Toby’s blog

Alison Welcher, a rising 2L and Chayes Fellow focusing on international humanitarian and human rights law, caught up with us recently about her summer working in Africa working for the Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme in Freetown.

“Having just left Sierra Leone, after spending a little more than two months working for a local NGO in Freetown, it’s hard to believe that the summer is already drawing to a close. When I started the search for a summer job, I knew that I wanted to find an internship in Africa that was related to criminal justice; I also had a growing interest in post-conflict societies and their transition to peace. As a government major in undergrad, I had spent a fair amount of time studying African politics and was very familiar with the international tribunal that had been set up in Rwanda after the civil war there. I also spent my second semester of 1L year interning at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research in Cambridge, which led to a greater interest in the laws of war and how they are applied in actuality. After talking to a lot of older students at HLS and doing independent research on the internet, I was most interested in working with either Sierra Leone or Cambodia with the international criminal tribunals that had been set up to try war criminals.’

“Eventually I decided I’d rather have the experience of working with a grassroots organization than with the tribunals themselves and settled on the SLCMP, or Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Programme, an organization that HLS students had worked with in the past and loved. SLCMP was originally established to monitor the trials of those charged with violations of international law during the country’s almost decade-long civil war. However, as the Special Court for Sierra Leone’s operations are slowly drawing to a close, SLCMP has expanded its operations to monitor the activities of national courts, local courts applying customary law, the national anti-corruption commission, and other justice-related institutions.’

“My role in all this was to follow the joint trial of three of the accused at the Special Court and write up weekly reports on the happenings. I would then focus on one or two particular topics that arose and write a longer legal analysis to be published in SLCMP’s monthly newsletter. I am also in the process of putting together a much longer research paper on the legacy of the Special Court and my opinions of its operations (which have evolved tremendously from beginning of summer to the end). However, I also had a great amount of flexibility in my internship, pretty much working on my own time, free to pursue any topic that may interest me. As a result, I conducted interviews with the newly established national Human Rights Commission and wrote an analysis of its first annual report, amongst other side projects. My boss also gave me a large role in writing a new, multi-volume training manual for the organization and teaching sessions on pre-trial and trial rights at a week-long training program held in Freetown for all of the staff.’

“Sierra Leone is a chaotic and often frustrating place, but I will always treasure my experiences there. No matter what difficulties I encountered, I was struck by the friendliness and openness of the people, who were always eager to share their own views of the Special Court and their personal stories about the war. Working at a local NGO came with its own share of frustrations and has taught me a lot about what I want out of a future career, including direct access to clients and the ability to work on individual cases from the beginning to a hopefully successful outcome. All in all, I believe that I took much more away from this summer for myself than I could have ever given back to my host organization. Still, I am planning on continuing to work with SLCMP on various projects throughout the upcoming year and hope to use the opportunities and contacts I have at HLS to strengthen the program however I can.”

For anyone who works regularly with students, the fault lines of social change are distinct and become slowly visible over a period of just a few years. Having been out of college now for a decade, the ways in which students engage their professors, their parents, and with each other on political issues has become almost entirely digitized. To speak to these issues, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society recently invited social entrepreneur Allison Fine to discuss Millennials, a group she defined as people aged 15-29 who practice a nascent model of civic participation that combines immersion in social causes, idealism, and digital fluency.

“We’ve reached an age where the definition of citizen is being changing… to social citizen,” Fine said. As the number of Millennials surpasses that of Baby-Boomers, the public policy are not yet clear. In a recent study that researched Millennial relationships across a vast cyber network that included Facebook, Fine determined that Millennials have converted the tools of democracy into digitized form. “Young folks are drawn to corporations as consumers, they look for social responsibility among companies, and they are extremely drawn to causes,” she reported. “Interestingly and overwhelmingly, Millennials are not drawn to government or public policy, though the current presidential campaign has instigated an enormous amount of interest.”

Fine then posed several questions on the direction of social change. After noting the hesitation of young citizens to engage in the public policy “offline”, Fine suggested that there was a need to transport the impetus for social change from a solely online phenomenon. “It’s just fundamentally different from last century… Will Millennials engage in public policy and government beyond electoral campaigns? Can we break the ‘bubble culture’ of online social networks and create dialogue across networks?”

