University
of New Mexico School of Law
Southwest Indian Law Clinic
 |
Clinic:
Southwest
Indian Law Clinic |
Telephone:
(410) 706-8316 |
| School:
University of
New Mexico School of Law |
Fax:
(410) 706-5856 |
|
Director:
Professor
Christine Zuni Cruz |
Web Site:
www.lawschool.umn.edu |
|
Address:
1117 Stanford
NE, Albuquerque NM 87131 |
Founded:
1994 |
| Summary
of Services Provided & Cases Addressed: The
clinic helps clients living with HIV/AIDS solve their
civil legal problems, focusing on cases involving
employment and healthcare discrimination and family law
issues. When the clinic was founded, clients often
approached the clinic after losing their jobs or
healthcare benefits when their HIV status was disclosed.
While such blatant cases of discrimination have become
rarer over the years, clients still face discrimination
at work, particularly when they attempt to exercise
their rights under the Family Medical Leave Act. In
recent years, the clinic has focused more on issues of
family law, particularly cases related to child custody
and guardianship arrangements. Many of the clinic’s
clients are single parents with AIDS. The clinic helps
them formalize legal arrangements to ensure their
children are cared for when they become seriously ill or
pass away. As part of this effort, the clinic works to
reform laws governing child custody, so that it is
easier for relatives, particularly grandparents, to
become legal guardians when an ill parent becomes
incapacitated. |
| Students:
12 to 15 per
year |
Clients
helped: 100
annually |
| Affiliations:
The
clinic is an independent, nonprofit law office. From
time to time, it consults with outside groups. |
| Location:
Students
work in-house, on the University of New Mexico law
campus. |
| Measuring
the effect: Cruz
says, “We try to provide students with some experience
before they actually go out there in the real world.
It’s quite sobering really because some students find
that they enjoy doing this type of work and completely
change direction in their career paths. We have students
who are encouraged to help people who otherwise would
have been unable to afford legal assistance. It shows
you how much of an influence a program like this can
have.” |
| Quotable:
“The
students are responsible for cases on their own; they
are responsible for identifying and dealing with any
ethical issues that may arise. Just the responsibility
of advocating for your client is valuable
experience.”—Prof. Cruz |
| Success
Story: A
University of New Mexico law student, an alum, and a
faculty member from the clinic worked together to
request that federal Indian law be a subject on the
state bar exam. Calvin Lee, William B. Johnson (’90),
and Assistant Professor Kip Bobroff argued for the
change before the state Supreme Court. “Personally, I
always felt that in New Mexico, everybody should start
learning from the very beginning about Indian history,
culture, and legal issues,” says Lee, a Navajo and
third year law student. “This demonstrates that these
native issues are not peripheral, that Indians are not
peripheral.” The Court agreed. Starting in February
2003, Indian law became one of 23 subjects that could
appear in the essay portion of the exam. While
test-takers are not expected to be familiar with the
intimate details of Indian law, they are required to
understand the broader issues of Indian law, such as
tribal jurisdiction.
Note:
Christine
Zuni Cruz is the first pueblo woman to earn tenure as a
law professor at University of New Mexico and has
previous experience serving as a tribal judge with the
Pueblo of Laguna, the Pueblo of Taos, and the Pueblo of
Santa Clara. She is editor-in-chief of the Tribal Law
Journal, an on-line law journal dedicated to the
internal law of indigenous peoples.
|
|
|