Wednesday, April 30, 2008

New Attorney General

The newly elected Attorney General Brandon Croom of Florida Coastal Law School will begin serving on May 1, 2008. Congrats Brandon and good luck to the new board.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Summary:
NBLSA calls for law students and young lawyers to express their opposition to the acquittal of NYPD officers Olivier, Isnora and Cooper by demanding change in the response to police violence by the police department, city and state of New York.National Black Law Students Association encourages students, legal community to demand change in New York's jurisprudential response to police violenceOrganization expresses support the FBI's plans for an independent investigation

(4/28/2008) Washington, DC - Since the November 25, 2006 slaying of Sean Bell, the membership of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) has watched the disclosure of a great injustice. "The unloading of a hail of fifty bullets upon Mr. Bell and two other unarmed men was an unacceptable and excessive abuse of police force. The acquittal of the men responsible for this abuse perpetuates the saddening failure of the courts in their provision of justice for the people of New York and America. This history of violence undermines the safety of the residents of New York and compromises their faith and reliance upon the justice system intended to protect them," said NBLSA Chair-Elect Wintta Woldemariam.In response to this injustice, the membership of NBLSA is calling upon law students and the nation to join the association in a call for change in the traditional response to undue police violence and its disproportionate effect upon minority residents of New York City and beyond. NBLSA urges members of the community to express their frustration with Judge Arthur Cooperman's bench acquittal by contacting New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and asking them to take steps to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.

Police Commissioner Kelly can be reached at the following address:
New York City Police Department
One Police Plaza
New York, NY 10038

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg can be reached at the following address:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
City Hall New York, NY 10007.

Additionally, NBLSA applauds the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Division for pledging to conduct an independent investigation of the facts and circumstances of the 2006 shooting. Such an investigation is viewed by the organization as a step in the direction of necessary change.Mr. Bell was killed after fifty bullets were shot at him and two other men, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. Officers reported that their shots were in response to one of the victims' expression of an intent to retrieve a gun. Officer Michael Olivier fired thirty-one shots, Officer Gescard Isnora fired eleven shots and Officer Marc Cooper fired four. The officers fatally shot Mr. Bell and shot Mr. Guzman nineteen times. Mr. Benefield was shot three times. Defense attorney James Culleton implied that these young men's criminal histories were valid grounds for the excessive shooting. However, despite this and the claims of the officers, no weapon was found anywhere near any of the victims.

The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), founded in 1968, is a national organization formed to articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students and effectuate change in the legal community. As the largest student run organization in the United States with over 6,000 members, NBLSA is also comprised of chapters or affiliates in six different countries including The Bahamas, Nigeria, and South Africa.###

Contact:National Black Law Students AssociationWinttana Woldemariam, National Chair-Elect(202) 210-2556chair@nblsa.org

Saturday, February 2, 2008

SRBLSA Regional Convention a Success!

The convention was a success! We were at the right place at the right time. The Democratic primaries were taking place and the candidates were campaigning. We volunteered to help Ms. Jenkins, an elderly woman, fix her home and bring it up to code.



















Helping Ms. Jenkins with the Home Works organization.








The 2007-2008 SRBLSA Executive Board at the convention.



































Former Mayor of New York City David Dinkins came out to our networking event at Nelson Mullins to say hello to SRBLSA members.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Elections message from National Board!

ELECTION SEASON 2008 IS OFF TO A START! You can register to vote right from this blog!

The following primaries/caucuses will take place this month:

Michigan Primary – January 15
Nevada Caucuses – January 19
South Carolina Republican Primary – January 19
South Carolina Democratic Primary – January 26 (SRBLSA convention!)
Florida Primary – January 29And Super Tuesday is February 5, 2008!

DON'T FORGET TO REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR YOUR STATE PRIMARY! Many law students are away from their home addresses for Election Day. Make sure your vote counts by requesting and sending in your absentee ballot on time. Many states allow you to request a ballot online. Check out your state’s Secretary of State website or www.vote411.org for information specific to your state. Some states allow you to vote absentee even if you will be present on Election Day. This is an excellent way to avoid lines and any mishaps that may occur at your polling location. Take advantage of the service and cast your vote through absentee!

REMEMBER YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION EFFORTS!

