Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Clinic
A
Call
to
be
Moved:
Tracy
Robinson
Faculty
of
Law,
University
of
the
West
Indies
Salutations
The
Honorable
Luis
F.
Estrella,
associate
judge
of
the
Puerto
Rico
Supreme
Court,
Professor
Prof.
Vivian
Neptune
Rivera,
Dean,
Vice
Deans,
The
Director
of
the
Legal
Aid
Clinic
,
Professors
all,
including
clinicians
Law
students
being
inducted
into
the
Programme,
Your
friends
and
family,
I
want
to
express
my
gratitude
to
your
Director,
Mariluz
Jimnez
for
her
invitation
to
talk
with
you
today
as
you
take
your
oath.
We
have
been
talking
about
this
visit
for
a
year
now.
I
consider
this
visit
and
the
multiple
invitations
I
have
received
from
the
University
of
Puerto
Rico
to
meet,
talk
with
and
teach
and
break
bread
here
with
the
highest
regard.
They
come
out
of
a
series
of
pan-Caribbean
conversations
that
have
taken
place
over
the
last
two
years
that
I
have
been
a
part
of.
But
they
go
back
much
longer
as
a
former
Dean
here
has
reminded
me.
I
owe
my
presence
in
Puerto
Rico
to
Professor
Efrn
Rivera.
We
met
two
years
ago
at
a
meeting
of
Caribbean
scholars
in
Cuba
working
on
issues
of
sexuality.
We
had
the
pleasure
of
Professor
Riveras
presence
at
University
of
the
West
Indies
in
Jamaica.1
I
am
glad
to
be
1 See Efrn Rivera Ramos, Colonialism and the Constitution. Paper presented at Faculty of Law, University of
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here and my hope is that in time, it wont be us moving but you, our students, between the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Puerto Rico, and possibly even the campuses of UWI at Barbados and Trinidad. We are neighbours who have been estranged by language and transportation and multiple and ongoing colonisations for too long. I am very impressed by what you have accomplished in 100 years. You have a well deserved reputation as a premier choice for Puerto Ricans for law school. You have used externships, clinics, exchanges to build a legal cosmopolitanism that is absolutely necessary for the development of law today. I encourage us all to think of that cosmopolitanism even further beyond the north-south axis and get to know our neighbours in the Caribbean better. But, at the same time you have managed to ground law as an applied discipline constructed around serving others and observing clearly defined ethical principles. In your over fifty years of clinical legal education you have realised over a dozen special interests: general civil and criminal practice, human rights, immigration, environmental justice, mediation, economic community development, employment, juvenile law, intellectual property and internet law. In my few days here I have had the privilege meeting many of you, continuing my conversations with my friend Efrn, had the privilege of long chats with your Dean about reconnecting our universities, plenty others with my class. Your Director Mariluz Jimenez, has taken charge of me and immediately struck me as a woman who gets things done. I have the greatest respect for that work she does in guiding experiential learning and as a translator of sorts of legal ideas into concrete programmes led by expert lawyers. I also met with Nora Vargas Acosta and her clinic who organised a conversation on Wednesday here and heard much more about the important work being done to vindicate the rights of LGBTI persons in Puerto Rico through one of your clinics. I wish to congratulate you all as clinicians and students for your work in securing access to justice for all and ensuring economic and social justice for many more Puerto Ricans.
Doing
law
In
England,
which
our
legal
education
in
the
Anglophone
Caribbean
was
patterned
on,
they
talk
about
reading
law
when
you
do
a
law
degree.
