Student Organizations and Journals, and Student Participation in Administration

Student Organizations and Journals

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy is a national organization of law students, law professors, practicing lawyers, judges, and policy makers. Its goal is to revitalize and transform the legal debate, from law school classrooms to courtrooms and legislatures, by restoring the fundamental principles of respect for human dignity, protection of individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice, to their rightful and traditionally central place in American law.

Animal Legal Defense is an animal protection organization at Yale Law School whose members work to reduce animal suffering by fostering a community of concerned students, hosting speakers on current issues in animal law, and advocating for anti-cruelty legislation, among other projects. The organization welcomes the participation of all those interested in developing legal strategies to protect animals.

The Association of Law Students with Significant Others (ALSSO) is devoted to students balancing school and relationships and who want a healthy social life, particularly with nonlaw partners. The association welcomes all couples—including those with children—and hosts several events designed to help them have the most enjoyable law school experience possible.

The Yale chapter of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) supports and advances the interests of students of African descent enrolled at Yale Law School. BLSA focuses on the recruitment and development of black law students, building relationships between current students and alumni, engaging in community service, and raising awareness of issues relating to African Americans and the law.

The Capital Assistance Project (CAP) provides people on death row, and the lawyers who represent them, with substantive legal support. Students research legal topics, write motions, petitions, and briefs, and occasionally conduct investigative work. CAP also raises awareness about the death penalty by sponsoring lectures, panels, and workshops.

The Catholic Students’ Association exists to promote vigorous discussion of and growth in the Catholic faith at Yale Law School. The association meets regularly and sponsors social events, social justice projects, academic speakers, and devotional practices. The association also connects with other Catholic communities at Yale, including St. Thomas More chaplaincy and other Catholic student groups.

The Coalition for Faculty Diversity seeks to coordinate efforts to achieve greater faculty diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation at law schools throughout the country and at Yale Law School in particular. The coalition emphasizes the importance of diversity and facilitates discussions among students, faculty, and administrators on what diversity means to different people, and how greater diversity can be achieved.

College Acceptance was created to provide low-income students with exposure to college in the years before they apply, and to help them through the college applications process. Working with New Haven public school students, College Acceptance creates a one-on-one mentorship between Yale students (graduate and undergraduate) and high school juniors and seniors. The mentors help students think about, prepare for, and navigate the admissions process.

The J. Reuben Clark Law Society is an association of law students who are members of, or are interested in, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The group affirms the strength brought to the law by a lawyer’s personal religious conviction, and seeks to provide wholesome activities and uplifting social contact for all students, regardless of religious affiliation.

The Green Haven Prison Project brings law students and inmates together for a seminar on current legal, political, and social issues of interest, and how those issues affect students and prisoners alike. The seminar meets biweekly inside a maximum-security prison and offers a rare opportunity for extensive, frank, and often intense discussion.

Habeas Chorus is Yale Law School’s original, coed (SATB) a cappella group. Membership is open by audition to members of the Law School community; no experience required. The group has three major performances per year, and occasionally takes trips to sing at Harvard and other venues. The Habeas repertoire emphasizes law school-themed comedy through rewritten popular music.

The Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale, Inc,. is a student-run 501(c)(3) corporation that provides grants to innovative public interest law projects. Founded in 1981, it currently distributes two to three grants each year. Students host fundraising activities and serve on the initiative’s board of directors, which includes public interest lawyers, community members, and Law School faculty and staff. Students and board members together review grant applications and select recipients.

The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization (LSO), which provides legal aid to individuals who cannot afford private attorneys, has a student board of directors. The student board collaborates with the clinical faculty and staff to set priorities for and manage the work of LSO. Board members also serve as teaching assistants, or “student directors,” in LSO clinics and seminars.

The Latino Law Students Association was founded to promote the academic, career, and political interests of Latina/o students at the Law School. The association meets regularly and sponsors projects in the areas of admissions, recruitment, political and community awareness, and cultural solidarity.

The Lowenstein International Human Rights Project is the Law School’s extracurricular human rights organization. Through the project, small teams of students work on specific human rights issues, usually on behalf of, and with guidance from, nongovernmental organizations. Teams conduct research, write memoranda, engage in advocacy activities, and organize events at the Law School. More information is available at www.yale.edu/lowenstein.

The Muslim Law Students Association serves as a vehicle for gathering Muslims and others interested in learning about Islam and Muslims, Islamic legal issues, and issues of concern to Muslims and other minorities.

