CEPS CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
1 CAMPAIGNS Environmental Justice Clinic
8 EVENTS A Look Back
6 REFLECTIONS 10 UPDATES Students’ Perspectives
Faculty & Staff Updates
Volume 16: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT
DUNBAR, FT. MYERS
Imagine growing up during the 1970’s in a fairly typical suburban neighborhood. Houses line gridded
Photo by Andrea Melendez/The News-Press (L-R) 2L students Lauren Oswald and Abigail Fleming speaking with a Dunbar Community Member
streets. Neighbors know each other. In the middle of the neighborhood is open land without houses. It is unfenced and ungated. Trees and grass grow on the open space. Water creates pools that are an Continued on Page 2
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CEPS Campaigns
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT COVER STORY continued
Photo by Dante Nugroho/EJC Intern Dunbar Sludge Site fenced and signposted after New-Press breaks story of contamination
unusually beautiful color of aquamarine. The soil is an orange color and is so soft children easily sink down into it and lose their shoes. You and your friends spend the day playing, going on adventures, rescuing each other from the quicksand, and sliding down the orange mudslide. When you come home you are covered in orange mud, happy and exhausted from your adventures. Fast forward to 2017. You still live in the same neighborhood and now have kids of your own. The land is still open, and the neighborhood kids still use it for play and adventures. A local journalist uncovers that this very land was a site used to dump lime sludge waste from the town’s wastewater treatment plant beginning in the 1960s and continuing for at least a decade. That lime sludge waste contained arsenic. Your family used well water as drinking water up until the mid-1980s when the neighborhood was finally hooked up to the City’s water system. You know that some people may still use wells on their properties. Your city, the City of Fort Myers, tested the soil and groundwater on the property in 2007 and 2008, found elevated levels of arsenic, and never told you. You are angry and scared for your health and the health of your family. This is the story of Dunbar, a predominantly African American community located east of downtown Fort Myers, Florida. Although the lime sludge had contaminated the property for decades, it seems that the City only tested the site in 2007 and that those results did reveal arsenic contamination in the soil. Concerns over those results precipitated testing of the groundwater in 2008 which revealed elevated levels of arsenic according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water standards. The State of Florida asked the City to remediate the land. Yet, the City never remediated the land, nor did City officials post a sign or erect a fence around the dump site. Not once did the City warn the residents of Dunbar, or the public more generally, about the detrimental health effects of arsenic found in soil, which include, among other things, an increased risk of developing cancer. It was not until a journalist broke the story of the contaminated land sitting openly in the heart of the Dunbar community that its 2 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW Volume 16: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
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DUNBAR, FT. MYERS
past and present residents learned of what was buried on this land and that they may have been exposed to cancer-causing arsenic over the years. Once they learned of potential health risks, community members invited the University of Miami’s Environmental Justice Clinic (“EJC”) to Fort Myers. They had heard about the EJC’s similar work with a contamination site in Miami caused by Old Smokey, an incinerator operated by the City of Miami in a predominantly African American community for nearly half a century. A team of EJC students visited Dunbar in 2017 to interview community members, activists, organizers, commissioners, and public officials. During the EJC’s first visit, Clinic students went door to door. Abigail Fleming, an EJC Fellow who was part of that initial on-the-ground team, observed, “The community was engaged. They seemed horrified about what they had seen on the news. Everyone was willing to speak and share their story.” As word spread, a litigation team consisting of Florida attorney Ralf Brookes and North Carolina attorneys Gary Davis and Jamie Whitlock, stepped up to represent the community. Since the summer of 2017, the EJC has continued its work supporting the community. This work, in partnership with the Brooks-Davis-Whitlock litigation team, has included legal research and fact investigation, coordinating a November 2017 community meeting, assisting community members in launching a local steering committee named Dunbar Connect, and consulting with community members. “The creation of the steering committee was integral for us to ensure the community’s needs, wants, and voices are always being heard and at the forefront of our actions,” EJC Intern Andreá Ezell observed. The students have done all this while dealing with the logistical obstacle of Fort Myers being almost three hours away from the University of Miami. “Despite these challenges,” EJC Fellow Abigail Fleming explained, “engaging with the community of Dunbar encourages me and helps me continue to grow as an advocate.” In March of 2018, the Brooks-Davis-Whitlock litigation team, with the support of the EJC, filed a class action complaint
Photo by Kinfay Moroti/The News-Press Dunbar Sludge Site
