凯莉·戈麦斯（Kylee Gomez）在威尼斯人娱乐城法学院找到了自己的定位，帮助那些面临刑事指控的人找到第二次机会。
对于一个拥有刑事司法/犯罪学和政治学双学位的法律系学生来说，这是一个很自然的选择。
“Like many Americans, I have loved ones who have struggled with substance abuse disorder,” said Gomez. “I care about individuals that have been through the criminal justice system and others that were close to it. I believe our system should give second chances and provide better opportunities for rehabilitation.”
作为一名大学生，戈麦斯在当地致力于刑事司法改革和改造的组织中担任志愿者。 One of those volunteer opportunities was the 法学院’s Clear My Record Project. Gomez points out that for many in Missouri with criminal records, their convictions have become “the punishment that never ends.” 尽管他们已经完全偿还了对社会的债务，但他们发现自己的记录的影响仍然存在，阻碍了教育、就业和住房机会。 The persistence of criminal records also takes a heavy toll on a person’s health.
她自愿参加了“清除我的记录”项目，然后获准参加法律、技术和公共政策法学院的课程，以帮助领导这个项目。
“My interactions with the law school faculty and staff during the Clear My Record Project are what really encouraged me to apply for 威尼斯人娱乐城’s law school,” said Gomez. “As a first-generation student, the decision to pursue a professional degree was nerve-wracking because no one in my family had that experience. However, my family's support and the guidance I received from my 威尼斯人娱乐城 professors made the process easier.”
Gomez now works with clients at the 威尼斯人娱乐城 Law Expungement Clinic – which developed out of the 2019 Clear My Record Project.
“I have a passion for public interest law and public policy and want to establish my career aiding in the expansion of equal justice for all,” said Gomez. “The expungement clinic gives me the opportunity to do that, while helping those right here in the Kansas City community.”
Individuals may request the sealing of criminal records under Missouri’s expungement law, but the process is complex and expensive. As a result, only 125 individuals were able to expunge their criminal records in
2019, despite the fact that an estimated 1.3-1.8 million Missourians possess criminal records. 根据最近对类似司法管辖区的一项研究，删除过程非常复杂，只有6.5%符合记录清除条件的人真正提交了请愿书。 删除的好处是深远的。 Once expungement is granted, an individual may truthfully answer “no” to questions seeking information about the existence of prior eligible convictions, including housing and employment applications.
“As a first-generation student, the decision to pursue a professional degree was nerve-wracking because no one in my family had that experience. However, my family's support and the guidance I received from my 威尼斯人娱乐城 professors made the process easier.”
即将进入法学院第三年的戈麦斯是法学院的第一代学生。 校园里的资源和志愿者的机会帮助她找到了自己在学校的道路。
“Like many other first-gen students, I navigated my own way through higher education,” said Gomez. “The resources on campus, especially peer mentorship, career services and academic advising, were extremely helpful. My family supported me but couldn’t always guide me through the process of being a college student.”
除了在删除诊所工作外，戈麦斯还是学生特使、助教和威尼斯人娱乐城法律评论评论编辑。
Gomez’s ability to, not only balance her various responsibilities, but also excel at them, caught the eye of Professor Wanda Temm.
“Kylee was a student in my first-year Lawyering Skills course. She received the Joseph E. Stevens Memorial Prize, given to the top first-year student who shows the most promise in legal writing,” said Temm. “Some years, we agonize over the decision of whom to select. 那年不是。 Kylee was a unanimous choice.”
在她的课堂上，Temm鼓励戈麦斯申请成为一名助教。 She says Gomez possesses all the right characteristics – maturity, good judgment, a calm demeanor, the ability to relate to others, patience and willingness to work hard.
“Helping other students begin their legal writing journey has been a really rewarding experience,” said Gomez.
Temm’s Lawyering Skills class isn’t the first experience Gomez has as a teaching assistant; 她与院长芭芭拉·格莱斯纳·费因斯一起帮助建立并教授LSAT预科班。
“给n that my last exposure to the LSAT was decades earlier, I knew I needed a teaching assistant to help,” said Glesner Fines. “I needed a student who did well on the LSAT and could help me find ways to prepare other students to do the same. 我向招生办、就业服务中心的工作人员、教职员工和管理人员征求了建议。 They all recommended Kylee.”
Gomez’s work for the LSAT prep class and her work as a student emissary are both focused on helping other students learn about law school, and the 威尼斯人娱乐城 法学院 in particular. 学生特使和威尼斯人娱乐城法学院招生团队是她旅程的重要组成部分。
“I got to know Kylee during the Clear My Record project and the law school admissions process,” said Lauren Butler, director of admissions at the 法学院. “I could see how excited she was about the project and the possibility of law school. She has a passion for helping people, and I have no doubt that excitement will follow her into her legal practice.”
那么，戈麦斯对自己的未来有什么设想呢？
“I’m hoping to clerk for a judge after I graduate," Gomez said. "I think clerking is the best way to gain mentorship and continue my legal writing and advocacy capabilities before entering practice.”