School Notes: Yale Law School
March/April 2015

Professor joins White House task force

Tracey L. Meares, the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law, has been named by President Obama to a presidential task force aimed at strengthening community policing and trust among law enforcement and the public they serve. The Task Force on Twenty-First Century Policing will examine how to build trust and foster strong relationships between local law enforcement and the communities that they protect, while promoting effective crime reduction. The task force will prepare a report and recommendations to be presented to the president. Meares is one of the leading national theorists on police legitimacy and how racial narratives influence police relationships with minority communities, and how attention to these issues can influence community compliance with the law. Prior to coming to Yale Law School, Professor Meares was Max Pam Professor of Law and director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice at the University of Chicago Law School. Her research focuses on communities, police legitimacy, constitutional criminal procedure, and legal policy.

Law School clinic receives award

The South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut (SABAC) presented its 2014 Community Service Award to the Yale Law School Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC) on October 28 in Hartford. Students in WIRAC, which is overseen by deputy dean for experiential education and William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law Michael Wishnie ’87, ’93JD, represent immigrants, low-wage workers, and their organizations in labor, immigration, criminal justice, civil rights, and other matters. The clinic docket includes cases at all stages of legal proceedings in immigration court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, US District Court, the Second Circuit, and before Connecticut state agencies and courts. Its non-litigation work includes the representation of grassroots organizations, labor unions, and other groups in regulatory and legislative reform efforts, media advocacy, strategic planning, and other matters. The SABAC Community Service Award is presented annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to the protection of legal rights or the advancement of oppressed communities or individuals, or otherwise has engaged in significant public service efforts on behalf of those in need.