Developing and supporting Street Law programs provides law schools with the opportunity to support diversity by:

• reaching out to urban schools and areas with traditionally under-served populations;
  
• educating people about their legal rights and responsibilities so that everyone can participate in democratic discourse; and
  
• introducing participants to a myriad of law-related careers.

A final report: Action & Accountability - Diversity Imperatives for a New Century was released at a fall 2000 Joint Conference on Diversity sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the Association of American Law Schools, and the Law School Admissions Council.

A portion of the report examined how to identify and recruit a diverse law school student body. One method suggested "develop[ing] consortia with area high schools and colleges to organize programs, identify[ing] students, teach street law, and judge[ing] writing competitions or mock trials."

Street Law and the American Corporate Counsel (ACCA) are partnering to accelerate corporate law department and law firm efforts to establish high-impact pipeline programs by showcasing model programs and providing practical tools and resources. More information can be accessed through the ACCA diversity pipeline website at www.acca.com/diversity/pipeline.

Street Law and Its Connections to Promoting Diversity

Street Law is practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights. Through its philosophy and programs, Street Law empowers people to transform democratic ideals into citizen action. Street Law strives to bring the law to life for the general population by conducting programs in schools, juvenile justice facilities, prisons, and community settings. Each Street Law student gains lessons that can be used for life.

Widely used in urban schools and areas with traditionally under-served populations, Street Law's programs give students access to the practical legal information that is relevant to every day life. When students know their legal rights and responsibilities, they are better able to become active participants in civil society. Additionally, students who are aware of the resources available to them can find help when they need it - in the form of legal assistance, housing information, or conflict resolution.

Street Law's programs aim to:

• Empower young and old to become active citizens - All of the Street Law programs, textbooks and manuals strive to educate individuals on how they can affect their own society. The Youth Vision program provides funding and technical assistance to youths who plan projects to address conflict, prejudice, or violence in their schools or communities. Youth Act! helps young people learn to advocate for change and influence public policy on a variety of issues, including human rights.



• Promote an ethos of human rights and democracy - Texts such as Street Law: A Course in Practical Law and Human Rights for All help students understand the principles of human rights and democracy in the U.S. and around the world.



• Provide leadership training to young people - The Teens, Crime, and Community program helps educate young people about crime and violence prevention and engages them in service to their communities. In addition to learning about the law and about crime, young people begin to develop their leadership skills by implementing community action projects.



• Address the special needs of teen parents - Parents and the Law is a Street Law program designed to meet the needs of teen and young parents (both English and Spanish speaking) for practical legal information and access to community resources. By teaching parents their rights and responsibilities, the program aims to help strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect.



• Find peaceful, creative solutions - We Can Work it Out, a conflict mediation program, helps young people learn to solve problems in a healthy, constructive manner. Another Street Law curriculum, Save Our Streets, is designed to help high-risk youth learn non-violent methods of resolving conflict and give participants a better understanding of gun legislation and public policy concerning weapons.



• Promote respect for cultural diversity - Street Law's programs help students dissect critical concepts essential for respecting cultural diversity, such as human rights, equal protection, and due process. With programs in over twenty-five countries, Street Law is connecting young people in the U.S. to their counterparts around the world.
  
  
• Introduce a world of possibility - Through Street Law's law school programs, law students in over 60 law schools around the U.S. teach Street Law classes in local high schools. Often, Street Law serves as a pipeline to carry disadvantaged high school students from their first piqued interest in the law to the day they graduate from law school and begin their careers.

Through the programs listed above (and more), Street Law makes the law more accessible to the general population. Through education and information, Street Law's participants recognize their own rights and freedoms, live their lives within the limits of the law, and develop the skills and knowledge necessary to change unjust laws and address community issues.

Street Law also . . .

In addition to providing access to practical, legal information, Street Law's programs introduce participants to a myriad of law-related careers. The use of community resource people in the classroom is an integral feature of the Street Law teaching method. Besides adding a new dynamic to the lessons, legal professionals such as judges, lawyers, and police officers help students see their own potential for the future. In some cases, the classroom visits provide students with their only first-hand (and positive) experience with such professionals.

Patrick Campbell, a Street Law board member, recently wrote an article about how Street Law changed his life. An immigrant from Jamaica, Campbell recalled participating on the mock trial team as part of his high school Street Law class. His team made it to the mock trial championships, where he actually argued a case in front of a real judge and received coaching and encouragement from real lawyers. Today, Campbell is a senior associate in the Washington, DC office of Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a well-known New York Law firm. He credits Street Law for helping him discover that potential within himself.

By bringing community resources into the classroom, Street Law's programs present options for law-related careers to students who may have never considered college or law school for their futures. Additionally, Street Law has a network of programs at over 60 law schools in the United States where law students teach Street Law classes and train mock trial teams at local high schools. Personal interaction with real law students, combined with the experience of stepping into a lawyer's shoes during mock trials, helps some high school students to see attending law school as a feasible goal for the first time. In fact, many of the students who teach Street Law in law school were also enrolled in a Street Law class as high school students.