FAMU Law student Cassandra Brown’s presentation
was titled “School-to-Prison Pipeline, Truly a Respecter of Persons;
Disproportionately Affects Minority Children”. Brown’s white paper takes a
closer look at the growing issue of juveniles in the court system following
behavioral problems in the school system.
“I am interested in this topic because some minority
children are getting suspended, expelled and arrested for minor infractions
that should be addressed in school, not in the juvenile criminal justice
system,” said Brown. “I believe minority children are being disproportionately
funneled into the school to prison pipeline without adequate consideration to
the underlying socio-economic, mental health, social or dysfunctional family
issues.”
Sarah Diekman, also a FAMU Law student, presented on
“The State of Pre-K Education in the United States”. Her white paper addressed
the access and quality of pre-k education nationally, examining racial and
social economic disparities and developing best practices. Quality pre-K
programs such as Head Start are shown to reduce the impact of socio-economic
disadvantage on children.
“Head Start addresses the physical, mental and educational
needs of children and provides needed child care which increases the likelihood
of a household breaking the cycle of poverty,” said Diekman. “My white paper
examines and defines the policies that are working so they can continue to grow
with the support of civil rights groups, and identify areas that need
improvement and/or change.”
Brown and Diekman are participating in the Florida NAACP’s
Spring 2019 Legal Internship Program.
They, along with five other legal interns, were invited to
present their legal projects to the 120 senior officials representing Florida’s
40 NAACP branches in attendance at the quarterly meeting at the Rosen Centre
Hotel.