Description:

The Prisoner Legal Services Pro Bono Project (PLS) volunteers with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department’s Prisoner Legal Services office to provide pro bono legal service st o incarcerated people at San Francisco County Jail #3, located in San Bruno. Supervised by PLS attorneys, student volunteers provide incarcerated people with legal information on criminal law, conditions of confinement, collateral consequences, custody, release, and miscellaneous civil matters. Generally, our team staffs PLS weekly, with most students visiting the jail once per quarter.

Description:

Volunteers are asked to commit to one weekly or biweekly two-hour shift at San Francisco County Jail #3 per quarter (about a 30-minute drive from campus) and complete necessary follow-up from jail visits, often including legal research and memo-writing. Before starting in-person jail visits, students will receive training from PLS attorneys, attend cultural competency training, and receive security clearance from the Sheriff’s Department.

Note: Jail visits will take place on Friday afternoons. This means that students in Prof. Nyarko’s Friday afternoon Contracts class will be unable to participate in those visits during Fall Quarter. Those students will participate in training in the fall, and will begin visits in the Winter Quarter.

Open Membership Spots: 20

Adv. Degree Student Participation: Permitted

Winter Start: Not Permitted; Fall Start Required (Except for Those with Class Conflicts)

Eligible for Meeting NYS Bar Pro Bono Requirement: Likely

Language Ability Preference: None; Spanish Valued

Project Leaders: Dox Joseph Raskin, Hannah Bottarel, & Nicolas Labelet Coleman