Race and Justice Clinic
The Race and Justice Clinic is a brand new clinic introduced for the 2011-2012
academic year. The clinic is a response to systemic issues that result in an
increasingly disproportionate number of minority youth entering into our
juvenile justice system.
- Although juvenile detention and crime rates have been
decreasing overall since 2002, the percentage of minority youth in detention in
Washington State has increased annually.
- In King County, minority youth make
up 66% of the juvenile detention population but only 38% of the general youth
population.
- A 2008 Washington State study revealed that African American
children removed from their homes by CPS were 50% more likely than white
children to remain in state care for more than two years.
- Research has shown
that minority students are expelled and suspended from school at a
disproportionate rate.
The Race and Justice Clinic will explore how lawyers and
law students can make a difference in these increasingly troubling outcomes for
youth of color in our legal system. We will address race in the justice system
through multi-forum advocacy focusing on disparities for youth of color in the
juvenile Justice, child welfare and education systems. We will examine the issue
from multiple angles, review current and past efforts to reduce the disparities,
study how systems can change, explore how lawyers can make a difference and work
in multiple forums to achieve change. The course will involve students working
with community coalitions, participating in community education and providing
direct representation to youth.
The Race and Justice Clinic will be looking for
answers to a complex and persistent problem by listening, learning and doing.