Thank you to the editors of the South Carolina Law Review for organizing such a compelling and important symposium on access to justice, the rule of law, and democracy!

Point is - we should all do our homework; otherwise we may just be contributing to the problem, rather than helping to solve it.

I am sure it is a complex issue, and I do not purport to have any definitive answers -- but I do know that local politics (taken broadly) are often complicated and, well, local. Yet now the soundbite is out there; no doubt to be further recirculated and perhaps used as ammunition.

They said that, in their view, it was taken out of context and that attacking this person was not in the best interest of their community and broader strategy or goals.

Just saw a national media columnist re-post an 'expose' clip of a local (Democratic) politician of mine to make a principled point about politics; I was surprised and asked two friends and fellow constituents who are part of the LGBTQ community and very active in local and state advocacy re: same.

33! Looking fwd to seeing you in March :)

What an incredible gift to be able to facilitate these moments of connection and to play a small role in amplifying our shared humanity. #accesstojustice #VanderbiltLaw law.vanderbilt.edu/access-to-ju...

They hoped to continue these conversations - and we'll talk in our last law school class session next week about ideas for doing so.

Several of the inside students said they were leaving the class more hopeful than they had entered -- hopeful that there are law students wanting to make a difference and people working to change the law.

I was less sure what the inside students would gain from it, but was relieved to hear that they found it valuable as well. In our last class this past Tuesday, one woman emphasized the importance of creating spaces for dialogue "between the people who make laws and the people living those laws."

Part of what I loved most about the class was that it intentionally placed all of the students on a level plane, rather than having students interact through a lawyer-client relationship.

At times, the outside students found it sobering and other times shocking; but across the board, they found it impactful.

They learned a great deal about how the criminal legal system works in practice, and how it feels to experience that system from a very different perspective than we often hear in law school.

The outside students developed and facilitated meaningful conversations about justice, access to justice, the role of lawyers, alternative models of legal services provision, and reform.

As with many new endeavors, I wasn't sure how it would go. We had some bumps along the way -- including having to reschedule our first class due to a COVID-lockdown at the prison -- but overall, it proved to be a truly phenomenal experience.