In response, several roundtable members questioned whether the growing lack of interest in government wasn’t arising out of a generation raised in an era in which Washington has been ignored as a means to achieve anything. “They see how little of their parents’ activism paid off in the 60s, and they’re committed to doing otherwise,” one student posited. Others feel that public schools are shying away from promoting government and policy advocacy to keep issues from “blowing up in their faces.” “It’s just easier to promote Habitat for Humanity… civic education has been replaced by volunteerism.”

Another day, another summer adventure! Before coming to HLS, 2L Michael Zabelin was a member of Americorps*VISTA, taught English in Ecuador, and was an intern at the Center for American Progress. In the fall he will begin working as a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

“I found my summer internship with the Legal Assistance Foundation by taking advantage of the individual advising from the OPIA (Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising). In my meeting, Director Alexa Shabecoff suggested several options in the handful of geographic areas I was interested in spending the summer. Not only did Alexa provide names of organizations but also the names of HLS alumi and current students who had worked at these various places. After speaking with an alum who is currently working at LAF and a current student who had spent a summer there, I realized that LAF was going to be a great fit for me.’

“When preparing for my phone interview, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the LAF supervisory attorney in charge of hiring interns was an HLS grad. This connection allowed us to have an easy start to the interview. He was especially impressed with my involvement with the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review of which he was an active member in his law school days.’

“Before coming to law school, I had done both a semester long internship and a year of Americorps*VISTA in the field of low-income housing. This experience led me toward the Home Ownership Preservation Project at LAF. We are a very busy project this summer as the bulk of our work is in mitigating the effects of foreclosure. From advising people of their rights when they are first foreclosed upon to bringing suit against fraudulent parties who cheated clients while claiming to be rescuing them from foreclosure, I am part of a team that is doing real work to make a difference for people who are being effected by this very real headline-grabbing problem. I leave work feeling good most days knowing that I was able to have at least a small part in making the system a little more fair for the people who have been left behind or treated unfairly in the past.’

“Aside from the interesting substance of the work that I am doing, I am also learning a great deal about the day-to-day life of a public interest lawyer. Everything from filing documents at the Daley Center Courthouse to scouring depositions for something useful to our case has become part of my lawyerly repertoire because of this summer. I’ve even caught myself applying things from first year Legal Research and Writing and Civil Procedure that, at the time I learned them, I was certain I never would actually need to know.’

“I look forward to bringing the skills I have gained this summer back to Cambridge in the fall. I am sure they will be helpful as I begin my first year as a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.’

Professor Jim Greiner just sent me an e-mail about a major project he’s undertaking in the next few months. See the attached document for a description.

Jim says the following:

Students can be involved in various ways with the Election Improvement Project, with credit/incentives consisting of pro bono hours against the HLS 40-hour graduation requirement, cash, or academic credit.

1. As an exit pollster/external poll watcher. HLS students would be part of a team administering an exit poll to voters as they leave polling areas and would document any violations of election law they observe. The time commitment is about 10 hours total, a 1.5-hour training session + a 7-hour shift at the polls + approximately 1.5 hours transportation time to & from the polling location. Students can receive pro bono credit (against the 40-hour graduation requirement) for this time.

2. As a “Precinct Captain” of an exit polling team. Students would lead a group of 3-4 exit pollsters/poll watchers (as described above), with the other members of the team comprised primarily of undergrads from local area colleges. The time commitment is about 12 hours total: 1.5 hour training session + 2 hours meeting with the team and traveling once (a day or two before election day) with its members to the polling location + a 7-hour shift at the polls + approximately 1.5 hours transportation time. Students can receive EITHER pro bono credit OR be paid by the hour at the standard HLS research assistant rate.

3. As a member of the “crisis team.” The crisis team will do as its name suggests, namely, respond to emergencies as they arise. The time commitment is less predictable but generally longer than that of a Precinct Captain. Pro bono credit or by-the-hour payments available.

