Reuters, US House Probes Northwestern's Law Clinic Over Representation of Pro-Palestine Protestors:
A U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating a Northwestern University's legal clinic over its decision to represent protesters it alleges engaged in "illegal, antisemitic conduct," in what appears to be the first U.S. school to be subjected to a Congressional inquiry over legal representation.
The Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday sent a letter to Northwestern University requesting clinic budgets, policies and other information — citing its Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic’s representation of the organizers of a pro-Palestine protest that blocked traffic to Chicago’s O’Hare airport in April 2024 and resulted in 40 arrests. The letter is posted on the committee's website.
A committee spokesperson said Northwestern was the first law school investigated by the committee.
ABA Journal, Do Law School Clinics Engage in 'Progressive-Left' Advocacy? Congressional Committee Seeks Information:
Legal clinics at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law are being targeted by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and Workforce, which is requesting information about policies, funding sources and budgets.
A March 27 letter seeking the information expressed concern about one clinic’s representation of organizers of “an anti-Israel blockade of highway traffic” in a civil lawsuit and the law school’s “Movement Lawyering” class.
Northwestern University’s law school is funding “left-wing advocacy with its institutional resources,” raising “significant concerns about the university’s role as a steward of taxpayer dollars,” the letter claims.
- Chicago Sun-Times, Northwestern Faces Another Congressional Investigation
- Daily Northwestern, Pritzker Under Fire From House Committee on Education for Providing Free Legal Representation to Pro-Palestinian Protestors
- Washington Free Beacon, Northwestern Law School Clinic Funds Legal Defense of Anti-Israel Activists Who Shut Down Chicago Airport
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