Syracuse University College of Law partners with NYS Attorney General’s Office, Syracuse City School District

Syracuse University College of Law partners with NYS Attorney General’s Office, Syracuse City School DistrictOctober 16, 2007Jaclyn D. Grossojgrosso@law.syr.edu

In an effort to reduce abuse and violence in area high schools, the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) and Syracuse University College of Law are continuing their partnership with the New York State Attorney General’s Office to facilitate the Students Against Violence Initiative (SAVI) in student courts in Syracuse high schools. Four student courts in the city high schools — Corcoran, Fowler, Henninger and Nottingham — serve as an alternative to suspension programs and allow students to appear in front of a court of their peers to be held accountable for inappropriate behavior.

Now in its fourth year, the SAVI program is part of the Criminal Justice Teaching Fellowships offered to law students in the College of Law. Each year, as many as four third-year law students are chosen by a committee to teach the SAVI program and assist the student courts in the SCSD. The 2007-08 Fellows are Brian Capitummino, of Fairport, N.Y.; Gina Casale, of East Hanover, N.J.; James Wright, of Syracuse; and Stuart Gardner, of Ventura, Calif. Each fellow receives an hourly salary as a legal intern for the New York State Attorney General’s Office and scholarship support from the College of Law.

To welcome the four new law students to the program, senior staff members of the New York State Attorney General’s Office will meet with the new fellows on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 3:30 p.m. in the College of Law.

“SAVI allows our students to gain experience outside of the classroom and truly supports our local high schools,” says College of Law Dean Hannah R. Arterian. “These are exceptional students who understand the benefits of legal education as a public good.”

The office of former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (now Gov. Spitzer) created the SAVI program in 2000 as an effort to eliminate violence and abuse in New York state high schools. In his role as the new state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo has continued financial support for the fellowship. The fellowship program is also supported by representatives from the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, who serve on the fellowship selection committee.