ABOUT THE BLOGGERS

Danielle and Rory are newlyweds living in Philadelphia, where they moved from their native Minnesota. They came to Philly for law school at Drexel University, but currently only Danielle has remained strong in her quest. She recently reached the end of her first year, and is now a legal rock star! For the summer she is interning at Philadelphia VIP (see post of February 26, "Spotlight: Philadelphia VIP"). Rory dropped out and is now working for a federal contractor as a writer. Check out the blog, where these happily-married white kids post about their adventures in food, a little travel, and then some more well-earned food. Sometimes, when Rory is asleep, Danielle even throws in some posts about crafts and other boring things, if you're into that.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Update on Rory's Pro Bono Project, and Little Else

Well hello there!

Danielle mentioned a few posts back that I would be starting a volunteer project with a prisoner re-entry program here in Philadelphia. Wednesday was my first day on the job, so now I have a few more details to provide.

The program is called the STAR Program (Supervision to Aid Re-entry), and is run in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania federal court. The program has two separate groups of around 20-25 voluntary participants, who are incentivized to successfully complete 52 weeks of the program by subsequently having their post-prison supervision reduced by one year. The program meets every other week, when prosecuting and defense attorneys, the re-entry judge, probation, and other professionals provide updates on the participants' progress in re-entry: employment, healthcare, family issues, legal problems, etc. There is then a hearing in which each individual appears before the judge and discusses their recent successes and failures. The program strives to meet their needs by providing services, such as connecting them with employment opportunities, tokens for public transportation, legal services, etc. If participants fail to comply with the conditions of the court or their supervised release, they can also be sanctioned in various ways. My role as a student intern is to conduct intake interviews with participants if they indicate a need for assistance, and then either research the issue and brief the program staff or refer the individual to the proper resources. It should be an excellent opportunity for me to help a program that is seeking a novel solution to criminal justice as well as develop research and interviewing skills.

Sadly, there is almost nothing else new going on in our lives. The academic semester has been grinding on, and as of today we are done with the first three weeks! We have had little time for fun or sleep, and in fact we have not even had a chance to change the lightbulbs that are burning out one-by-one in our apartment. Hopefully the weekend will provide an opportunity for catching up. Enjoy your weekends, and we will update the blog ASAP when something newsworthy or exciting happens on our end.

All our best,
Rory
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