National Jurist - January 2009 - (Page 26)

The protector hile some law students struggle to stay afloat, Caroline Hsu uses her spare time assisting people in need of legal services who are seriously struggling. A third year at Fordham University School of Law in New York, Hsu founded the Prisoners’ Rights Advocates student group at Fordham. There, she worked with various organizations to defeat proposed amendments that would have decreased the minimum standards for New York City jails promulgated by the By Ursula Furi-Perry, Esq. City’s Board of Correction. The proposed standards would have allowed for more overcrowding and a 24-hour lock-in standard and would have been a tremendous roll-back on all aspects of jail life, including safety. In the end, officials voted not to pass the standards that would have allowed for i n c re a s e d ov e r crowding and lock-ins. In addition to her own involvement with the cause, Hsu coordinated and involved other law students in the process. She is now organizing a colloquium to explore issues surrounding confinement for litigators involved Caroline Hsu with the prison system — and her research will be published in Fordham’s Urban Law Journal. Along with her various accomplishments, Hsu was recently the recipient of the Equal Justice Works Exemplary Public Service Award. The prestigious annual award honors a law student for his or her commitment to and involvement in public interest law. “I’ve been able to involve a lot of different students with many different attorneys Fordham Law School student honored for her public interest work PHOTO BY JAY MALLIN Caroline Hsu, third from left, was the recent recipient of the Equal Justice Works Exemplary Public Service Award. She’s pictured with, from left, David Stern, CEO of Equal Justice Works; Senator George Mitchell and Elena Kagan, dean of Harvard Law School. and programs,” she said. As a law student, Hsu has been involved in grassroots organizing, policy work and advocacy. Before coming to law school, Hsu taught at a school for children with behavioral problems. “I knew I wanted to pursue a career in social change,” she said She decided to go to law school knowing that she would stay involved in public interest work and believing that a legal education would offer her the chance to help many people. In the past, Hsu held a fellowship with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where she researched and advocated on health care access, special education and disability issues. She has also interned at the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Students get a great chance to see how lawyers work,” Hsu said. Through her work in social justice advocacy, she has learned how to write and present testimony at an administrative hearing, as well as how to organize the community on social justice issues. Hsu hopes to continue her work toward 26 THE NATIONAL JURIST January 2009 social justice and advocacy when she graduates. She has applied for an Equal Justice Works Fellowship and hopes to focus her work on a re-entry program for prisoners with disabilities. “It’s an amazing community to be in,” Hsu said. “I can’t imagine another job where you can wake up every day and feel like you need to be in the office.” The greatest challenge in working toward social change is dealing with the lack of resources that’s often involved and learning how to prioritize between very needy causes and people. “Your first cause is the most important because the first time you do [anything] the hardest it is,” she said. “Pick the cause that you care about the most.” Hsu said getting involved has not only helped her define her personal policies and philosophies, but also solidified her interest in working toward social change when she graduates. “One reward is definitely knowing that I made the right choice in coming to law school,” Hsu said. “I have the fortune of saying that I have loved every single minute of being in law school.”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of National Jurist - January 2009

National Jurist - January 2009 Contents Hot Button: Affirmative Action Entertainment: A Road Trip Through Law School News: American Justice, Kaplan Survey, Part-time Ranking The Firm Report: Diversity Law School Online No label No label Fordham Student Honored for Public Interest Work Former Law Student's Life Lives on After Her Death Most Influential People in Legal Education Most Innovative Law Schools Your Guide to Studying Abroad Career Hotline Texas Tech Law Grads Explore Dispute Resolution Evaluating First-Year Exams Disturbing the Peace

National Jurist - January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.