Preserve the Past to Educate the Future

Boasting authentic board sidewalks, old west saloons, quaint shops, 19th century homes, and historic cemeteries, a visit to Virginia City can take you back in time. In the midst of Virginia City’s Historical District lies St. Paul the Prospector Episcopal Church. Over 125 years old, St. Paul’s is known to Episcopalians as “the mother church of Nevada.”

St. Paul’s, built in 1876, features hand-hewn original pine beams and pews in the semi-Gothic style, and draws tourists interested in the history of Nevada.¹ St. Paul’s played a central role in the early days of Virginia City, housing missionaries and even playing host to several talks by Mark Twain. To preserve this history, St. Paul’s congregation began operating a small museum to highlight historical artifacts and teach visitors more about the role missionaries played in the Old West.

While St. Paul’s is undeniably a historical gem and a highlight of any visit to Virginia City, its age is starting to show. The church is in dire need of repair, requiring structural work and an updated electrical system. Unfortunately, the church does not have the funds to address these problems and the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, which oversees St. Paul’s, is unable to help.² “Not that the diocese does not want to, but the diocese budget is smaller than the budgets of some of the congregations,” said Bishop Dan Edwards. “We have absolutely minimal resources to work with.”³

Seeking a solution, the Episcopal Diocese sought the help of the Small Business & Nonprofit Legal Clinic to provide legal assistance on the best way to raise funds. Professor Eric Franklin, who founded and directs the Clinic, worked with student attorney Amanda Stevens to explore possible solutions. With guidance from the Clinic, the Episcopal Diocese decided to form a separate 501c3 to manage and operate St Paul’s as a museum. Once 501c3 status is obtained, St. Paul’s will apply for grants to help fund the necessary repairs and expand its collection of artifacts from old missions and churches around the West. The museum will focus on preserving “artifacts from the history of Nevada’s early years, especially the work of missionaries to bring faith and civilization to the frontier,” says Bishop Edwards. “The Comstock was a rowdy place in those days. Introducing religion to a mining camp was a colorful project.”

Amanda helped the Episcopal Diocese form The Western Missionary Museum Corporation and file paperwork for tax-exempt status. Although she had a lot of experience working with small businesses before law school, Amanda had not worked with nonprofits. “Working with St. Paul’s was a great experience. I enjoyed identifying the goals of the museum and figuring out how I could help meet those goals.” Emphasizing that the work with St. Paul’s helped bring legal research to life, Amanda noted that, “doing research is a lot more interesting when you can relate it to an actual client.”

“The work undertaken by the Boyd law school legal clinic, and especially with the agile work of [Student Attorney] Amanda Stevens,” said Bishop Edwards, “is saving Nevada’s history and enhancing Virginia City as both a tourist attraction and a place to learn the history of the Old West.”

¹ http://www.stpaultheprospector.com/
² Saving St. Paul’s: Old Virginia City church struggles to preserve building, Reno-Gazette Journal, February 3, 2013, Susan Skorupa
³ Id. 

Confronting Invisible Punishments: The Collateral Consequences Project

Clinic students Geordan Logan and Keely Perdue
are bringing immigration law into Las Vegas
criminal practice.

After people are convicted of crimes and serve their sentences, they often discover that there are a myriad of other, invisible consequences that flow from criminal convictions, including impacts on child custody, parental rights, access to employment and housing, and the accrual of debt. For noncitizens, there is a danger of post-sentence detention by immigration authorities, followed by deportation. Because of these hidden collateral consequences, even minor crimes can shatter families and hobble individuals.

In the Collateral Consequences Project (CCP), students in the Thomas & Mack Clinic are at the frontlines of innovating new ways for lawyers to help their clients understand these invisible punishments, to avoid them through creative plea negotiating, and to be better prepared for the challenges they will face after conviction. Working with the Clark County Public Defender and other community partners, Clinic students are positioned to not only learn how to practice law, but to change the way law is practiced.

The Immigration Clinic has made the intersection of local criminal justice and federal immigration enforcement a primary focus. Clinic students consult with public defenders on cases involving immigrants to ensure that non-citizens know the immigration consequences of any plea bargain offered by prosecutors, and to help defense attorneys propose alternatives that meet the State’s objectives without a risk of deportation. Students in the Immigration Clinic have represented clients of the Public Defender in their immigration cases, and, as a pilot project this fall, are representing immigrants in misdemeanor cases in Las Vegas Justice Court.  Working with the National Immigration Law Center, students also helped persuade the Clark County Sheriff to change a policy that prevented immigrants from being released on bail.

Pushing the Borders of Human Rights: Boyd Students Fight for Workers’ Rights in India

Eleven Boyd students, supervised by Professor Fatma Marouf, traveled to New Delhi over the winter session to engage in human rights study and fieldwork. In partnership with Indian students, they examined conditions for some of the world’s most vulnerable workers. According to Whitney Short (2L) the project allowed her to “make a real difference in people's lives.” Katelyn Franklin (3L) described the practicum as “a life altering, empowering experience.”

After a weeklong orientation course at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the students conducted two weeks of intensive fieldwork on behalf of the Society for Labour and Development, an NGO based in New Delhi. Professor Marouf and Jennifer Rosenbaum, Legal Director of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, co-taught the program.