ACLU of Southern California

ACLU SoCal Criminal Justice and Capital Punishment Legal Fellow

LOCATION

Riverside preferred, but Los Angeles office possible

DEPARTMENT

Advocacy

DEADLINE DATE

Open until filled

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) seeks a Legal Fellow to build, lead, and/or support litigation, policy advocacy, and community education to protect and advance civil rights, with a focus on racial discrimination and the death penalty. The Fellow will also provide technical assistance to community groups, support movement building, and develop advocacy campaigns to support the legal implementation of California Racial Justice Act protections. The fellow will work closely with the Capital Punishment Project, a legal project of the national ACLU.

For more than 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s protecting the rights of immigrants, ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for women and the LGBTQ community, advancing racial justice, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties and civil rights cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach.

ACLU SoCal is an affiliate of the ACLU. Founded in 1923, ACLU SoCal has been at the forefront of many major efforts to protect civil liberties, civil rights, and equal justice in California. Principled and nonpartisan, the ACLU SoCal has offices in Los Angeles, Orange County (Orange), the Inland Empire (San Bernardino), and Kern County (Bakersfield). The ACLU SoCal tackles a vast array of issues, including police practices, criminal justice, First Amendment rights, voting rights, gender equity, reproductive justice, LGBTQ rights, immigrants' rights, education equity, and economic justice.

The Capital Punishment Project, part of the ACLU’s Center for Justice, challenges the unfairness and arbitrariness of capital punishment while working toward the ultimate goal of abolishing the death penalty. The Project engages in public advocacy and strategic litigation, including direct representation of capital defendants. The Project’s litigation is conducted throughout the country, with a particular focus on the South. 

OVERVIEW

The Fellow will help to develop and litigate state cases involving the California Racial Justice Act. The Fellow will also create, implement, and participate in innovative advocacy and campaigns; engage in public education; provide technical assistance on racial discrimination and the death penalty-related issues to coalitions, community partners, government officials, and government bodies.  The focus of the fellowship will be on litigation in California.

The Fellow will be a member of the ACLU SoCal’s Criminal Justice Team and will receive support and training from the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project. The Fellow will also work with other attorneys, policy advocates, and organizers from other ACLU SoCal projects, and with communications staff as needed and when intersectional issues arise.

The Fellow will be supervised by a senior staff attorney or senior policy advocate with the ACLU SoCal and work in collaboration with a senior staff attorney with the Capital Punishment Project Team.

This is a full time, exempt position. The position requires a willingness to work beyond a standard 7.5 hour workday, including evening and weekend meetings and events. Travel throughout California region may be required and occasional travel around the country may be encouraged.

The Fellow, like all staff within ACLU SoCal, is expected to model professional workplace behavior and standards, and clearly and enthusiastically demonstrate our core values of accountability, collaboration, diversity, equity, inclusion, excellence, honesty, integrity, humility, and open communication.

CLASSIFICATION:

Full-Time, Exempt. Time limited two-year position, with a possibility for future extension contingent upon additional funding.

This is a bargaining unit position in the National Organization of Legal Services Workers union.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

The ACLU SoCal’s “integrated advocacy” model unites legal advocacy, policy advocacy, organizing, and base building for maximum impact. In keeping with that approach, the Fellow will work on cases, advocacy projects, public education, and campaigns. The Fellow’s responsibilities will be the following:

• Conduct legal research and analysis and develop theories to support new litigation projects.
• Draft legal memoranda, pleadings, affidavits, motions, and briefs.
• Interview witnesses and potential clients.
• Participate in discovery, brief writing, and trial practice.
• Draft and edit public education and non-litigation advocacy materials.
• Participate in litigation teams, serve as co-counsel, and work in conjunction with other legal, policy, and organizing staff within the ACLU SoCal, the Capital Punishment Project, the other two California ACLU affiliates, and partner organizations.
• Provide support and assistance to ACLU affiliates and cooperating attorneys.
• Help manage summer legal internship program and supervise student interns.
• Engage in public speaking and attend meetings and/or conferences as needed.
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity within the office using a personal approach that values all individuals and respects differences in regards to race, ethnicity, age, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and socio-economic circumstance.
• Commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts.
• Serve as a policy expert and advocate on California Racial Justice Act issues in support of legislation and other campaigns, with responsibilities including public speaking, media interviews, and outreach, as well as writing op-eds, reports, blogs, social media content, advocacy sign-on letters, fact sheets, and toolkits.
• Provide technical support to community groups, advocates, and organizers in the region.
• Run trainings for activists and organizers and support the Department’s volunteer engagement programs, as needed.
• Establish and cultivate collaborative relationships with community partners, coalitions, stakeholders, and ACLU members.
• Conduct outreach, advocacy, and provide technical assistance to public officials and government bodies.
• Devise and present engaging "know your rights" presentations, trainings, and engage in public speaking.
• Organize, lead, and participate in community education events and meetings.
• Other duties, as needed and assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ACLU SoCal and the Capital Punishment Project anticipate hiring a recent law school graduate who is preparing to take or have recently taken the bar, or an early-career attorney who graduated from law school less than 5 years ago. The fellow will be hired into a two-year, time-limited role, with the potential for extension contingent upon additional funding.

