Bellow Scholars Reports on Projects

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Session Type: AALS Programs

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This session will use the current Bellow Scholar research projects to explore different empirical methodologies suited for research by clinical legal educators. While the session will use the current Bellow Scholars’ research as examples, it is intended to be useful for any clinicians conducting or considering empirical research projects.

The Bellow Scholar program recognizes and supports empirical research projects designed to improve the quality of justice in communities, enhance the delivery of legal services, and promote economic and social justice. The Bellow Scholar Program recognizes and supports projects that use empirical analysis as an advocacy tool and involve substantial collaboration between law and other academic disciplines. This session features the 2021-22 Bellow Scholars. The application cycle for the next class of Bellow Scholars will open in Fall 2022.

Moderators:
Nermeen Arastu, City University of New York School of Law
Wendy A. Bach, University of Tennessee College of Law

Kele Stewart, University of Miami School of Law
Reimagining Communities that are Overpoliced by the Child Welfare System

This project will collect information about the three zip codes in Miami with the highest child welfare removal rates that are also low-income, predominantly Black neighborhoods. If we are truly interested in adopting a public health prevention approach to child welfare (or more accurately, child well-being), then we need to tackle some of the intractable structural problems facing those communities. The goals of the research project are to: (1) identify the main factors contributing to disproportionate child welfare involvement in those communities; (2) identify available services and resources within those communities and potential gaps in services; (3) identify the existence and goals of policy, advocacy, or organizing initiatives aimed at strengthening those communities; and (4) gain perspectives from individuals in those communities about community resources, strengths, and needs with a specific focus on the capacity to care for children.

Laila Hlass, Tulane University Law School
Mary Yanik, Tulane University Law School
Habeas Litigation and the Louisiana Immigrant Detention Crisis

This project proposes an empirical analysis of 499 federal court cases challenging the legality of immigration detention in Louisiana over the past decade. These federal cases, all habeas corpus petitions, are the last resort for immigrants who have been detained for months or even years, often without the chance for an individualized hearing on release. The court in Louisiana that hears these types of claims, the Western District of Louisiana, has become centrally important to immigration detention because of the exponential rise in detention beds within the district. Louisiana now houses more detained immigrants than any other state, save Texas. While this district has been considered a legal black hole by immigrant rights advocates for many years, some recent successes suggest that these claims can prevail with new approaches. Therefore, we have begun an ambitious review of all of these cases filed in the Western District of Louisiana from 2010 to 2020 to better understand the barriers faced by detained immigrants challenging the legality of their prolonged detention. Our research team includes clinic students and research assistants who are coding and analyzing cases in collaboration with Tulane University Political Science Professor Mirya Holman and members of the SPLC Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. Ultimately, we hope to improve outcomes in habeas litigation and adjudication in the state and raise awareness regionally and nationally about mass incarceration in the immigrant detention context.