Through her internship with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Human Rights & Social Justice BDP Student Anusha Hansraj had the opportunity to evaluate civil liberty violation cases and conduct legal research.
"This experience helped me realized I would love to do more non-profit and social justice work.”
Where did you intern?
I interned at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
How did you find this internship?
I found this internship on Handshake.
What kind of work did you do as an intern?
I evaluated about 15 to 20 intakes per week, determining whether they were civil liberty violations that we could move forward with, and assigning viable cases to attorneys. I also conducted research on 40+ external organizations; the findings were then used to create resource templates to provide interested clients access to legal assistance if we were not able to provide it ourselves. Finally, I had the opportunity to work with one of the attorneys on her work on Counsel at First Appearance by collecting data from 50+ bond review hearings.
What was the most rewarding aspect of your Connecting Experience?
I was able to assist one of the attorneys by tracking data during court watchings. It was really rewarding to see my work come to fruition in data reports to the county and community sign-on letters, as it made a difference in my community.
In what ways has this Connecting Experience shaped your plans for the future?
This experience helped me realized I would love to do more non-profit and social justice work. Although this is not necessarily something I had in mind going into this internship, I've learned that I want to continue advocating for human rights in any space that I can.