Picking the Right School

The scam bloggers have taken over! What are scam bloggers? They are the bloggers with JDs that feel that law school is an overpriced endeavor, strictly beneficial to administrators and 'Law Professors.' Ultimately, they believe that the ABA is corrupt, in not limiting the amount of lawyers, and that law school is a scam. Law school only teaches you to think like a lawyer not how to be one. I subscribe to a few of these blogs such as Third Tier Reality. I understand their frustration with the system pumping out more lawyers than there are jobs. With new grads unable to find employment. The fact that only students graduating from Top 20 Schools or at the top 5% of their class receiving jobs at firms in Biglaw. The ranking system constructed by US News and World Report that empowers the Top Law schools while alienating lower 'ranked' schools. The over inflated price of Law School and the heaps of non dis-chargeable debt that many students are burdened with. Okay, I get it. Perhaps the cost-benefit analysis is out of whack.

However,I feel there is still a different perspective. From the standpoint of the under represented minority. Yes the URM. I know that many students feel that the admissions process is eschewed in favor of the URM. I say, as it should be! African American law students don't top 8% at any school minus the HBCUs. Many law schools base their Independent rankings on diversity. The fact of the matter is that an URM with slightly lower numbers might gain acceptance because of their status. Historically, minorities and women have been left out of the legal process. Law schools recognize this and have instilled into their admissions criteria a certain form of affirmative action. I think that any URM that would otherwise do well at any institution should have a slight advantage over his/her male Caucasian counterpart. I am not saying that a person with a 2.6 GPA/ 147 LSAT should get preference over a much higher scoring Caucasian male. What I am saying is that a few points either which way should and does give preference to the URM.

I do advocate that minorities and women go to Law School and enter the legal profession. I would agree that the system is flooded. However, it is not flooded with URMs. If URMS choose not to enter the law profession then the future will be bleak for the people that we represent. I do not advise taking on 100,000 dollars of non- dischargeable debt. There are plenty of law schools that do not mind footing the bill for qualified URMS. The point that I'm trying to make is that URMs have an advantage, for the moment, to go to Law School. If you can go to school with a minimal amount of debt and do well, not only are you enhancing the legal profession you will be enhancing your clients experience one day. Diversity is apparent in all levels of American Society and it should be stressed and pushed in the legal community.

Point

1. Choose a school that embraces diversity
2. Choose a school that will foot most of the bill
3. If point #2 is not an option, go to a school that offers tuition payback assistance
4. Do not believe the hype about only the Top 20 schools leading to a good paying job, people go to Law School for many other reasons than working at a firm in Biglaw
5. There is a reason that we are called Under Represented Minorities- If you can get your foot in the door without a lot of debt. Just Go.       

Criminal Justice System Will Eat It's Own Young

Okay. I have in the past argued that majority of the people the criminal justice system prosecutes are young African American males. This is a fact. It angers me and sometimes anger is not the correct emotion to feel. Because of my anger I have been blinded to the overall picture. The metaphorical BIG PICTURE. Some would say that I was pea brained. Others would say life is growth and we evolve over time. Whichever choice you go with may or may not substantiate the fact that I have erred in my reasoning.

I have in the past associated the racial discrimination of African Americans with the evil doings of the criminal justice system. I have assumed that all of the dealing off the police, prosecutors, and the 'system' are racially motivated. I am wrong. The criminal justice system is designed to eat anyone and everyone that offers any opposition whatsoever. It has no respect of persons. The War on Drugs targets young African American males by coincidence. I think that it was not intended to lock up young African American males at a disproportionate rate but that is an unintended consequence of the legislation passed in 1986 by Ronald Reagan.

You ask, "What changed my mind?" Well, I have a friend that I have known for a really long time. Not best friends but we consider each other close. She is a single, professional, mother. Also, she is tall, blond haired, green eyes, well spoken, smart, and an overall good person. The quintessential white woman. For the sake of anonymity let's call her Molly. Molly is a professional that is the sole provider for her young daughter. She is college educated, pays her bills on time, pays her taxes, never had any run ins with the law [except for a DUI] seven years ago. The dreaded DUI/DWI can happen to any one that has had a single drink and made the ill advised decision to get behind the wheel. The statistics show that 1.5 million people are arrested for DUI annually. Yes 1.5 million annually! Recently, she received another DUI/DWI. It wasn't exactly what one would call criminal. She was leaving happy hour at a restaurant and got pulled over for failure to obey traffic signals. From what I understand that she made a right turn without signalling.

