Q&A: Liman Fellow Sophie Laing on Defending Student Loan Borrowers
Sophie Laing '21 works with Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Portland, Maine, to secure relief for borrowers struggling with student loan debt. Laing’s project includes defending borrowers in debt collection proceedings, bringing lawsuits against servicers engaged in unlawful practices, assisting borrowers in federal administrative relief procedures, and providing trainings for community partners on ways to find relief.
Colin Antaya Advocates for the Regulation of Forever Chemicals
As a 2020–21 Liman Fellow, Colin Antaya '19 joined the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) to reduce the use of pesticides in New England. Working together with a coalition of conservation organizations, beekeepers, and organic farmers early on in his fellowship, he learned that the mosquito pesticide sprayed over millions of acres in Massachusetts contained PFAS, which are known to be toxic to humans.
Recent deaths of people detained at Rikers Island, the Baltimore City jail complex, and the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison have spurred renewed concern, research, and advocacy on conditions behind bars. Yet long before the current crisis, exacerbated by COVID-19, disease and death were constant threats to people in jails, prisons, and detention centers.
Andrea Armstrong '07, Law Visiting Committee Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans, and Homer Venters, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Global Public Health at New York University and former Chief Medical Officer for New York City’s jails, explore what can be done about deaths behind bars.
Camila Reed-Guevara '23, a student in the Liman Projects class, discusses research by the Liman Center’s Pay-to-Stay project about individuals having to pay the state for the cost of their incarceration.
Strengthen and Expand Home- and Community-Based Health Care New York Daily News Ady Barkan '10, a 2010 Liman Fellow, co-founder of Be a Hero, and activist featured in the documentary film Not Going Quietly, writes about the importance of funding home- and community-based health care services.
