Linda Howard Weissman Youth Justice Program

Established in 2023, the Linda Howard Weissman Youth Justice Program brings together law student interns and justice-involved youth (ages 12-18) to write alongside one another with the goal of using personal memoir to guide young people on a path of self-reflection and self-discovery so they can feel empowered to effectively advocate for themselves, while creating deeper empathy and awareness in future attorneys. The program is carried out in partnership with Touro Law School’s Public Advocacy Center and the Concepts Court diversion program for youth established by Acting NYS Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho. Workshop participation is an option Judge Camacho presents to court-involved youth as part of their probation and/or as an alternative to incarceration. 

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Through exploring new ways to create empathy in a reader who might not otherwise care, young participants find their way to a place where they can unlock and peer into the door opening onto their past, where they can bravely confront the events in their lives that led them onto troubled paths. Participating law interns write their own short memoirs and, along with Herstory facilitators, help to guide the young writers toward finding their own powerful voice, their own ability to advocate for themselves in a system and a world that works to silence their voices and strip them of their dignity and power. Together they examine the impact of current policies and practices on youth in the criminal legal system, the effects of mass incarceration on families and communities, police practices, and racial justice.