New Haven Cares operates a program of redeemable vouchers for those in need that may be used at participating merchants for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, but not alcohol, tobacco, or cash. To ensure that vouchers are distributed widely, New Haven Cares has partnered with more than a dozen local social service agencies that work day-to-day with New Haven’s hungry and homeless.

OutLaws is an organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members of the Law School community. Founded in the early 1970s, OutLaws sponsors speakers, supports activism, and participates in LGBT legal conferences and events. With regular social events, OutLaws provides a social forum as well. OutLaws’ Web site is www.yale.edu/outlaws.

The Pacific Islander, Asian, and Native American Law Students Association (PANA) is a student group that seeks to promote community among its members and foster a more diverse educational environment. PANA organizes social and cultural events and assists in recruiting minority students. In addition, it organizes discussions of issues affecting ethnic minorities and the role of law in addressing these concerns. Membership in PANA is open to all members of the Law School community.

The Pro Bono Network serves as a clearinghouse for public interest research opportunities, soliciting projects from public interest organizations and staffing the projects with Yale Law students. The Pro Bono Network gives students with no prior legal experience the opportunity to work on discrete research and writing projects involving pressing contemporary legal issues.

The Project for Law and Education at Yale (PLEY) seeks to foster conversation and community building among students interested in education policy, as well as the intersection of education and the law. Programs have featured teachers and school administrators, lawyers representing students, schools, and education-oriented nonprofit organizations. PLEY also sponsors a reading group exploring current developments in education law and policy.

The Rebellious Lawyering Conference is an annual, student-run, public interest law conference that brings together practitioners, students, and community activists from around the country to discuss progressive approaches to law and social change.

The South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA) is an organization dedicated to celebrating, promoting, and sharing the culture and diversity of the countries of South Asia with the Law School and the larger community. Everyone interested is welcome.

Street Law seeks to empower New Haven’s minority youth through legal education, providing support to public school teachers, and interacting with the local community. Teachers work in the same classroom during the term, teaching weekly, hour-long lessons. The lessons are designed to be interactive, informative, and challenging—enabling students to think critically about the legal systems in place. Street Law teachers use the same curriculum and receive weekly training on the lesson and its implementation.

The Student/Faculty Alliance for Military Equality (SAME) was organized in the fall of 2002 in response to threats by the Department of Defense to withdraw federal funding from the University if military recruiters were not permitted to participate in certain Law School recruiting programs. SAME became a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging DOD’s actions, and in 2005 a District Court enjoined the DOD’s efforts in a related lawsuit by some members of the Law School faculty. SAME also organizes broader activities in support of law school nondiscrimination policies and in opposition to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Students United Against Genocide in Darfur was founded in 2006 to bring students together in efforts to raise awareness and engage in advocacy on Darfur. The organization successfully launched the “24 Hours for Darfur” online video advocacy campaign (www.24hoursfordarfur.org), which solicits short video submissions from concerned individuals around the world who call on their political leaders to act.

The Thomas Swan Barristers’ Union organizes an annual mock trial competition with a civil or criminal case. Students acting in pairs prepare a trial brief and conduct opening statements, closing arguments, and direct and cross-examinations at trial. Federal and state judges, as well as practicing attorneys, preside at the trials. A final prize trial is held at the end of the year. The competition occurs in the spring term. All students are welcome to participate.

The Temporary Restraining Order Project (TRO) provides students with the opportunity to assist domestic violence victims with the often arduous process of seeking legal protection from abuse. Participants are trained to staff an office at the New Haven Superior Court under the supervision of the court clerk’s office and New Haven Legal Assistance attorneys.

The Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals is a competition managed by a board of student directors, composed of students who have previously participated in a moot court competition. Each participant writes an extensive appellate brief and presents an appellate oral argument on a case scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court. Another case is selected for briefing and argument in the prize finals, which are held at the close of each term.

Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE) is a mentorship program that is dedicated to strengthening the lives and communities of women and girls through curriculum-based group activities, as well as one-on-one mentoring relationships. The program has sites in Chicago, New Haven, New York, and Boston. Mentors from Yale Law School work with high school students on issues ranging from college preparedness to violence in the community.

Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) brings law students together with other students in the Yale University community who are committed to creating a coordinated response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic at the local, national, and international level through advocacy, political activism, and education.

The Yale Civil Rights Project (YCRP) designs programs to spark dialogue about the scope of civil rights problems today and how best to utilize the law to challenge these inequalities.

The Yale Entertainment and Sports Law Association (YESLA) is an organization for law students interested in pursuing careers in sports or entertainment law.

