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Human Rights Clinic
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JESSICA LENAHAN WINS LANDMARK CASE BEFORE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS!!!
Click here to learn more about Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. United States
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Read about Highlights of the Human Rights Clinic:
The Human Rights Clinic exposes students to the practice of law in the international and cross-cultural context of human rights litigation and advocacy.
Through an intensive critical seminar, students examine the actors, subjects, and tools of the human rights movement, as well as critiques coming from left and right. Specifically, the seminar considers the evolution of the human rights movement, how to locate litigation in human rights work, the difficulties in applying 'traditional' human rights methodology beyond the civil and political rights context, the developing human rights movement in the United States, and economic issues that arise in human rights norms and analysis.
The critical seminar lays out an analytic framework for much of the course, and it is combined with a skills seminar, which introduces students to specially-tailored exercises to familiarize them with international human rights practice. In addition, guest speakers will cover both substantive themes in human rights and provide guidance in skills-oriented exercises.
In the seminar, students participate in exercises and discussions that develop fundamental lawyering and advocacy skills including:
- Interviewing techniques, fact investigation and development
- Project and case organization and management
- Legal drafting, and oral and written advocacy (including media advocacy)
- Ethics and professional development, and collaborative project work
To bridge theory and practice, the Human Rights Clinic provides students with hands-on experience working on active human rights cases and projects. Students apply and test the skills-training and critical examinations imparted through classroom instruction and simulations in the context of real-world advocacy. Working in partnership with experienced attorneys and institutions engaged in human rights activism, both in the United States and abroad, students contribute to effecting positive change locally and globally as they hone their professional skills.
Clinic projects cover the full range of human rights advocacy, though in particular, projects will focus on:
1. Human rights advocacy in the United States (particularly South Florida), Latin America, and the Caribbean
2. Transnational/international human rights litigation, especially in the Inter-American human rights system
3. Human rights in post-earthquake Haiti
4. Women's and migrants' human rights
5. Cross-clinic collaborations (with human rights clinic partners in Latin America)
Duration: One-Semester Clinic (Fall 2012)
Credits: 6
Enrollment*: For Fall 2012, the clinic will accept 6-8 J.D. (2L & 3L) students and 1-2 LL.M. students.
Prerequisites: Commitment to social justice and human rights advocacy. Completion or concurrent enrollment in a basic human rights or international law course is expected.
Time requirements: This clinic entails a very substantial time commitment in addition to the time spent preparing for and attending class. Clinic class meets for one hour and fifty minutes, twice weekly. Students are expected to spend approximately 15-18 hours per week on clinic project/case work.
Contact Information: For questions, contact clinicapplication@law.miami.edu.
Support Staff:
Rose Dominguez
Paralegal
(305) 284-4542
rdominguez@law.miami.edu
Jessica Reynoso
Paralegal
(305) 284-8537
jreynoso@law.miami.edu
Mary Cruz
Legal Assistant
(305) 284-1685
mcruz1@law.miami.edu
* Students may not withdraw from the Human Rights Clinic once they have accepted, absent permission from the Clinic Director.
