Quraishi Fellow Begins Work at NCYL
As Fiza Quraishi’s Michigan Law classmates gathered to celebrate their 10-year reunion in September, the inaugural recipient of the Fellowship created in her memory began working at the National Center for Youth and Law (NCYL) in Oakland, California.
In Practice Spring 2017
On the Front Lines of Europe’s Human Rights Concerns
Sometimes Bojana Urumova, ’96, works on high-profile issues with regional or global implications. Sometimes the work simply concerns individuals. But in her line of work, nothing is really simple.
@UMICHLAW Fall 2017
Equal Justice Works Fellows Advocate for Underserved Communities
Equal Justice Works is the nation’s largest post-graduate public interest fellowship program—and one of the most prestigious. The two-year program matches recent graduates who are passionate about public interest work with organizations that need their talents.