social justice

The Accidental Advocate

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This guest post was written by Margie Palladino ’85, Executive Director of Mass Family Advocacy Coalition (MFAC) and candidate to serve on the Governor’s Council for Massachusetts.

Boston College Law School teaches the practice of law in the Jesuit tradition of service to others. Of all the lessons I learned there, one has stayed with me throughout my life: our legal system does not affect everyone equally.

As a law student, I was taught that people who are marginalized or lack resources can experience our justice system very differently. When you don’t have the money, the support, or even the “right-color” skin, justice can be much harder to reach.

That lesson planted a seed. I just didn’t pay much attention to it at the time.

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A Tool for Accountability and Justice: Meet Leena Alasaad

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Previous entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London);Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan);Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico); Taha Din (Naperville, IL); Timothy St. Pierre (Brunswick, Maine); Tobias Wilcken Jørgensen LLM ’25 (Denmark).

Leena Alasaad

Name: Leena Alasaad

Hometown: Dracut, Massachusetts

Educational Background: Undergraduate degree in Political Science, with a minor in Philosophy and Law, University of Massachusetts Boston

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The Real Reason to Become a Prosecutor

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This guest post was written by 3L Alyssa Hatfield.

“Alyssa Hatfield on behalf of the Commonwealth.” 

As introductions go, this one might be the most terrifying. What does it mean to represent the Commonwealth? To represent an entire group of people, the defendant included? It’s a heavy weight to bear, but it’s not meant to be borne alone. 

This semester, I joined the Prosecution Clinic. As a part of the clinic, you learn a few things really fast. One: court moves really quickly. Like, really quickly. Two: how to swap stories like old-timers, because people commit some pretty odd crimes in some pretty odd ways that are ripe for class discussion. And three: to “do justice” might be the hardest and most unattainable mission to live by.

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Building on Advocacy and Compassion: Meet Timothy St. Pierre

/ Sangeeta Kishore / 2 Comments

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Previous entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London); Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan); Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico); Taha Din (Naperville, IL).

Name: Timothy St. Pierre

Hometown: Brunswick, Maine

Educational Background: Swarthmore College (2021, Political Science, French & Francophone Studies)

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Finding Creative Solutions to Human Problems: Meet Taha Din

/ Sangeeta Kishore / 3 Comments

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Last year’s entries: Sara Womble (Winston Salem, NC); Elias Massion (Nashville, TN); Samina Gagné (London); Alvin Synarong (Murfreesboro, Tennessee); Ruchita Jain (Edina, Minnesota); Nicole Bauer (Michigan); Carlos Robles-Cruz (Puerto Rico).

Name: Taha Din

Hometown: Naperville, IL

Educational Background: I graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2021, where I studied History, Classical Civilization, and Arabic Language.

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The Ambiguity of Probable Cause: My Path to Law School

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This guest post is by Dave Sainte-Luce, a brand new 1L student at BC Law.

My fascination with law enforcement stretches as far back as my childhood. I was your normal cop-loving kid, who always perked up and watched in awe as those Ford Crown Victorias roared by with their sirens blaring and lights flashing. With each visit to the store, I could never leave without convincing my dad to buy me a new toy police car. At that age, I only understood cops as being brave and strong, running headfirst toward danger to fight crime and maintain law and order. Accordingly, I thought all criminals deserved to be punished, and the cops did the dirty work of putting the bad guys away to keep our community safe. With such a simple yet honorable equation, how could I not love the police?

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Coercion will Fail, but Trade will Endure

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This guest post by BC Law Professor Frank Garcia originally appeared in the Cambridge University Press blog.

The first year of Trump’s second term has been a chaotic one for trade, as for so much else. Before inauguration, the President had already threatened tariffs against Denmark to force a “sale” of Greenland. Within days of taking office, he began threatening or imposing illegal tariffs against Colombia, China, Mexico, Canada, all steel and aluminum exporters, the EU, and now virtually all nations that trade with us. Each of these blows is a stark reminder that we live in a time when economic coercion masquerades as trade policy. 

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Empathy: The driving force of entrepreneurship

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For people facing long odds, an entrepreneurial mind-set matters

This post was originally published in the Boston Business Journal. Authors & Innovators is a regular column by Larry Gennari, a transactional lawyer, BC Law adjunct professor and founder of Project Entrepreneur, and chief curator of Authors & Innovators, an annual business book and ideas festival.

About 77 million Americans have a criminal record. Experts expect that number to be 100 million by 2030. For the estimated 600,000 people returning home from incarceration annually, a criminal record creates substantial barriers to obtaining housing, employment, government benefits and continuing education, due to myriad federal and state restrictions. Getting an ID and finding a job — any job — are immediate priorities. No surprise that recidivism rates for returning citizens range from 29% to 59%, depending on the state.

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No Post-Grad Job Offer? No Problem!

/ Haley Cole / Leave a comment

The journey of getting a J.D. is fraught with uncertainty, but there is a particular lasting uncertainty that many public-interest law students feel as they navigate their way through school. Specifically, public-interest students can find themselves at the end of a three-year J.D. program unclear on where their next journey lies.

One may find it unfortunate that the public interest sector does not have a defined linear track like the big-law business lays out for law students. It can feel daunting to constantly search for your next summer experience each school year without the certainty that you will be offered long-term employment.

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