Weighing the scales of justice

Justice for all. When Americans recite the Pledge of Allegiance, they affirm this foundational principle of a justice system committed to treating all citizens fairly. This summer, Presidential Scholars and aspiring lawyers Emerson Linden and Elizabeth Milliot got a close-up look at how this ideal plays out for some of the most vulnerable Americans.

Linden, a leadership studies and political science senior, received a Burrus Fellowship from the Jepson School of Leadership Studies to support her internship at the Virginia Poverty Law Center in Richmond. The statewide nonprofit uses advocacy, education, and litigation to fight systemic barriers that keep low-income Virginians in the cycle of poverty.

One of Linden’s internship projects involved creating a database of financial assistance resources available in regions throughout the state.

“Although VPLC doesn’t offer financial assistance, it can refer clients to other organizations that do,” she explained. “I sat in on a meeting where my supervisor shared with a client the list of resources I had put together. It was great to hear how this client took away some next steps in her time of desperate need and for me to see what it takes to do legal aid — that it’s not just about the law.”

But sometimes it is about the law, such as when low-income clients are targeted illegally by predatory lenders. Linden created content for a media project that VPLC used to raise awareness of loan sharks. She said learning about predatory lending and consumer rights was eye-opening.

“Many people find themselves in cycles of debt and get lured into loans with 200-300 percent interest rates,” said the St. Louis native. “Their information is sold to debt collectors who harass them on the phone daily. Although Virginia has passed laws to prevent this, thousands of vulnerable people still have their savings completely wiped out by these debt collectors.”

Milliot, a senior majoring in leadership studies and philosophy, politics, economics and law (PPEL), also received a Burrus Fellowship from the Jepson School to support her summer internship. She interned with New York City’s Legal Aid Society, the oldest and largest nonprofit legal aid provider in the United States.

She analyzed discovery materials, evidence gathered prior to trial to prepare cases. “I interviewed clients and reviewed hours of body and street camera footage, looking for any details that might help their cases,” Milliot said.

Her attention to detail paid off when she watched grainy street footage of a murder. “I noticed that the person who committed the murder had pierced ears, and our client did not,” she said. “It was rewarding to find something that helped the defense of a client.”

Her internship taught the Golden Bridge, New York, resident just how complex the justice system is and how it sometimes gets things wrong. She recalled a case involving a pedestrian hit by a car.

“Years after the accident, the driver was going through the court system defending himself from hit-and-run charges brought by a person who ran in front of his car,” Milliot said. “The firefighters who responded to the accident testified that the driver had remained on the scene. So how does it happen that he was charged with hit-and-run?”

In addition to their internships, the two seniors have explored their interest in law through many curricular and co-curricular opportunities, including community-based-learning classes, study abroad, and participation in the Richmond chapter of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. “Every experience helps me figure it out more and more,” Linden said.