Outsider Jurisprudence

I Quaderni de L'altro diritto vogliono essere uno spazio per la riflessione teorico-giuridica e la ricerca sociologica sui temi del carcere e delle istituzioni penali in genere, del governo dell'immigrazione, della devianza e dell'emarginazione sociale. La collana mira a evidenziare come operi in questi campi il "diritto in azione", vale a dire il fitto reticolo di credenze, conflitti, distorsioni e transazioni sociali attraverso il quale il "diritto dei libri" viene a contatto con la vita delle persone.

... first-year law stu-dents write and argue an appellate brief to a panel of judges con-sisting of both academics and practitioners, has a profound impact on each student's developing impression of what it means to be a lawyer.1 Moot Court disadvantages law students, particu ...

Social and cultural capital enable students to more easily access and take advantage of higher education. By lacking access to the social capital of the dominant group, immigrants do not benefit from education on equal terms with those who belong to the norm. High school participation, college preparation, and involvement in college reflect and amplify access to social capital, particularly at elite universities. Colleges' definition of "merit" in admissions decisions replicates inequalities in access to social capital. While scholars have noted how racial minorities and students of low socioeconomic status are disadvantaged in the educational system, they have overlooked how immigrant status per se limits access to social capital and its benefits. Affirmative-action discussions also tend to be racialized, even if they intersect with immigration-policy debates. In theory, admission preferences are based on the assumption that those not belonging to the dominant group are less effective in the competition for resources, such as education. At its core, this assumption should be defined to include any deficiency in access to social capital. By recontextualizing affirmative-action rhetoric in this way, all immigrants' challenges can be more easily recognized. At the same time, all immigrants' contribution to diversity--the only justification for affirmative action remaining after the recent decision in Fisher v. University of Texas --could be more fully appreciated, while increasing intra-group diversity. The intersection of whiteness and outsider jurisprudence, in the context of access to social capital, provides a better understanding of how intra-group diversity can be achieved in education, and how we can create a more integrated society, paving way for a more meaningful democracy.

Because Moot Court is a core first year course, indeed the quintessential first year lawyering course, 5 it is well situated as a vehicle for change. A feminist Moot Court would not only teach the mechanics of argument, but also expose student lawyers to 3. A.B.A. SECTION OF LEGAL EDUCATION AND ADMISSIONS TO THE BAR, LEGAL EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT-AN EDUCATIONAL CONTINUUM: REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON LAW SCHOOLS AND THE PROFESSION: NARROWING THE GAP 3 (1992) [hereinafter MACCRATE REPORT]. The ABA task force drafting this study contemplates a system in which "law schools and the practicing bar must share responsibility for giving new members of the profession the training needed to practice competently." Id. at 131. In keeping with the MacCrate Report's subtitle, the report suggests that legal educators and practicing lawyers must stop viewing themselves as separated by a "gap" and recognize that they are engaged in a common enterprisethe education and professional development of the members of a great profession. Id. at 3. The report sets out ten fundamental lawyering skills and four fundamental values of the profession. Id. at 138-41. I believe that many of these lawyering skills can or should be acquired in Moot Court, e.g.,

Knowing that there was such a thing as outdoors bred in us a hunger for property, for ownership. The firm possession of a yard, a porch, grape arbor. Properties. Black people spent all their energy, all their love on their nests...Renting blacks cast furtive glances at those ...

Because Moot Court is a core first year course, indeed the quintessential first year lawyering course, 5 it is well situated as a vehicle for change. A feminist Moot Court would not only teach the mechanics of argument, but also expose student lawyers to 3. A.B.A. SECTION OF LEGAL EDUCATION AND ADMISSIONS TO THE BAR, LEGAL EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT-AN EDUCATIONAL CONTINUUM: REPORT OF THE TASK FORCE ON LAW SCHOOLS AND THE PROFESSION: NARROWING THE GAP 3 (1992) [hereinafter MACCRATE REPORT]. The ABA task force drafting this study contemplates a system in which "law schools and the practicing bar must share responsibility for giving new members of the profession the training needed to practice competently." Id. at 131. In keeping with the MacCrate Report's subtitle, the report suggests that legal educators and practicing lawyers must stop viewing themselves as separated by a "gap" and recognize that they are engaged in a common enterprisethe education and professional development of the members of a great profession. Id. at 3. The report sets out ten fundamental lawyering skills and four fundamental values of the profession. Id. at 138-41. I believe that many of these lawyering skills can or should be acquired in Moot Court, e.g.,