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National Board of Directors ----------------------------------
We greatly appreciate our outgoing 2009/10 Board Members whose leadership
has been an enormous boon to the entire organization.
Their endeavors have been many; their feats
have been magnificent.
President Ashley Gorski, J.D. - Harvard
Secretary Jina Dhillon, J.D. - UNC-Chapel Hill
C. Caleb Arring, J.D., L.L.M. - Golden Gate Univ.
Professor Kimberly Shayo Buchanan - Univ, of Southern California
Thank you!
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Any gift you can give will be greatly appreciated and wisely invested. It only takes a few minutes to make your tax-exempt donation through our secure systems.
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Dear LSRJ activists, alumni, allies, and amici:
They say Spring is a time of new beginnings, and that has certainly been the case for LSRJ this season. We have welcomed hundreds of new members, a new class of alums, two new staff members, a new group of Regional Coordinators, a groundbreaking new fellowship program, and - as of June 1 - a new office!
Please read on to learn more, and join the effort to foster future legal experts for the RJ movement.
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Congratulations to the 2010 Sarah Weddington Writing Prize Winners
Please join us in congratulating the winners of the Sarah Weddington Writing
Prize for New Scholarship in 2010:FIRST PLACE: Hilary P. Hammell, J.D. Candidate (University of
Washington School of Law, Class of 2012) for "Is the Right to Health a Necessary Precondition for Gender Equality?" (PDF)
� SECOND PLACE: Sara Wilkinson, J.D. Candidate (University of
Minnesota Law School, Class of 201o) for "Redefining 'Life' in the Mexican Abortion Debate" (PDF)
� THIRD PLACE: Heidi Bramson, J.D. and MPH Candidate (Rutgers
School of Law, Class of 2011) for "Gender-Rating in the United States Health Insurance Industry: A Human Rights Violation" (PDF)This year, LSRJ worked with the Center for Reproductive Rights Law School Initiative to decide on the theme of "Reproductive Rights as Human
Rights." This collaboration enabled us to reflect on the merging of the human
rights framework with the reproductive justice movement.
The first place
submission will be published in the Fall 2010 symposium issue on reproductive
justice in NYU's Review of Law and Social
Change. In addition, first-, second-, and third-place authors have won $750,
$500, and $250 prizes respectively.
A big,
heartfelt thank you to the Center, RLSC, and the writing
prize judges for helping give student scholarship a voice!
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New Course Campaign Victories
LSRJ members across the country have been busy advocating for opportunities to study reproductive rights law and justice formally as part of their law schools' curriculum: -- The University of the District of Columbia chapter secured approval for a Reproductive Rights Law & Justice seminar, to be taught for the first time during the Summer 2010 terms by the National Women's Law Center's Jill Morrison.
-- The University of Texas-Austin chapter is also celebrating a new reproductive justice seminar, which will be taught by Professor Zipporah Wiseman during the 2010-11 school year.
-- The University of Washington chapter is celebrating not one, but two, victories this spring, having recently secured approval for a Reproductive Rights and Justice course, as well as a Feminist Jurisprudence course.
-- LSRJ members at University of California-Berkeley are celebrating the return of Professor Kristin Luker's course, The Future of Reproductive Rights: Doctrine and Discourse, last taught in 2005!
LSRJ is proud to celebrate these recent victories and to continue supporting new course advocacy through the LSRJ Course Campaign Working Group! For more details about the CCWG, contact Curriculum & Training Coordinator Mariko Miki ( [email protected]). |
Cari Sietstra Award for Excellence in Organizing
LSRJ is pleased to honor Joe Austen, Vice President of the University of Iowa LSRJ chapter, with this year's Cari Sietstra Award for Excellence in Organizing. Throughout his involvement with LSRJ -- from a new 1L member, to Vice-President, to Regional Coordinator -- Joe has worked hard to grow and strengthen the University of Iowa chapter. His nominator described extensively how Joe has been "instrumental, as a friendly, informed, passionate pro-RJ voice, in [the] recruitment of 30 new members." In addition to finding creative ways to advance reproductive justice within the law school community and find common cause with other student groups advocating for human and civil rights, Joe has also worked to make change beyond the law school doors, taking action against a local Crisis Pregnancy Center and organizing a student contingent to travel to South Dakota in 2008 to help defeat the proposed abortion ban.
Joe's colleagues at the University of Iowa describe him as "the first to volunteer to do any task, the first to reach out to our members, to host LSRJ social events at his house, and just in general to foster a real sense of family between our active membership."
Congratulations, Joe! Thank you for your ongoing commitment to ensuring reproductive justice for all people.
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Regional Conferences a Success!