against the City of Fort Myers, Mayor Randall P. Henderson, Jr., and City Manager Saeed Kazemi in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The complaint alleges that Fort Myers, the Mayor, and the City Manager violated both federal and state laws. The community is asking the court for an order requiring the removal and cleanup of contaminated soils and groundwater from the City’s property, as well as from surrounding private properties that were contaminated by the City’s actions. The suit also seeks compensation for real property damage, loss of use and enjoyment of property, diminution in property value, and for annoyance, discomfort, and inconvenience. “It was really time-consuming and challenging to research such a variety of claims,” remarked Ezell, “but knowing we are helping a group of people that would otherwise have no voice makes it all worth it.” In addition, the complaint requests that the court establish a medical monitoring program for early detection and mitigation of diseases associated with the community’s exposure to dangerous substances. “The program will not only give health care access to a much-deserving community, but provide peace of mind to those exposed,” added Abigail Fleming, EJC Fellow.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
MORE CAMPAIGNS Old Smokey Cleanup Campaign The Old Smokey Cleanup campaign harnesses legal advocacy and grassroots organizing to ensure the environmental cleanup of municipal parks contaminated by hazardous waste from the City of Miami’s now shuttered West Grove incinerator (i.e., Old Smokey). In 2017, an EJC-cooperating litigation team filed a state class action lawsuit against the City of Miami and the engineering firm contracted to perform site assessment, environmental reporting, sampling and remediation on behalf of past and present residents of the West Grove. The community seeks damages and the medical monitoring of the health of residents exposed to contamination. n
West Grove Trolley Garage Campaign
Photo by Dante Nugroho/EJC Intern EJC Fellow, Abigail Fleming, presents at a Dunbar Community Meeting
The EJC’s work in communities such as Dunbar addresses incredibly important issues of health and equity, amplifying the voices of communities that have been continuously ignored. However, without the community support, none of this would be possible. EJC Intern Dante Nugroho commented: “I have never doubted that the Dunbar community can be an example for other similar cases. A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can trigger change. Solutions to one problem can be a solution for all.” The case also provides unique and important opportunities for law students. “Working in the Dunbar community has been the most rewarding experience of my professional career,” mentioned Fleming, who came to law school after beginning her career in education. “I have learned more about the law, communities, and myself than any other experience that I have had.” n
The West Grove Trolley Garage campaign halted the placement of a City of Coral Gables municipal bus depot in a northern residential enclave of the West Grove. The campaign integrated federal administrative agency advocacy, state court litigation, and the mobilization of homeowners and churches to protest the inequitable siting of the industrial facility which would have caused the environmental segregation of the risks posed to public health and safety. n
Climate Justice The EJC works to ensure that South Florida seizes the opportunity to create a healthy and equitable society by addressing issues of climate justice. The EJC participates in the Resilient Greater Miami & the Beaches’ Robust Recovery—PREPlanning for POSTRecovery Working Group and is working to expand both environmental advocacy and public understanding of climate justice in Miami. n
CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE 3 Volume 16: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
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CEPS PROGRAMS Historic Black Church Program The Historic Black Church Program provides rights education, interdisciplinary research, and public policy resources to low- and moderate-income communities in partnership with more than 60 inner-city, faith-based and nonprofit groups in South Florida.
Environmental Justice Clinic The Environmental Justice Clinic provides advocacy and transactional assistance to low- and moderate-income communities by conducting fact investigations, coordinating interdisciplinary research, studying public policy, and mounting law reform campaigns in the contexts of both the built (e.g., housing, land use, and transportation) and natural (e.g., air, water, land resources, habitat, biodiversity, climate change, and human health and safety) environment across the fields of civil rights, poverty, public health, and environmental law. Clinic faculty and students collaborate with the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science & Policy, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the School of Medicine’s Graduate Program in Public Health, local, regional, and national civil rights and environmental groups, and South Florida nonprofit organizations and neighborhood associations.
Social Enterprise Clinic (not offered in 2017-2018)
The Social Enterprise Clinic provides education and training in the start-up and governance of nonprofit organizations and for-profit benefit and social purpose corporations.
Legal Profession Roundtables The Legal Profession Roundtables present legal ethics and professionalism colloquia on the legal services industry (e.g., for-profit, nonprofit, government, and inhouse) and related ancillary industries (e.g., accounting, banking, and insurance) in collaboration with leading local, state, national, and international members of the academic, bar, and bench communities.
