Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others? ― Martin Luther King Jr.
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The Urban Morgan Institute for International Human Rights
Do you have a passion for global social justice? If so, we invite you to join students who come from around the country to be a part of the historic Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. Founded in 1979, the Urban Morgan Institute was the first endowed institute at an American law school devoted to international human rights law and has long been a world leader in legal education and human rights scholarship. If this is something that may be of interest to you, we encourage you to consider this unique opportunity. For almost four decades, the Urban Morgan Institute (UMI) has educated and trained human rights lawyers who promote and protect human rights in the international arena. Established at the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1979, the Institute now serves as a model for many other human rights programs. The Urban Morgan Institute offers many opportunities, both inside the classroom and beyond, for students who are interested in international law and human rights. At the core of the Institute’s success is the Human Rights Quarterly, recognized as the leading academic journal in the human rights field. The Quarterly covers the range of human rights issues encompassed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press, the Human Rights Quarterly is edited by Cincinnati Law students who are overseen by Professor Bert Lockwood, Editor-in-Chief and Director of the Institute.
experiences The Human Rights Quarterly journal is unique in the law school world because you can join the staff in your first year. Recently Google ranked HRQ second in the international law field, and Project Muse ranked HRQ sixth out of 636 academic journals in terms of downloads of articles. » UMI Externships Abroad — Students working on the Human Rights Quarterly may also choose to participate in our Summer Externship Program which provides placement opportunities in human rights organizations around the world. Cincinnati Law students have interned in places like Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Chile, China, Colombia, Ireland, India, Nepal, South Africa, Spain, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Uganda.
Founded in 1979, the Urban Morgan Institute was the first endowed institute at an American law school devoted to international human rights law and has long been a world leader in legal education and human rights scholarship.
» Urban Morgan Fellowships — Since the founding of the Urban Morgan Institute, Arthur Russell Morgan fellowships have been offered to a number of outstanding students who demonstrate a commitment to international human rights. Each year the Institute awards five fellowships to incoming first-years at the College of Law. The fellowships carry stipends for both the academic year and the summer externship placement after the first year of law school. » Co-Curriculars — Recently, UMI hosted “The Sir Nigel Rodley Human Rights Conference” that brought together important human rights advocates to pay tribute to the late Sir Nigel Rodley, one of the giants in the human rights field. The quality of the discussions of human rights issues was excellent, and UMI students played a pivotal role making our distinguished guests feel welcome in Cincinnati. UMI’s next major conference will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019. Through the course of the year, human rights activists and delegations from around the world participate in our Distinguished Visitors Program. The format typically includes a dinner conversation with human rights students, and these dinners often become some of the students’ most informative and memorable moments in law school.
The Ohio Innocence Project Overturning Wrongful Convictions
At Cincinnati Law we are looking for the best and brightest to tackle the complex social justice issues of our time. With your interest in Criminal Law, we wanted to bring to light Cincinnati Law’s Ohio Innocence Project – Ohio’s institute to bring justice to those who have been wrongfully convicted. If you are interested in criminal justice reform or becoming a Prosecutor or Public Defender, you are encouraged to consider this unique opportunity. The Ohio Innocence Project was founded in 2003. Harnessing the energy and intellect of law students as its driving force, the OIP seeks to identify inmates in Ohio prisons who are actually innocent of the crimes they were convicted of committing. Innocence is often determined by DNA testing, but can include other types of evidence such as new witnesses, new expert testimony, or evidence of police misconduct. Once an inmate’s innocence has been established through investigation, the OIP sends the case back to court and litigates in the hope of obtaining the inmate’s freedom. Innocence Projects across the country have freed more than 250 wrongfully convicted inmates to date. The Ohio Innocence Project to date has helped 27 individuals obtain their long-sought freedom.
Pictured: Ricky Jackson spent 39 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, which gives him a tragic distinction: in 2014, he set the record for the longest-serving person to be exonerated in U.S. history.
experiences The faculty and administration at the College have created a robust academic program with a wide range of opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom, for students with an interest in criminal law and social justice. » Criminal Law Elective Course Offerings — Advanced Problems in Constitutional Law: Contemporary Constitutional Challenges; Antitrust; Appellate Practice and Procedure; Civil Rights Litigation; Computer Crime Law; Counterterrorism Law; Criminal Defense: Investigation and Discovery; Criminal Procedure I; Criminal Procedure II; Crimmigration; Evidence; Federal Courts; Introduction to Law and Psychiatry; Negotiations; Trial Practice; and White Collar Crime
To date, Cincinnati Law’s Ohio Innocence Project has successfully exonerated 28 wrongfully convicted men and women, making it one of the most successful statewide Innocence Project’s in the nation.
