We recognize that the criminal legal system has a lot of problems. There's issues of structural racism. There's ways in which it's harming poor communities. At the same time, we need to keep the public safe. One of the things we're really excited about is sometimes students can go to the state legislature and testify about bills. Other times, they've gone out and met with community groups who are concerned about certain criminal justice issues. So there's lots of ways to get involved. And that's a wonderful thing about a law degree is there's a lot of different ways that you can use that law degree to create change. Sometimes it's direct service, and sometimes it's working on policy. So the mission of the Center is to improve the criminal legal system. And in doing so we want to be driven by the community that's most affected by the system. So we're a convener in many respects. We're bringing together policymakers, the lawyers who are doing the work, the community members who are affected by the entire system, together, so that we can all work to improve it. So in addition to the real-world impact of the projects and initiatives and partnerships that the center works on every day, we are also so excited to be a hub of experiential learning opportunities for law students to have hands-on roles in that work. So complementing the University of Baltimore School of Law's nationally renowned clinical offerings. The Center provides some complimentary opportunities for law students to engage in policy reform, multidisciplinary problem solving to address criminal legal system reform issues outside of a courtroom, work that is equally important to moving the needle on change.
