Thomas Jefferson student Kristen Gonzales (3L) is spending the summer as a law clerk with the South Texas Civil Rights Project.  So far, it has been an adventure!   Kristen shares her experience with us in this blog:

Kristen Gonzales (third from left) with other clerks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 15, 2009 

Almost exactly a month and a half has passed since I started my clerkship here in South Texas, and I feel like my time here has flown by. Since the beginning, I have settled in to a routine at the office. I am currently working on three cases, all of which are different. I am writing an entire Appellant's Brief for a case involving a defamation claim, a Fair Labor Standards Act and wage and hour violations case, and a discrimination case involving section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

I have to say that legal writing in Texas has proved challenging; there is an entirely different book for legal citations called "The Green Book". There are also different rules of Texas Civil Procedure. I sometimes get confused, as I just took CA Civil Procedure last semester, so it's relatively fresh in my mind. Luckily, my supervisor has been very supportive during my moments of ignorance as to Texas legal standards. I have to say that the appeal I am working on is probably the hardest thing I am doing and I'm having stressful flashbacks to Legal Writing II.

I have a newfound respect for attorneys who specialize in appellate work. My supervisor will inevitably correct any mistakes I make, but I am trying extremely hard not to make any.

Luckily, my life here has not been all work and no play. I have fortunately managed to get a sense of the local community, see some of what the Rio Grande Valley has to offer and taste the delicious food. I suggest to anyone visiting South Texas to try something called a "Raspa". It's essentially a snow-cone, but on a hot summer day there is nothing more delectable. I also think it is imperative to get out to South Padre Island. The water is so warm, and there's always a nice breeze blowing. Some people like Michaladas (a type of beer-based Bloody Mary concoction), but I cannot understand the taste for them (yuck!).

Initially, it was quite the culture shock. Most people will greet you in Spanish before English (especially in stores and restaurants). I thanked my lucky stars for taking Spanish throughout high school. During my time here, my understanding of the Spanish language has improved, but I am still lacking confidence in my speaking ability. I can order things off a menu in Spanish without too much trouble and can understand almost fluent Spanish, but not much past that. My supervisor suggested putting me on the phones to do intakes and I literally cringed at the idea. I think I have to keep practicing. Although my job consists of mostly drafting various documents, I have nonetheless managed to get out of the office from time to time to attend community meetings and other such gatherings.

Recently, I attended a meeting where an attorney from our Austin office gave a presentation regarding prisoners' rights at the Brownsville Civil Rights Team meeting. The Civil Rights Team consists of community members concerned with various civil rights violations throughout the community. Before attending this meeting, I hadn't really considered prisoners' rights violations at all. Our office deals mostly with consumer rights and anything prisoner-related gets sent to Austin. However, his presentation really opened my eyes as to the state of the county jails and the difficulty of actually trying a prisoners' rights case. He described several of prior cases to us, and I was appalled at the violence that occurs in some of the jails at the hands of the guards. Many of the people at the meeting had loved ones who are currently incarcerated and were trying to learn how to bring their cases to court. I discovered that it is very difficult to get such cases into the courts. There are very specific rules to follow, and if all the rules aren't followed precisely, the cases get thrown out. The Austin attorney stressed how important it was to file grievances with the jail, regardless of whether the grievances actually worked. It occurred to me that many people who have legal concerns think that you file a case and it magically gets solved by a judge. People fail to realize that there are procedures that have to be followed before a case can even be filed. I can also understand why many people think lawyers don't really do anything, as it often seems they only tell you what you can't do. It's very interesting to consider it from both ends, but I do wish more people understood how difficult the court system can be, and that you want to do everything you possibly can to ensure your case moves along smoothly.
Regardless of such concerns, my heart still went out to those people who have loved ones in jail.

Overall, my experience is becoming more nuanced and subdued than when I first arrived. I am still concerned about various issues here in the Rio Grande Valley, but I am trying to focus on the help I can provide. By focusing on the cases I'm currently working on, I feel like I am actually making a difference. I continue to enjoy my experience here in the RGV, and will be sad to leave in less than a month! Time moves very quickly...