The Yale Environmental Law Association (YELA) sponsors activities to advance thought, dialogue, and action on issues of environmental law and policy. Activities include speakers; panels; brown-bag lunches on topics of current relevance; activism on matters of pressing concern; an annual career panel; and legal research and advocacy (both self-initiated and for outside groups and activists).

The Yale Federalist Society is a group of conservative and libertarian law students dedicated to fostering discussion and debate of issues of law and public policy. It is a part of the national Federalist Society. Members share a belief in judicial restraint and the use of free market forces to allocate resources in a society. Activities have included debates on current legal issues and speeches by federal judges, law professors, and public officials.

The Yale Forum on the Practice of International Law brings leading international practitioners and policy makers from many regions of the world to the Law School to speak on subjects within their expertise. The Forum seeks to advance discussion on pertinent topics of international law and policy while taking particular care to expose students to the kinds of opportunities that exist for legal practice in an international forum.

The Yale Graduate Law Students Association (YGLSA) is an organization open to graduate fellows and visiting scholars. YGLSA members participate in lectures, discussions, and social events organized by the students and the Tutor in Law of the Graduate Programs. These sessions focus on subjects such as teaching methodology, scholarship, and legal topics in both international and American law. Workshops on dissertations in progress are offered throughout the year.

The Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal (www.yale.edu/yhrdlj) promotes original legal scholarship that contributes to an understanding of the relationship between human rights and development. The journal is edited by students and advised by members of the Law School faculty. The journal publishes articles by recognized and rising legal scholars and practitioners, in addition to student notes and book reviews.

YIPPIE! (Yale Incentive Program for Public Interest Employment) strives to encourage YLS students to do public interest work by helping to fund students who spend their summers working in the public interest and to draw together the Law School community around YLS’s public interest mission. YIPPIE! coordinates events including the Small Group Olympics, Speed Dating, and the Day’s Pay Initiative.

The Yale Jewish Law Students Association hosts Shabbat and holiday meals, arranges lectures, discussions, and informal classes on topics of Jewish and legal interest, and sponsors legal and social action in the public interest.

The Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics is an interdisciplinary journal whose staff members come from all of Yale’s graduate and professional schools. The journal publishes pieces on many topics, ranging from civil rights enforcement in health care delivery to bioterrorism. Recent contributors have included Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Bill Frist, and prominent academics and policy makers. Submissions are peer reviewed by a distinguished advisory board, and first-year editors can play a substantive role in editing the journal. The journal’s Web site is www.yale.edu/yjhple.

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is one of the world’s leading inte-rnational law journals. Published twice yearly, YJIL serves as a forum for the analysis of contemporary problems within the fields of international and comparative law. YJIL is also a community of international scholarship within the Law School and welcomes all students with an interest in international affairs.

The Yale Journal of Law and Feminism publishes works concerning a broad range of legal issues as they pertain to gender, sexuality, or feminist theory. Combining theoretical and practical perspectives, the editors encourage submissions of articles, essays, and reviews, and also consider submissions of other genres. To reflect feminist values, the journal is nonhierarchical—all members can participate fully in editing, screening, and administrative decision making.

The Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities is a biannual publication edited by students and advised by a board of distinguished scholars. Editors include students from the Law School and several graduate departments in the University. Founded on the conviction that interdisciplinary scholarship is crucial to an understanding of both law and culture, the journal explores the intersections among law, the humanities, and the humanistic social sciences.

The Yale Journal of Law & Technology (www.yjolt.org) is a student-run journal that offers its readers a cutting-edge, dynamic environment in which to acquire and produce knowledge about the interface between law and technology. The journal publishes a wide variety of material, including full scholarly articles, short pieces, student notes, and working papers. No technical or scientific background is necessary.

The Yale Journal on Regulation is a national forum for legal, political, and economic analysis of current issues in regulatory policy. The journal is edited, managed, and marketed by students. Membership is open to all interested students.

The Yale Law & Business Society is an organization dedicated to exploring private sector opportunities for innovative careers and positive social change. YLBS administers the Entrepreneurship Challenge, a venture capital program for Law School students. In addition to hosting lectures and networking events, YLBS holds conferences, such as the 2007 Future of Energy event, which brought together scholars, executives, and regulators to discuss optimal energy policy.

The Yale Law & Policy Review (YLPR) publishes pieces on a wide range of issues at the intersection of law and policy, including affirmative action, campaign finance reform, urban policing, education policy, and the war on terrorism. YLPR welcomes contributions by professors, policy makers, and practitioners. YLPR’s Web site is www.yale.edu/ylpr.