4. As an organizer. Students can become involved in the construction and implementation of the Project. Pro bono credit and/or academic credit (if the student’s involvement is folded into a paper on election-related issues) is available.

Meet the Boston Coalition to Stop Bank Evictions!

The foreclosure and eviction crisis occurring across the country is hitting Boston hard, especially in neighborhoods with primarily low income and minority-occupied rental housing. In order to help prevent the decimation of neighborhoods and the personal destruction inflicted by eviction of low income former owners and renters, a coalition of students has formed.

At the helm of the student organization is 2L Tony Borich, who sat for an interview with staffer Julia Foresman to discuss the organization and how students can get involved.

Tony Borich: 11:36

The Boston/Cambridge area offers a couple of pretty good options for the casual cyclist: the path along the Charles River is nice, though maybe a little short, but the Minuteman Trail starts only a two miles from HLS and stretches 11 miles from Alewife to Bedford. Not bad! You’ll find me there regularly when the weather is warm.

I noticed an article in the Globe this weekend about some engineering students over at Northeastern putting together some ambitious plans for extending and combining trails on the Boston side of the Charles River. Looks like a project that could use the help of a few current or future Harvard Law students…

Visit the article here.

Anyone who’s considered working for the federal government after law school probably knows how coveted the positions are. Still, in spite of the prestige, the compensation can fall quite short of what one’s classmates can expect from the private sector (though with LIPP and the new Public Service Initiative’s 3L Tuition benefit, HLS can help a bit with that).

We recently reached out to Joan Ruttenberg, the Program Director for the Heyman Fellowship Program, to pick her mind on the issue.

Q: Generally speaking, what does HLS have to offer students interested in federal government work?

A: HLS has made a real priority of encouraging students to consider federal government work, and of supporting students who try it out. We offer targeted career advising for federal government work, extra stipends for federal summer internships, a competitive post-graduate fellowship program that offers both stipends and significant loan repayment assistance for grads starting federal careers, and on-campus programming with federal lawyers from all practice settings. Perhaps most important, Harvard’s network of willing alumni mentors in federal careers is unparalleled.

The result of these benefits is tangible: at DOJ alone, for example, in the past decade, from 26% to 41% of Harvard Law students applying to the extremely competitive post-grad DOJ Honors Program have received offers every year (from 14 to 26 students); the percentages for students receiving offers for the competitive second year DOJ Summer Law Intern Program are comparable, ranging from 22% to 46% of applicants each year (from 12 to 25 students). Typically, Harvard Law students receive more offers for the Honors and SLIP programs than students at any other law school in the nation. And dozens of students participate in the second year Volunteer Law Intern program at DOJ as well.

Q: What is the Heyman Fellowship Program?

A: The Heyman Fellowship Program was established in 2000 by HLS alumnus Samuel J. Heyman, ’63. Heyman spent the early years of his career in Robert Kennedy’s Justice Department, and still regards that experience as unmatched in excitement, challenge and commitment. Through the Heyman Fellowship Program, he seeks to encourage more of the best and the brightest of HLS students to enter federal public service. The Heyman Program has several components: a summer internship program, offering extra stipends to students in federal summer internships and providing the opportunity for students to meet and converse with prominent federal lawyers and judges; the graduate fellowship program, providing fellowship payments to 15-20 young HLS graduates in federal careers annually and (to a subset with heavy debt loads) loan repayment assistance on top of HLS’ already-generous loan repayment program; and on-campus programming, including visits from Heyman Fellows to talk about their careers, as well as brownbags and one-on-one counseling sessions with federal lawyers from a variety of practice settings.

Q: How does the Heyman Fellowship Program work?

A: Any first or second year student who is pursuing a summer job in federal government can apply to be a Heyman Summer Intern. Any federal position other than a judicial internship is eligible, whether in DC or elsewhere. Those selected will receive a stipend (that is in addition to any guaranteed Summer Public Interest Funding [SPIF] they may already be getting from HLS). During the summer, Heyman Summer Interns will be able to attend lunches with lawyers like the Legal Adviser to the State Department, top legislative counsels on Capitol Hill and United States Attorneys. They will also socialize with graduate Heyman Fellows and find mentors among them.

