The Honors College presents, as part of its 2019 John M. Rezendes Visitng Scholar in Ethics, a lecture by Sally Curran, Esq.
It is often said that the law can be used as a sword or a shield, but for public interest and pro bono lawyers the law is often used as a tool to help create social change. Working directly with the underrepresented and partnering with non-lawyer advocates, lawyers can be critical to challenging injustice in novel ways and can help clients emerge from cycles of poverty. While the 2018 Honors Read, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson focused on the injustices in the criminal justice system, Sally Curran (’02) will discuss the pitfalls of the broader civil legal system in which low-income Americans rarely receive adequate legal help in matters affecting basic necessities such as housing, employment, family matters, subsistence income, and so forth. Curran will discuss how this system disproportionately disadvantages communities of color, LGBT individuals, immigrants, victims of domestic violence and people in rural areas. She will also talk about the important role that lawyers can play in working with community advocates to increase access to justice and in creating social change.