The Yale Law Christian Fellowship (YLCF) is a nondenominational student group that seeks to foster the faith of its members and engage the Law School more broadly in matters pertaining to Christianity in the public sphere. YLCF sponsors prayer breakfasts, Bible studies, public speakers, and community service projects to benefit both the Law School and the greater New Haven community.

The Yale Law Democrats is dedicated to fostering student engagement in the American political process and to promoting the ideals of the Democratic Party. It hosts a yearly speaker series, organizes panels and debates, provides policy advice to candidates and elected members of government, and organizes social events that facilitate informal conversations among members. The group is dedicated to extending its network, supporting the political aspirations of law school Democrat alumni, and building relationships between alumni and current students.

The Yale Law International Association is dedicated to promoting global awareness at Yale Law School. The association invites renowned speakers to talk on international issues and organizes language tables, the JD-LLM Connections Program, and foreign movie nights—not to mention parties. Through the association, international students and students with international interests are celebrated as an important component of the Law School student body.

The Yale Law Journal publishes articles, essays, book reviews, and student notes and comments on a broad range of legal topics. In addition, the journal publishes an online companion magazine, The Pocket Part, and regularly hosts live symposia. A board of student editors manages and produces eight issues of the journal per year. Students are selected for membership on the journal and for positions on the editorial board through procedures established by the current board.

The Yale Law Republicans promote conservative values, explore and discuss Republican Party philosophies, provide members with exposure to local, state, and national party officials, conduct outreach to the political community of New Haven and Connecticut, and host a wide variety of conservative speakers. Membership is open to any student of the Law School.

The annual Yale Law Revue is a collection of satirical songs, skits, and vignettes written, staged, and performed by law students. It’s an institution—a good time had by all (or your money back).

Yale Law School Workers’ Rights Project advocates for workers’ rights in the United States and globally. In cooperation with practicing attorneys, law students work with a diverse group of labor and community organizations, as well as initiating their own projects. The goal is to serve the immediate legal and other needs of worker organizations and to assist in the development of innovative organizing strategies.

Yale Law Students for Life is a nonpartisan, secular organization dedicated to promoting the dignity of human life at every stage. The organization’s goals are to raise awareness of practices that threaten that dignity, to engage in thoughtful debate, and to instigate for policies that affirm and protect life.

Yale Law Students for Reproductive Justice is made up of students dedicated to raising awareness about reproductive health issues, spreading accurate information, and examining and debating topics including sex education, reproductive health care and contraception, abortion, and child care. The group plans events and panels, and has organized a reading group for the past two years.

The Yale Veterans Association (Yale Vets) brings together students with experience serving their nation’s armed forces and national security community. The organization seeks to foster in Yale Law School a deeper understanding of national security; to allow students to interact with established actors within the national security community; and to provide an associational network for future leaders of America’s national security community.

Yale Law Women provides a forum for discussion of issues and concerns that women share with regard to teaching, classroom atmosphere, curriculum, and the outside legal community. It monitors policies of the Law School that have a particular impact on women, seeks to develop a supportive community of women students and faculty, and offers practical information relevant to school, practice, and education on women’s legal issues through speakers and workshops.

Students may list student organization events in the online Calendar of Events.

Student Participation in Administration

Students participate in the administration of the Law School as follows:

1. There are eleven elected representatives of the student body—three from each J.D. class, one representing the LL.M. and M.S.L. classes, and one representing the J.S.D. class—entitled to be present at faculty meetings and to participate fully in the deliberation of the faculty, but without vote.*
2. Student representatives are elected for a term of one academic year, commencing with the beginning of the fall term. Representatives for the second- and third-year classes are elected during the spring of the academic year preceding their term of office. Representatives for the first-year and graduate classes are elected at the beginning of the fall term of the academic year for which they will serve. Elections for all classes are held under the auspices of the student representatives in office at the time of the election.
3. The elected student representatives, and other students selected by appropriate procedures, participate in the work of standing committees of the faculty and, where appropriate, in the work of ad hoc committees. The form and nature of such participation depend upon the character of the work of each committee. All elected student representatives serve on committees.
   

*This entitlement is subject to the limitation that on occasion the faculty may feel it necessary to convene in executive session. In such an event the dean will, to the extent he or she deems appropriate, advise the student representatives of the holding of the executive session in advance and invite the student representatives to present to the faculty their views on the subject under consideration; under any circumstances student representatives will be advised of the holding of such meeting promptly thereafter. It is, however, the purpose and expectation of the student body and of the faculty that the business of the faculty will normally be conducted in meetings in which student representatives participate.

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