New Program Offers Legal Training To Minority, Low-Income Students

A new program designed to encourage minority and low-income high school students to pursue legal careers will launch this summer.

Founder of the Neal Center for Justice, CJ Webber-Neal, said the program provides legal training for students who are part of a historically disenfranchised demographic. "In Oklahoma, unfortunately, especially those that are minorities or people of color you have a system where a majority of those, if they go into the court system or if they have any kind of legal interactions, they do not end up favorably," Webber-Neal continued saying, "That is something that you really have to examine and say why is that and a lot of that is just an ignorance of the law."

He said minorities and those of low income are often represented by public defenders or indigent legal counsel leading to higher incarceration rates. He hopes this legal studies program will change that.

The program will begin in August for minority and low-income students in 9-12th grade who are interested in pursuing a legal career.

Webber-Neal said he shared the idea with an Oklahoma recording artist, who asked to remain anonymous, and they donated $250,000 to get it started.

Students who complete the program will earn their legal assistant certification and potential college scholarships. "We want to be able to give youth that are here, either minority youth or those of lower income who are drastically affected by the legal system, we want to be able to give them an opportunity to understand the law, learn and appreciate the law, and to enter into a career where they can be successful," said Webber-Neal.

For more information about the program, contact the Neal Center for Justice at 405-423-7167 or email NealCenterforJustice@yahoo.com.