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,…
By Andrew Siske, CFCC Student Fellow (2016-2017) Early on as a CFCC Student Fellow, I learned about therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ), which can be defined as “the study of the role of law as a therapeutic agent.”[1] TJ represents a normative understanding of law which aims to identify the beneficial and harmful consequences of law, with…
By Samantha Hugo, CFCC Student Fellow (2016-2017) Why does society look down on the practice of family law? When did family law practitioners fall into disfavor? Is it because of a misconception that family law cases cover an area that society believes is insignificant? Family law attorneys are often dismissed as social workers in comparison…
By Ashley Sewell, CFCC Student Fellow 2014-2015 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, most commonly known as PTSD, is usually associated with combat veterans. Many people are not aware that PTSD can affect children and teens, as well. Children and teens could develop PTSD if they have lived through an event that could have caused them or…
By Kevin Lauerman, CFCC Student Fellow 2014-2015 This semester I have graciously served as a Student Fellow for the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center For Children, Families, and the Courts. Throughout my involvement with this program, I have had the pleasure of interacting with enthusiastic Baltimore City students, classmates that share a similar passion for…
By Makayla Hanington, CFCC Student Fellow 2014-2015 Drug treatment courts are a source of therapeutic jurisprudence as problem-solving courts. Their purpose is to resolve underlying issues that may be the source of crimes that are being committed with a holistic and big-picture approach. In Baltimore City, the Drug Treatment Court was created in 1994 due…
By Katie Davis, CFCC Truancy Court Program Attorney “I didn’t come to school because my uniform was at my mom’s house and I slept at my dad’s two days last week.” “I was late because I stayed at my cousin’s house and her mom didn’t get us up.” “I overslept because I was staying in…
By Barbara A. Babb, University of Baltimore School of Law, Associate Professor of Law, and Director, CFCC I founded the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) in August, 2000, with Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) as one of its two underlying theoretical constructs. Indeed, TJ informs and frames all of CFCC’s…
By Snehal Pulivarti, CFCC Student Fellow 2013-2014 One of my apprehensions in committing to law school was the adversarial process and the impact on families and children in the judicial process. The Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts (CFCC) Student Fellows Program has been instrumental in reassuring me that my…