Ending the War on Marijuana? The Legalization Movement in New York and the Nation

Today, the Stein Scholars hosted a panel discussion on the merits of legalizing marijuana. Three panelists joined Stein Scholars and other members of the law school community:

Gabriel Sayegh, New York State Director, Drug Policy Alliance
Gabriel Sayegh directs the New York State office of the Drug Policy Alliance, partnering with community organizing groups, human service agencies, and researchers to advance effective drug policies guided by science, equity and compassion. Recent campaigns include ending New York’s marijuana arrest crusade, developing municipal-based drug strategies, passing and implementing historic 911 Good Samaritan legislation to prevent accidental overdose fatalities, creating a tightly-regulated medical marijuana program, and reforming New York’s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws. He is the author of numerous articles and several reports, including Blueprint for a Public Health and Safety Approach to Drug Policy (the subject of a New York Times editorial) and From Handcuffs to Healthcare: Putting the Affordable Care Act to Work for Criminal Justice and Drug Law Reform.

Emma Andersson, Staff attorney with American Civil Liberties Union Criminal Law Reform

Emma A. Andersson is a staff attorney with the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project. Her practice includes litigation relating to police practices, indigent defense reform, marijuana law reform, and federal and state sentencing. Emma was previously a fellow with the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project, a fellow at Bernabei & Wachtel PLLC, and a law clerk for Judge Richard Paez in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a graduate of Yale Law School and Barnard College.

Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

Dr. Jeffrey L. Reynolds is the Executive Director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD). With offices in Mineola, Ronkonkoma and Riverhead, LICADD provides screening, brief intervention and referrals to treatment, as well as professionally-facilitated family interventions, relapse prevention programs and anger management services to adults and adolescents. Under Dr. Reynolds’ leadership, LICADD has pioneered the launch of “Too Good for Drugs”, an evidence-based K-12 substance abuse prevention program in several Long Island schools, initiated a new mentoring program for children of incarcerated parents and re-branded its Employee Assistance Program, now called “Open Arms EAP.” Dr. Reynolds currently serves as Chair of the Suffolk County Heroin/Opiate Epidemic Advisory Panel, is on the Executive Committee of the Nassau County Heroin Prevention Task Force and serves on Suffolk County’s Welfare to Work Commission.

The discussion focused on the failures of the drug war, the disproportionate impact of the criminalization of marijuana, the opiate and prescription drugs crisis, the need for treatment, education about drugs, and a host of other related issues. The conversation lasted for over an hour and at became heated at times. Everyone walked away having learned more about drug policy and the debate around it. This event was definitely a success.

Steins Learn About Public Interest Firm and Pro Bono Opportunities

Last Wednesday, Stein Scholars had a chance to learn about what kinds of opportunities exist for law students and new lawyers in public interest firms, and how people who chose to go into corporate law can pursue public interest work through pro bono opportunities. 

Steins were joined by Alice Morey of the NYC Bar Justice Center; Amanda Niederauer ’14, who talked about her experience at the public interest law firm Mayerson & Associates, which focuses on the rights and entitlements of individuals with autism; and Richard Hendrix’14, who shared his experiences at the civil rights firm Beldeck Levine Hoffman.

Also contributing by phone were Melissa Lardo ’09 of Outten & Golding, Artemio Guerra ’10 of Getman Sweeney, and Peggy Farber ’04 of Kramer Levin.

It was a very educational evening, and more than one Stein noted that the participants provided a lot of very useful and new information about the variety of public interest firms and public interest firm internship opportunities and hiring practices.  Some tip highlights included:

• ·         Public interest firms tend to hire a lot based on word of mouth, rather than through formal recruitment processes, so building a network and finding mentors in this field can be key to finding a job with a public interest firm.  Developing your interests early can also be very helpful, so that you have plenty of time to demonstrate that interest through internships and other involvement in law school.
• ·         Public interest firms may not look to hire new lawyers until after they have passed the bar.
• ·         Public interest firms, while very busy, tend to have more of a focus on cultivating a reasonable work environment and work/life balance than big law.
• ·         Different big law firms place different importance on pro bono work, but some place no limits on the number of pro bono hours attorneys can do (and some strongly encourage young associates to do a lot of pro bono works right when they start).
• ·         Benefits of doing pro bono work in big law include being able to have direct control over your own cases right away.
• ·         Big law firms place a premium on law school grades when hiring; a demonstrated interest in public interest usually won’t get you over the grades hurdle, so those interested in big law must take studying very seriously.
• ·         A commitment to public interest work can, however, help graduating students secure a clerkship with certain judges—and a clerkship can in turn help lawyers get jobs in big law firms despite lackluster grades.

Those interested in public interest firms should check out the 2013 edition of Private Public Interest and Plaintiffs' Firm Guide.  This source, put together by Harvard Law’s office of public interest advising, includes information about what it’s like to work in a public interest firm and how they operate along with a state-by-state directory of public interest and plaintiffs’ firms.

Many thanks to all panel participants!