Every NBLSA member has been challenged to register four new voters this year. Reach out to your family, friends, coworkers, clients, service providers, and anyone else you encounter. You never know who is waiting on you to ask them to register to vote. Enhance the voice of our community and register voters!RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF YOUR VOTE! Your vote and those you register could be the determining factor in 2008. This is an important election year. Every vote, in every election counts. As we elect our next President, make sure your voice is heard at every point of the decision!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

NBLSA begins an aggressive campagin against ABA Proposal 301-6

As you may know, the ABA voted to send the 301-6 proposal to the House of Delegates in LA this February. Despite the overwhelming opposition to the proposal, they are attempting to send the measure to the consent agenda. Please see the email below. We are about to engage in a very aggressive campaign against the ABA for these measures. See the message below forwarded by our National Chair Eddie L. Koen, Jr.
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The enrollment of African Americans and Mexican Americans are at an eleven year low. The proposed standard 301-6 will make the situtation worse by putting the accreditation of three of the five historically Black law schools in jeopardy and by indirectly encouraging law schools to raise admission standards which will have a disproportionately negative impact on people of color.

On Friday, January 4th, the Standards and Review Committee voted to send 301(6) with no substantive change to the Council on Legal Education. (See Appendix A) The Council is expected approve it without any significant change and to place it on the American Bar Association (ABA) consent calendar and for the House of Delegates to vote on it without debate.


ACTION REQUESTED

First, we should object to 301(6) being on the consent calendar because it will be voted on without debate. We want the interpretation debated in the House. To have it removed from the consent calendar and debated, we need a delegate to object. If you know someone who is a delegate to the ABA House of Delegate please educate them about this issue and ask them to object to 301(6) being on the consent calendar.

Second, we need many delegates to argue that the interpretation be sent back to Council requesting an interpretation that is multi-factor of which bar passage is just one and asking any interpretation that focuses on outcomes also include a method assessing quality in light of the schooll's mission as required by Department of Education regulation 34 CFR 602.16. Again educate the delegates from your state or organization about this issue and ask them argue on the floor to send Interpretation back to the Council.


WHEN

IMMEDIATELY

The Council Meets on February 9th-10th and it is expected to be voted on Feb 11th at ABA House of Delegates.


WHY

The interpretation if recommended would draw a bright-line rule on bar passage. A school must have a bar passage rate that is 75% of the combined jurisdictions or within 15 points of its state bar passage rate. The interpretation is not being presented as a consumer protection but as a measure of quality.

If implemented 301(6) will have a significant dexterous impact on racial and ethnic diversity. Initially, at least 3 of the five Historically Black Law Schools will be impacted and of the other schools many have a history providing access to the profession for minorities and students from poor background. In the short run, schools may attempt to change their admission standards hoping to increase their bar passage by getting better standardized test-takers. Any increase in admission standards will have a disproportionately negative impact on Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans.

However, even without reference to the impact on diversity, bar passage alone is an inappropriate standard for the measure of quality of a school. Law schools unlike other professional schools pride itself on NOT teaching to the bar. Law schools, unlike other professional schools, do not test to the bar; that is they do use the same testing format as the bar. Law schools unlike other professional schools do not provide frequent testing or feedback. The Bar examination tests very limited skills and law schools have a responsibility to teach a broad range of skills. Finally, the bar examination has not been proven to have any significant relationship to the competent practice of law. In fact, it does not test the student on the specific law of the state but on a sort of generic common law. This is particularly true of the multistate bar examination and multistate performance examination which many states require. Thus, even after passing the bar a lawyer would still need to learn the law of the state. Finally, states bar passage goal is changed based on reasons external to the law schools: the desire to limit or increase entry to the bar. Schools in states with a number of law schools or where people want to move to tend to have on average lower bar passage rates than states which have few schools or people do not desire to move to.

Second, even if one accepts the bar examination as the sole measure of quality there are many external reasons why law students may not pass the bar that are related to the quality of the school. Some students have poor standardized test-taking skills as evidenced by their lower than average LSAT and law school does nothing to change that. Some students suffer from stereotype threat and law school does nothing to change that. Finally, many students have to work during the bar review and consequently have insufficient time to prepare for the exam. In fact, numerous studies have document that there are many factors related to bar passage.

Third, as measure of quality, Interpretation 301(6) is both over-inclusive and under-inclusive. It is over-inclusive because it does not recognize that schools should be providing added value to its students through the quality of the education. Some schools that have low LSAT may be adding significant added value given the predicted performance of the students they admit. For instance, five of seven schools' who failed both prongs of interpretation 301(6) lower LSAT score below 150. Thus, if the school's bar passage rate is 60% but it's predicted bar passage rate is 30%; it should not be argued that the quality of the education is substandard. On the other hand, Interpretation 301(6) is underinclusive. It does not catch schools that are providing little added value. No school whose lower LSAT was 160 or above failed either of the two prongs. These schools are not necessarily providing added value. For instance, if a school's bar passage rate is 89% but it's predicted bar passage rate is 95% than the school is adding little added value to the student it is admitting and it can be argued that its education is substandard. What bar passage rates tell us is that schools who admit students who do poorly on standardized test will do poorly on the bar exam and vice versa.