July 1, 2009

I never expected to spend a summer in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. I never expected to spend a summer in Texas, period. But my time here has helped focus my career goals, as well as given me insight into a community unlike anything I have ever encountered.

I always thought I would work in the entertainment industry after I graduated from law school. All of my experience has been in the entertainment industry, and I've been a performer almost my entire life. After spending my first summer working as a Business Affairs/Legal intern, I felt less than wholly fulfilled by the experience. Not to say I didn't learn valuable skills, but I had the sneaking suspicion that I was padding the pockets of those I worked for rather than helping the struggling artists I admired. When I entered into my second year of law school, I continued taking entertainment law classes, but I still had the nagging feeling that I wasn't completely satisfied in my career decisions.

I heard about the South Texas Civil Rights Project from my close friend Corinna Spencer-Scheurich, who is the Director of STCRP as well as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. She mentioned that she was accepting interns for the summer and asked if I was interested. I didn't know if applying to a program in Texas was a great idea. I had an offer from another organization in Los Angeles, and I thought staying in CA seemed the safest option.

However, after considering my options, I realized that getting out of my comfort zone in CA while gaining exposure to Texas law was a really great opportunity that I shouldn't pass up. Until now, I had never lived outside of California before, and thinking about the logistics of moving out to Texas seemed daunting. Nonetheless, I somehow managed to find housing and made the 1500 mile drive to McAllen, TX.

I began work at South Texas Civil Rights Project on June 1, 2009. I didn't really know what to expect. I knew STCRP provides legal assistance to low-income members of the Rio Grande Valley whose civil rights have been infringed; but beyond that, I was unsure as to what I would be doing. I didn't have any experience in Public Service Law, nor did I have any experience in Constitutional Law beyond what I learned in a classroom. I arrived at the office and, after the introductions were made, was whisked off to a protest on the border patrol premises. Being from California, I had never really dealt with "weather" of any kind. Extreme weather to me is rain. In South Texas, June

Gonzales (left) in news coverage of the protest

first marks the beginning of hurricane season. The protest was in regard to a policy border patrol was ready to implement during a mandatory hurricane evacuation. Border patrol wanted to check people's documentation to make sure no undocumented people were getting through checkpoints. STCRP felt that these kinds of stops would not only clog up the checkpoints to the point of posing a real threat to people's ability to actually get out of the Valley during a hurricane, but also keep those people who were in fact documented from leaving if they had family members who were not. Our protest was an attempt to get border patrol to come up with a uniform evacuation policy during the event of a hurricane.

I had only been with STCRP for one day, and I already felt strongly against what border patrol was doing. This kind of policy could influence other states' evacuation policies. Considering CA shares a border with Mexico as well, it could be very dangerous if California border patrol decides to implement a similar policy during a natural disaster. Remembering back to the fires in 2007, I would have been less likely to leave San Diego if I knew I was going to encounter checkpoints on my way out.

Corinna was interviewed by a local television talk-show host; Ron Whitlock, to discuss the situation regarding border patrol's intended evacuation policy. It was very intriguing to go to the television studio and actually be on set while she was interviewed. The whole process felt like we were actually bringing our cause to light, and important members of the community were taking notice.

All in all, my experience thus far has been truly eye-opening. Glamorous would not be the word to describe my job. More often than not, I'm sitting in a hot little room with three other law clerks. But I feel like I am getting the kind of legal experience that few people are lucky enough to get. I may not be in a huge high-rise building making $2000 a week, but I'm writing an entire appellate brief, drafting memos, writing motions and helping with discovery. When I offer my opinions, the people above me listen and take my ideas into consideration. I feel like I am actually helping people while applying the legal principles I learned in a classroom to real-life situations. I feel so fortunate to have had such a wonderful experience, and a truly feel as if I have found the type of career I want to pursue after I finish law school.