Minnesota Law 1Ls Mica Standing Soldier, Emanual Williams, and Tony Sanchez were already planning to join classmates and others expected at protests during the murder and manslaughter trials of fired Minneapolis police officers in the killing of George Floyd. But the students’ recent hiring to positions at the Minneapolis-based Legal Rights Center has vastly expanded the nature of their anticipated involvement.

The paid clerkships, which run through the end of the summer, were created and funded through a unique social justice collaboration between the LRC and Minnesota Law. The students will recruit their classmates and local attorneys to volunteer with the LRC’s Know Your Rights program, which, among other things, offers demonstrators brief on-the-ground training in exercising their First Amendment rights.

On the public education front, the students are working to help community members understand legal issues related to the trials by contributing—not just in writing but via videos and infographics as well—to online and social media forums. They also are helping to create restorative practice resources to support community members in processing the trial.

A lot of Minnesota Law students applied for the clerkships, making the selection process very difficult, says Sarah Davis, LRC’s executive director. Many students are also likely to volunteer to staff the LRC’s legal support hotlines and to support its community know-your-rights efforts, as well as take part in local protests themselves.

"This collaboration with the Legal Rights Center is a win-win," says Garry W. Jenkins, dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law. "The students benefit from an incredible learning experience while also promoting civic engagement to their peers and the community on the important issues implicated by these trials. Opportunities like these are central to the Law School's mission of public service and ensuring justice." 

An ‘Incredible Honor’

Standing Soldier says the clerkship is an “incredible honor.” Before applying to Minnesota Law, she worked for four years as a litigation assistant at a law firm after graduating with an English literature degree from the University of Minnesota.

“The world is looking at this trial and the world is looking at Minneapolis’ response to it,” Standing Soldier says. “To be a part of something that is so timely and so paramount to how we view police and community interactions and relationships is really huge.”

An enrolled citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Standing Soldier has been a community organizer since moving to Minneapolis several years ago from South Dakota. She asks members of the Minnesota Law community to consider taking action related to the proceedings stemming from Floyd’s death. 

“The legal field can sometimes be so separate from what’s going on in the community,” Standing Soldier says. “I would encourage people to be uncomfortable and to use the information, the knowledge and the experience that they have to really get involved.”

 Advocating for Social Justice

Williams, from the small Texas town of Lovelady, is co-leader of the LRC’s Know Your Rights program. Meeting Know Your Rights volunteers at last summer’s protests inspired him to apply for the clerkship.

“Me being an African American man, my big push into even going to law school and pursuing a career in law was criminal justice reform and social justice awareness especially in the criminal justice system,” says Williams, whose political science degree from Carleton College is focused on democracy, the state, and society.

Helping protesters understand how to amplify their voices aligns with Williams’ goal of making “movement lawyering” part of his legal career.

“To be an attorney you don’t necessarily have to separate yourself from social justice and social movements,” Williams says. “You can do both. That’s what moved me from being someone who saw this [LRC] program from the outside to wanting to be inside of it as much as I possibly can.”

Equality and Inclusion

Sanchez is focusing on getting information out to the community through social media posts and infographics that explain legal terms related to the trial. Hailing from Jensen Beach on Florida’s Atlantic coast, he worked in communications for the Democratic caucus of the Florida House of Representatives while earning a political science degree at Florida State University.

Sanchez joined in student-led protests when he moved to Minneapolis days after Floyd’s death.

“I’m biracial,” he says. “I’ve seen first-hand the difference between how police treat my Black parent and my White parent. I’ve seen them both get pulled over. … This is something that people of color deal with every day.”

Sanchez says his primary goal in choosing Minnesota Law was to increase the enrollment of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students. He works toward that end as an admissions ambassador and expresses BIPOC students’ concerns as the Law Council’s assistant communications director.

Minnesota Law’s public interest focus and emphasis on inclusivity influenced his decision to enroll at the Law School, Sanchez says. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, Sanchez cited the Transgender Name Change Clinic, which OutLaw, the LGBTQ+ student association has helped to host, as an example of the inclusive atmosphere that he finds appealing.

Centering BIPOC Voices

Having started their positions last month during the opening stages of Derek Chauvin’s trial, Standing Soldier, Williams, and Sanchez will continue working at the LRC through the summer and the trials of the other three former officers charged in Floyd’s death, which are currently slated for August.

“As an organization founded by Black and American Indian communities, [the LRC is] committed to centering BIPOC voices in our work, and Mica, Emanual, and Tony bring very powerful perspectives,” Davis says.

Minnesota Law is supporting two of the clerkships and local foundations are supporting the third, according to Davis.

“The University of Minnesota Law School really stepped up and said, ‘We want to support this in a meaningful way so that you can bring on paid law clerks to help you provide this critical information to the community,’” Davis says. “It has been an invaluable resource to bring on these law clerks with the support of the Law School.”

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.