Current HLS graduates and those from the prior two years’ classes who are going into federal government work are eligible to apply for the graduate Heyman Fellowship Program. Those who are selected as Heyman Fellows will receive a $5,000 one-time fellowship payment, and some, based on debt load, will also be eligible for up to $25,000 in additional loan repayment assistance. Heyman Fellows agree to spend at least three years in federal government, and to act as mentors to HLS students and graduates interested in federal public service.

Programming throughout the year creates a wonderful sense of community among the Heyman Fellows; for example, upwards of 60 Fellows and program alumni attend our annual banquet in Washington, DC every year, where they welcome the new class of Fellows and hear comments from Dean Elena Kagan, founder Samuel J. Heyman, and other HLS alumni with impressive federal careers.

The Heyman Fellows are a growing and inspiring network of HLS graduates in federal public service. This network is available for all HLS students and graduates to use in their own career planning and exploration. Heyman Fellows have helped students get some great summer jobs at the last minute when other plans have fallen through (for example, when one student’s security clearance did not come through in time for her internship at the Department of Defense, a Heyman Fellow was able to point her to an opening in the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the Department of Treasury, where she had a fantastic summer) and give each other the heads-up about job opportunities in their own offices (more than one Heyman Fellow has found a second federal job through information on the Heyman network). Heyman Fellows also return regularly to HLS to speak on panels and offer one-on-one counseling with HLS students interested in or curious about federal practice.

Q: How does the Heyman Fellowship Program differ from similar programs at other schools?

A: There are essentially no comparable programs at other law schools. A few schools have much smaller programs that offer assistance to one or two students a year, but none are of the magnitude of HLS’ program. Federal public service (or even government work in general) is often excluded from other schools’ loan repayment assistance programs, either categorically or de facto because of resource limitations. HLS has always had an incredible set of alumni who have had spent stellar careers (or portions of their careers) in federal government. But the Heyman Program has added to this a growing sense of community and giving back among its federal government alumni that is of tremendous value to current and future students. The size of the HLS student body and of the Heyman Program itself have resulted in a critical mass of alumni federal lawyers and active mentors that is not replicated at any other school.

For more details, and to see a roster of Heyman Fellows and where they work, go to www.law.harvard.edu/students/opia/fellowships/heyman/

For all you Chi-Town fans out there (like me!), I recently sat in on a presentation for the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office Fellowship and Summer Internship Program. There to speak about their experiences were: Michael Masters ‘06, Assistant to the Mayor for Public Safety; Kate McAdams, Coordinator of the Fellowship Program; and Tawa Jogunosimi, Assistant to the Mayor in the Department of Education.

“Mayor [Richard] Daley started this initiative five years ago with a vision of innovation for the city,” said McAdams. “It is a wonderful opportunity for graduate students who are interested in local government and public policy.”

“This is the best fellowship I could have asked for,” said Masters. “I’m working for an iconic man [in Mayor Daley] and a great innovator who’s very good at his job.” Through a series of weekly talks, panels, and tours, participants get a broad overview of municipal government, as well as unique, hands-on experience in the development of new policy and program initiatives. “One of the really great things,” explained Masters, “is that as interns you get to research and evaluate the benefits of various policies for Chicago, construct recommendations, and draft memoranda for senior staff on upcoming issues and new initiatives.” Masters recalled one instance in which one of his fellow participants suggested selling off public assets, such as the Airport Skyway, to generate additional money for city programs. “There are few other ways in which your impact could be so directly felt.”

Though the deadline for this year’s round has ended, the program is definitely something to keep in mind next summer or after graduation. For more information, please contact visit www.cityofchicago.org/mayorfellowship.

As a former senior member of the White House staff, serving President Bill Clinton as Chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force and Deputy Assistant to the President for Environmental Initiatives, Roger Ballentine brings a lot of relevant experience to the table. I had the chance to visit his course a few weeks ago. A winter term course offering, The Law of Climate Change explored the developing legal, business, and policy frameworks relating to climate change.

