The Southern University Law Center has been given the opportunity to establish the Hope Zone Legal Clinic in partnership with the Office of Community Development in East Baton Rouge Parish. The clinic will offer residents of the area legal assistance and address issues associated with vacant lots and abandoned properties that have been deemed to be attractors of criminal activity.
SULC students, under the supervision of a licensed Louisiana attorney, will staff the Clinic, dealing with issues pertaining to heirship and blighted and adjudicated properties in approximately four interconnected neighborhoods. Through this, SULC and the Office of Community Development hope to improve public health and safety through the reduction and prevention of chronic crime, while also preventing future crime.
“I’m very hopeful that the Office of Community Development and SULC will establish a long-term and sustainable relationship to eliminate blight in Baton Rouge,” said Interim Chancellor of SULC John Pierre.
Hope Zone Legal Clinic will also help to train residents on how to advocate for neighborhood changes related to code enforcement and nuisance abatement in their neighborhoods. It is anticipated that SULC will receive 44,000 dollars from the East Baton Rouge City-Parish government to establish the clinic, which will take place in 2016.
SULC is also working with the Peggy Browning Fund in their Southern Law Schools Collaborative Project. Southern is one of four HBCUs chosen to participate. The others included are: Texas Southern University Law School, North Carolina Central University School of Law and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College of Law.
The collaboration between the Law Center and PBF will allow for the creation of experience providing internships for law students throughout the southern United States.
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Southern University Law School makes great strides
September 1, 2015
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