Four Alabama Law students were awarded Justice John Paul Stevens Foundation Public Interest Fellowships for their public interest work this summer. According to their website, “The John Paul Stevens Foundation is dedicated to promoting public interest and social justice values in the next generation of American lawyers. Through the Public Interest Fellowship Program, the Foundation supports law students who spend the summer working in otherwise unpaid public interest law internships.”
The Public Interest Institute at Alabama Law facilitates the application process for students who apply for the Stevens Foundation Fellowship and other public interest-focused fellowship and grant programs that give students the opportunity to take on unpaid public interest work over the summer when it otherwise would not be financially feasible.
Continue reading to learn more about each of these students’ passion and commitment to public service.
Ellis Jacoby (Class of 2027)
U.S. Attorney's Office
Washington, D.C.
"I hope to pursue a career in public service by working for the Department of Justice. I want to bring criminals to justice, especially those who have taken advantage of, abused or harmed the most defenseless members of our society. Those are the people I want to help by getting the most dangerous people off our streets and where they can’t hurt anyone else. I am profoundly motivated to stop those who take advantage of their fellow citizens or the government from unjustly enriching themselves. Those who get their wealth by foul means should not be allowed to go unpunished, and must be caught and made to serve their time. I also want to ensure the civil rights of all Americans are protected. As the Constitution guarantees all of us these rights, working in the executive branch requires that we ensure it is upheld."
Ben Johnson (Class of 2026)
Trial Division, Cobb County District Attorney's Office
Marietta, Georgia
"My personal commitment to public service began in 2018, when I joined the Georgia Army National Guard. Throughout my six years of service, I was presented with many opportunities to become involved with public service projects. I happily volunteered for every one of them that I was able to. This included hurricane relief, COVID-19 testing, sanitizing elder-care facilities during the pandemic, facilitating and protecting peaceful protests during times of civil unrest, and more. These experiences serving my community and state left me with a passion for public service that ultimately led me to pursue a legal education and career in the first place. This sentiment was reaffirmed after my 1L summer, during which I spent half of my time in a public interest position and the other half with a private firm doing non-service related work. While I did enjoy the non-service related work, it did not fulfill me, and it was immediately clear to me that my legal future would be one in public service. As such, I applied to public-service related jobs exclusively this year and have happily accepted a position with a district attorney's office, where victim advocacy and the public interest(s) are paramount. While many may pursue a law degree for benefits such as job security or a high salary, I have chosen to do so because I believe a law degree is one of the most powerful and versatile tools in the realm of public service."
Peter Lough (Class of 2026)
Criminal Defense Team, Neighborhood Defender Service
Harlem, New York City
"I came to law school because I want to do public interest work. I knew before applying that I wanted to be a public defender, and my time here has only strengthened that desire. I am passionate about defending the rights of people facing incarceration, especially those who cannot afford legal representation on their own. I think if society is going to get anywhere near fulfilling the promises of Gideon [v. Wainwright], then we must have individuals who will fight for the voiceless when they are facing incarceration at the hands of the state.
I can think of no better work than supporting people through what often is the worst time in their life, and the impacts of which will reverberate in the lives of their families and communities. The final words of Justice Sotomayor in her Utah v. Strieff dissent perfectly sums up my conviction that there is no higher calling for me than defending those in the criminal system: ‘[Criminal defendants] are the ones who recognize that unlawful police stops corrode all our civil liberties and threaten all our lives. Until their voices matter too, our justice system will continue to be anything but.’”
Mackenzie Wilson (Class of 2026)
Maryland Office of the Public Defender
Cambridge, Maryland
"Last summer, with the experiences that I gained, ignited my passion into this career of public service. This will be my second summer of being an intern at a Public Defender’s office and is the field that I am most passionate about and plan on entering when I graduate. I think Public Defenders have a bad reputation not only in the legal field, but in the public eye that is completely unfounded. I would like to work to change that dialogue, change the stereotype that public defenders carry and showcase how public defenders are crucial to the legal field. I believe that even if you cannot afford an attorney, that does not mean that you do not deserve to have the best representation as possible. For me, Public Defense work is the best way I can use my knowledge and my schooling to give back to the community."