Emma-Lee Clinger

The Project

Emma-Lee targeted collateral consequences of juvenile arrests through direct representation, community education, and law reform so New York City youth can pursue higher education, employment, and professional licenses.

This project aimed to break down barriers to employment and education by enforcing New York Family Court Act’s protections and empowering New Yorkers with juvenile arrests to defend their rights against record-based discrimination.

Fellowship Highlights

During the two-year Fellowship, Emma-Lee:

  • Represented 26 individuals in juvenile delinquency proceedings, including dispositional conferences and motions to seal and expunge
  • Advised 66 individuals with juvenile delinquency arrests and adjudications on the Family Court Act record-related protections relating to employment and higher education
  • Successfully challenged criminal history reports that contained erroneous juvenile records
  • Successfully appealed employment and benefit denials based on juvenile record discrimination
  • Conducted trainings on the New York Family Court Act post-dispositional protections and record-related provisions for New York City legal and non-profit organizations that represent people impacted by the criminal and juvenile legal systems
  • Established a collaborative relationship with New York City and State agencies resulting in policy changes that ensure juvenile record accuracy and protection
  • Drafted and advocated for the New York State Juvenile Confidentiality and Expungement Bill, introduced in the New York State Senate in the 2021-2022 Legislative Session

Next Steps

Emma-Lee will represent young New Yorkers in delinquency and criminal proceedings in New York City Family Court and Criminal Court at The Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice. She will support the post-dispositional practice at the Juvenile Rights Practice through the Set the Record Straight Project, where she will train attorneys, social workers, impacted communities, and other members of the juvenile legal system on juvenile record-related protections. In addition, she will continue to work toward statutory law reform, advocating for stricter juvenile record protections.

Media

The Beating Heart of Legal Aid

Two Stein Scholars Awarded Equal Justice Works Fellowships

As a former high school teacher, I have witnessed how an arrest stemming from the purported rehabilitative system of delinquency court can stifle the ability of a young person to access employment, licenses, or higher education—the very opportunities that would propel them from a life rooted in poverty, stigma, and recidivism.

Emma-Lee Clinger /
2020 Equal Justice Works Fellow

The Project

Maura’s Fellowship provided trauma-informed immigration legal representation to immigrant youth survivors of gender- based violence and trafficking in a setting that specializes in holistic youth development services in New York City.

Thousands of immigrant youth arrive in New York City after experiencing violence, poverty, and abuse. Almost half of the unaccompanied children in New York City do not have lawyers to represent them in Immigration Court. Many of these young people are girls and LGBTQ+ youth fleeing gender-based violence and trafficking in their home countries. Immigrant youth also continue to experience gender-based violence and other difficulties in the United States. As a result of their current and past traumas, immigrant youth survivors have complex legal and social service needs. Through Maura’s Fellowship  project, The Door is the only organization in New York City providing immigration legal services for young people who are survivors of gender-based violence in a setting that is youth-focused and offers wraparound social services.

Maura’s experience in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps after college sparked her passion for working with immigrants. She is dedicated to accompanying immigrant youth on their journeys to safety and better futures in the U.S.

Fellowship Highlights

During the two-year Fellowship, Maura:

  • Provided trauma-informed immigration legal representation to 35 youth survivors of gender-based violence and trafficking in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Asylum, U Visa, and T Visa cases
  • Represented young people in guardianship and special findings proceedings before New York State Family Courts, helping them achieve stability and safety with the support of their guardians
  • Worked closely with social workers on an interdisciplinary team to connect immigrant youth survivors of gender-based violence and trafficking to comprehensive social services at The Door and beyond
  • Developed and implemented a trafficking screening tool for The Door’s legal department to use when working with young people who are potentially survivors of trafficking to assess T Visa eligibility and social service needs
  • Established partnerships with other service providers in New York City working with young people and survivors of trafficking to coordinate referrals and organize training

Next Steps

Maura will continue to work with immigrant youth at The Door’s legal services center as a staff attorney in the Detained Minors Project. She will represent unaccompanied children who are detained in or recently released from Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters.

Media

Two Stein Scholars Awarded Equal Justice Works Fellowships

I am dedicated to the idea of holistic legal representation for young people and I am inspired by this type of advocacy practiced at The Door’s Legal Services Center.

Maura Tracy /
2020 Equal Justice Works Fellow

The Inspiration

The Project

Based at the National Employment Law Project, Sarah provided legal services to home health aides, child care providers and domestic workers to create more equitable working conditions. The project enforced overtime and minimum wage rights and recover unpaid wages; aid workers’ centers and community-based organizations in developing effective legal strategies and legislative advocacy programs to press for new labor rights, and provide transactional legal services to workers seeking to establish worker-owned cooperatives.

The Project

The purpose of this project is to advocate for prisoners with disabilities to increase their access to the educational, vocational, and pre-release prison programs and services that they need to successfully reenter society. I hope to impress upon prison officials and disability advocates that meaningful reentry must begin during incarceration.

The Inspiration

The Inspiration

The Inspiration

The Inspiration