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Environmental justice activists seek to ensure all members of society have a safe and healthy environment to live, work, learn, play, and thrive regardless of race, class, ethnicity, and income. The displacement of low-
and moderate-income communities of color as a result of historic discrimination and municipal practices is one of the most pressing environmental justice issues affecting Miami and cities all over the nation. The Environmental Justice Clinic’s Housing Justice team is investigating whether local government land use policies and practices have had and/or will have a disproportionately adverse effect on low-income communities of color, most notably through the eviction and displacement of residents from their neighborhoods and their eventual re-segregation outside the City of Miami as a consequence of municipal action. The local government policies at the heart of the Clinic’s investigation involve zoning changes, large-scale development projects, and demolitions. The Clinic initiated this research in 2015 following reports that the owner of eight Day Avenue rental properties, located in Coconut Grove, had threatened to evict tenants in anticipation of upzoning the properties and converting them from residential to commercial use. Coconut Grove was founded in 1873 and was the first black settlement in South Florida. Much of the Clinic’s data and analysis is focused on Coconut Grove Village West (“West Grove”), the historic Bahamian and African American community that is rapidly gentrifying. Under the guidance of the supervising attorneys at the Clinic, returning Fellows, Ellen Degnan and Jenny Ledig, continued the housing justice work they started as second-year law student Interns in the Clinic. The team researched and investigated how to apply the Fair Housing Act to increasingly prevalent housing practices that seem to disproportionally affect low-income communities of color. These practices, especially the displacement of low-income minority communities from integrating urban neighborhoods to hyper-segregated neighborhoods, and the increasing suburbanization of poverty, violate the purpose and intent of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The Housing Justice team has been in contact with leading Fair Housing Act practitioners and academics across the nation to
Campaigns CEPS
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
MORE CAMPAIGNS East Gables Trolley Access Campaign HOUSING JUSTICE AND DISPLACEMENT MORATORIUM CAMPAIGN
The East Gables Trolley Access campaign helped to obtain municipal trolley service for residents of the historically segregated MacFarlane Homestead Subdivision and the Golden Gates District of Coral Gables by organizing community education workshops and mobilizing homeowners and tenants to demand transportation equity within local administrative and legislative forums. n
Day Avenue 8 Fair Housing Campaign
Community members and EJC Interns and Fellows go door-to-door in the West Grove to conduct a legal needs assessment
consider how recent caselaw, such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Texas Dep’t of Hous. & Cmty. Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 2507 (2015), could impact the work the Clinic is doing and which strategies will be most effective in remedying displacement and segregation.. In addition to conducting fact investigation and legal research, the Housing Justice team has worked with community partners to conduct a large survey of the West Grove to better understand the legal needs of the communities regarding tenants’ housing conditions and the practices of landlords and government agencies. Canvassing has produced a more complete picture of rental practices and the deplorable conditions for tenants in the West Grove, which informs the strategies the Clinic is pursuing to combat the threat of widespread displacement. Canvassing has also aided in community legal rights education. Graduating Fellows, Ellen and Jenny, expressed that their Clinic work has been “incredibly rewarding,” and they “look forward to embarking on careers of public service following graduation and know the Clinic will continue to fight for housing justice in the West Grove and throughout Miami with the next group of Clinic Interns and Fellows.” n
The Day Avenue 8 Fair Housing Campaign incorporates local administrative and legislative advocacy and homeowner, tenant, and church organizing to challenge the eviction and demolition of eight residential apartment buildings on Day Avenue in the West Grove. The Campaign seeks to negotiate broader, alternative low-income and affordable housing opportunities for West Grove residents. n
Community Rights Education Workshops Community rights education workshops are part of the HBCP’s and EJC’s shared strategy to empower communities. In collaboration with community partners such as the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance, Grove United Environmental Health Coalition, and the Collective Empowerment Group, the Clinic has both researched and organized workshops on topics of municipal equity including community economic development, neighborhood conservation, Florida Landlord-Tenant Law, environmental health, and public resource allocation. n
CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE 5 Volume 16: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
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Environmental Justice Clinic
Adrienne Harreveld
“THE CLINIC HAS PREPARED ME TO BECOME DEEPLY FAMILIAR WITH A TOPIC QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY.