Thanks to the creation of the new South Region, this winter and spring saw an unprecedented *five* Regional Conferences! The West Region kicked us off with a day-long conference on Reproductive Justice and LGBT Rights at UCLA School of Law on January 31st. Over 30 Northeast chapter members spent their Presidents' Day weekend in New York City for a jam-packed event, The New War on Reproductive Justice: The Changing Tactics of the Anti-Choice Movement at New York Law School on February 13th. Southern activists gathered at Georgia State University School of Law on February 27th for a riveting day of programming, At the Intersection of Immigrant Rights & Reproductive Justice, which ended with a celebration of the new South Region! LSRJ members in the Mid-Atlantic Region who gathered on March 20th for Exploring the Reproductive Justice Dimensions of Health Care had the unexpected benefit of hearing from RJ experts in real-time about the health care legislation that passed the very next day! And finally, our Midwest members rounded out the regional conference season with the fascinating Underrepresented Voices: Ensuring Reproductive Justice For All on March 27th at the University of Iowa College of Law. LSRJ congratulates our new Regional Coordinators, who will be responsible for planning next year's regional conferences in all five regions: WEST: Rachel Metelits (2L, University of Arizona) and Sarah Clarke (1L, Thomas Jefferson School of Law) NORTHEAST: Jessica Wilkerson (1L, Vermont Law School) and Stephanie Young (2L, Harvard Law School)
SOUTH: Kristen Young (2L, University of Houston) and Jena Jolissaint (1L, Georgia State)
MID-ATLANTIC: Lauren Wallace (2L, Univeristy of the District of Colubmia)
MIDWEST: Laura Buchs (2L, University of Wisconsin)
Once again, we thank our outgoing Regional Coordinators for bringing us thought-provoking, engaging, and inspiring RJ programming at this year's regional conferences -- and we look forward to seeing what's in store for 2011! |
Featured Chapter - University of Wisconsin
Please join us in celebrating the work of the University of Wisconsin LSRJ chapter! Several chapter leaders are pictured above during the Pro-Faith, Pro-choice, Proclaim! Easy-Event-in-an-Envelope created by the LSRJ national office in partnership with Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom (SYRF), front row: Jayme Durkee, Laura Buchs; back row: Susan Lund, Kristy Watson, & Chris
Holoyda with guests. This year, UWLSRJ has doubled its membership, increased its presence on campus, and successfully fostered new partnerships with Wisconsin-area RJ organizations. Under the leadership of President Laura Buchs, UWLSRJ is now a member of the Dane County Coalition for Women's Health, an executive board member of the Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, works with Dane County's NOW Chapter, and is an official sponsor of the Healthy Youth Act. In addition, they still find time to send out a weekly newsletter to their members, keeping them informed on national LSRJ events and local RJ-related issues. UWLSRJ was named the winner of the National Institute for Reproductive Health's (through NARAL Pro-Choice New York) "Back Up Your Birth Control," a national campaign to expand access to emergency contraception through education. The chapter will be featured on the campaign's website!
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Reproductive Rights Law & Justice Trainings & Networking Lunch Series
This
June, LSRJ is hosting summer intern trainings on Reproductive Rights Law
& Justice in New York, San Francisco Bay
Area, and Washington D.C. Any law student with an interest in
reproductive rights and justice is
welcome. You don't have to be a member of LSRJ or an intern at a
reproductive health/rights/justice organization to join the fun. So
spread the word far and wide! These day-long intensive
trainings
presents a unique opportunity to 1) get the scoop on cutting-edge issues
in reproductive justice; 2) meet other RJ-loving law students interning
in the Bay this summer; and 3) network with leading reproductive rights
and justice advocates. The
trainings will feature interactive workshops and panel discussions on a
range of reproductive justice issues such as health care reform,
assisted reproductive technology, campus organizing, rights of pregnant
women, and recent state
bills restricting abortion access. And, it's completely FREE! NYC:(co-sponsored with the ACLU
Reproductive Freedom Project) Wednesday, June 2, 2010 Included:
Lunch and happy hour drinks Register HereSF Bay Area: Monday, June 7, 2010 Included:
Breakfast, lunch and happy hour drinks Register HereWashington D.C.:(co-sponsored with the National
Women's Law Center) Friday, June 11, 2010 Included: Breakfast,
lunch and happy hour drinks Register Here 2010 Summer Networking Lunch Series:Chow
down with other RJ-loving interns while you learn about cutting-edge
reproductive justices issue from an advocate on the front lines! LSRJ is organizing the Summer Networking Lunch Series, where we connect summer
interns and speakers from the leading reproductive rights and justice
organizations. The lunches will take place from mid-June through the
beginning of August in the SF Bay Area, New York City, and Washington
D.C. Please stay tuned for the schedule of guest
speakers and participating organizations! |
2010 Leadership Institute REGISTER TODAY Because Justice Doesn't Just Happen
The third annual Leadership Institute is scheduled for July 30-August 1 in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University Law School.
The Leadership Institute (LI) is LSRJ's major annual gathering of
members from across the U.S. and Canada for two jam-packed days of
leadership training, skills-building workshops, and presentations by
leading RJ experts. It's a valuable opportunity to meet and network
with LSRJ members from all over, to gather exciting ideas for your
chapter, and to build community -- not to mention have a blast with
fellow advocates and activists in the nation's capitol!
Click here to register for the LI! |
Repo(ssess) Repro(ductive Justice): Bringing Rights within Reach
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New Faces in the National Office
(Pictured L to R: Jill Adams, Sabrina Andrus, Liz Kukura, Mariko Miki)
Please join us in welcoming two LSRJ alumnae and new staff members to the Oakland office! Sabrina Andrus (Seattle University School of Law '08) is the
Membership & Mobilization Coordinator
and will focus her work on supporting and training LSRJ chapters and leaders,
engaging LSRJ alums, and coordinating the annual Leadership Institute and
Regional Conferences. Both Mariko and Sabrina were heavily involved with LSRJ
as law students and they are thrilled to be back working with such an incredibly
passionate group of advocates for reproductive justice!
Mariko
Miki (Harvard Law School '06) is the Curriculum & Training Coordinator and will be
providing vision, direction, and evaluation for multi-faceted projects in the
areas of curriculum enrichment and professional training. She will also be
recruiting, training, and supervising interns and the Legal Fellow. Mariko can be reached at [email protected] and
510.622.8136, and Sabrina can be reached at [email protected] and
510.622.8134. |
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With sincerity and in solidarity,
Law Students for Reproductive Justice
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