RAPPAPORT CENTER FOR LAW AND PUBLIC SERVICE : EVENTS

The goal of the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service is to increase the caliber and quantity of successful law graduates choosing careers in public policy and state or national government-related public service. To raise the visibility of and increasingly attract the most promising candidates into the public policy and public service arenas, the Center conducts and maintains pertinent research in the area of law and public service and hosts a variety of programs.

Explore upcoming Rappaport Center events by visiting the Suffolk University Law School Events Calendar. Click here to view the calendar.

Listen to and download past events in their entirety by visiting the Rappaport Center on iTunesU. Click here to visit iTunesU.

Below are the descriptions of past policy programs and other timely events that the Center has sponsored since its opening in 2007. You can hear the content of these events by visiting the Rappaport Center on iTunesU.

On Monday, October 6, 2008, Suffolk University Law School and the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of the Department of Children and Families (formerly the Department of Social Services) Care held a public forum regarding the Task Forces's Blueprint for Action: Preparing Our Kids for Education, Work & Life.

Download and view the full Task Force Report.

Featured Panelists and Speakers

• Young people who have aged out of DCF care
  
• The Hon. John M. Greaney, Associate Justice, Supreme Judicial Court (Moderator)
  
• The Hon. Martha P. Grace, Chief Justice, Massachusetts Juvenile Court
  
• Della M. Hughes, Brandeis University, Director, MA Task Force on Youth Aging Out of DCF Care
  
• Maureen Messeder, Director, Adolescent Services, DCF
  
• Robert P. Gittens, Vice President - Public Affairs, Northeastern University (Moderator)
  
• Host: Alfred C. Aman, Jr., Dean, Suffolk University Law School
  
• Other speaker(s): TBA
  

Boston Youth

According to the most recent DCF Quarterly Report (2Q 2008), there were over 6,000 youth ages 12+ in the custody of the Department of Children and Families who had been removed from their homes (due to abuse, neglect, behavior, etc.) and placed in alternative settings, such as foster homes, group homes and residential facilities. At that time, about 900 of them (approx. 15%) were living in the Boston area.

About the Task Force & Forums

Led by Task Force chairs, Joan Wallace-Benjamin, President and CEO, The Home for Little Wanderers; Denise K. Maguire, Executive Director, Cambridge Family and Children's Service; and Della M. Hughes, Senior Fellow, Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University, the Task Force on Youth Aging Out of DCF Care is a multi-agency group formed in 2002 to develop new strategies for improving the outcomes experienced by youth transitioning from DCF care. This event is one in a series of forums the Task Force is co-hosting across Massachusetts. The purpose of the forums is to generate legislative, public, private, and government commitment to improving conditions for an underserved youth population in Massachusetts. The forums will be coupled with targeted legislative and administrative advocacy efforts as well as provider training and technical assistance.

Event co-sponsored by the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service and the Child Advocacy Clinic at Suffolk University Law School.

Over the last eight years, Federal policymakers have struggled with contending claims about national security, executive privilege, and open government. Is the current administration excessively secretive? Or are its methods simply the most effective way to protect our nation in the post-9/11 world? In recognition of International Right to Know Day, Thomas S. Blanton, Director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, joins Professor Alasdair Roberts, Suffolk University Law School, to discuss government transparency and suggest top reform priorities for the next President.

Watch a 12 minute excerpt of Thomas Blanton's lecture. (RealPlayer required)

On Tuesday, July 8, 2008, the Massachusetts Attorney General Institute, the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, Civil Rights Division and the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service hosted special guest lecturer, Stephen H. Oleskey, Esq., Senior Lead Counsel in the Guantanamo Bay detainee case of Boumediene v. Bush, recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, April 2, 2008, the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law School co-hosted a program featuring Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch, JD '92. Commentators at the event included Thomas Kiley, Esq., renowned legal expert on ethics and conflict issues; Peter Sturges, former Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission; and Nir Eisikovits, professor of philosophy from Suffolk University.

On Tuesday, April 8, 2008, Philip G. Schrag, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, provided a comprehensive overview and analysis of the new public service federal loan forgiveness and income-based repayment provisions of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. This free program was offered to educate students and public service attorneys about the CCRAA and how to obtain total federal loan forgiveness or reduced payments. Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Suffolk University Law School Dean Alfred C. Aman, Jr. also gave introductory remarks.

Suffolk University Law School officially launched The Jerome Lyle Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service on Dec. 11, 2007, with an opening ceremony featuring Attorney General Martha Coakley as keynote speaker.

Watch a video of the Rappaport Center Opening Ceremony, including Attorney General Martha Coakley's remarks.

On Thursday, November 15th Second Assistant District Attorney Gerry Stewart, with the Suffolk County DA's Office, presented an informational session to Suffolk law students on how to interview for a position with a DA's office, what DA's offices are looking for in candidates and Dos & Don'ts for the interview process.

Listen to a recording of this informational workshop, by clicking here.