» Fellowship Opportunities — The Ohio Innocence Project accepts around 20 students each year for a one-year fellowship. Typically, students serve as fellows during their second year of school. They begin by working full-time during the summer, and they receive a stipend for their work. In the following fall and spring semesters, they work part-time and complete the fellowship’s classroom component. OIP fellows gain a wealth of hands-on experience. Under the supervision of an attorney, they review inmates’ applications to determine if a given inmate is innocent and that innocence can be proven in court. Students examine case files and review public records, learning how to perform legal research in a very real setting. OIP fellows work directly with clients and potential clients, and they visit them in prison one or more times in the course of the fellowship. If a case comes to litigation, students handle the court filings and assist OIP attorneys in material ways. In the classroom component of the fellowship, students learn everything they need to know to perform their work for the OIP. They will also learn from OIP Director Mark Godsey about the causes of wrongful conviction and related issues in the US criminal justice system.
The Center for Race, Gender and Social Justice
The Center for Race, Gender, & Social Justice seeks to cultivate leaders, activists, and scholars committed to social change through the interdisciplinary and intersectional study of race, gender, class, and sexuality. If this is something that may be of interest to you, we encourage you to consider this unique opportunity.
The University of Cincinnati was the first in the nation to offer a JD/MA in Women’s and Gender Studies.
Substantive Courses — Civil Rights Litigation; Constitutional Law I; Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; Critical Race Theory; Family Law; Feminist Jurisprudence; Gender and the Law; and Law, Literature, and Gender; as well as Bankruptcy; Contracts; Payment Systems; Sales; and Secured Transactions. Social Justice Fellowships — Each year the Center selects a limited number of outstanding students annually as Social Justice Fellows. Their activities include research on current social justice issues, coursework that involves legal analysis through the intersecting lenses of race, gender, class, and sexuality, externships with local social justice organizations, and participation in activities that seek to cultivate social justice scholars, leaders, and activists.
experiences To accomplish its mission, the Center’s tools include coursework, research, and public interest work through four components. » Joint Degree Program in Law and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies — The first of its kind in the nation, the J.D./M.A. program gives students the opportunity to engage in a rigorous, interdisciplinary study of the law. At the College of Law, students take courses such as Feminist Jurisprudence; Gender and the Law; and Critical Race Theory. In the university’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department, students take courses such as Gender, Sexuality, and Public Policy; Third World Women; and Environmental Justice and Equality. Program students may also apply their coursework to “real world” problems by serving as externs at national feminist legal organizations such as Equality Now, a New York City based non-profit dedicated to ending violence against women and girls around the world. » Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order Clinic — Working in partnership with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, clinic students have represented over 1,600 survivors of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Our students also have advocated successfully for greater city funding to address the harms of domestic violence. » Freedom Center Journal — Students participating in this interdisciplinary journal gain valuable research and writing skills while examining the interconnected issues of gender, sexuality, race, and class. A joint, scholarly publication of the College of Law and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (located in Downtown Cincinnati), the Freedom Center Journal explores legacies of historic struggles for freedom in order to provide a better understanding of ongoing forms of subordination and to craft strategies for social change. » Legal Participatory Action Research Program — The Center engages with community stakeholders to identify legal issues and develop strategies to address them. Currently, two ongoing projects are focused on addressing predatory lending and domestic violence, one focused on public defense reform, and another working with highly-policed communities to define and implement policies that promote “public safety” as the community defines it.
Additional Social Justice Opportunities
Human Rights Quarterly The Human Rights Quarterly is recognized as the leading academic journal in the human rights field. With a worldwide audience, the Quarterly covers the range of matters encompassed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is edited by fellows of UC Law's Urban Morgan Institute. Immigration and Nationality Law Review The Immigration and Nationality Law Review is one of only two major student-edited American law journals focusing on the increasingly important field of immigration law. Second and third year law school students are responsible for coordinating the production of the journal. Freedom Center Journal The Freedom Center Journal is published jointly with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Edited and published annually by law students, the FCJ covers a diverse range of issues related to race, gender, sexuality, class, freedom, justice and law.
Celebrating a Social Justice Champion The Judge Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice
In November 2019, the College of Law renamed its Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice in honor and in memory of civil rights leader, activist, and retired judge Nathaniel R. Jones. Jones served as executive director of the Fair Employment Practices Commission before being named assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, the first African-American to hold the position. He went on to become general counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where he fought to defend desegregation and affirmative action. In 1979, then-President Jimmy Carter appointed Jones to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where he served as judge for over 22 years. He also played an important role in furthering the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. He consulted with drafters of South Africa’s new constitution and laws, conferred with Nelson Mandela upon Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years, and served as an observer during the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1993. In 2003, in recognition of his career as a jurist and civil rights leader, Congress passed H.J. Res. 2 naming the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and U.S. Court House in Youngstown, OH.
The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones. 1926―2020