Today
our
students
are
more
like
to
say
2
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P a g e
they are studying or doing law. But frankly it is only when you embark on a clinical or applied law programme like this one that law become an active verband we move from reading or studying it to doing law. In some senses though, the business of really doing law, that you have embarked on today, serves a critical function. It turns a reflective mirror or lens on law itself. In doing law, you get to see law. It is possible to read law and study it , be filled to the brim with the analytical skills we law teachers likedeconstructing a judgment, testing coherency in the reasoning, reconstructing different types of legal interpretationwithout having cultivated critical thinking that philosopher Martha Nussbaum talks about.2 Clinical legal education gives you the chance to not just see what law can do, but to see law, and you in it. It should instigate self reflection and a rigorous self accountability. Some of our standard ways of teaching law leave us disembodied or unsure what to do with ourselves, where to put ourselves amongst the cases we read. Clinical legal education puts us in the equation and disrupts what can seem like a well formed discipline in which we throw the ball from side to side, as Nussbaum says, trading claims and counterclaims to ask her question about becoming citizens who can really reason and imaginatively consider our choices for each other.3
The
unreadiness
I
visited
Puerto
Rico
one
other
time
before
this.
It
was
in
1991,
and
the
end
of
my
Bachelor
of
Laws
degree,
in
the
days
when
Caribbean
airlines
travelled
the
region,
places
we
had
interests,
family
and
connections.
In
our
system,
unlike
yours,
law
is
an
undergraduate
degree
and
I
was
twenty
one
then
and
about
to
start
what
we
call
law
school.
The
two
year
professional
programme
that
provides
a
basis
for
being
called
to
the
Bar
virtually
everywhere
in
the
English
speaking
Caribbean.
A
year
into
that
programme
I
went
to
Oxford
to
do
the
Bachelor
of
Civil
Law,
their
graduate
law
programme
and
was
back
in
Jamaica
three
years
later,
having
spent
a
year
doing
an
LLM
in
the
United
States,
to
finish
the
second
year
of
law
school.
Although
I
set
up
with
others
at
law
school
my
first
human
3
Ibid.
2 Martha Nussbaum, Education for Profit, Education for Freedom (2009) Summer Liberal Education 6.
3 | P a g e
rights organisation, it was called Conscience, I hardly knew throughout these eight years of studying law what a life of work would look like, far less what my lifes work might be. I tell you this because I think that uncertainty is fine. Work should be a journey on continued learning and exploration. It is not always a clear destination. I could not anticipate where I might be now and I certainly dont know where I will be twenty years from now. Nothing is wrong with a plan but it isnt necessary or always useful for our self development or in making a difference. Nobel Laureate and St. Lucian poet, Derek Walcott says in one of his poems, Oddjob the Bull Terrier, You prepare for one sorrow, but another comes. It is not like the weather, you cannot brace yourself, the unreadiness is all. The unreadiness can be all and leave us space to be moved by our experiences, including those in clinics, especially with those you help in clinics and those you work and collaborate with to give legal services, and those who help you. I have never formally practiced law, as many of you will. But I quickly learnt I could chose multiple ways of doing law and frankly sometimes undoing it too. From where I stand as the less typical lawyer but one motivated by a desire to see justice done, to ensure everyone has a good chance at a full life I have four suggestions; First, resisting law bounded-ness. My second: dont overvalue your brightness, put brightness in perspective. My third: resisting righteousness. My fourth: recognising everybody is somebody.
4 | P a g e
Law-bounded-ness
The
clinical
programme
that
you
have
now
embarked
on
and
formalise
by
taking
an
oath
today
reflects
the
faith
many
of
us
have
that
the
practice
of
lawboth
in
its
ordinary
dimensions
and
extraordinary
ones.
Still
my
first
suggestion
is
not
to
become
law-bound,
even
as
you
plan
lives
as
lawyers.
We
still
need
an
open
mind.
Law
matters
as
I
have
said
to
justice,
to
securing
human
flourishing
for
all.
But
it
isnt
everything
we
need
to
be
valuable
citizens.
It
never
can
fully
apprehend
us
as
human
beings.
A
lot
that
matters
to
life
falls
outside
laws
control.
We
might
not
see
that
because
it
is
so
such
an
authoritative
discourse
and
influential
door
opener
for
us
and
a
source
of
privilege
for
us.
