“Unless there are substantive changes in the law, people just have to assume their email is accessible to the government without their permission and without their notification.” —Prof. Ann Bartow in The Los Angeles Times on internet privacy
Pace Law Community Weathers Superstorm Sandy WHEN SUPERSTORM SANDY hit the New York area in late October, it was much more than a news story for the Pace Law School community. Faced with widespread power outages and unsafe travel conditions, the White Plains campus closed for two days. When the school reopened, many were still without power at home—and some were without a home. The response of the law school community was swift. Professors, mindful of students’ needs but also the ABA rules, resumed classes but arranged for lectures to be videotaped for those who could not get to campus. Drawing upon email and Facebook, they reached out to students and encouraged them to continue with the readings and assured them of their support and flexibility. Professor Nick Robinson, co-director of the Center for Environmental Legal Studies, led an excursion into the woods for all who wished to join him on a hike designed to draw upon the restorative properties of nature. Kiera Fitzpatrick (1L) and Patrick Van Hall (2L) initiated a donation drive to collect warm clothing, cleaning supplies, and cash. Staffing a table outside the cafeteria, students collected enough contributions to deliver six carloads of donations to the affected neighborhoods. A resident of south Brooklyn, one of the areas hardest hit by the storm, Kiera spearheaded the effort. Seven Pace Law students put their developing legal skills to work and participated in a citywide pro-bono project sponsored by Legal Services NYC. After receiving training, they ventured out on foot into hard-hit neighborhoods, helping to reach out to 5,000 New Yorkers over three weeks in an effort to assess immediate legal needs and to provide resources and referrals. Pierre Rivera, 3L, drew upon his Spanish to talk with residents, some of whom had lost everything. He recalls seeing houses where the entire first floors had flooded. To prevent the spread of mold, crews had removed sections of walls and stripped insulation, leaving the residents to live in unheated shells and endure the freezing temperatures in the days that followed. Pierre recalls one person whom he described as “very poor” who was unable to work because of the extensive damage. “I never ask for handouts,” Pierre recalls the man saying as he struggled not to cry. “I pay my taxes and I have my green card. I am a good person but this is just awful.” Pierre says he was able to tell him about FEMA and other resources available to him. He told the man how to contact government agencies including finding someone who could speak Spanish. A Captain in the United States Marine Corps who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before enrolling at Pace Law, Pierre said the core values of the Marine Corps required him to help people in need and that was what he did in the days following the storm. “Overall this was a great experience,” says Pierre. “I was happy that Pace afforded us this opportunity to help people that were not only in need of government benefits but were also unable to communicate their needs because of something as frustrating as a language barrier.”
n (l-r) Patrick Van Hall and Kiera Fitzpatrick S P R I N G 2 0 13
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edu) where they write about the legal concepts that lie beneath news stories and case decisions that involve social media. In the process of crafting contributions to the blog, Professor Garfield says they find their “blog voice.” “That could be a real asset in today’s job market,” she says. Maintaining a blog— both as a learning tool as well as a platform for sharing ideas— is not confined to the Social Media Law class. The Pace Criminal Justice Center also takes advantage of a blog to disseminate information and foster discussion of criminal law and procedure. Their blog can be read here: http://pcjc.blogs.law.pace.edu