Another problem with a school's bar passage rate is that it is significantly dependent on the school's geographic location. There is no national standard for bar passage and states have wildly different approaches. For instance, Wisconsin schools would be completely exempted from interpretation 301(6) because they have a diploma admission to the bar based on graduation from a Wisconsin law school. That is, graduates of Wisconsin schools do not have to take the bar. On the other hand schools that are located in states where the state has set a relatively low bar passage rate are much more likely to have difficulty meeting the standard. For instance, using 2007 data, of the seven schools that failed both first and second prong of the interpretation only 1 was located in a state with an overall bar passage rate under 80%, although 3 of the seven schools were located in California which has a state average of 60%. Similarly, schools are affected based on whether their students choose to practice in a state with a low average bar passage rate or a high bar passage. The standard implies that students who take the bar in California (62%, New Hampshire (64%); Nevada (64%); West Virginia (68%) and Louisiana (70%) come from poorer quality schools than students who take the bar in New Mexico (91%); Montana (91%), Oklahoma (90%), North Dakota (90%) or Utah (90%).

Similarly, schools that are located in states with only 1 or two schools are not at risk. In fact, (2007) of the seven schools that failed to meet both the first and second prong none were in jurisdictions where the school was the only school where the majority of a schools test-taker(?). Based on the proposed interpretation, a person would have to believe that students from Louisiana (4 schools), Maryland (5 schools), Florida (9 schools), Texas (9 schools) and California (19 schools) come from some poorer quality schools than students from Idaho, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, South Carolina and South Dakota since none of the schools in these states failed to meet the interpretation and all the states have only 1 law school.

Finally, the other problem with the bar passage as a measure of quality is that the examination is scored by norm-reference rather than criterion reference. Criterion reference is based on setting criteria, articulating the criteria and then testing the criteria - everyone who meets the criteria passes. Norm-reference is based on grading based on the performance of others. So if the norm is 75% bar passage rate, than whether or not a particular individual passes depends not on their performance but on whether 26% of the test-takers performed better. It is impossible to have100% bar passage rate under norm-reference. Thus, it is impossible for both students and schools to know what they need to do to assure a certain bar passage rate on a consistent basis.

CONCLUSION

What is needed is multi-facet outcome analysis that reflects the broad range of knowledge and skills needed to be a beginning lawyer. If Bar passage is to be a factor it should be only one factor. The Council is positioning itself to adopt and forward to the ABA House of Delegate and educationally unsound policy. The House of Delegates should defeat the proposal with specific instructions to adopt a multi-factor outcomes approach which considers a school's mission. Such an approach will be entirely consistent with DOE regulation which requires quality to be measure in light of the school's mission and which recognizes that state licensing is but one of the factors to be considered.
Vernellia Randall
Professor of LawUniversity of Dayton
Board Chair and Founder
The JD Project
http://thejdproject.org/

Friday, January 11, 2008

Genarlow Wilson's Attorney to Speak at Convention

On Friday afternoon, October 26, 2007, just hours after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, Genarlow Wilson was released from prison. In 2005, Genarlow Wilson, a 17-year-old star athlete and top student, was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old classmate. He had been incarcerated for almost three years of a ten-year sentence, even though only months after his conviction, a "Romeo and Juliet" law was passed that would have had a maximum allowable sentence of 12 months. Genarlow remained incarcerated until Friday in spite of June decision by a Monroe County Superior Court judge to void the original sentence on constitutional grounds and reduce it to one year. Cases like Genarlow Wilson, Marcus Dixon, and the Jena 6 highlight the rampant discrimination against African-American youth that exists in our criminal justice system.




The attorney who has worked tirelessly on Genarlow’s case since its inception will be speaking at the convention. B.J. Bernstein spoke at the NBLSA breakfast at the National Bar Association’s Annual Convention in Atlanta. She has agreed to come to speak at SRBLSA’s convention in Columbia, SC. Her profile is below.

Brenda Joy (B.J.) Bernstein has worked for over 19 years in criminal and civil trial litigation and appellate work. She founded the firm after six and a half years as an Assistant District Attorney which included special team prosecution of sexual abuse cases. B.J. has been selected as a 2005, 2006, 2007 Super Lawyer in Atlanta Magazine and included in Georgia Trend magazine's Legal Elite List. Atlanta Magazine also listed B.J. as one of the top100 lawyers in Georgia and one of the top 50 female lawyers in Georgia. In 2003, the Daily Report (the Atlanta Legal Newspaper) named B.J. as a “Rising Star in Criminal Law.” The University of Georgia School of Law, her alma matter, presented her in 2007 with the law school's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Scroll Award presented for dedication and service to the legal profession and the law school. In 2001, Georgia Trend magazine recognized her with the“40 Under 40” Award. She has twice been selected by the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission as one of the final five finalists for a Superior Court Judgeship in Fulton County.

