Summer 2012 Public Policy and Advocacy Department Internship (Law or Graduate Student)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) works to defend and expand individual rights and personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and state and federal civil rights laws. The ACLU of Texas is proud to be the eleventh largest ACLU affiliate in the United States, with more than 18,000 supporters across our state.

Summary of the Position

The ACLU of Texas works across the spectrum of the Bill of Rights.  Our campaign priorities are Immigrants’ Rights, Youth Rights, Religious Freedom, and Criminal Law Reform.  Each intern will be assigned primary responsibility for working on one of the campaign areas below and efforts will be made to accommodate the particular interests of each intern.  This position will be located at the ACLU of Texas headquarters in Houston.

• Immigrant Rights Campaign:  focus is on ending state and local law enforcement of federal immigration law; ensuring equal protection of the law to all non-citizens; stopping abuse of power by federal authorities along our border; and ending civil immigration detention and sub-standard living conditions for non-citizens in custody.
• Criminal Law Reform Campaign: focus is on ending over-incarceration in Texas with an emphasis on eliminating racial disproportionality; ending the privatization of prisons and jails in Texas; and ending the death penalty in Texas.
• Religious Freedom Campaign: focus is on ensuring K-12 public school curriculum and textbooks are free from government-sponsored religion; promoting the separation of church and state on public school campuses; and ensuring Texans are able to practice their faiths, or no faith at all, without government interference.
• Youth Rights Campaign:  focus is on keeping students from entering the criminal justice system; ending the use of solitary confinement of children in prisons and jails; and ensuring all children are treated equally in Texas schools.

Assignments may include:

• Conducting fact and legal research;
• Monitoring legislative actions;
• Drafting policy papers and public education materials;
• Engaging in statewide and local advocacy; and
• Other duties assigned as necessary.

In addition to the substantive work areas described above, all interns will have the opportunity to attend the following formal ACLU of Texas summer internship events:

• Summer Speaker Series, which includes discussions with leading civil rights and social justice lawyers from around Texas;
• Summer internship kick-off event; and
• Summer outings.

Funding

Unfortunately, the ACLU of Texas is unable to fund internships; however, we will assist students to obtain their own funding in any way we can. We will also assist students who wish to obtain clinical or academic credit for their internship.

How to apply

Students attending law school in Texas may apply through the University of Texas School of Law’s Public Interest Career Day process.  We will be conducting interviews at the 2012 Career Day (http://www.utexas.edu/law/career/employer/pscd.html).  Students may also apply directly to the ACLU of Texas by sending a cover letter, specifying which issue area you are interested in; a resume; a brief (no more than 5 pages) writing sample; and a law or graduate school transcript, if available, to fknaack@aclutx.org with “PA Summer Intern” in the subject line. Individuals of every race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity are encouraged to apply.