Earl Carl Institute

EARL CARL INSTITUTE FOR LEGAL AND SOCIAL POLICY

The mission of the Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy (ECI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1992, is to empower underserved and disenfranchised communities by addressing systemic social issues through legal representation, research, education, and advocacy.

Current ECI Projects Focus On: v Criminal Justice Reforms v Youth Initiatives (including juvenile justice and education reforms) v Disproportionality and disparities impacting people of color v Property ownership and housing stability v Voting Rights and disenfranchisement efforts towards communities of color

ECI’s projects generally achieve the following outcomes: v Public Policy Initiatives v Community Education v Student Development

ECI is operated by full-time staff, attorneys, and Thurgood Marshall Law students. The Institute hires about 25 students per semester to work on their ongoing projects and research. Students gain hands-on experience while developing skills in research, writing, advocacy, leadership, and problem solving.

As an Earl Carl Institute (ECI) intern with the Opal Mitchell Lee Property Preservation Project (OMLPP), I continue to receive hands-on, professional training to ensure I am client-ready and practice-ready by graduation.

I’ve learned how to draft estate planning packets, motions, discovery requests and I’ve also performed intake meetings with potential clients.

The fundamental lawyering skills acquired as an ECI intern will prove instrumental as I begin my career.

Legal Representation:

ECI provides direct legal representation to members of the local community, many of whom are of low income and of minority populations through the following projects: Opal Mitchell Lee Property Preservation Project (OMLPPP)

The goal is to promote housing stability and to increase generational wealth through the prevention of land loss because of failure to plan estates, foreclosures, clouds on title to property/ land, and general inheritance issues and eviction defense to ensure housing stability. Juvenile Justice Project (JJP)

The JJP seeks to empower at-risk youth, provide holistic, client-centered representation, and offer solutions to legal and social problems that impede access to future achievement and success. ECI employs a holistic approach, by providing legal representation to children who are in multiple systems including the criminal justice system, disparate educational systems, the mental health system, and foster care system. Innocence Project

Helping the wrongfully convicted with exonerations by investing and litigating actual innocence claims. Actual innocence means that the crime never happened or that it happened but someone else committed it and there exists new evidence to prove innocence. Clean Slate Cooperative (CSC)

The Clean Slate Cooperative is a collaboration with the NAACP Houston Branch. The CSC locates and evaluates all criminal histories of the applicant and determines the available relief of either juvenile record sealing, expunctions, and nondisclosures for individuals who have barriers to such things as housing, employment, and education because of having a criminal record.

Education & Advocacy:

Focused on educating youth and spreading advocacy in the local community, ECI directs its efforts to projects such as:

Black Girls Initiative

Focused on addressing the harsher punishments black girls face in our public systems, this program promotes education and advocacy through establishing focus groups, writing publications, hosting roundtable discussions, and providing a mentorship program.

Street Law

Law students are trained to teach and empower youth through interactive education about law, democracy, and human rights with the hope that with this knowledge, juveniles will avoid entanglement in the juvenile justice system and will consider civic engagement to facilitate change in their communities.

Right2Justice Coalition (R2J)

R2J is a collective of local, statewide, and national organizations dedicated to a community-driven policy platform with the explicit goal of reforming the City of Houston and Harris County Criminal Justice Systems for both juveniles and adults. Members include ACLU of Texas, Anti-Defamation League, Earl Carl Institute of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law (ECI), Immigrant Resource Legal Center, Texas Advocates for Justice, Texas Appleseed, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Organizing Project, United We Dream, and Workers Defense Project. ECI is the lead on the Juvenile Justice Reform Platform and the Indigent Defense Platform.

Research

While research is imbedded in every ECI project, ECI also partners with other organizations on research initiatives and manages its own interdisciplinary journal.

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy Journal

This journal is an open-access, peer reviewed journal that serves as a unique repository of interdisciplinary articles that focus solely on legal and social policy issues that impact urban and minority communities.

Safe & Supportive Schools Program

ECI partners with four organizations to gather data, analysis, and research on policies and procedures to reduce suspensions and other disciplinary measures for children of color. Current partners are Texas Appleseed, Disability Rights Texas, One Houston, and Children’s Defense Fund Texas.

Student Involvement:

Second- and third-year law students are eligible to volunteer and/or be hired as student interns and research assistants with ECI. Applications are considered each semester. Students must have at least a 2.7 GPA to apply. If selected, students will be required to work a maximum of 10 hours a week during the fall and spring semesters and 20 hours a week during the summer.

Being a part of the ECI Team will: v Further your professional development v Develop your research and writing skills v Provide you with networking opportunities v Give you valuable hands-on legal experience