Headshot of Christine Scartz

Christine M. Scartz

  • Hosted by University of Georgia School of Law
  • Service location Athens, Georgia
  • Law school University of Georgia School of Law
  • Issue area Domestic Violence

The Project

Christine’s project created a legal clinic and resource center for indigent victims of intimate partner violence and stalking in rural judicial circuits in Northeast Georgia.

The project addressed the near-absence of legal resources for indigent victims of domestic violence due to the local high poverty rate of 27%, the rural nature of the community, and the underfunding of legal services. The project also provided resource referrals, which gave victims a more cohesive response to both crisis and long-term needs. The project also educated judges and service providers on protective orders through community education programs and courthouse presence, which were a new and underused remedy at the time the project began.

Fellowship Highlights

While the names and numbers of victims served by Christine’s project nearly 30 years ago have faded into the archives, the Fellowship itself has endured in continuous operation for three decades. Now known as the University of Georgia School of Law Jane W. Wilson Family Justice Clinic, the project is an integral part of the community’s integrated response to intimate partner violence. In 2015, Professor Scartz returned to her project to continue and expand the work. In 2019, an anonymous donor pledged a one million dollar gift to support the Clinic and a Distinguished Law Fellowship, ensuring that the project’s legacy will continue well into the future.

Next Steps

After Professor Scartz’s Fellowship ended in 1997, the Protective Order Project was absorbed by the University of Georgia School of Law into their developing Civil Clinics program. She went into private practice doing primarily criminal defense and domestic relations work.

In 2015, Professor Scartz returned to the Law School to teach and to transform her Equal Justice Works project, which had remained in continuous operation since 1995 when her fellowship began, into an independent teaching clinic and experiential learning program. Professor Scartz is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the Jane W. Wilson Family Justice Clinic. She teaches Family Law, Advanced Family Law, a Clinic seminar on intimate partner violence, and an undergraduate class, Law and Social Justice.

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Rachel White-Domain

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Current Fellow