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For over a decade, scholars and policymakers have identified regulatory gridlock as a critical barrier to construction in the United States. Complex permitting rules, protracted community review processes, labyrinthine zoning rules, and extensive environmental litigation have made it extraordinarily difficult to build the housing and infrastructure Americans need. What began as a YIMBY movement in San Francisco has evolved into a broader abundance agenda focused on simplifying the supply of essential goods and services. This regulatory thicket emerged as a response to mid-20th century development practices--exemplified by Robert Moses--that prioritized rapid construction at the expense of community displacement and environmental harm. Statutes like NEPA and CEQA were enacted to constrain developer power and protect communities. Marc Dunkelman's recent book Why Nothing Works traces this historical arc, explaining how America's reaction to Moses-era development produced today's gridlock. Yet these frameworks have evolved into what many now consider abusive statutory schemes, with ex post litigation serving as an ineffective and costly mechanism for addressing construction and environmental concerns. Professor Zambrano's forthcoming book on private enforcement examines this problem systematically, arguing that ex post litigation over construction and environmental harm represents a misuse of private enforcement mechanisms. The central challenge is clear: how do we design decision-making processes for housing and infrastructure that meaningfully incorporate community input while enabling expeditious, cost-effective construction (without ex post litigation)? This policy lab will undertake comparative research on permitting and approval processes across multiple dimensions: different project types within the U.S. (housing, infrastructure), a range of statutory frameworks (including national security), and international models--particularly from Europe and East Asia. Case studies will examine success stories like Spain's rapid deployment of high-speed rail infrastructure. The lab's objective is to produce a report presenting a menu of decision-making alternatives that do not rely on ex post litigation as the primary accountability mechanism. The lab will be led by Professor Diego Zambrano, Neukom Center Executive Director Lucy Ricca, JD/PhD candidate Olivia Hope Martin, and will have extensive involvement by author Marc Dunkelman. Elements used in grading: Attendance, performance, class participation, written assignments, final paper. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete a Consent Application Form available at SLS Registrar https://registrar.law.stanford.edu/.

More than 1.2 million people are incarcerated in state and federal prisons in the United States. Many of them work in the facilities in which they are housed, as laborers for the prison itself (laundry, kitchen, custodial) or for government agencies or private companies that use prisoners as workers. Financial compensation for prison labor varies across the United States but tends to be meager. How should prisoners be compensated for the work they do while they are incarcerating? While the purposes of imprisonment will always be subject to conflicting views, this policy lab rests on the premise that rehabilitation is or should be at least one of the goals of incarceration; that prison work should be part of the process of rehabilitation, not part of the punishment imposed on an incarcerated person; and that any model of compensation for prison labor must respect principles of fairness and individual dignity while meeting the pragmatic test of sustainability. Using these principles, this policy lab will develop a framework for setting fair and appropriate levels of compensation for prison labor, taking into account monetary wages and also various forms of non-wage compensation, such as earned time credits, education and vocational training. Students will research legal and policy issues that will inform the framework, including valuing the range of benefits prisoners receive and deserve. Learning from other contexts where fair compensation models have been developed in the context of similar characteristics, students will develop proposals that could be adopted by U.S. jurisdictions. Towards the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to present their conclusions to a panel of experts and stakeholders whose feedback will inform the final product. The final deliverable will be a report that outlines the model and the rationales behind it. This course will be taught simultaneously to a course being offered at the University of Gottingen in Germany where law students will be working to respond to a German Federal Constitutional Court order from June 2023 ordering two states in Germany to develop a model of fair compensation of prisoner labor (see: https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2023/bvg23-056.html). There will be opportunities for Stanford students to learn with and from their German counterparts. Elements used in grading: Attendance, performance, class participation, written assignments, final paper. CONSENT APPLICATION: Interested students should submit a Policy Lab application (go to link SLS Registrar https://registrar.law.stanford.edu/) and copy of their resume, transcript, and a one-page statement describing their interest and relevant experience by Friday, March 20 to Debbie Mukamal (dmukamal@ law.stanford.edu).

