Summer Co-Op is Winding Down
How fast this summer is passing by. I have one more week left before the end of my summer co-op.
In honor of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), every July my supervisor sues private businesses and the government for not compiling with the ADA. Specifically, she sues these entities for whose buildings are not accessible to people with disabilities. In preparing for these lawsuits in the past two weeks, I have worked on pleadings and discovery requests for these lawsuits.
In addition to working on ADA cases, I also had the opportunity to accompany my supervisor to meet a prospective client being held in a detention center. Last week I interviewed a prospective client at the Otero County Detention Center who wants to sue the detention facility for not providing her with adequate medical treatment.
In other news, last week I attended a fundraiser event where my supervisor, Briana Stone (2006 NUSL Alum), was awarded the Community Security Award for her civil rights work. Ms. Stone was granted this award for her stupendous work as the attorney on a case where 14 plaintiffs sued Otero County, N.M. Deputy Sheriffs for racial profiling, unlawful stops, and other civil-rights violations while targeting undocumented immigrants in Chaparral (a city in New Mexico).
The lawsuit stemmed from incidents in which the deputies harassed, interrogated residents, and searched homes in Chaparral while trying to find undocumented immigrants in 2007 and 2008. The case was settled and the deputies agreed to not inquire about a person's immigration status in minor cases, not to "hold" a person who is not under arrest for federal immigration officers, and the department will accept the matricula consular (consulate-issued identification card) as a valid ID.
It has been an honor to work with my supervisor and her staff who do such great work for the El Paso community. Thanks to Paso Del Norte Civil Rights project, I've worked on projects that dealt with a wide variety of civil rights issues affecting groups such as the LGBT community, people with disabilities, immigrants, victims of domestic violence, prisoners and workers' rights.
See the picture below taken at the award dinner. In the picture is also another NUSL Alum, Loni Hodge (2006 NUSL Alum) who works as a public defender at Las Cruses, N.M. In addition, Chris Benoit is the lawyer in charge of the workers' rights project for Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project. Veronica Carbajal works as an attorney for Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid and Chloe Walker is my co-worker who is also a rising 2L and currently attends University of Houston School of Law.
Until next time.
From Left to Right: Loni J. Hodge, Veronica Carbajal, Briana Stone, Chloe Walker, Me, Chris Benoit.