Civil rights law is unique because it touches all aspects of society and the law. It covers everything from contract law, tort law, constitutional law, to transactions, community organizing, policy, and health. I have looked at 2L Intern big picture due process claims, equal protection claims, state zoning law, the state constitution, county ordinances, zoning common law, and drafted policy recommendations. I know that once I graduate and work to represent marginalized communities, that work will require this same skill-set. I am very grateful to have been exposed to this sort of creative and challenging work so early in my legal career.”
Jennifer Ledig
“MY TIME WITH THE CLINIC HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING ASPECTS OF LAW SCHOOL… and has reinforced that I want to pursue a career in public service. The invaluable experience I have gained in the clinic will definitely inform my future work as a lawyer.”
3L Fellow
Steven Hollis
“THROUGH THE CLINIC, I LEARNED HOW TO WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH LONGSTANDING COMMUNITY CHURCHES, ACTIVISTS, AND CONCERNED RESIDENTS…
in developing legal rights education workshops for their resilient communities. Some of my first legal writing samples came out of the work that I completed through the Clinic, and it is important to highlight that the one-on-one feedback that I was given by Professor Alfieri, as well as my supervising attorneys Professor Natalie Barefoot and Daniela Tagtachian, was instrumental in helping to develop my legal memoranda drafting skills. The Clinic is constantly finding ways to blend interdisciplinary issues of public health, civil rights, poverty law, and environmental protection not only in developing course curriculum, but also in researching legal solutions for our clients. My Clinic experience has challenged me to dispense with cut-and-dry answers to solving legal problems for clients, which has led me to realize that the gravity of our work is truly cutting-edge.” 2L Intern
Dan Pollitt
“THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CLINIC HAS AFFORDED ME THE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY OF EXPLORING THE BURGEONING FIELD OF COMMUNITY LAWYERING.
As a legal intern, I work at the intersection of land use and zoning, housing, poverty, civil rights, local government, and environmental law. Working in the Clinic has been a fascinating experience that helped me feel connected to the people of Miami-Dade County and solidified my interest in becoming a civil rights attorney.”
2L Intern
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CENTER AWARDS
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Jennifer Ledig, 3L Fellow Environmental Justice Clinic 2018 MIAMI COALITION OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS SILVER MEDALLION AWARD Alison Kasney, Interdisciplinary Intern Environmental Justice Clinic 2018 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Ellen Degnan, 2L Intern Environmental Justice Clinic 2017 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Brittany Thomas, 2L Intern 2017 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Stephanie Rosendorf, 3L Fellow Environmental Justice Clinic 2016 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Brittany Ford, 3L Fellow Historic Black Church Program 2015 G.W. CARVER HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION COMMUNITY RECOGNITION AWARD Historic Black Church Program 2014 MIAMI NEW TIMES “MIAMI PEOPLE 2014” Professor Anthony V. Alfieri 2014 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD Oral History Project Historic Black Church Program 2012 THE MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE OF COCONUT GROVE BLACK CHURCHES APPRECIATION AWARD Historic Black Church Program 2011
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD Community Economic Development & Design Program 2007 ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW SCHOOLS WILLIAM PINCUS AWARD 2007 ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW SCHOOLS FATHER ROBERT DRINAN AWARD 2007 ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN LAW SCHOOLS GARY BELLOW SCHOLAR AWARD 2004-2005 NATIONAL LEADERSHIP HONOR SOCIETY OMICRON DELTA KAPPA AWARD 2002 MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMISSION ON ETHICS & PUBLIC TRUST ARETE AWARD 2001 THE FLORIDA BAR SEVENTH ANNUAL PROFESSIONALISM AWARD 2000 FLORIDA SUPREME COURT FACULTY PROFESSIONALISM AWARD 1999 AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION E. SMYTHE GAMBRELL PROFESSIONALISM AWARD 1998
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORK OF SOME OF OUR AMAZING STUDENTS
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Daniel Hales, 3L Fellow Environmental Justice Clinic 2018
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW INNOVATIVE SERVICE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AWARD Historic Black Church Program 2009
NEWS AND NOTES
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF LAW EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THE POOR AWARD Kiana Courtney, 3L Fellow Environmental Justice Clinic 2018
Ellen Degnan, Miami Law 3L, Environmental Justice Clinic William M. Hoeveler Fellow will join to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama after graduation. Kiana Courtney, Miami Law 3L, Environment Justice Clinic David P. Catsman Fellow will head to a fellowship at the Chicago Environmental Law and Policy Center. Steven Hollis, Miami Law 2L, is interning with Justice Barbara Pariente at the Florida Supreme Court this summer.
