The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute (MCLI) has provided internships to over 400 law students and legal workers since it began in Berkeley, Calif. in 1965.
Help on the Human Rights Reporting Project, gaining valuable knowledge on how to use international treaties in U.S. courts, the work of the U.N. Human Rights treaty bodies, and the role of local and state governments in the U.N. process.
Work on the national effort to accurately document U.S. Human Rights abuses, and to monitor the U.S. government’s compliance with its international Human Rights treaty
Connect with the current grassroots movement to bring social justice issues within a Human Rights framework.
Nicole Fries, a student of the University of California at Chapel Hill double majoring in “Peace, War, & Defense” and “Public Policy,” shadowed Board Member Attorney Walter Riley when he served as a legal observer at a protest of Castlewood Country Club workers in Summer 2011. She wrote an article for the Fall issue of the MCLI Quarterly Newsletter Human Rights Now!:
The events that happened that day were important in the larger struggle for these workers’ rights, but the biggest impression they were able to convey was the strength of their support, whether it was in a battle of legal rights, financial stability, or how long they could survive the lockout.
My experiences that day had a much bigger effect on me than a couple lost hours of sleep would have. It was so inspiring to see solidarity in defense of our civil and human rights in action, and I was able to see first-hand how successful an organization can be when supported by an entire community.
I’ve attended a couple other [protest] events as [an] MCLI intern and each one has reinforced the idea that a violation of one individual’s human rights can quickly lead to violation of a whole community’s rights.
Nicole was part of a cohort of seven MCLI Human Rights Interns in Summer 2011.
