This summer camp is prepping RI's future lawyers and advocates. Here's how.

PROVIDENCE – Twenty Rhode Island students spent a recent week immersed in the intricacies of law, learning how it can serve as a tool to help right wrongs, achieve justice and better society as a whole.

The inaugural Mandell-Boisclair Justice Camp kicked off July 8 at Roger Williams University School of Law’s 1 Empire Street building, exposing students grades six through nine to the highest echelons of the state and federal judiciary in the Ocean State, and to state leaders as well.

“We met a bunch of cool people,” said Ellie O’Connell, who is about to enter ninth grade at North Providence High School.

The list included U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Smith, Supreme Court Justices Erin Lynch Prata and Melissa Long, Roger Williams School of Law Dean Gregory Bowman, Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John Marion, Secretary of State Gregg Amore, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, state lawmakers and legions of lawyers, professors and advocates.

“The purpose of the program is to empower young people to know they can become a lawyer – not just a lawyer but a judge,” said Mark Mandell , a Providence lawyer specializing in personal injury law who sponsored the camp with his wife Yvette Boisclair, meaning the students attended for free.

Trip to The Station fire memorial

The students were treated to tours of the federal and state courthouses, the State House and perhaps, most movingly, The Station Fire Memorial Park in West Warwick, built to honor the 100 people lost in the horrific nightclub blaze in 2003 as well as the more than 200 others who were injured.

Mandell, who helped lead the Station Fire litigation, briefed the students on the devastating case that resulted in a settlement for victims and their families of more than $176,000,000.

“Everyone who was there will never forget it,” Mandell said.

They heard from Gina Russo, president of the Station Nightclub Memorial Foundation, who lost her fiancé in the fire and has endured more than 50 surgeries due to her own injuries.

“It was a really amazing way to show them the law, and human strength,” said Nicole Dyszlewski, assistant dean of academic innovation and teaching at the law school.

Each student received a flower to place in memory of a victim.

`How do we reach a diversity of people?'

Dyszlewski developed the camp curriculum with fellow law school professor Monica Teixeira de Sousa, in collaboration with Mandell.

“Part of this was to talk about social justice issues and race,” Dyszlewski said. Dyszlewski is one of the professors who helped design Race and the Foundations of American Law , a class that made Roger Williams School of Law one of the first in the nation to include a class examining the intersection of race and the law into core legal curriculum in 2022. It established a Institute for Race and the Law .

Dyszlewski said the camp grew from the acknowledgement that the law school has “pipeline issues,” meaning they are striving to attract more future lawyers of color into the legal profession.

“How do we reach a diversity of people?” the school contemplated, Dyszlewski said.

“I know what a problem racism is, and I don’t think I was doing anything to alleviate it,” Mandell said. “Our goal was to end racism. Just end it.”

He added: “If you don’t get kids of color soon enough, seventh, eighth, ninth grade, it’s too late. They just don’t think of becoming a lawyer.”

The law school posted an announcement about the camp that went out to various schools and was distributed by teachers. The camp – initially planned for just 12 students – drew students from Providence, Cranston, Coventry, Cumberland and North Providence.

The law school did not ask demographic information in accepting applicants, Dyszlewski said. That said, the pool of students appeared remarkably diverse.

`In some ways, this is the worst day of their life'

The students observed the arraignment calendar last Friday before state District Court Judge Melissa DuBose, who will be joining the U.S. District Court bench early next year.

They saw people charged with a range of offenses, from driving under the influence to domestic assault, recklessly driving an ATV and even catching a fish four inches under regulation.

“Everyone who comes in is presumed innocent,” DuBose told the students before the session began.

She would be determining whether the people appearing before should be released on bail or held based on the severity of the charges and their history of appearing in court.

“It’s a very difficult decision for the court,” DuBose said.

Dyszlewski debriefed with the students afterward, probing them about their observations.

“What did you notice?” Dyszlewski asked.

People were crying, one student offered. One man said he fled because he was afraid of the police.

“In some ways, this is the worst day of their life,” Dyszlewski offered. “People aren’t here because they want to be.”

Lawyers, she said, often meet people when they are enduring hard times.

She noted that Judge DuBose maintained a non-judgmental demeanor, not condemning people who were alleged to have possessed drugs. Instead, DuBose urged them to seek treatment.

Students engaged in debate

Other highlights of the week included voting on mock legislation at the State House and participating in a debate moderated by WPRI-TV investigative reporter Tim White.

Roselyn had to argue that cellphones should be allowed in classrooms.

“I would say I’m for banning cellphones in classrooms,” she said. But she learned about other perspectives.

Ellie argued against making Election Day a federal holiday. After reading articles, she shifted her perspective because some parents would still have to work and be forced to pay for childcare.

“I don’t know if I want to be a lawyer,” Ellie said, but she knows she wants to work in the social justice arena.

`We're going to be in good hands'

Dean Bowman marveled at the students’ interest and commitment, extending gratitude to Mandell and Boisclair, as well as the members of the state and federal judiciary and state lawmakers who stepped up to meet with the campers. They also heard from Mandell's brother, Rabbi Howard Mandell, who worked at Southern Poverty Law Center and went on to start the state of Alabama's first racially integrated law firm, practicing constitutional and civil rights law for about two decades.

“This is the first and definitely not the last,” Bowman said of the camp.

“It’s everything I ever hoped for this week,” said Mandell, who began contemplating the camp about two years ago.

He, too, was impressed by the campers and the Rhode Island leaders who took time out to speak with the students.

“The reception has really been fantastic. The students have been engaged and interested. If these are the future leaders of our society, we’re going to be in good hands,” Bowman said,

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: This summer camp is prepping RI's future lawyers and advocates. Here's how.