Required

• Juris Doctorate
• Demonstrated commitment to the cause of civil liberties and civil rights, including criminal justice, opposition to the death penalty and racial justice.
• Excellent research, writing, analytic, and speaking skills.
• Ability to develop and litigate or help develop and litigate cases.
• Ability to work in diverse coalitions and develop advocacy campaigns.
• Ability to participate in, create, and sustain inclusive and engaging spaces for all.
• Ability to lead projects, build strong relationships, and work well in collaboration with others.
• Willingness to work occasional weekend and evening hours, as needed.
• Extremely strong project and time management skills, including a high level of organization, attention to detail and follow-through, while balancing and prioritizing multiple activities and responsibilities.
• Willingness to travel within Southern California as well as occasionally to other parts of the state and country.
• Admitted to practice law in the state of California or willingness to promptly take the California bar exam.

• Excellent communication skills: written and verbal.
• Flexible team player and comfortable working independently and taking initiative.
• Ability to participate in, create and sustain inclusive and engaging spaces for all races/ethnicities, genders, ages, classes, and geographies.

Desired

• Some experience with federal or state court litigation preferred
• Experience in criminal justice, death penalty opposition or racial justice issues. People personally impacted by the criminal justice system are encouraged to apply for this position.
• A demonstrated commitment to and track record of doing intersectional advocacy, using multiple and creative strategies to achieve a particular goal.

RACIAL EQUITY COMPETENCIES

Understanding and Applying Racial Equity

• Demonstrate commitment to building or deepening understanding of racial equity.
• Core terms and concepts such as structural racism, white privilege, and anti-Blackness.
• The role that racial inequity has played and continues to play in our society.
• How race impacts supervisory relationships, team dynamics, and organizational culture.
• Personal/implicit/unconscious bias.

Working for Racial Equity

• Consistently assess structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions within the context of their job responsibilities; race/ethnicity, intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, identity, and/or sexual orientation.
• Consistently adhere to organization’s racial equity policies and procedures, including those that relate to hiring, retention, and promotion.
• Consistently identify and disrupt ways in which bias plays out in work and/or team.

Leading on Racial Equity

• Effectively encourage people to have honest conversations about racial equity, and accept feedback openly, non-defensively, and from a posture of learning.
• Consistently address structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions by identifying and implementing changes that can produce more equitable outcomes. This applies not only in terms of race/ethnicity, but also at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation.
• Consistently set racial equity outcomes, goals, and performance measures for team, department, or organization, and develop and successfully implement plans to achieve them.

BENEFITS

The salary range for this position is $78,000.00 - $90,040.70, based on year of law school graduation. Benefits include medical, vision, and dental insurance for staff members and their eligible dependents; life and long-term, short-term disability insurance; 401(k) plan with employer match; ample vacation and sick leave and fifteen paid holidays.

TO APPLY

Please upload your resume, cover letter, and writing sample to our Application Portal.

The ACLU of Southern California is committed to developing a culture of diversity, equity, respect, and inclusion and to strive to maintain a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. The ACLU SoCal is an equal opportunity employer that does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of any status or condition protected by applicable law. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply and value people of all races, genders (including gender identity or expression), sexual orientations, disabilities, citizenships, ages, religions, and national origins and who have different marital statuses, family caregiving responsibilities, lived experiences with the criminal justice systems, and genetic information. The ACLU SoCal does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of any of these characteristics.

The ACLU SoCal is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail hrsupport@aclusocal.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.