Sometimes
we
simply
rest
in
laws
power
and
celebrate
it.
Your
clinical
work
at
the
law
school,
which
is
about
the
application
of
law,
will
give
you
a
unique
opportunity
to
see
what
law
can
do
and
what
it
cannot
as
wellto
resist
law- bounded-ness.
Your
clients
will
tell
you
stories
and
problems
that
fall
both
inside
and
outside
the
formulas
you
have
learnt
for
identifying
legal
issues
and
figuring
out
where
to
find
the
answers.
When
the
law
is
put
in
context,
as
it
will
in
clinics,
we
must
learn
how
to
work
and
see
the
value
of
work
inside
and
outside
the
boundaries
of
law.
Brightness
My
second
suggestion
is
about
brightness.
And
not
overvaluing
it.
Our
educational
system
highly
values
something
called
brightness.
It
is
not
uncommon
in
my
part
of
the
world
to
hear
the
first
and
only
descriptor
of
someone
well
thought
of
is
that
they
are
so
bright.
For
you,
that
brightness
is
reflected
in
your
grades
and
the
scholarships
you
get.
It
is
not
uncommon
these
days
for
my
students
to
demand,
before
they
have
done
any
work,
early
in
the
semester,
an
A+
because
they
are
historically
and
eternally
bright.
I
accept
that
something
called
brightness
is
a
corner
piece
of
our
educational
system.
But
it
means
far
less
than
we
assume.
Brightness,
so
heralded,
is
a
condition
not
a
contribution.
In
the
end,
it
is
not
that
intellect
per
se
that
will
be
valued
by
others,
but
your
character,
commitment,
labour
and
humanity.
5
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P a g e
And as for the enduring nature of brightness. I dont buy it. The brain is more like a muscle and if you dont use if, you lose it. It is cultivated by thoughtfulness in the midst and with others, openness, a good ear and not just a fine voice. As Jennifer Nedelsky says, it is human relationships that foster our autonomy, and make us who we are.4 In the end, there are very few places in the world were as a grown person you get to be just bright and valued. Folks will soon ask about who you are and what you have done with your lives as lawyers. So I encourage you to put your cleverness in perspective.
Righteousness
My
third
humble
suggestion
is
about
resisting
righteousness.
Lawyering
invites
strong
judgments
of
right
and
wrong.
And
with
it
there
is
a
temptation
to
clothe
ourselves
with
righteousness.
Fighting
against
injustice
can
be
an
occupation,
but
never
a
form
of
nobility.
One
of
my
intellectual
mentors
is
a
Trinidadian
black
lesbian
feminist
now
at
University
of
Toronto,
Jacqui
Alexander.
I
was
stunned
when
I
read
her
book
which
came
out
in
2005
called
Pedagogies
of
Crossing
at
how
unsettled
many
parts
of
it
made
me,
even
though
we
had
been
friends
for
many
years
and
spoken
about
it
often.
In
the
book
she
says,
one
of
the
effects
of
constructing
life
based
principally
in
opposition
is
that
the
ego
learns
to
become
righteous
in
its
hatred
of
injustice.
In
that
very
process
it
learns
simultaneously
how
to
hate
since
it
is
incapable
of
distinguishing
between
good
hate
and
bad
hate,
between
righteous
hate
and
irrational
hate.5
She
made
it
clear
that
she
was
not
rejecting
radical
politics
but
noticed
psychic
residuals
that
travel
sometimes
silently,
sometimes
vociferously,
into
social
movements
that
run
aground
on
the
invisible
premises
of
scarcityalterity
driven
by
separation,
empowerment
driven
by
external
lossand
of
having
to
prove
perpetual
injury
as
the
quid
pro
quo
to
secure
ephemeral
rights.6
I
find
Jacquis
description
of
this
very
stark,
and
there
are
cases
where
its
caution
may
not
be
needed.
