Public Interest/Civil Rights/Civil Liberties

Students enrolled in the Street Law Clinic teach legal life skills to high school students in our Los Angeles community. Law students step into the roles of teacher, mentor, and advocate to empower at-risk youth to make better choices, overcome adversity, and build stronger futures. The participatory lessons taught by the clinic law students inform the teenagers about their rights and the laws that apply to them, and provide legal information and resources they need to successfully transition to independent living and adulthood.

This course examines tort causes of action for defamation and invasion of privacy. It covers both the common law of defamation, including the actions of libel and slander, and the constitutional limits placed on such actions. In addressing defamation, the course will explore the dramatic tension between reputational interests and interests in freedom of speech and expression. Although this conflict may arise in any defamation action, it is particularly acute when media outlets critique public officials and figures. Thus, special emphasis will be given to such cases.

The Appellate Litigation Clinic, which received the Ninth Circuit's 2018 Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award, offers students an opportunity to work with the professor in litigating pro bono appeals in the Ninth Circuit - up to and including oral argument before the court. Students will receive hands-on training in legal research and writing as well as substantive law as it applies to the cases.

The Immigration Law Clinic is a five unit semester course and is graded. There are no course prerequisites and no final examination. The Immigration Law Clinic will provide free legal representation to clients in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)(clients under the age of 21), Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and U visa cases. This will involve cases where clients have been abused, neglected or abandoned or have been victims of a crime.

The Children's Rights Clinic offers students an opportunity to participate in educational rights work, including direct representation of children and families in school discipline and special education matters, community outreach and education. Clinic students will have an opportunity to represent children in school discipline proceedings, represent children with disabilities in special education proceedings, or work with community groups to advocate for better and more equitable educational opportunities for children.

This course examines the major federal environment laws as implemented by the states in partnership with the federal government, including the regulation of hazardous waste and toxic substances, air pollution, waste pollution, and endangered species. There is a particular focus upon how the regulatory process responds to legal, scientific, technical and moral complexities within a multi stakeholder context.

This course focuses on the National Labor Relations Act, which since the New Deal has governed the relationship among private sector employers, unions, and workers. It examines the practical aspects of the subject matter, including protected-concerted activity, union activity, strikes and lockouts, collective bargaining, secondary activity, and preemption. An important objective of the course is to provide an understanding of the historical context of the labor movement, its ongoing evolution and the current relevance of traditional labor law.

Extensive analyses of the administrative decisions, judicial decisions, statutes, regulations, and informal practices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Consulate, and Manpower Administration are presented in this course.

This course provides a study of the institution of judicial review, the limitations on federal judicial power, and the constitutional roles of the legislative and executive branches. Due process and individual rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are also reviewed.

America has become a carceral state. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 2.3 million individuals were held in local, state, or federal jails and prisons. We incarcerate a larger percentage of our population than any other nation. Think tanks like the Pew Center on the States observed in a 2008 report that such explosive rates of imprisonment (approximately one in one hundred adults) cannot be sustained because it fails to prevent crime while simultaneously it causes a crippling drain on ever-decreasing public resources.