Chad Derby, 3L

On Wednesday, September 6th, Professor Laura Cohen, along with the SBA Community Affairs Committee, held a well received informational meeting about Southwestern’s new Public Service Program. The PSP is designed to promote student’s involvement in public interest legal work and to reward them for their service.

“The Public Service Program encourages law students to use their legal skills to help others both on and off campus,” Professor Cohen said. Participating in Public Interest legal work is a way for students to gain experience and develop legal skills, enhance exposure to substantive law, as well as build relationships with attorneys and local community organizations. Southwestern encourages all students to perform at least twenty-five hours of pro bono public service each academic year.

Representatives from various public interest organizations attended the meeting and provided information about what their organization does, and how students can get involved. On campus organizations present included Teen Court and GRAP. The community legal organizations included Public Counsel, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Neighborhood Legal Services, Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law, Bet Tzedek, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights. All of these public interest law firms offer volunteer opportunities during the year for which students can earn PSP hours. A complete list of opportunities on and off campus is available on the PSP TWEN site.

“I am here to answer questions and to help find volunteer opportunities in our community,” Professor Cohen said. “My hope for students who get involved is that you will learn a lot while doing the volunteer work now, as well as come away with a sense of responsibility and understanding of your role to society as future lawyers.”

Students who complete twenty-five hours of pro bono public service in a year will receive a formal letter of recognition from the Dean and be invited to attend an end-of-year banquet. Additionally, students who perform at least seventy-five hours of public service throughout their law school experience will be recognized at commencement ceremonies and a notation will be placed on their law school transcript.

To qualify, the public service work must be performed under the supervision of a licensed attorney or faculty member, students may not receive compensation or academic credit, and the public service work must be law related.

For more information please sign up for the “Southwestern Public Service Program” TWEN or stop by the Legal Clinic, 4th floor Westmoreland Bldg., and review the bulletin board.

By Chad Derby, 3L

Staff Writer

On Friday, September 11th, the Muslim Law Students Association (”MLSA”) held the fourth annual Ramadan dinner at Southwestern. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is the Islamic month of fasting. During the month, participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured. The fasting occurs from dawn until sunset.

Students, Muslims and non-Muslims attended. In addition, some professors attended, such as Professor Gray, Professor Cammack, and Professor Fagundes.

“The turn out was better than ever, and everyone enjoyed trying all of the dishes that were offered,” said Sarah El Ebiary.

There were interesting food items served at the event; a true assortment of delicacies from all over the Muslim world. The dinner began with dates, a traditional fruit to break one’s fast dating over 1400 years ago. Some of the delicacies were lamb, ground beef, beef steak kabobs, and chicken tikka masala, (roasted chicken in a thick, red cream sauce from Bangladesh). In addition, there were delicious dishes from Egypt such as Koshari (lentils, macaroni, rice, and grilled onions), Molokhaya (a spinach-like soup), and Basilla (peas in tomato sauce). And finally for desert, Roz bil Lebn (dessert of rose-water infused rice pudding with pistachio nuts) and Baklava (dessert pastry filled with nuts and covered with honey).

If you missed this delicious and fun event, look for the MSLA’s Ramadan event next year.

Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to a crowded room of students and faculty on the issue of student loan interest rates. Photo courtesy of Liz Peisner.

By Chad Derby, 3L

Staff Writer

More than 200 people packed into the Louis XVI Room at SW on Wednesday, Sept. 16, to listen to the Rev. Jesse Jackson speak about lowering student loan interest rates. The crowd consisted of conservatives, liberals, faculty, alumnus, staff and administration. The room came became silent as Dean Bryant Garth approached the podium to speak to introduce Professor Isabelle Gunning. Then Gunning provided the audience with a brief background on Jackson, from his experience of running for the president of the United States twice to his diplomatic negotiations abroad.

For the first 20 minutes, Jackson provided some U.S. history. He spoke of Plessy v. Ferguson, and then told the audience that “[i]n 1954, the United States was an apartheid nation.” In speaking about voting rights during the Vietnam War, Jackson said that “students have the power in their numbers . . . to change the course.” Following with, “[y]ou come alive, great things come our way.”

