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Mar 29
2010
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As part of the budget process, the University of Maryland School of Law is being ordered by Maryland General Assembly to produce a list of all the plaintiffs their students have represented over the past two years or lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding.
This is clearly bullying by some key lawmakers because they are upset that the UM Environmental Law Clinic has taken up cases against some big industry polluters. The Clinic has been a valuable ally to many environmental organizations in Maryland, including West/Rhode Riverkeeper. They represented us in our Construction General Permit challenge, as well as our Petition to EPA to strengthen Maryland's Clean Water Act permitting. They are doing the tough work to make sure our environmental laws are enforced.
The support of the Clinic allows us to challenge some of the big polluters with deep pocketbooks and armies of lawyers. These polluters are trying to influence how the Clinic operates. It's an effort State Senator Jim Brochin calls "something straight out of communist China."
Please tell our General Assembly leaders that it is not OK to bully one of the best law clinics in the country just because some legislators don't like the cases they are taking.
