By Zoe James-Collins, CFCC Student Fellow, Fall 2020 The ability to feel the emotional weight of another person is a powerful—and often overwhelming—sensation. Learning how to transcend empathy from sensation alone into a useful social tool is imperative to optimizing relationships both within and without the legal profession. While many lawyers harbor a natural gift…
By Jillianne Trotter Crescenzi, CFCC Student Fellow, Fall 2020 When people think about lawyers and the criminal justice system, they often think about catch phrases like “Law and Order” and “You must be good at arguing.” Our paternalistic society has been groomed to interpret law through a “right” and “wrong” lens, with nothing in between,…
In 2020, the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) celebrates two important milestones: the 20th anniversary of the founding of CFCC and the 15th anniversary of the Center’s largest community-based program, the Truancy Court Program. If you would like to follow this year-long celebration of CFCC’s impact and receive updates on…
By: Erin Kay, CFCC Student Fellow (2019-2020) During the Fall semester of the Center for Families, Children, and the Courts (CFCC) Student Fellows Program I seminar at the University of Baltimore School of Law, we learned about the importance of concepts that apply to family law and that also are relevant to other areas of…
It has become a commonly known concept that our brains do not completely develop until we are in our early to mid-twenties. Every state has a law recognizing that children below a certain age cannot consent to sex. Most states prevent minors from marrying, at least without parental permission. Education is compulsory until at least…
By Shannon Thomas, CFCC Student Fellow (2019-2020) It has become a commonly known concept that our brains do not completely develop until we are in our early to mid-twenties. Every state has a law recognizing that children below a certain age cannot consent to sex. Most states prevent minors from marrying, at least without parental…
By Jalen Sanders, CFCC Student Fellow (2019-2020) Participating in the CFCC Student Fellows program, I have learned and acknowledged a lot. There is no difference between a student, a faculty member, a lawyer, a judge, or an advocate. No pay grade, word of mouth, or potential job offer can change that. What destroys our titles…
By Megan Phillips, CFCC Student Fellow (2019-2020) One of the central messages of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts is that of therapeutic jurisprudence. This concept means, among other things, that the legal system (e.g., courts, attorneys, and judges) should take a holistic view of the legal process in…
By Linyanta Nwosu, CFCC Student Fellow (2019-2020) Therapeutic Jurisprudence, or TJ as we lovingly refer to it in our Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) Student Fellows Program, is a means of examining the law’s impact on individuals and communities. TJ is often referred to as a “lens” through which laws are…