G was detained at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, California- a five-hour drive from Stanford.  For the first four weeks of the quarter, our communication with G was primarily by phone, with one option to speak to her by video from the Courthouse.

While I was happy with how well our attorney-client relationship developed with G over the phone and videoconferencing the first weeks of the quarter, I knew that meeting G in person was a really critical moment for this relationship and our case. Brett, my clinic partner, and I had prepared a lot for this meeting, including how we would approach talking to her about her criminal conviction. Much to our surprise, despite our extensive planning, we began discussing her criminal conviction earlier in the conversation than we had anticipated. One of the first things that we made clear to her was that we saw her as a unique individual, with important lived experiences and someone who was valued. We also explicitly told her that we did not believe that her single conviction should define her and that we viewed that conviction as just one part of her life, but not representative or reflective of who she was.  As soon as we shared this, she relaxed and vocalized how important it was for her not to feel judged. It became clear that she also did not see herself through the lens of her conviction or that it defined her. This particular conversation was a really critical moment for our team. Although, as lawyers and advocates, we discuss internally how we feel about the criminal justice and immigration systems, I think it is not always apparent to our clients how we feel. Clearly addressing our client’s criminal history and the overall problems with the immigration system was really helpful in developing a meaningful and collaborative lawyer-client relationship.

Taylor Evensen, JD ’21, and her clinic partner Brett Diehl, JD ’21 represented their client, G, as student attorneys in the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic in the Winter 2020 quarter. They represented G at her hearing in Immigration Court, and also had the opportunity to travel to Bakersfield, CA to visit G, who is being held at the Mesa Verde Detention Center.