The Sun Rises & Sets Just the Same: Did the Presidential Election Impact Our Clients and The Work We Do as Criminal Justice, Education and Disability Clinical Teachers and Advocates

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Session Type: AALS Programs

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Salon 2

Floor: Third Floor

For many, the day after November 8, 2016, was a dark day. For we clinicians working on the front lines of criminal and juvenile (in)justice, education, and disability law, it was also dark, but the systems and structures that had oppressed our clients, incarcerated them, and marginalized them had long been in place. Moreover, the trauma, abuse, racism, sexism, and poverty that our clients experience continued. In light of that reality, as clinical teachers, we ask how we connect the dots between what is happening nationally, in this political moment, to what is happening with our clients. Did the presidential election change the work we do on a day to day basis? Did the election change how we think about broader issues, such as policy reform, on a national, state, or local level? How do we facilitate dialogue between students with divergent and passionate viewpoints that have been ignited by this moment in a way that fosters growth and learning?

In this session, we will aim to answer these questions in order to develop effective and tested pedagogical methods, as well as ideas and tools that we can share with one another. We will explore both the substance of what clinicians are teaching and doing post-election (primarily in the areas of criminal justice, juvenile justice, education, and disability advocacy) and the methods they are using to encourage reflection and client-centered lawyering in a landscape that is both shifting and static. This session will provide participants with an opportunity to gather and strategize with the goal of deliberately and thoughtfully responding to this moment and what is yet to come in the context of clinicians’ roles as lawyers, policy makers, and teachers.