By Ariana Kertsman
This summer I interned with the Racial Justice Clinic (RJC) at the University of San Francisco’s
Law School, where I researched cases of people currently incarcerated in California’s prison system,
wrote memos and case summaries, and performed organizational tasks assigned to me. I am grateful to
the attorneys at the clinic who were willing to mentor me as I worked to determine how I could
effectively contribute to the field of decarceration in ways that push me intellectually, fulfill my personal
commitment to building relationships with those immediately impacted by the system, and create
legitimate and visible change in the unjust and inequitable systems underpinning our society.
Before heading into this internship, it was hard to imagine myself working “within” the system at
some point in my career. However, I set a personal goal to learn something new about myself and how I
want to access this work—decarceration activism—in the future. I view my own role in this work
differently, now that I have a deeper understanding of how hard it is to avoid all types of systemic barriers
when almost everything we do, see, touch, and experience has been informed by the American carceral
state. I’m realizing that it might not be possible to fully detach ourselves from the violent systems in
which we exist, and isolating ourselves from the machines of harm might fuel their power because then
they can rest there, untouched and unchanged.
In most of my classes at UofM, I have studied the American carceral system in an academic
context. Therefore, I’ve been part of spaces where I can maintain a “safe and comfortable” distance from
this system, and therefore easily critique it. However, through this internship, I have observed how hard it
is to challenge legal boundaries—that were either designed with the intent to harm certain communities or
that have failed to mitigate harm due to the social context in which they exist—and yet at the same time,
how people working within the boundaries can push them.
I have found ways to remain grounded in reality and aware of the limitations of our current
moment, but the attornies affirmed for me that it is possible to hold compassion and freedom close to your
heart while doing your work, even if the system in which you’re working is dehumanizing and
controlling. By watching and working with the attornies as my supervisors, I learned that building
client-centered relationships, valuing difference, and leading with curiosity about others’ lives will take us
far. I believe that if we center those values, we can move beyond the current barriers to our individual and
shared successes.
One of the BLI Habits that I anticipated practicing while interning at the RJC was “expecting
challenges.” I practiced this habit almost every day, partially because it was challenging to learn new
terms and legal jargon that comes with researching cases, but also because I am so motivated by learning
about people and who they are “beyond their crime,” and yet the first information I learned about them
was related to their conviction. I felt uncomfortable with the reality that I knew so little about the person
whose handwritten letter rested in front of me, and I so deeply wanted to know more. However, I realized
that due to the constraints of the system and the job, I had to focus on the information I was given, and it
would be up to me to not reduce the individual and their value to the incomplete story in my hands. I
turned to my supervisors for support and guidance when this was particularly challenging, and I worked
through the discomfort with them. Towards the end of my internship, I was able to participate in a witness
call during which I learned much more about someone’s case and their life story, and I felt immediately
more fulfilled by the job. This was an important learning experience for me, and it showed me what parts
of this work are most meaningful to me, and which parts might be challenging in the future.
Interning at the RJC was deeply inspiring to me, and I am going to continue asking hard questions
about how we can challenge legal boundaries to meet peoples’ needs, now that I have more knowledge of
how far these boundaries should be pushed in order to be part of visible change. It is important to me that
I am both an ambitious, and strategic thinker and activist, and I believe that learning from attorneys and
law professors offered me the invaluable opportunity to see how this balance is struck within the criminal
legal system.
