II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1395

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the establishment

of the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 6, 1997

Mr. SARBANES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide

for the establishment of the Thurgood Marshall Legal

Educational Opportunity Program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. THURGOOD MARSHALL LEGAL EDUCATIONAL

4 OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM.

5 Chapter 1 of subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11 et

7 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 402H of such

8 Act (20 U.S.C. 1070a–18) the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 402I. LEGAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM.

2 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall

3 carry out a program to be known as the ‘Thurgood Mar4 shall Legal Educational Opportunity Program’ designed

5 to provide low-income, minority, or disadvantaged college

6 students with the information, preparation, and financial

7 assistance to gain access to and complete law school study.

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A college student is eligible for

9 assistance under this section if the student is—

10 ‘‘(1) from a low-income family;

11 ‘‘(2) a minority; or

12 ‘‘(3) from an economically or otherwise dis13 advantaged background.

14 ‘‘(c) CONTRACT OR GRANT AUTHORIZED.—The Sec15 retary is authorized to enter into a contract with, or make

16 a grant to, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity,

17 for a period of not less than 5 years—

18 ‘‘(1) to identify college students who are from

19 low-income families, are minorities, or are from dis20 advantaged backgrounds described in subsection

21 (b)(3);

22 ‘‘(2) to prepare such students for study at ac23 credited law schools;

24 ‘‘(3) to assist such students to select the appro25 priate law school, make application for entry into
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•S 1395 IS

1 law school, and receive financial assistance for such

2 study;

3 ‘‘(4) to provide support services to such stu4 dents who are first-year law students to improve re5 tention and success in law school studies; and

6 ‘‘(5) to motivate and prepare such students

7 with respect to law school studies and practice in

8 low-income communities.

9 ‘‘(d) SERVICES PROVIDED.—In carrying out the pur10 poses described in subsection (c), the contract or grant

11 shall provide for the delivery of services through prelaw

12 information resource centers, summer institutes, midyear

13 seminars, and other educational activities, conducted

14 under this section. Such services may include—

15 ‘‘(1) information and counseling regarding—

16 ‘‘(A) accredited law school academic pro17 grams, especially tuition, fees, and admission

18 requirements;

19 ‘‘(B) course work offered and required for

20 graduation;

21 ‘‘(C) faculty specialties and areas of legal

22 emphasis;

23 ‘‘(D) undergraduate preparatory courses

24 and curriculum selection;
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•S 1395 IS

1 ‘‘(2) tutoring and academic counseling, includ2 ing assistance in preparing for bar examinations;

3 ‘‘(3) prelaw mentoring programs, involving law

4 school faculty, members of State and local bar asso5 ciations, and retired and sitting judges, justices, and

6 magistrates;

7 ‘‘(4) assistance in identifying preparatory

8 courses and material for the law school aptitude or

9 admissions tests;

10 ‘‘(5) summer institutes for Thurgood Marshall

11 Fellows that expose the Fellows to a rigorous cur12 riculum that emphasizes abstract thinking, legal

13 analysis, research, writing, and examination tech14 niques; and

15 ‘‘(6) midyear seminars and other educational

16 activities that are designed to reinforce reading,

17 writing, and studying skills of Thurgood Marshall

18 Fellows.

19 ‘‘(e) DURATION OF THE PROVISION OF SERVICES.—

20 The services described in subsection (d) may be pro21 vided—

22 ‘‘(1) prior to the period of law school study;

23 ‘‘(2) during the period of law school study; and

24 ‘‘(3) during the period following law school

25 study and prior to taking a bar examination.
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1 ‘‘(f) SUBCONTRACTS AND SUBGRANTS.—For the pur2 poses of planning, developing, or delivering one or more

3 of the services described in subsection (d), the Council on

4 Legal Education Opportunity shall enter into subcontracts

5 with, and make subgrants to, institutions of higher edu6 cation, law schools, public and private agencies and orga7 nizations, and combinations of such institutions, schools,

8 agencies, and organizations.

9 ‘‘(g) STIPENDS.—The Secretary shall annually estab10 lish the maximum stipend to be paid (including allowances

11 for participant travel and for the travel of the dependents

12 of the participant) to Thurgood Marshall Fellows for the

13 period of participation in summer institutes and midyear

14 seminars. A Fellow may be eligible for such a stipend only

15 if the Fellow maintains satisfactory academic progress to16 ward the Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Laws degree, as de17 termined by the respective institutions.

18 ‘‘(h) MAXIMUM LEVEL.—For any year for which an

19 appropriation is made to carry out this chapter, the Sec20 retary shall allocate not more than $5,000,000 for the

21 purpose of providing the services described in subsection

22 (d).’’.

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