Campbell Law students disrupt ‘School to Prison Pipeline’ through Education Equity Clinic

RALEIGH - Campbell Law School students enrolled in the Richardson Family Education Equity Clinic (EEC) this semester have successfully advocated in collaboration with Wake County's Juvenile Public Defender to protect a 14-year-old child's probation status and preserve his place in public school.

Tilson Gitter '25 and Hannah Brown '25 represent the child in connection with ongoing civil rights claims arising out of the child's experience in public school, said Clinic Director Lisa Lukas. Through that representation, they recognized that violations of their client's educational rights under federal law caused him to miss school and placed his probationary status in juvenile court at risk.

"Tilson drafted a memo to juvenile court, and together Tilson and Hannah met with the child's juvenile court counselor to explain their position," Lukasik explained. "They demonstrated that the child's school absences, which were at the center of the probation review, were a direct result of the violations of their client's educational rights, rather than any willful neglect on the child's part. As a result, the juvenile court dismissed the probation violation."

Following this successful intervention in the child's probation hearing, Ritter, who has also successfully advocated for the client in a civil school-based proceeding, emphasized:

"Advocating on behalf of our client has been an invaluable experience. By demonstrating the direct link between the school's failure to uphold his educational rights and his probationary status, we were able to shift the focus from punishment to support. It is deeply rewarding to have contributed to protecting his future, ensuring that he remains in school and has the opportunity to succeed."

Brown reflected further on the impact of her work in the EEC, stating:

"Participating in Professor Lukasik and Professor (Jen) Story's Education Equity Clinic has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my law school career. So much of law school is hypothetical - what I love about the Clinic is that it is entirely grounded in reality. The Clinic gave me the opportunity to build a relationship with a local family and serve their child directly. Through this experience, I was able to apply my knowledge of the IDEA from Professor Lukasik's Special Education Law course, while also enhancing my legal research, writing and client counseling skills. The Clinic does real, meaningful work that certainly has a positive impact on the lives of students in Wake County. It is an enriching experience that I would recommend to any of my classmates seeking a hands-on experience in education law."

Lukasik celebrated Gitter's and Brown's accomplishments, saying, "I couldn't be prouder of these exceptional students who worked hard on a short timeline to use their powerful voices, excellent written and verbal advocacy skills, and deep appreciation of their client's educational rights under federal law to enormous positive impact in the child's life and on the hearts and minds of all who witnessed their great work."

Story contextualized the significance of the students' hard work, offering, "A key mission of the Education Equity Clinic is to effect systemic change while also improving outcomes for our individual clients. By educating the juvenile court system on the educational rights of students and shifting the lens through which the Court viewed our client's behavior, Tilson and Hannah have laid a powerful foundation that will benefit other young people who are caught up in the juvenile system. In this manner, they have not just helped change the trajectory of our client's journey within the education and juvenile court systems, they have taken important steps to disrupt the 'school-to-prison pipeline' more broadly in Wake County."

Lukasik added, "Ultimately, as we admire the positive impact our students have in the lives of the children we serve, we are reminded of the inspirational example of service offered to us through the Richardson Family. We remain enormously grateful to them. We do what we do through their support and following their example."

Learn more about the Clinic a this link.