Founded:
2002 |
| Summary
of Services Provided & Cases Addressed: The
Civil Rights Project represents clients in civil rights
litigation and sponsors projects that aim to have a
beneficial impact on a broad segment of society. They
focus on important civil rights issues, such as
discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability
status, and national origin as well as sexual harassment
claims and matters of constitutional law. |
| Students:
Nine per
semester |
| Clients
helped: Since
the project’s inception in the fall of 2002, the civil
rights clinic has represented 10 clients in matters
ranging from a federal class action litigation in a
disability rights case to representation of the North
Dakota Human Rights Coalition in a state rulemaking
proceeding. |
| Affiliations:
The
clinic receives referrals from LSC-funded Legal Services
of North Dakota but does not work directly with them on
any cases. One of the project’s goals is to provide
representation to those who otherwise would have no
access to a lawyer. So cases are only accepted if they
could not be taken by any other legal aid organization
in the state. (LSC grantees may not participate in class
action lawsuits.) |
| Location:
Students
work mainly at the clinic on the School of Law’s
campus, although they have opportunities to appear
before federal and state courts and administrative
agencies across the state. |
| Measuring
the effect: Working
for the Civil Rights Project often influences the career
choices made by students, many of whom say representing
real clients facing discrimination and civil rights
violations is a powerful experience. Some students go on
to take public interest jobs, but even those who go into
private practice credit the Civil Rights Project for
encouraging them to become active in pro bono work once
they pass the bar. |
| Quotable:
“An important goal of the Civil Rights Project is to
provide law students with experience in providing
high-quality legal services for low-income clients,
along with an understanding of public interest law that
can only be gained through direct involvement. It is our
hope that the experiences law students have while
participating in the Clinic will instill a commitment to
doing pro bono work or otherwise to contribute to public
interest law throughout their careers.”—Professor
Rovner
|
| Success
Story: A blind couple lived in a rural area in North Dakota that did not offer home mail delivery, and they faced significant obstacles traveling daily to the post office to retrieve their mail. Representing the couple, students in the clinic argued that the refusal of the United States Postal Service to grant an exemption (and provide home delivery to the couple) constituted a failure to reasonably accommodate them as required by federal disability rights law.
As a result of the Civil Rights Project’s advocacy, the United States Postal Service agreed to modify its policy on home delivery in rural areas in order to accommodate the needs of those who would otherwise not be able to benefit from available postal services. The policy change affected not only the two individuals who brought the case forward, but also other similarly situated people with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to benefit from the services of the post office.
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