B.J. has handled a number of high profile cases and regularly provides commentary for the media on legal issues. She has appeared on CNN, CNN International, FOX News, MSNBC, CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News, NPR (National Public Radio), COURT TV, ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show and Court TV Radio to provide commentary on cases of national interest. She has guided her clients when their case became the object of media glare. She has learned when media is helpful to highlight a true injustice or when the law enforcement via the media attempts to convict a client long before trial. She is vigilant that whatever the situation the client comes first and all necessary ethical means are employed to assure a fair trial. Some representative cases in the media include: Genarlow Wilson; Colvin C. Hinton which is the subject of a CBS 48 Hours show and COURT TV Online; A shaken baby case aired on COURT TV which resulted in the client’s acquittal; representation of the rapper DaBrat; representation of a manager in the Federal “Gold Club” case, assistance in the Marcus Dixon case and as a court appointed guardian to child victims in the publicized federal Child Prostitution Ring prosecution.
For more information about BJ Bernstein please visit the firm’s website at http://www.bernsteinfirm.com/. Also visit her non-profit organization’s website at http://www.my5th.org/.

Monday, November 19, 2007

NBC to air five part series on Black women in the workforce

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS" SPECIAL FIVE-PART SERIES "AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN: WHERE THEY STAND" TO AIR BEGINNING ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26 New York , N.Y. – November 15, 2007 –

Throughout the week of November 26, "NBC News With Brian Williams" will take a look at the issues facing African-American women across our nation in a new series "African-American Women: Where They Stand." The series will cover a wide-range of issues from their role in the '08 Presidential race, to the increased health-risks that they need to be concerned about.

Monday's installment will discuss African-American women's progress in the education field. Nearly two-thirds of African-American undergraduates are women. At black colleges, the ratio of women to men is 7 to 1. And that is leading to a disparity in the number of African-American women who go on to own their own businesses. Rehema Ellis will talk to educators, students and businesswomen about why this disparity exists.

Tuesday, Ellis will look at relationships within the African-American female community. Many agree the gender disparity in education and business among African-Americans is having an effect on relationships that African American women have. Some even say the implications could redefine "Black America's family and social structure." In the past fifty years, the percentage of African-American women between 25-54 who have never been married has doubled from 20% to 40%. (Compared to just 16% of white women who have never been married today). Ellis sits down with the members of a Chicago book club and talk about this difference and how it impacts them.

On Wednesday Dr. Nancy Snyderman will discuss the increases risks for breast cancer for African-American women. Mortality rates for African-American women are higher than any other racial or ethnic group for nearly every major cause of death, including breast cancer. Black women with breast cancer are nearly 30% more likely to die from it than white women. Premenopausal black women are more than twice as likely to get a more aggressive form of the disease. And, not only are African-American women more likely to die from breast cancer, but they're less likely to get life-saving treatments. Dr. Snyderman will profile one of the only oncologists in the world who specializes in the treatment of African-American women with breast cancer.

On Thursday, Ron Allen will take viewers to South Carolina -- the first southern primary state -- and ask the question: Will race trump gender or gender trump race? In South Carolina , black women made up nearly 30 percent of all democratic primary voters in 2004. This year, polls show a significant number are undecided, torn between choosing the first African-American or first female Presidential candidate. Allen talks with the undecided, as well the state directors for the Clinton and Obama campaigns, who happen to be African-American women.

To close the series on Friday, Dr. Snyderman will raise the frightening statistic that African-American women are 85% more likely to get diabetes, a major complication for heart disease. And, like breast cancer, more black women die from heart disease than white women. Dr. Snyderman will profile a leading expert and a unique church-based outreach program in South Carolina that seeks to spread the word about heart disease risks to black women congregants. Mara Schiavocampo, Digital Correspondent for "Nightly News," will address two hot topics in the African - American community: interracial dating and the impact of hip hop music on black women. Interracial dating is a growing trend in the African - American community. An <http://Essence.com> Essence.com poll found that 81% of participants approved of black women dating non- black men. According to a U.S. Census Bureau report in 2000, 95,000 black women were married to white men. In 2005, that number increased to 134,000. Schiavocampo will talk to experts about the trend and discuss how this defines the "Black family" of the future. Schiavocampo will convene a panel of leading black men and women from the hip-hop industry for an engaging discussion on whether hip hop lyrics and videos positively or negatively affect black women. The roundtable also will address how these portrayals are affecting relationships between black women and black men.

Consumers can go online to join the discussion and share their thoughts on message boards. They can also read and respond to blog entries at www.nightly.msnbc.com <http://www.nightly.msnbc.com/ <http://www.nightly.msnbc.com/> > .