Center for Law, Justice and Culture announces alumna-funded summer internships

The Center for Law, Justice and Culture (CLJC) announces up to four alumna-funded internships for Ohio University undergraduate students.

Through generous funding provided by alumna Leah Recht, selected students will be awarded eight-week, full-time internships over the summer. Recht earned a B.A. in Psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences in 2006, followed by a law degree from Georgetown University.

After the CLJC successfully piloted the program last year with Jocelin Arbenz’s internship at the Ohio Innocence Project, attorney Recht increased her contribution to the fund to make more experiences available to students this year. (See Leah Recht establishes Social Justice Internship Fund.)

“We are extremely grateful to Leah for expanding these important opportunities for our students,” said Kevin Uhalde, director of the Center for Law, Justice and Culture and associate professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Students selected for the internship will be eligible for up to a $3,250 stipend to cover costs.

The internship sites for summer 2023 include the ACLU of Ohio, the Ohio Innocence Project, and Southeastern Ohio Legal Services.

ACLU of Ohio

One student will be selected to for a hybrid-remote internship with the ACLU of Ohio Policy Team. The ACLU of Ohio is a non-profit organization whose mission it is to champion and expand constitutional and other fundamental rights and to pursue racial, economic, gender, and social equity for all Ohioans using all the tools of integrated advocacy without political partisanship.

The intern will work to advance the policy goals of the ACLU of Ohio across a variety of civil rights and civil liberties issues. The intern may conduct research, policy analysis, legislative reviews, write memorandum and blogs, and generally assist the policy team.

The selected student will work closely with Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick, Esq.

Ohio Innocence Project

One student will be selected for an internship with the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) based at the University of Cincinnati.  The Ohio Innocence Project’s goal is to free every innocent person in Ohio who has been convicted of a crime they didn't commit. The intern will divide time, approximately (40/60) between OIP’s legal clinic, which investigates and litigates wrongful conviction cases in Ohio, and OIP’s policy and engagement team, which works on criminal justice reform, research and education.

The intern’s duties will include but are not limited to:

• Attending a two-week intensive training with other interns and law student fellows working at OIP.
• Working closely with OIP’s legal assistant and other interns in processing requests for assistance from imprisoned people who claim they are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted.
• Assisting with archiving investigative, legal and factual reports related to investigative matters and court cases.
• Researching demographic, political, cultural and legal aspects of Ohio’s communities for legislative advocacy and educational outreach.
• Assisting the policy director and policy fellows with developing materials for professional, community and campus-based education initiatives.

Southeastern Ohio Legal Services

Up to two students will be selected for this Athens-based position.

Southeastern Ohio Legal Services’ mission is to provide civil legal aid and advocacy to combat unfairness and injustice and to help people rise out of poverty. Interns will play a critical role in helping the poor in the rural southeastern Ohio communities. Intern duties will include communicating with clients and prospective clients, conducting intake interviews, gathering information on a wide variety of civil issues, including divorce, housing discrimination, housing conditions, evictions, and affordable housing access, and other duties as assigned.

Eligibility requirements

• Open to all majors.
• Must be a currently enrolled Ohio University undergraduate student.
• Must have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or above.
• Preference will be given to students who have demonstrated knowledge of and a commitment to issues of equity and social justice through their lived experience, scholarship, extra-curricular activities, and/or community service.
• Must have an interest in attending law school.
• Must have demonstrated financial need.
• Available throughout duration of internship time frame, mostly late May – late July.
• If selected, students must meet with Larry Hayman, Esq., CLJC director of legal engagement and the pre-law program, to discuss the internship placement and supervision; selected students must participate in Pre-Law Day.

Interested students should apply here. Applications must be received no later than Feb. 17.

Questions can be directed to Hayman at hayman@ohio.edu.