NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Scott Wylie, a
professor from Whittier Law School, leads the third panel session
of the Enhancing Equal Access to Justice Colloquium.
By Michelle Kroes
Daily Bruin Contributor
The keynote speaker at the Equal Access to Justice Colloquium on
Saturday challenged his audience to question the progression of the
United States’ legal system since the days of Jim Crow.
Speaker Jody Armour, USC law professor, is no stranger to the
past and present inequity toward racial and economic minorities in
the legal system.
Since his father was wrongfully imprisoned in the early
’60s for being an “uppity nigger” ““ an
African American unwilling to abide by the racial caste system
““ Armour has sought to expose the more subversive forms of
classism and racism he says still exist today.
While visiting Terminal Island, a prison in California, Armour
was struck by the overwhelming number of African American and
Latino youths imprisoned there, most for non-violent drug
offenses.
According to the 1993 U.S. department of Justice Bureau report,
an estimated 28 percent of African American males will enter state
or federal prison during their lifetime, as compared to 16 percent
of Latino males, and 4.4 percent of white males.
During the month before incarceration, 20 percent of the U.S.
prison population was looking for work. Sixteen percent were
not.
This issue, among many others, was addressed at the last of 19
regional Equal Justice Colloquia held around the country.
Law schools chosen to hold the colloquia are developing programs
that will be responsive to the concerns of their communities, state
or regions.
The colloquium at UCLA was a day-long event, hosted by the UCLA
School of Law and the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Keynote speaker Armour was followed by discussions on creating
cutting-edge opportunities for law schools. Participants also spoke
of working together with the community to help promote greater
access to our legal system.
According to second-year UCLA law student Catherine Elkes,
Armour’s speech was at once inspirational and daunting.
Elkes said that in the day-to-day work of law school, it is easy
to forget the task of promoting community development.
“His words were a reminder of what I want to do,”
she said.
The colloquium’s discussions were generated by panelists
in varying law professions.
The topics included “Challenges to Achieving Equal access
to Justice: Perspectives from the Field,” “Building an
Equal Justice Community: Innovative Roles and Relationships for Law
Schools” and “Meeting the Funding Challenge: A View
from Funders and Others.”
These discussions served to highlight the concerns of
today’s legal system.
“There needs to be legal services to represent all
individuals,” said David Lash, panelist and representative of
Bet Tzedek Legal Services. “Otherwise people don’t have
access to the three branches of our democracy and risk loosing
their basic necessities.”
Created by the Association of American Law Schools with a grant
from the Open Society Institute, the colloquia series brought
together law school faculty, students and staff with practicing
lawyers in an effort to forge greater cooperative efforts to
promote equal justice.
“Poor people lack proper representation in our civil and
criminal systems, our juvenile courts and in the pervasive
administrative tribunals that determine important issues for people
with disabilities, those out of work or those facing
discrimination,” said Hill Rivkin, director of the AALS Equal
Justice Project. “Law schools have an important role in
helping solve these problems.”
Those who organized the colloquium believed that it was
beneficial to students.
“All law students should be exposed to this problematic
issue of our justice system,” said Catherine Mayorkas,
director of special programs.
But beyond the issue of greater access to justice is the need to
resolve poverty, said Bruce Iwasaki, panelist and member of Legal
Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
This is a sizable mission but not impossible, Armour said.
“This is not an exercise in futility. We can find meaning
in our toil, not just for the nation but the rest of the
world.”