by Rob Strauss
Editorial Assistant
In law buildings all across the nation, even in the United States Supreme Court, there is a journal with works written by University of La Verne law students resting on the shelves.
The publication, entitled the Journal of Juvenile Law, is published by the University of La Verne law review and is one of the few publications in the country to focus on juvenile law.
“It makes us somewhat unique,” said Larry Meyer, law librarian.
The journal is jointly published by students from the La Verne campus and the Woodland Hills campus. The editor this year, Warren Kato, is from the Woodland Hills campus.
Kato, a fourth year student at the law school, said writing for the journal has helped him a great deal.
“It has strengthened my research skills and helped my exam-taking skill,” said Kato.
According to Irving Prager, faculty adviser to the law review, the students on the law review are the best students, academically, in the law school.
“It is the highest honor in law school,” said Prager.
The journal, which is published every year, primarily deals with children and the legal system.
Included within the publication are several sections, not all written by law students. There are usually two to four articles written by legal experts. There is also a “Notes and Comments” section. In this section, the staff writers write a legal paper on a topic of their choice. Last year’s issue, which comes out in early 1998, includes such topics as abused children and the juvenile death penalty.
Kato says, though they do nearly all of the writing, they do not do the layout. He says that, with changes he is making, he hopes successive editors will be able to do their own layout within the next two years.
The current issue, which will be published in 1999, will mark the 20th anniversary of the journal. According to Kato, they have received congratulatory letters from such dignitaries as President Bill Clinton and California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk, which they will publish in the issue.
One of the reasons that the journal has gained such prominent exposure is that the issues are indexed, which Meyer says is a reason it is in most law schools.
“I have yet to be in a law library that does not carry it,” said Meyer.
According to Kato, another one of the benefits of the law journal is that it lets the students be heard.
“It gives all a voice to the outside world,” said Kato.
The journal, which was founded in 1977, has 300 subscribers throughout North America and also has subscribers in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa and Thailand.
To be considered for the law review, students must have 29 units in courses taken at the ULV College of Law. They also have to be one of the top 10 students from each campus.