CENTER CENTER FOR FOR ETHICS ETHICS & PUBLIC & PUBLIC SERVICE SERVICE 7 7 Volume Volume 16:16: FallFall 2017 2017 – Spring – Spring 2018 2018
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2017 – 2018
EVENTS
1—Spring Reception 2016-2018 (l-r) graduating fellows and interns Kiana Courtney, Daniel Hales, Alley Kasney, Michelle Perez, Jennifer Ledig, Brittany Thomas, Ellen Degnan, Carly Starkey, Carli Raben 2—Spring Reception (l-r) Natalie Barefoot, Ebonie Carter 3—Spring Reception (l-r) Carli Raben, Daniel Hales 4—Spring Reception (l-r) Tony Alfieri, Natalie Barefoot, Brittany Thomas, Carli Raben, Michelle Perez, Jennifer Ledig, Alley Kasney, Ellen Degnan, Kiana Courtney, Daniela Tagtachian
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CEPS Spring Reception The Center held its annual spring reception to honor the achievements of the 2016-2018 graduating Fellows and Interns in the Historic Black Church Program and the Environmental Justice Clinic. n
Events CEPS
Lawyers in Leadership Award The Lawyers in Leadership Award honors outstanding members of the bar and bench distinguished by their dedication to ethics and civic leadership. In 2017, CEPS honored Monica Vigues-Pitan, the new Executive Director for Legal Services of Greater Miami (LSGMI). A native of Miami and a 2003 graduate of Miami Law, Ms. Vigues-Pitan has worked at LSGMI since her graduation. As Advocacy Director of the Health and Income Maintenance Unit, she supervised and managed a team of attorneys and paralegals working on projects serving the homeless, disabled children, HIV positive, re-entering prisoners, veterans, and disabled populations. n
5—2017 Lawyers in Leadership Award Lunch (l-r) Jennifer Ledig, Carly Starkey, Catalina Rodriguez, Daniel Hales, Sydney Thurman-Baldwin, Andrea Ezell, Kiana Courtney, Adrienne Harreveld, Daniel Pollitt, Abigail Fleming, Steven Hollis, Monica Vigues-Pitan, Natalie Barefoot 6—2017 Lawyers in Leadership Award Lunch (l-r) Tony Alfieri, Steven Hollis, Monica Vigues-Pitan, Andra Ezell, Sydney Thurman-Baldwin 7—2017 William M. Hoeveler Award Lunch (l-r) Natalie Barefoot, Alan Farago, VP Conservation, Friends of the Everglades 8—2017 William M. Hoeveler Award Lunch (l-r) Tony Alfieri, Alan Farago, Vice President of Conservation, Friends of the Everglades
William M. Hoeveler Award The William M. Hoeveler Award honors extraordinary organizations and members of the bar and bench distinguished by their long-standing dedication to ethics and public service. In 2017, CEPS honored Friends of the Everglades with the 16th annual William M. Hoeveler Award. Friends of the Everglades was founded in 1969 by renowned journalist, author, and environmental activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas. The mission of Friends of the Everglades is to preserve, protect, and restore the only everglades in the world. n CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE 9 Volume 16: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
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Faculty & Staff Updates Anthony V. Alfieri
Lauren Madigan
Professor Alfieri’s scholarship in the fields of civil rights and poverty law continues through several new articles and essays—”Things Fall Apart: Hard Choices in Public Interest Law,” 31 Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics (forthcoming 2018); “Inner-City Anti-Poverty Campaigns,” 64 UCLA Law Review 1374 (2017); and “Black, Poor, and Gone: Civil Rights Law’s Inner-City Crisis” (work in progress). In addition to teaching Civil Procedure and the Environmental Justice Clinic, Professor Alfieri continues to serve as a board member of the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance and the St. Paul Community Development Corporation.
Lauren Madigan joins the EJC as Senior Program Manager after spending six years managing the LawWithoutWalls program at Miami Law. Lauren’s background includes work in the IT departments of three large law firms in Los Angeles. Lauren graduated from Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., with a Bachelor’s degree in Drama and Speech. She also studied design at the University of California, Los Angeles and is a certified DISC trainer. Lauren was a member of the Junior League of Baltimore, where she served as Chairwoman of the Parental Engagement Program. Lauren is responsible for coordinating and managing programs and projects that support the EJC’s vision and mission.
