Th eR ea lWor l d Two new clinics allow <strong>USC</strong> students to take real cases — and address real community needs by Melinda Myers Va u g h n Students in Clinical Te a ching Fellow Stacey Turner’s Family Violence Clinic manage all aspects <strong>of</strong> their clients’ cases in addition to r e s e a r ching problems in the laws that govern family and domestic violence. Pictured left to right are students Allison Meshekow and Sylvie Shirazi, Ms. Tu r n e r, and students Rachel Miller and Nausheen Hassan. 8 <strong>USC</strong>LAW s p r i n g 2001
“ Here, our research is immediate — we interview clients, we go online, we pull from so many sources. We’re dealing with facts, not theory. ” In the cramped Family Violence Clinic <strong>of</strong>fic e near the Los Angeles County-<strong>USC</strong> Me d i c a l C e n t e r, Clinical Teaching Fe l l ow St a c e y Turner is asking four law students how an ambiguous statute that inadve rtently allow s domestic violence suspects to violate criminal pro t e c t i ve orders might be improve d . “The penal code states that a criminal p ro t e c t i ve order issued in conjunction with a criminal case against an abuser has pre c e d e n c e over any other ‘o u t s t a n d i n g’ court ord e r against the defendant,” Ms. Turner explains. “T h a t’s supposed to mean that criminal p ro t e c t i ve orders trump conflicting prov i s i o n s in civil pro t e c t i ve orders. But courts have i n t e r p reted ‘o u t s t a n d i n g’ as referring to ord e r s that predate the criminal ord e r. So, after the criminal order is issued, defendants can run to a family law court to get a different, more lenient, civil pro t e c t i ve ord e r. When a police o f ficer is called to enforce a pro t e c t i ve ord e r, which does he or she enforc e ? ” As they suggest ideas for revising the law, Ms. Tu r n e r’s students also debate potential complications. Stating that a civil order “s h a l l n o t” compromise a criminal ord e r, for instance, might re q u i re too much judicial i n t e r p retation from police <strong>of</strong>ficers. Asking family law judges to not issue orders when a criminal case is pending could leave the victim u n p rotected if the criminal case is dro p p e d . And what if the victim w a n t s to have contact with the defendant? The whole conversation occurs during a brief lull between client meetings and re s e a rc h on behalf <strong>of</strong> domestic violence victims who’ve come to the clinic for help in getting away f rom an abuser. Thanks to two new clinical programs in family violence and immigration, <strong>USC</strong> students are not just critically analyzing the law and examining ways that it might be i m p roved; they are providing vital services to people whose lives, safety and well-being are deeply affected by the words that make up the l a w. “We are in class all day, and we take all these tests, and I <strong>of</strong>ten wonder how all this applies to real practice,” says Alyson Lomas, a second-year student who hopes to use her experience in <strong>USC</strong>’s new Immigration Clinic — along with her knowledge <strong>of</strong> Russian and Spanish — to pursue a career in immigration l a w. “Getting invo l ved with this clinic was a good way to get my hands dirty with the actual practice <strong>of</strong> law. ” Clinical education is a tradition at <strong>USC</strong>. The <strong>Law</strong> <strong>School</strong>’s other clinics — Em p l oye r Legal Advice Clinic, Childre n’s Issues Clinic and the Post-Conviction Justice Project — h a ve long provided students with hands-on experience while <strong>of</strong>fering vital services to the c o m m u n i t y, and, since it first established the Post-Conviction Justice Project in 1981, <strong>USC</strong> has served as a national model for clinical legal education. Now, under the supervision <strong>of</strong> Ms. Tu r n e r and Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Niels Fre n zen, who manages the immigration clinic, the <strong>Law</strong> <strong>School</strong> is a d d ressing growing community needs, <strong>of</strong>fering students new opportunities for hands-on legal experience, and prov i d i n g immigrants and victims <strong>of</strong> domestic violence — many <strong>of</strong> whom don’t have the luxury <strong>of</strong> an attorney — a better shot in court . ‘I Know What This Means to Pe o p l e ’ For the four students participating in the Immigration Clinic, immigration is not an abstract issue. Pablo Palomino ’02 and Be r n a rdo Merino ’01, both natives <strong>of</strong> Me x i c o , a re immigrants themselves; Ha zel Kim’s p a rents immigrated to the United States fro m South Ko rea, and Alyson Lomas’ gre a t - g r a n d- p a rents immigrated to the United States fro m what is now Ukraine. “ My grandmother is going through her own application for citizenship right now, ” says Ms. Kim, a second-year student. “I know what this means to people.” M r. Merino has made immigration law a focal point <strong>of</strong> his academic and pro f e s s i o n a l pursuits. Having worked extensively with organizations that assist immigrants, part i c- ularly Mexican immigrants, Mr. Merino is also acutely aware <strong>of</strong> the impact <strong>of</strong> immigration laws. “T h e re is an underclass <strong>of</strong> people in this c o u n t ry who find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to legalize their status and to have a true stake in our society,” Mr. Merino says. “The punishment for being here without papers is ridiculous. The minute immigrants l e a ve their country, they are being harassed or scammed. My pr<strong>of</strong>essional goal is to change immigration law, through advo c a c y and litigation, to ensure that the people who contribute to our society re c e i ve the rights and p rotections they deserve . ” The exposure to immigration law and how it affects lives has been eye-opening for all <strong>of</strong> the clinic students. Ms. Lomas helped interv i ew one man who is being detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Se rvice at Terminal Island pending deport a t i o n p roceedings. The man was born in Pa n a m a and, at the age <strong>of</strong> 6, moved to the Un i t e d States with his family. That was nearly 40 years ago. He’s lived his life in the Un i t e d States — he even served in the U.S. Army <strong>USC</strong>LAW s p r i n g 2001 9
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