Which Side Are you On? Political Protest at the Public Interest Auction

By Shannah Kurland

Universities are frequently the setting for clashes between those fighting for a vision of justice and those committed to maintaining the structure that denies it. But protests at law schools are less common, and even less so when connected to law school public interest events. When protest came to the annual public interest auction held by the Roger Williams University School of Law (RWUSOL), it challenged the illusion of apolitical tranquility that marks so much of public interest law, and it provided a fitting backdrop to the birth of the school’s NLG chapter, the first active chapter in Rhode Island for many years.

The conflict at RWU rolled out after a public announcement that RI Attorney General (and RWUSOL alum) Peter Kilmartin was one of the public officials attending the school’s public interest auction, which raises money for a summer stipend program. Just weeks before, Kilmartin was the target of a protest by over 50 undocumented immigrants and allies who packed his office demanding that he withdraw his plans to enroll Rhode Island in the (in)Secure Communities program. The program, implemented by ICE and voluntarily adopted by city and state law enforcement around the country, forces state and local police departments to turn over fingerprints of arrestees to Department of Homeland Security. While chanting, “Keep your security, we’ll take the homeland!” groups like Olneyville Neighborhood Association, Comité de Inmigrantes en Acción, and DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality), vowed to keep the pressure on.

When the community organizations leading the campaign against (in)Secure Communities learned that Kilmartin would be at the RWUSOL public interest auction, they decided to organize a protest. News of the protest got back to the Association for Public Interest Law (APIL), RWUSOL’s public interest student organization, and the law school administration. The responses from the law school’s public interest office (the event’s institutional sponsor) and a number of students, including APIL members, were revealing. Other than an offer to disinvite Kilmartin, all responses seemed to focus on diverting the community’s protest. “But Kilmartin isn’t a special guest or the focus of the event,” was the response of many. However, the AG was using his hate-filled platform to launch a gubernatorial campaign, and exposure at an event filled with politicos and legal luminaries was beneficial for him. More common was the complaint that the auction “should not be politicized,” that a protest would detract from its goal of raising money for stipends so students can “help” the “indigent” people affected by policies like (in)Secure Communities. Protest organizers rejected that argument, emphasizing that the action was not against the fundraiser, but against Kilmartin’s policies, and that marginalized communities have to determine for themselves when and where to protest.

Lipou Laliemthavisay, a founding member of the RWU NLG Chapter, explains, “Most people, even the most ‘public-interest-minded’ people disagreed with our silent protest because the ‘forum was not right,’ but I do not regret being a part of the fight against a policy that is unjust and inhumane.” She and RWUNLG’s Allyson Quay organized a companion silent protest inside the auction, distributing armbands opposing (in)Secure Communities, an action that a number of students recognized was similar to wearing buttons promoting any other cause. With no financial cushion to fall back on, Laliemthavisay did not receive an auction-funded summer stipend, despite her dedication to APIL and public interest at RWUSOL, but she does not regret her actions. “I hope that the stipend recipients will passionately work in the public’s interest, and not be afraid to be the minority in confronting unjust policies. Even though I did not receive the stipend, I will still continue in the fight because justice cannot wait for a ‘right forum,’ especially when peoples’ lives are on the line.”

Despite the frigid temperatures, 20 people, both documented and undocumented, handed out fliers to attendees explaining Kilmartin’s policies. For an event that so many people touted as apolitical, I was not sure whether to laugh or scream when thank you cards were sent to auction attendees and participants with a big smiling picture of – you guessed it – Peter Kilmartin.

Shannah Kuland is a rising 2L at RWU and one of the founding members of its NLG Chapter.  She has worked for the past 20 years with the groups that organized the protest at the auction, and plans to continue supporting their work while in law school and beyond.r