Summer 2020 Legal Intern, Voting Rights Project - New York
The Voting Rights Project of the National ACLU has an opening for a Legal Intern in New York City. Interns will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside the team assisting in all aspects of litigation, policy advocacy and communications campaigns.
For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, advancing racial justice, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties and civil rights cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than one million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, and record of arrest or conviction.
OVERVIEW OF THE VOTING RIGHTS PROJECT
The Voting Rights Project of the ACLU has been an established and recognized national leader in the field of voting rights for more than 40 years. Its docket includes litigation in more than a dozen states and encompasses issues such as minority voting rights, redistricting, registration, election reform, felon disfranchisement, voter education, and ballot access. Most recently, the Project successfully challenged the Department of Commerce’s proposed addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Decennial Census, thanks to a victory at the United States Supreme Court. Currently, we are working to prevent the Florida legislature from imposing financial barriers that would undermine voter-approved Amendment 4, which re-enfranchises more than one million citizens with felony convictions. The Project has challenged onerous identification and proof of citizenship requirements in various states including Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Going into 2020, the Project will litigate to secure and protect voting rights from assault across the country, including following redistricting in 2021.
INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW
- Time Commitment: The internship requires a full-time commitment of 35 hours per week.
- Internship Duration: Internships are a 10-week period. Summer interns are expected to start on June 1st, 2020 or June 22nd 2020.
- Stipend: A stipend is available for those students who do not receive outside funding and/or course credit. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Interns will gain valuable experience by working with the team on a wide variety of issues. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Drafting memoranda, affidavits and briefs
- Conducting legal and policy research
- Researching prospects for new litigation, including both factual and legal claims
- Researching and drafting materials for public education
- Legislative bill tracking and analysis
- Other projects as assigned
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
The internship is open to law students who will have completed at least one year of law school before the internship commences. Interns should possess the following:
- Excellent research skills, including conducting internet and legal database research
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and writing
- Attention to detail, excellent organizing and time-management skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
- The initiative to see projects through to completion
- A commitment to civil liberties, civil rights, and social justice
- Commitment to the mission of the ACLU
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Demonstrated interest in voting rights work
- Familiarity with or previous experience working on voting rights issues
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled.
This posting provides a general but not comprehensive list of the opportunities of the internship. It does not represent a contract of employment. The ACLU reserves the right to change the posting at any time without advance notice.
The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail benefits.hrdept@aclu.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.