Now we have Molly the quintessential white woman in a very precarious situation. She lives in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has a Accelerated Disposition Program for first time offenders. However, this is Molly's second offense within ten years. Pennsylvania also has mandatory sentences that are never pleaded to lesser crimes. Either you are convicted of DUI/DWI or you are not. Now Molly understands that she has to pay the consequences of her bad decision. Pay in the way of legal fees, fines, court costs, etc. What Molly was not expecting was an immediate loss of her license, fired from her job, and mandatory 90 days in jail.
Wow!

The DUI/DWI game has become big business. It is the only "crime" in which you literally must prove your innocence. You can lose your license among other things way before your day in court. Police Departments, cities, districts, and counties are eating it up. Fines can range from 1000 to 10,000 thousand dollars.  There are approximately 16,000 alcohol related accidents per year. About 5,000 of those end in death. Yet we have 1.5 million arrests for drunk driving. One could look at those numbers and say the enforcement is the reason for such a small number. I believe that I have a much more pragmatic approach. The system is using DUI as a cash cow.

We have thousands of lawyers that specialize in only DUI/DWI, DUI/DWI court, Police Officers and State Troopers that only deal with DUI/DWI. The fines are automatic and license suspensions are automatic. This brings in untold billions per year for the system. Like the War on Drugs, the War on DUI/DWI has taken it's toll on the citizens of the US. However, the War on DUI targets anyone with a drivers license.

Molly ended up doing house arrest for 90 days. It didn't make much of a difference because she lost her job, license, money, and is struggling to take care of her child. Should she have drank and got behind the wheel? Absolutely not! Should she have lost her life and future earnings because of a bad decision. Absolutely not! The punishment for a DUI is not proportionate to the crime. This is another instance of the system eating it's own. So I am forced to retract my beliefs that the system is racially motivated to label minorities and disenfranchised groups. The criminal justice system is out to devour anyone with a pulse.        

Decriminalization of Petty Crimes/ Really?

In an article taken from the ABA Journal, Debra Cassins Weis writes on a report done by an ABA committee and a national group of defense lawyers.
The article is called Decriminalizing Minor Offenses Could Help Indigent Defense.

The report states that the criminal justice system is flooded with petty infractions {OBVIOUSLY} that could be dealt with two front-end reforms: reclassification and diversion. Reclassification simply means changing these petty criminal statutes into civil statutes and give offenders a fine. Diversion has to do with dropping criminal charges if an accused offender completes simple requirements such as community service or rehabilitation.

Seems so simple. Even has an air of common sense. In Texas between 2003- 2005,  51 million dollars was saved by simply giving low level drug possession offenders probation. This frees up indigent defense council to actually do their work effectively. As described in Gideon v. Wainwright which founded the sixth amendment right to council. Since the War on Drugs has started, too many non violent petty drug offenders have ended up behind bars because their council is bogged down with heavy caseloads rendering them ineffective. In many instances, not even familiar with case or client until they are put in front of them in a hearing.

It seems that this report offers some tried and true solutions to problems that our criminal justice system faces . Here's the kicker! The report states that they are trying to solve many of the problems through new ideas as opposed to new money. Makes sense. "But no such largesse is imminent." What!!

Let me explain. There will not be any attempt made now or in the near future to unclog the criminal justice system with petty drug cases because the criminal justice system is not in the business of saving money and protecting citizens rights. 

The criminal justice system is an industry that is in the business of creating situations and circumstances that put poor people (African American & Latino) behind bars for long periods of time! The more the better. An entire industry thrives on the backs of indigent (African American & Latino) people. Everyone knows that the War on Drugs is a failure and utilizes billions of dollars annually for government agencies that are all but useless. There have only been a few states willing to do anything about the abscess that we call the War on Drugs.

Two thumbs up to: 

Alaska, Colorado, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon


         

Starting Off the New Year Right

Officers abusing their power as usual. Richmond County Sheriffs Department under "investigation" for police brutality. 

Deputy William Geisen approached a Pastor and some of his congregation in a parking lot at Denny's.