MEET OUR DIRECTOR
Caroline Bettinger-López, former Deputy Director of the Human Rights Institute and Acting Director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, has joined Miami Law to run the Human Rights Clinic. Read more
Read article about Carrie Bettinger-López and the Human Rights Clinic
IN THE NEWS
Professor Caroline Bettinger-Lopez discusses the Miami Law Clinics' work on deportations to Haiti on Pacifica Radio (January 12, 2012). Listen
U.S. Deportees to Haiti Face Horrific Conditions (November 13, 2011)
US Reviews Care of Deported Haitian Who Died (September 20, 2011)
U.N. Urges Countries to Extend Permits for Haitians (June 21, 2011)
U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women issues report on situation of violence against women in the United States. The report referenced information reported by the Miami Law Human Rights Clinic (June 7, 2011)
HRC students Miraisy Rodriguez, Farrah Elchahal, and Monika Siwiec publish op-ed on violence against women in The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald (March 2011)
The Kojo Nnamdi Show: Deportations of Haitians Resumes with Guests Caroline Bettinger-Lopez and Farrin Anello (see minutes 42-52) Listen
IntLawGrrls Guest Blogger Beatriz Carta Wagman on US Deportations Imperil Haitians (Apr. 30, 2011)
Island TV segment on advocacy before the Inter-American Commission to stop Haitian deportations with activist Marleine Bastien and Miami Law Human Rights Clinic students Beatriz Carta Wagman and Miya Patel (Mar. 11, 2011): www.islandtv.tv/?p=247 (see minutes 21-32; in Haitian Creole & English)
Deportations to Haiti: Still a Death Sentence By Vince Warren, Carrie Bettinger-Lopez and Sunita Patel (Apr. 8, 2011)
Miami Law Clinics Argue Against Deportations to Haiti Before Human Rights Tribunal
WLRN: Carrie Bettinger-Lopez on her recent travels to Haiti where she documented the current conditions under which current deportees to Haiti are being held. Listen
Strangers in a Strange Land, a New York Times video (March 21, 2011), documents the lives of Haitian deportees from the U.S. and features Prof. Carrie Bettinger-Lopez and the work of the Miami Law Human Rights Clinic. Watch
Click here for a full listing of press releases and media coverage from the Human Rights Clinic.
GENDER JUSTICE IN THE AMERICAS CONVENING
JESSICA LENAHAN (GONZALES) V. UNITED STATES
Zooming In On Domestic Violence: Human Rights Advocacy, Documentary Film Making, and the Jessica Lenahan Decision-February 20, 2012. Watch
Professor Caroline Bettinger-Lopez discusses the case of Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. United States on an ABA Teleconference, April 26, 2011. Listen
Miami Law Human Rights Clinic signs on as co-counsel in Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. United States - Click here for more information on the case. We expect a decision in the coming months from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
To learn more about Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v. United States, click here.
STOPPING DEPORTATIONS TO HAITI
The Immigration Clinic and the Human Rights Clinic began a collaborative effort to halt deportations to Haiti in view of the ongoing effects of the January 2010 earthquake, the cholera epidemic, and political unrest. To read more about this project, click here.
Click here for our Congressional briefing flyer (March 2012) with the latest updates on Haitian deportations.
MISSING AND MURDERED ABORIGINAL WOMEN AND GIRLS IN CANADA
In Fall 2011, the Human Rights Clinic began working on the issue of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada with Canadian partner organizations the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA). To read more about this project, click here.
Click here for the Clinic's Briefing Paper to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for our Thematic Hearing on March 28, 2012 on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls in British Columbia, Canada.
Click here for the video of the March 28, 2012 IACHR Thematic Hearing.
Click here for a webstory on the UM Law website about the HRC's trip to DC.
VIDEO
Human Rights Clinic Informational Video,
February 2012
Human Rights Clinic Information Session,
October 6, 2011
PHOTOS
UM Human Rights Clinic students with Professor Bettinger-López
UM Human Rights Clinic students Lea Dartevelle and Miya Patel discuss the plight of Haitian deportees from the U.S. with a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) at UNHCR headquarters in Washington, DC.
A Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic student and lawyer from the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) interview a client in Anse-a-Pitre, Haiti concerning his human rights case against the Dominican government for mass expulsions of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent.
Migrant farmworkers celebrate after Whole Foods Markets, the leading natural and organic foods supermarket, announced that two of Florida's largest organic tomato growers, Lady Moon Farms and Alderman Farms, agreed to implement the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) "penny-per-pound" program designed to improve wages for tomato harvesters. (June 2009, from http://www.nesri.org)
Haitian women marching through the streets of Port-au-Prince, demanding human rights for all.
Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign Activists Call for Bold New Year's Resolution - Zero Evictions in 2010 (from http://www.nesri.org)