Natalie Barefoot Natalie Barefoot joins as the EJC’s Associate Director and Lecturer in Law. Natalie brings with her a range of experience including Executive Director of Cet Law, which works to further the protection of cetaceans and their ocean habitats; Programme Officer with the United Nations Environment Programme based in Geneva, Switzerland; Attorney-at-Law with Hogan Lovells US LLP; and prior to her legal career, as Financial Specialist/Program Manager with Pact, Inc., based in Washington, DC and Harare, Zimbabwe. Natalie is a Member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law.
Ebonie Carter Ebonie Carter has been with the Center for Ethics & Public Service for the past 8 years as the Center’s Administrative Assistant. She came to us from Foley & Larder serving as their Lead Customer Service Associate. Ebonie is hands on with much of the day-to-day operations of the Center and is closely involved with our Fellows and Interns, assisting and guiding them throughout their time with the Center.
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Daniela Tagtachian Thanks to a generous grant from the Mysun Charitable Foundation, the EJC welcomed Daniela Tagtachian as its inaugural Mysun Foundation Fellow and Lecturer in Law. Daniela is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan Law School. Before law school, Daniela served as the Legal Researcher for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. During law school, Daniela interned for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Women’s Rights and Gender Section in Geneva. After law school, Daniela received a fellowship to work with the Slave Labor and Human Trafficking Clinic at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. Upon returning to the United States, she joined Hogan Lovells US LLP as a Litigation and International Arbitration Associate. Recently, Daniela was recognized with the Dr. King Drum Major Award from PUSH for Excellence, a nonprofit organization founded in 1975 by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. in Chicago, Illinois.
Cindy McKenzie retired as CEPS
Program Manager in 2017 after fourteen years of leadership. Please join us in extending best wishes to Cindy. We’ll see her around town on her Harley!
MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER Welcome to the 2017-2018 academic year at the Center for Ethics and Public Service! Thanks to the generous support of long-standing Friends of the Center, this year we are joined by Natalie Barefoot as Associate Director of the Environmental Justice Clinic, Daniela Tagtachian as the inaugural Mysun Foundation Fellow, and Lauren Madigan as Senior Program Manager. Together Natalie, Daniela, and Lauren have strengthened and inspired a new generation of law school and university interns and fellows in this our twenty-second year of service to the campus and the Florida community.
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Today the Center’s continuing work in ethics and public service encompasses bar and bench training programs through our Legal Profession Roundtables as well as civic and community engagement programs through our Historic Black Church Program and the Environmental Justice Clinic. Both outreach programs exemplify our ongoing commitment to clinical education and experiential learning, interdisciplinary research, policy innovation, and advocacy in collaboration with underserved communities in the fields of civil rights, environmental protection, poverty law, and public health. Thanks again for your support of our young citizen lawyers. Professor Anthony V. Alfieri Founder and Director
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Volume 16: Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
OUR MISSION Founded in 1996, the Center for Ethics and Public Service (CEPS) is an interdisciplinary education, skills training, and community engagement program devoted to the values of ethical judgment, professional responsibility, and public service in law and society. Our goal is to educate law students to serve their communities as citizen lawyers. CEPS operates law reform projects in the fields of civil rights, poverty, public health, and environmental law through its Historic Black Church Program, a partnership with more than 60 inner-city churches, and Environmental Justice Clinic, an education, research, policy, and advocacy program addressing both the built and natural environment. Additionally, the Center sponsors Legal Profession Roundtables in cooperation with Florida bar associations, law firms, government agencies, and nonprofits. Since 1996, CEPS has trained over 1,250 fellows and interns, and served over 46,500 members of the Florida community.
CEPS ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR Professor Anthony V. Alfieri ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CLINIC Natalie Barefoot MYSUN FOUNDATION FELLOW Daniela Tagtachian SR. PROGRAM MANAGER Lauren Madigan ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Ebonie L. Carter
CONTACT US
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CENTER FOR ETHICS & PUBLIC SERVICE
Anthony V. Alfieri, Director Lauren Madigan, Sr. Program Manager University of Miami School of Law 1311 Miller Drive, Suite G287 Coral Gables, Florida 33146-8087 Ph: 305.284.3934 Fax: 305.284.1588 www.law.miami.edu/ceps ceps@law.miami.edu
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