Northeastern Law’s Center for Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR) and Criminal Justice Task Force recently achieved three major victories in the fight for systemic changes to make our criminal and civil justice systems fairer and more just. Working with legislators and stakeholders, members of the Criminal Justice Task Force, launched by Professor Deborah Ramirez in 2020, successfully advo- cated for three significant victories:

• The Ralph Gants Reentry Services Program will contribute $2 million to the Massachusetts Community Justice Support Centers (CJSC) to provide every person coming out of prison or jail with reentry services at one of the 19 CJSC centers. Massachusetts is the only state with state-funded, state-wide reentry services centers focused on providing services to individuals after they have left prison or jail. With this additional funding, the state-wide reentry services program will be able to more effectively help those coming out of prison or jail navigate the path to a productive life.
• Diverse students across the commonwealth will now have access to stipends for co-ops or internships with state judges. Working inside a judge’s chambers allows law students to hone their research and writing skills, enrich their insights about the development of jurisprudence and develop a close relationship with a judge who can be a mentor and advisor. Currently, all state co-ops and internships are unpaid. The Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants Judicial Scholarship Program will provide $150,000 to law students across the commonwealth who cannot afford to take an unpaid internship or co-op. It is hoped that this initiative will help diversify the pipeline for post-law school judicial law clerkships and for judgeships.
• The Chief Justice Gants Access to Justice Fund will engage and educate the judicial community about how restorative justice practices can be used to advance equity efforts within the trial courts administration. This program is headed by Professor Susan Maze-Rothstein of the Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University.

“We have made tremendous progress this year, but there is so much more to be done. As we move ahead, we will be asking lawyers and law firms to join us so that we can continue to make structural changes to improve the lives of those seeking assistance from the courts,” said Professor Deborah Ramirez, head of the Criminal Justice Task Force and faculty co-director of CLEAR.