In the Policy Advocacy Clinic (PAC), teams of JD and MPP students under faculty supervision represent clients in community-led campaigns to reduce harmful impacts of the criminal legal system locally, statewide, and nationally.
The clinic’s approach is bottom-up (grounded in the lives of real people), problem-based (addressing a pressing social issue), and client-driven (accountable to actual clients).
Currently, PAC students represent clients in: (1) local police and prosecutor accountability campaigns, (2) a statewide campaign to end wealth extraction (administrative fees) in the criminal legal system, and (3) two national campaigns in states outside California to end criminal and juvenile system fees.
In their clinic project work, students hone a broad range of strategies and skills, including but not limited to: interviewing clients and other experts, conducting legal and social science research and analysis, consulting stakeholders (community members, policy and advocacy organizations, public officials, academics), and filing public records requests. By participating actively in state and local campaigns, students also learn other advocacy skills, such as messaging, facilitation, and coalition management.
Students produce internal and public-facing written work for clients, such as draft legislation, legal, policy, and fiscal memos, fact sheets, public comments, research reports, practice manuals, presentations, and know your rights materials. Some students have the opportunity for oral advocacy by preparing, practicing, and delivering testimony and public comment to a variety of audiences, including city councils, county boards of supervisors, regulatory bodies, and state legislatures.
In the clinic seminar, students learn the substantive law and policy skills relevant to their clinic projects, and explore the possibilities and limits of lawyers and policy analysts to solve problems. The seminar meets Wednesdays from 3:35-5:25 p.m.
Enrollment in the seminar (2 units) and clinic (4-9 units) is by permission of the instructor. The seminar and clinic are CR/NC. Because of project demands, first-time clinic students are encouraged not to enroll concurrently in another clinic or field placement. No prior coursework is required.