Still,
many
of
us
have
seen
in
those
whose
oppositional
work
we
admire
and
in
4
Jennifer
Nedelsky,
Law,
Boundaries
and
the
Bounded
Self
(1990)
30
Representations
162.
5
M
Jacqui
Alexander,
Pedagogies
of
Crossing:
Meditations
on
Feminism,
Sexual
Politics,
Memory
and
the
Sacred
6 | P a g e
organisations forged from that work a derailment of self, from that psychic residue which she describes. It is hard to build a politics of freedom which is entirely generated out of our pain and wounded-ness. I thought about this this afternoon as my students this afternoon, in a frank discussion about social justice said to me baldly, Everything in Puerto Rico is secondary to the political status question. It is a block to ALL Progress. I value Alexanders claim that we need an affirmative vision for our society and lives, built around our connection to each otherin spite of and because of the separations of centuries: a struggle for a loving freedom.7 We have to ask what that other sort of struggle could look like in Puerto Rico and elsewhere, in which we vigorously search out spaces to imaginatively consider our choices to achieve a loving freedom.
Everybody
is
Somebody
And
finally
and
relatedly,
we
must
never
undervalue
the
dignity
of
every
single
person.
In
the
English
speaking
Caribbean,
some
writers
like
the
late
Professor
Rex
Nettleford,
have
talked
about
the
process
of
smaddification,
as
a
process
of
decolonisation.8
What
he
meant
was
that
as
part
of
the
creation
of
nations
was
a
recovery
of
self,
with
the
starting
premise
that
Everybody
is
somebody;
in
Jamaican:
Everybody
a
smaddy.
Nettleford
describes
this
as
the
phenomenon
of
growth
of
personal
awareness
and
self-confidence
amongst
the
vast
majority
of
Jamaicans
and
the
sense
of
place
and
purpose
engendered
by
the
social
legislation
programmes
of
the
seventies.9
He
added,
Everybody
(particularly
the
deprived
masses)
began
to
feel
he
was
somebody
(smaddy).10
The
idea
of
being
somebody
has
deep
historical
salience
to
us
in
the
Caribbean,
hard
fought
for
meaning:
control
of
our
bodies,
our
right
to
decide
our
plan
for
our
life
and
our
right
to
control
our
labour.
We
must
each
be
able
to
decide
for
ourselves
what
we
consider
a
Ibid
88.
See
T
Robinson,
A
loving
freedom
(2007)
24
Small
Axe
118;
T
Robinson,
Our
Imagined
Lives
in
Faith
Smith
(ed),
Sex
and
the
Citizen:
Interrogating
the
Caribbean
(2011
University
Press
of
Virginia)
201.
8
Rex
Nettleford,
Preface:
Michael
Manley
and
Caribbean
Development:
The
Culture
of
Resistance
(2002)
48
Caribbean
Quarterly
1,
1.
9
Rex
Nettleford,
Review
Article
on
Michael
Manley,
Jamaica:
Struggle
in
the
Periphery
Third
World
Media
Limited
London
1982)
(1982)
28(3)
Caribbean
Quarterly
47-53,
51.
Nettleford
attributed
the
phrase
to
Anthony
Laing
who
worked
with
the
Popular
Music
Development
Programme
of
the
Jamaica
Cultural
Development
Corporation
(ibid
53
n
15)
10
Ibid.
53
n
15.
7
7 | P a g e
worthwhile life. You would be surprised how many times as human beings and lawyers we are called upon to recognising this and affirm this for others and sometimes ourselves.
To
be
moved
So
I
end
by
saying
this
is
a
clinical
programme,
in
the
sense
of
learning
through
direct
observation,
but
it
need
not
be
clinical
in
the
other
sense,
of
emotionless
or
detached.
A
good
lifes
work
in
law
is
one
in
which
you
are
moved
in
some
way.
Moved
to
see
yourself
and
law
in
new
ways.
For
many
of
you,
your
induction
here
will
be
the
beginning
of
that
journey.
Congratulations
and
I
wish
you
all
every
success.
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