This policy lab practicum aims to support the efforts of ePluribus SLS, ePluribus Stanford, and the Gould Center to promote critical inquiry, productive discourse, and professional judgment at the Law School and beyond. We will study the efforts at Stanford and other universities to cultivate constructive discourse and civic engagement and to increase viewpoint diversity. What are the desired outcomes of those efforts (e.g., improving students' skills, changing the institutions' very cultures of discourse)? What strategies (i.e., theories of change) have the institutions pursued to achieve those goals? By what standards or metrics should progress be evaluated? What actual evidence is there of success? Along the way, we will examine the literature on the values, skills and barriers that affect these outcomes--for example curiosity, candor, doubt, active listening, confirmation biases, and self-censorship. We will also examine the possible tensions between efforts to foster critical discourse and to foster students' inclusion and belonging. Students will satisfy the course requirements through short research papers designed to aid the various Stanford initiatives. Students may receive R credit for research paper of adequate depth and length. If the demand for the policy lab exceeds its capacity of 12, priority will be given to student participants in ePluribus SLS. The meeting time will be determined by student availability, in coordination with the instructors. CONSENT APPLICATION: To apply for this course, students must complete a Consent Application Form available at SLS Registrar https://registrar.law.stanford.edu/.

The practice of public interest law, whether at a nonprofit or government agency, requires an attorney to consider a host of issues distinct from those encountered in private practice. For example, how does a host's mission and vision of justice influence long-term and day-to-day strategic decisions? And, how is success measured when there are no obvious or easy things to count? This course will challenge students to apply these questions and others to what they learn from their respective externship experiences. Using reflection, class discussion, and simulation, this course will help students develop skills relevant to public interest practice. Students are required to write weekly reflection papers of 2 to 3 pages. Elements used in grading: Attendance; class participation; weekly reflection papers; and a final reflection paper.

Following approval of a student's application, the Civil Standard Externship Program (SEP) allows second and third year students to obtain academic credit for externing with select non-profit public interest, public policy, and government agencies for one quarter. The Civil SEP allows students to (a) gain experience in a field where a clinical course is not offered, or (b) pursue advanced work in an area of prior clinical practice. Students may extern for 20, 24, 30, or 34 hours per week. For a complete description of the Civil SEP, students should read the Externship Handbook, which is available from the Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law or online at: http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/john-and-terry-levin-center-for-public-service-and-public-interest-law/externship-program-0 . Students wishing to enroll in an externship must meet various requirements that are set out in the Handbook. Students participating in the Civil SEP must also concurrently enroll in the Externship Companion Seminar ( Law 881). An externship that otherwise meets the criteria for obtaining EL credit will be approved for EL credit when the field placement provides specialized experience complementary to a student's intended career path and comparable benefits cannot be obtained through other EL coursework at Stanford. Grading Elements used: Full participation and attendance, satisfactory evaluation by field placement supervisor, weekly reflection papers of two to three pages. .

Following approval of a student's application, the Criminal Standard Externship Program (SEP) allows second and third year students to work for credit in criminal prosecutors' and defenders' offices for one quarter. Students may extern for 20, 24, 30, or 34 hours per week. For a complete description of the Criminal SEP, students should read the Externship Handbook, which is available from the Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law or online at: http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/john-and-terry-levin-center-for-public-service-and-public-interest-law/externship-program-0 . Students wishing to enroll in an externship must meet various requirements that are set out in the Handbook. Students participating in the Criminal SEP must also concurrently enroll in the Externship Companion Seminar. An externship that otherwise meets the criteria for obtaining EL credit will be approved for EL credit when the field placement provides specialized experience complementary to a student's intended career path and comparable benefits cannot be obtained through other EL coursework at Stanford. Grading Elements used: Full participation and attendance, satisfactory evaluation by field placement supervisor, weekly reflection papers of two to three pages.

Following approval of a student's application, the Special Circumstances Externship Program (SCEP) allows second and third year students to work for credit for one quarter in non-profit public interest, public policy, and government agencies outside of the Bay Area. Standards for approval of a SCEP placement are similar to those for Directed Research proposals, although they are higher. Because there is a preference for local civil and criminal SEP placements (see Law 882 and Law 883), your SCEP proposal must explain (a) how it meets the goals of the externship program; and (b) why a similar project cannot be accomplished in one of the placements offered in the Bay Area. SCEP placements outside the Bay Area must be full-time. Students wishing to undertake a SCEP placement obtain the supervision of a faculty member who will oversee their externship and an accompanying tutorial. For a full description of the SCEP, students should read the Externship Handbook, which is available from the Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law or online at: http://www.law.stanford.edu/organizations/programs-and-centers/john-and-terry-levin-center-for-public-service-and-public-interest-law/externship-program-0. Students wishing to enroll in an externship must meet the various requirements that are set out in the Handbook. An externship that otherwise meets the criteria for obtaining EL credit will be approved for EL credit when the field placement provides specialized experience complementary to a student's intended career path and comparable benefits cannot be obtained through other EL coursework at Stanford. Grading Elements used: Full participation and attendance, satisfactory evaluation by field placement supervisor, weekly reflection papers of three to five pages, and a final reflection paper of a length to be determined by your faculty supervisor.

