The University of Georgia School of Law is pleased to announce the creation of the Community Health Law Partnership Clinic Fund. The Thorpe family, which includes 2014 alumnus Benjamin W. “Ben” Thorpe and his mother Dr. Barbara Williams, has pledged $350,000 to enable the clinic to build on its tradition of interdisciplinary advocacy at the…
Community HeLP clinic student Alexandra Smolyar and two other UGA Law students receive Excellence in Access to Justice Award from the Georgia State Bar
Congratulations to third-year students J. Briana Hayes, Mia A. McKnight and Alexandra M. Smolyar for each receiving the Law School Student Excellence in Access to Justice Award from the State Bar of Georgia. This prestigious honor recognizes law students who have “excelled in participation in support of a civil pro bono or legal aid program”…
Community HeLP trains graduate students from Dept. of Counseling & Human Development on immigration remedies for domestic violence survivors
Caitlyn Watson, Carolina Mares and Joe Colley, all 2Ls in the Community HeLP Clinic at the University of Georgia School of Law, conducted a training in November for graduate students in La Clinica in Lak’Ech, a graduate…
Community HeLP continues efforts on behalf of immigrant women alleging abuse, retaliation while in ICE detention
The University of Georgia School of Law clinics’ faculty and students, including Jason A. Cade, Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning, and Kristen Shepherd, Community Health Law Partnership Clinic Staff Attorney of the Community HeLP Clinic, have continued their advocacy on behalf of women clients who are challenging the abuses they endured while in U.S. immigration…
Clinic Director Jason A. Cade publishes article on pardons and immigration with the UCLA Law Review
Clinic Director, Hosch Professor, and Associate Dean Jason A. Cade published “The Immigration Implications of Presidential Pot Pardons,” 70 UCLA L. Rev. Disc. 266 (2023). Here is the Abstract: This Essay examines the immigration implications of President Joe Biden’s Proclamation on October 6, 2022, pardoning most federal and D.C. offenders who committed the offense of…
Community HeLP Clinic successfully litigates on behalf of domestic violence survivors
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic successfully settled ALCEDO CIUDAD et al v. GARLAND et al., a lawsuit filed on behalf of two domestic violence survivors in 2023 against the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The complaint was primarily drafted by second-year students Alexandra Smolyar and Jake R. Shatzer under the supervision of…
Community HeLP obtains humanitarian parole for three clients in February
The Community HeLP clinic successfully obtained humanitarian parole for three clients in February. One case involved a client deported shortly after she experienced medical abuse in a Georgia detention center and tried to complain about her treatment. Another involved a child stranded in Jamaica when her mother died just before a visa petition filed by…
Following extensive advocacy by coalition including Community HeLP, U.S. Labor Secretary authorizes OSHA to issue U and T visa certifications, protecting noncitizen workers.
Community HeLP applauds the Department of Labor’s decision to delegate authority to OSHA to issue T and U Visa certifications for noncitizens subject to trafficking or other workplace crimes. Along with Sur Legal and many others, Community HeLP engaged in extensive efforts to bring about this development, including oral and written guidance provided by Clinic…
Court allows additional noncitizen clients of UGA law clinics to join medical-abuse-in-detention lawsuit; separate Senate investigative subcommittee makes key findings
On November 28, 2022, United States District Court Judge W. Louis Sands granted a contested motion filed by the First Amendment Clinic, the Community HeLP Clinic, and co-counsel to add two additional named plaintiffs to Oldaker v. Giles, a putative class action currently pending in the Middle District of Georgia. The lawsuit seeks redress for women who were subjected…
Community HeLP Clinic negotiates immigration benefits for gas leak survivors
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic has successfully negotiated for immigration benefits, including deferred action and employment authorization, from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for noncitizen workers who survived gas leaks while employed at a poultry processing plant. The clinic’s representation has included facilitating Department of Labor witness testimony as part of federal investigations into these matters, which…