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More than 400 Rutgers Law School students are graduating in May 2023. It’s impressive on its own that the 160+ students in Camden and 250+ students in Newark started their law school journeys on Zoom during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Many are also first generation college and/or law school students. Some earned their juris doctorate in the part-time program while working full-time jobs. Now, they are beginning the next phase of their lives working in top law firms, clerkships, fellowships, and even the hospital. Here are some of the graduates of the Rutgers Law School Class of 2023.

photograph of a server room

It sounds like the makings of a conspiracy theory: the idea that we are under surveillance by covert, government-funded centers tasked with gathering secret intelligence on residents. But according to a recent report from Rutgers Law School’s Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), not only do these centers exist but, worse yet, there is little to no oversight or accountability in how their extensive data is collected, used, and shared. The result is a practically unchecked intelligence gathering program, an assault on privacy, and a gradual erosion of civil liberties—especially in communities of color. All of this, as well as suggestions for improved oversight, is in CSRR’s new report titled “Shining a Light on New Jersey’s Secret State Intelligence System.”

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More than 450 runners hit the pavement in Camden for the 2023 Rutgers Law Roger S. Clark APIL 5K Run for Justice. Rutgers Law students, faculty, staff, Students Run Philly Style, and other local runners took part in the event held on April 2. The race started and ended on a windy, sunny Sunday at the newly completed Camden Athletic Complex on the Rutgers University-Camden campus. Calder Burke won the race with a time of 16.00.7. Burke is a senior at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia.

woman posing for a photograph

Look at the smartphone in your hand, the clothing in your closet, or the sneakers on your feet. How can you be sure they were made without the use of child or trafficked labor, or that human rights weren’t violated somehow in the making of these items? Thanks to the work of Rutgers Law School Professor Sarah Dadush and an American Bar Association (ABA) working group, it’s easier than ever for companies to incorporate next generation human rights clauses into their international supply contracts and, hopefully, make a positive impact on global supply chains.

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There was nothing typical about the recent case won by Rutgers Law Associates (RLA), the practice within the Rutgers Law Associates Fellowship that serves the needs of low- and moderate-income New Jersey residents at no or reduced cost. First, it was a six-day civil case tried before a jury. Though RLA is a general practice law firm, much of its work has recently focused on family practice, which is generally tried in one day in front a judge without a jury. Even more rare is that this civil case went to a verdict; most are settled out of court. Finally, it’s incredibly rare for a newly-minted attorney—with just a few months since their law school graduation—to take on a civil case like this, pick a jury, try the case, and win. But that is precisely what RLA fellow Patrick Johnson ’22 did.

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Rutgers Law third-year student Starr Vega is the first recipient of the Daniel Anderl Memorial Scholarship. The $5,500 award is part of a larger endowment created in Anderl’s memory. The son of Hon. Esther Salas (RLAW ’94), an MSP Newark alumna, was murdered by a disgruntled attorney in 2020 at their home in North Brunswick. Anderl was 20 years old and planned for a career in law. His father, Mark, was shot and wounded in the attack.

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Travel courses offered at Rutgers Law School this semester culminated in immersive, educational trips during Spring Break. One course, "Cuba Legal Field Study," introduces students to Cuba’s constitution, laws, and relationship to the U.S. firsthand.

Group of people posing for a photograph

Travel courses offered at Rutgers Law this semester culminated in immersive, educational trips during Spring Break. One course, "South African Constitutional Law," highlighted the similarities and differences between two legal systems, specifically in how they deal with health law and reproductive rights.

Group of people posing for a photograph

Travel courses offered at Rutgers Law this semester culminated in immersive, educational trips during Spring Break. One course, "Law and Instruments for Social Change," inspired students with the transformation of the American South and beyond during the Civil Rights Movement and prompted them to identify links to past and current social justice problems between the south and New Jersey.