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With Liberty and Justice For High Schoolers

Episode #11
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What should a 16-year-old say if a police officer asks to search them? Law students from the UNM chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project have spent months teaching students from underserved high schools about their constitutional rights, how to interact with law enforcement and what a career in the legal field might look like. Soon, the group of high schoolers, their law student coaches, and UNM School of Law faculty will travel to compete in a national moot court competition in Washington D.C.

Learn more about Professor Maryam Ahranjani.

Learn more about the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project at UNM or the national organization.

Donate to UNM School of Law’s Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project chapter.

About Our Guest(s)

Maryam Ahranjani

Professor Maryam Ahranjani teaches, writes, and speaks in the areas of constitutional rights, criminal law and procedure, and education law. She serves as the faculty director of the UNMSOL chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, a pipeline program that trains and supervises law students teaching high school students about their constitutional rights and responsibilities.

The author of numerous book chapters, law review articles, and other articles, Professor Ahranjani has earned wide recognition as a leader, teacher, and scholar. Professor Ahranjani thoroughly enjoys community leadership and professional service, including, for example, participating in amicus briefs, working with school districts on equity and inclusion, and speaking with the media about issues of public significance.

Fluent in Spanish and Persian, Professor Ahranjani has worked for a boutique education law firm in Washington, DC, the National Association of College and University Attorneys, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and ABA Rule of Law Initiative. She has taught at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid), University of Nevada Boyd School of Law, Universidad del Istmo (Guatemala City), American University Washington College of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Universidad de Chile.

Logan Stokes

Logan Stokes taught in public schools and worked as a musician and record producer for six years before starting law school at UNM in 2021. He is an editor-in-chief at the Natural Resources Journal and a Marshall-Brennan fellow. He will graduate with a J.D. in May of 2024 and begin a clerkship at the New Mexico Court of Appeals in September.

Quentin Gaul

Quentin Gaul is a 2L at The University of New Mexico School of Law and a Marshall-Brennan Fellow. Gaul graduated from Lewis & Clark College with degrees in Political Science and Spanish. After graduating from law school, Gaul is interested in practicing children's or family law. In their free time, they enjoy square dancing with the local queer square dancing club.

Hosted by UCAM’s Carly Bowling

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Long-time listener, first-time podcaster, Carly Bowling, is a university communication representative in The University of New Mexico’s University Communication and Marketing team (UCAM). She is thrilled to help shed light on the outstanding research work being done at UNM, New Mexico’s only R1 university. In addition to producing IPNRS, she contributes stories and videos to the UNM Newsroom, the University’s official communications platform.

Bowling is a graduate of the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism (’19). Her background includes multimedia journalism, documentary filmmaking, photography and writing. She is passionate about science communication and making academic topics and research accessible and interesting to people from all backgrounds and she hopes you’ll consider subscribing to the show!