On the day I visited, Ballentine was discussing the legal frameworks and developments for climate change over time. Since 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regularly published a list of pollutants considered harmful for the public health. Congress delegated the authority for establishing pollutant guidelines to the EPA which in turn has allowed individual states to regulate guidelines for many pollutants within their own borders. Sources of pollution considered “mobile”, such as car emissions, remain under the direct jurisdiction of the EPA. Still, the challenges of regulation on the state and federal levels have highly been contentious.

Take for instance the EPA’s legal position on global warming that was reversed at the request of the energy industry. “Under the Clinton Administration, EPA’s legal position was that carbon dioxide was a pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act and that EPA had legal authority to regulate emissions by industry and coal power plants,” explained Ballentine. The then General Counsel of the EPA, Jonathan Cannon, claimed that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases were indeed air pollutants subject to EPA regulation. Subsequently, under the Bush administration, Cannon’s successor Robert Fabricant reversed the Cannon memo denying the ability of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. He further determined that the EPA was not authorized to set greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles. “There really are frustrating inconsistencies,” said Ballentine.

After class, I was able to catch up with 2L Zach Gerson, an editor for the Environmental Law Review and board member of the Environmental Law Society, who sees Ballentine’s class as an essential precursor to a career in environmental law. “I believe that global Climate Change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today and that a legal framework for addressing that challenge is actively developing right now. The complex nature of climate change raises complex legal questions, and I think it is fascinating to be able to be in a cutting edge class where the focus is not only what the law currently is, but also on how the law is actively changing to meet a profound new challenge. It is rewarding to be in a law course that incorporates other disciplines so heavily rather than focusing only on legal doctrine. Climate change is inherently linked with science, economics, business, and politics, and perhaps because there is not yet clear law for climate change issues, this course has been enjoyable because it can focus on how those other disciplines are interacting with the law as it develops.”

HLS has a number forums in which visiting scholars can share insights of their research projects with the HLS community. One example is the Visiting Scholars and Research Colloquium, which recently hosted Jung-hoon Kim, a Professor of Law from Seo-Kyeong University in Seoul, South Korea. Professor Jung-hoon Kim recently conducted a study that examined the environmental conflicts surrounding the disposal of electronic waste (e-waste), such a circuit boards, through the lens of environmental justice in China. Kim suggested that the importer/exporter relationship of electronic waste between developing and developed countries has economic benefits that laced with egregious human rights violations that demand worldwide reform.

“In spite of the determination of the UN Commission on Human Rights that everyone has a right to live in a world free from toxic pollution and environmental degradation,” explained Kim, “violations of these rights occur in poor communities where companies illegally operate environmentally hazardous facilities.” To further explain environmental justice, Kim introduced a two-axis approach that provided for fair treatment and meaningful involvement in which the mutual needs of the importer and exporter countries are met. “Because environmental justice is a human right, it can be regarded as a goal of the entire human race… rich countries should not externalize their pollution treatment cost to poorer neighbors through imports.” said Kim.

Yet, due to the economic benefits of the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste to both developed and developing countries, the problem continues. As Kim pointed out, the cost-benefit analysis to a developed country for exporting its hazardous waste in lieu of facing strict domestic regulations is too tempting. Likewise, this business creates many jobs for laborers and farmers in the developing country who have been hit by high unemployment and poverty rates.

To illustrate his point, Kim presented the case study of Taizhou, China, a small port industrial city whose e-waste intake skyrocketed over ten years from 10,000 tons in 1992 to 1,500,000 tons at the end of 2004. Upon import, the waste is handled by thousands of workers hired to extract bullion from the discarded electronics. “In addition to pollution and the frequency of injury among workers, the e-waste business is stripping countries of their domestic jobs and thwarting the development of environment-friendly technology,” he said.

To close, Kim proposed a World Environmental Organization (WEO). “The WEO could push for comprehensive regimes or governance to deal with trans-boundary hazardous waste, air pollution, water pollution, and climate change problems,” Kim explained. Among the possible benefits of the WEO would be identifying gaps in existing overage of international environmental problems and bridging interactions between international trade agreements to implement reforms. “The question of how to get worldwide participation is a difficult one… but we must begin to work towards a solution.”