ACLU Foundation of Texas
Summer 2008 Internship Opportunities

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas is accepting applications for summer 2008 law internships. The ACLU is one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. We are a nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending the Bill of Rights through litigation, legislation, and public education. The Texas affiliate of the ACLU, founded in 1938, is headquartered in Austin, and includes a regional office in Houston and thirteen chapters with over 17,000 members statewide.

Description:
We are seeking ten (10) highly motivated students from law schools across Texas and the nation, with a demonstrated commitment to civil rights and civil liberties, and the initiative and energy to see projects to completion. Eight (8) internships are available in our Legal Program and two (2) in our Policy Development Program.

Legal Program Interns (8 interns).

Legal Program interns will be supervised by the ACLU Foundation of Texas’ Legal Director and/or Staff Attorney. Assignments will include, but not be limited to, assisting in litigation, investigating complaints, completing fact research and legal analysis, and drafting memoranda in preparation for litigation of civil rights cases. Other duties may be assigned as necessary. All legal program interns will have the opportunity to work on active litigation to the extent possible.

Each intern will be assigned primary responsibility for one of the areas below and efforts will be made to accommodate the particular interests of each intern. However, work may crossover depending on the needs of the program and the cases in active litigation.

Houston Office. Up to two law interns may be stationed in our Houston Regional Office. They will work collaboratively with the Houston Regional Director and staff and under the direction and supervision of the Legal Director in Austin.

Racial Justice (5 interns). Each of the five legal interns working on the Racial Justice side of the ACLU of Texas’ docket will be assigned to one of the following areas:

• 4th Amdt/ Police Practices
• 4th, 5th, and 14th Amdt/ School to Prison Pipeline
• 4th, 5th and 14th Amdt/ Immigrants’ Rights
• 8th Amdt/ Prison and Jail Conditions of Confinement
• 8th and 14th Amdt/ Juvenile Justice

Individual Liberties (3 interns). Each of the three interns working on the Individual Liberties side of the docket will be assigned to one of the following areas:

• 1st Amdt/ Freedom of Speech, Expression and Association.
• 1st Amdt/ Freedom of Religion and Belief
• 14th Amdt/ Right to Privacy – LGBT Rights and Reproductive Rights

Policy Development Program Interns (2 interns)

The Policy Development Program Interns will be supervised by the ACLU Foundation of Texas’ Policy Development Director.

Racial Justice Policy (1 intern). The ACLU of Texas has four main racial justice priority areas for affirmative policy work: immigrants’ rights, police practices, prison and jail conditions and racial profiling. We seek one law student to complete fact research, legal and public policy analysis and draft memoranda, model legislation, public education and public policy materials in one or more of these areas. Our recent work has included challenging the use of local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws, working to pass legislation to decrease rape in state prisons and integrating human rights concepts into the organization’s racial profiling work. There is some flexibility to tailor the Internship to the interests of the particular student. Other duties may be assigned as necessary.

Individual Rights Policy (1 intern). The ACLU of Texas has three main individual rights priority areas for affirmative policy work: freedom of speech, technology and liberty, and religious liberty. We seek one law student to complete fact research, legal and public policy analysis and draft memoranda, model legislation, public education and public policy materials in one or more of these areas. Our recent work has included opposing proposed local anti-solicitation ordinances, supporting legislation to limit the retention of photos taken by “license plate readers” and investigating the expansion of state criminal intelligence databases. There is some flexibility to tailor the Internship to the interests of the particular student. Other duties may be assigned as necessary.

Logistics:

Dates: The Summer Internship Program will begin with an all-day orientation and a kickoff event in the evening of Friday, May 30 and conclude on Friday, August 8, 2008.

Funding: Unfortunately, the ACLU Foundation of Texas is unable to fund summer internships; however, we will assist students to obtain their own funding in any way we can. We have had significant success working with students to secure grants and fellowship funding. We will also assist students who wish to obtain clinical or academic credit for their internship.

Application: If you are interested, please send a cover letter that includes a statement identifying which program and issue area you are interested in and whether you are applying to work in our Austin or Houston office or both; a resume; a brief (no more than 5 pages) writing sample; and a law school transcript, if available, no later than Friday, February 1, 2008. If you have joined the University of Texas School of Law’s Public Interest Career Day Interview program, please post documents to the ACLU of Texas’ Symplicity account by Thursday, January 3, 2008. All other applicants should send documents electronically in PDF or Word format to:

Email: kskotak@aclutx.org
with "Summer 2008 Legal Internship Application" in the subject line.

No phone calls.