                                                                               
                                                                                   Augusta, Ga.- A church group is in town from Florida for a church conference. The Pastor of the group is William Young and he is on his mobile phone in the parking lot of a Denny's on Washington Road in Augusta , Ga. Witnesses claim that a deputy zoomed into the parking lot, confronted Young and put him into handcuffs for no apparent reason. The incident report claims that Ruth Jean grabbed the officers arm whenever he attempted to arrest her Pastor. Jean was then subsequently put under rest for obstruction of justice.

Jean stated, "When I was on the floor, he had his knees on my back, and he was pulling my hair, but my hands were already like this," Jean said as she put her hands behind her back. "I don't know why he was doing that, until two other cops came over and he put me in a choke."  

Of course the incident was caught on cell phone videos and pictures. The Richmond County Sheriffs Department disputes any wrongdoing. As Always! The victims and witnesses believe that the deputies showed up and created mayhem for no reason at all. Harassing innocent people.

This is just another one of the hundreds of thousands of  police brutality cases in recent times. My God! They even harass Church going tourists. Was this incident racially motivated? Well, the victims and witnesses were Black. The sheriff deputies were White. There seems to be no justifiable cause for the police to have been on the scene. You decide.

Are the police just a gang of gun toting thugs that arrive for the clean-up or are they something else?  


                                                            

Understanding the Process

I have looked through hell and high water in an attempt to find relevant information regarding the Law School process for an African American male. What did I find? Jack! That's right. There's about enough information regarding African American men and legal careers as there is that are actually in the profession. Not much. Sure there is a ton of information regarding law schools, the ABA, LSAC, taking the LSAT, 0L, 1L, 2L, 3L, the Bar exam, and finding employment. The problem is that there is no specific, engaging, material geared to and approved by African American males. There are plenty of buzz words being thrown around like frisbees such as: diversity, underrepresented minorities (URM), and more diversity. However, diversity in this sense means anyone that is not a Caucasian male. Including URM's. There is little to no information pertaining to the African American  male. So I am going to take it upon myself to write about my process as an African American male and my thoughts and opinions on the subject. Many people will not like what I have to say, most likely will not agree with me, this type of environment is fertile ground for intellectual growth. I hope to learn as I explore this latent society that regulates only about 1.5 % of its ranks to African American males.
So here it is. My story might shed some light on all the other brothers out there that don't feel like higher education is an option let alone pursuing advanced education. I graduated college with a BS in Sociology. Bachelor of Science more commonly known as B@** S^**. Could not find a job. The most common reasons I heard were: the economy is bad, no one is hiring, give it some time, blah, blah, blah. So here I am with this degree and I want to work but can't because no one will give me chance. How many people do you know in this situation? I always knew that I wanted to help people. I feel that I'm blessed and I try to lend a helping hand and volunteer my time whenever possible. As a black man we are always told that education opens up doors to the world. So I figured if I can't work then I'll just get more training. Doing what? That is the million dollar question. Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Researcher, Journalist, I just could not decide. Then I had a run in with the police. Changed my life forever. I was brutally attacked by police officers and they charged me with crimes that were subsequently dismissed. I knew from that point on that I needed to become an advocate for the people with no voice. The disenfranchised and with little means. If I had been on probation, on parole, labeled, less educated, or a myriad of other things, the police probably would have gotten away with assaulting me. However, I had presence of mind and the means to bring about a federal civil suit. Legally. Legality. Law. The essence of our daily life. Every second of our life were are governed by the laws of man and the laws of nature. Both can be manipulated to reach a desired result. African American males have been prohibited from partaking in numerous ways. I will expound on that in later posts. This is just an introduction to why I am, who I am and hopefully shed some light on the law school process for African American males in the same boat.

Here are the Basic steps to applying to and getting into law school.

1. Maintain a decent GPA (preferably 3.0 or better) in undergrad
2. Graduate any regionally accredited institution with a BS or BA in any major.
3. Register with the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) and register to take the LSAT.
4. I recommend strongly to buy study/ prep materials in preparation for the LSAT
The LSAT is at least 50% of the determining factor law school admissions committees use when determining applicants. In other words, Your Score is Important!!
5. Prepare a resume, get letters of reference, essays, personal statements , and other soft factors in order.
6. Once you receive your LSAT scores you are ready to begin submitting applications.

This process is the same for all applicants. However, whenever it comes to the "soft" factors, things will be a little different for African American males.


Here is an interesting link that I discovered that might have some relevant information:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/11599/the-weight-of-being-a-young-and-successful-black-male