The Advanced Community Law Clinic offers law students who already participated in the Community Law Clinic as a full-time student the opportunity to work under supervision on additional and/or more advanced projects and cases in the clinic. Advanced Clinic students will also work with instructors to mentor students enrolled in the Community Law Clinic for the first time. Advanced students may arrange with the instructor to receive between three and seven units. No student may receive more than 27 overall clinical credits, however, during the course of the student's law school career. Special Instructions: Completion of the Community Law Clinic ( Law 902A,B,C) is a prerequisite for the advanced clinic. Elements used in grading: Participation, reflective writing, and quality of case and project work.

Located off-campus at a site accessible to low-income members of the communities adjacent to Stanford, the Community Law Clinic is the closest thing to a traditional legal services office within the Mills Legal Clinic. CLC is fundamentally a trial practice clinic, practicing in three distinct, but intertwined subject areas: (1) housing, (2) social security disability and public benefits, and (3) post-conviction relief. In addition to its off-campus location, hallmarks of the CLC practice include extensive client contact, civil litigation skills (motion practice, oral advocacy, fact investigation), and the fast pace that comes from being responsible for several matters at once. Each student represents clients in all three practice areas, allowing for a diverse experience with clients, opponents, and other system-actors. Students may also participate in larger policy and legislative efforts in the relevant subject matters. CLC work emphasizes students' embodying the role of a lawyer (as opposed to a policymaker, judge, or intern) and the development of communication, collaboration, time management, cultural humility and other skills necessary for any professional setting. After intensive training in weeks 1 and 2, the clinic curriculum includes two group seminar sessions per week and a once/week student-led case rounds session. CLC's off-campus location affords students the chance to explore local neighborhoods and the opportunity to form a close-knit and collaborative learning environment. Special Instructions: General Structure of Clinical Courses -- The Law School's clinical courses are offered on a full-time basis for 12 units. This allows students to immerse themselves in the professional experience without the need to balance clinical projects with other classes, exams and papers. Students enrolled in a clinic are not permitted to enroll in any other classes, seminars, directed research or other credit-yielding activities within the Law School or University during the quarter in which they are enrolled in a clinic. Nor are they allowed to serve as teaching assistants who are expected to attend a class on a regular basis. There is a limited exception for joint degree students who are required to take specific courses each quarter and who would be foreclosed from ever taking a clinic unless allowed to co-register. These exceptions are approved on a case-by-case basis. Clinic students are expected to work in their clinical office during most business hours Monday through Friday. Students are also expected to be available by e-mail or cell phone when elsewhere during those hours. Because students have no other courses (and hence no exams or papers), the clinical quarter begins the first day of classes and runs through the final day of the examination period. Students should not plan personal travel during the Monday to Friday work week without prior authorization from the clinical supervisor. The work during a typical week in a clinic is divided into three components. First, as they are for practicing attorneys, most of the hours of any week are taken up by work on client matters or case work (this time includes meetings with instructors to discuss the work). Again, as is the case for practicing lawyers, in some weeks these responsibilities demand time above and beyond "normal business hours." Second, students will spend approximately five-to-seven hours per week preparing for and participating in weekly discussions or other group work in their individual clinic (scheduling varies by clinic). Third over the course of the quarter each clinic student (with the exception of those enrolled in the Criminal Prosecution Clinic) is required to prepare for and attend a few inter-clinic group sessions. Students will be awarded three separate grades for their clinical quarter, each reflecting four units. The three grades are broken into the following categories: clinical practice; clinical methods; and clinical coursework. Grading is pursuant to the H/P system. Enrollment in a clinic is binding; once selected into a clinic to which he or she has applied, a student may not later drop the course except in limited and exceptional cases. Requests for withdrawal are processed through the formal petition and clinical faculty review process described in the clinic policy document posted on the SLS website. Students may not enroll in any clinic (full-time or advanced) which would result in them earning more than 27 clinical units during their law school career. The rules described here do not apply to advanced clinics for students who are continuing with a clinic in which they were previously enrolled. For information about advanced clinics, please see the course descriptions for those courses. For more information about clinic enrollment and operations, please see the clinic policy document posted on the SLS website. Elements used in grading: Clinical case/project work, seminar preparation and participation, attendance, reflection papers and project.