PBH Legal Committee Creates New Programs

The legal committee of the Phillips Brooks House this spring will launch five new programs in which student volunteers will help the community with legal problems, the committee chairman said yesterday.

Both pre-law students and students who are interested in community service will work to insure that people who don't speak English to receive a fair trail and that mental patients are treated humanely.

Students who volunteer to work with the state Office for Human Rights will staff facility advisory boards, said Marc E. Mani '90, chairman of the legal committee. They will help insure that patients in mental health facilities receive humane treatment, he said.

Some volunteers will monitor the Essex county courts, making sure that they comply with state legislation requiring the presence of interpretors in court when the defendant cannot speak English, said Attorney Ernest Winsor '58, who works at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. The law was drafted by the Institute and passed in 1986.

Students will report any infractions of the law to the Institute, which will then notify the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, Winsor said.

Latisha Fernandez '89 said she finds this program attractive because she is thinking of going into law and this program will allow her to sit in on courtcases.

Volunteers at the Massachusetts Tenants'Organization will be trained, beginning in March,to handle tenants' complaints and questions about theirlegal rights, Mani said. Students will help toproduce a newsletter and may help with lobbyingefforts at the state legislature.

Students will also work at Centro Presente, anorganization that offers legal aid to CentralAmerican refugees. Students will help refugeesfacing deportation to gain political asylum, Manisaid.

Volunteers at the South Shore Women's Center,an abuse-prevention agency located in PlymouthCenter, will accompany battered women to court tohelp them obtain court orders against theirabusers, Mani said. Students will also be trainedto speak to small community groups on issues ofdomestic violence.

The Harvard Unemployment Law Project, which isalready in progress, trains student volunteers tospeak for people who feel they were firedunjustly. The students enter the process whenpeople appeal the results of administrativehearings conducted by Massachusetts Division ofEmployment Security, Mani said. "This program maypit an undergraduate student against ahigh-powered corporate attorney."

Seventeen students have been trained byattorney Terry McLarney to help ex-employeesappeal their cases, said Steven M. H. Li '88,co-founder of the project.

"A lot of internships areresearch-oriented...This is unique in that it letsyou advocate on behalf of somebody," Li said."We've been really happy with how committed andenthusiastic the students have been.