Then taking the audience into a recap of the past financial crisis of Lehman Brothers to the mortgage crisis to the federal assistance of General Motors, Jackson added, “we [the federal government] watered the leaves, we did not water the roots.” He was addressing the problem that the federal government is solving the top layer of the financial crisis and not working from “the bottom up,” as Jackson stated.

After 30 minutes of speaking, Jackson stated that students’ loans are not dischargeable. He mentioned the prior federal bailouts to explain how companies can receive assistance and file for bankruptcy, but student loans are forever and not usually discharged in bankruptcy.

Jackson went on to explain how people buying cars can pay zero percent interest and banks pay less than 1 percent to the federal government for borrowing money. On the other hand, students are paying 6, 8 or even higher percentage rates to borrow money for not only graduate school but to earn undergraduate degrees, also.

“If [you are] interested in public interest law, you can’t afford it,” Jackson said. He then added that we need to “fight to reduce that.” And that “you [students] don’t need a better lender, you [students] need a better rate.”

“Stop weapons of mass destruction at home,” Jackson said. “Make education affordable.”

Jackson then urged the audience, students in particular, to contact their congress people to urge the banks to give students zero percent interest on student loans.

He told the crowd that he met with employees at MTV and asked them how many had students loans. He said all the people raised their hands. Then he told them, “just as you made ‘Rock The Vote’, make a ‘Reduce The Rate’.” He then chanted, “reduce the rate, reduce the rate.”

Following the speech, Jackson took some question from students. Jeff Harris, a 3L day student, asked Jackson whether the zero percent interest rate would be retroactive. Jackson replied by stating that “you decide that. That is how you fight for the bill.”

Jackson then randomly pointed at students in the audience and asked how their debt is or will be. Various students replied with ranges from $120,000 to $160,000.

Another student asked Jackson if he has spoke to President Barack Obama about the bill. Jackson answered with a story about how Obama had a loan, too, and recently paid it off with his book sales.

A third student asked Jackson whether lenders would cease lending to students since the zero percent rate would not provide lenders with a financial incentive. Jackson responded, “we don’t need these big banks, they need us. It’s whether government sees the investment.”

At the end of the event, Jackson called for volunteers to be part of the steering committee for the campaign.

Charles Chineduh, 3L day, commented, “this is a great cause we should support particularly since this is an issue that affects students not only on campus but across the nation.”

CA Supreme Court has long been the center of controversial decisions.

The State That Was Not Always Golden

Chad Derby

The California Supreme Court Historical Society held a colloquium at the Los Angeles Times on June 1. The topic of the colloquium was Civil and Uncivil Rights in California. However, the main cases and issues discussed involved uncivil rights. The panel of speakers included retired Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court Joseph R. Grodin, University of Delaware Prof. of Law Jean Pfaelzer, and UCLA Assist. Prof. Chicana & Chicano Studies Robert Romero.

The speakers presented cases that involved discrimination toward the Chinese immigrants in California and discussed the injustice of early anti-slave laws. In People v. Brady, 40 Cal. 198 (1870), a law prevented Chinese people from testifying against whites. Another case, in 1885, Tape v. Hurley, 66 Cal. 473 (1885), involved the right for Chinese children to attend school. The Tape’s daughter was denied admission to a public school due to her Chinese ancestry. The Court upheld the lower court’s decision to allow the Tape’s daughter to attend school. The Court stated that the board of education had the power “to make, establish, and enforce all necessary and proper rules and regulations not contrary to law.”

The mid- to late- 1800s were not a very proud era for California in terms of civil rights. In Foltz v. Hoge, 54 Cal. 28 (1879), the Court decided whether women could be barred from practicing law. Clara Foltz argued successfully and became the first woman on the West Coast to pass the bar. In addition, she wrote an amendment to section 275 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which set out qualifications for lawyers in California. Her proposed amendment deleted the words “any white male citizen” and substituted “any citizen or person. Cal. Stat. 1878, ch. 600, §§ 1-3, at 99. Subsequently, she also lobbied the California legislature to adopt the amendment to change the law that denied women the right to become lawyers. In the end, she successfully got the governor to approve the bill.

The California Supreme Court Historical Society provided a plethora of California civil rights history. To see what future events will be held, check http://cschs.org/.