Serving children in the justice system

When Professor Diane Geraghty graduated from law school in the early 1970s, times were different—clinical education was new, and issues of child abuse and neglect were on the margins of legal practice. By the early 1990s, when Professor Geraghty helped establish the nationally recognized Civitas ChildLaw Center at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, society was increasingly responsive to the tragedy of child maltreatment. “There was a call on behalf of the American Bar Association for law schools to step up and to respond to meet the needs of these children,” Geraghty says. Led by Geraghty, the School of Law stepped up. In addition to her role as director of the Civitas ChildLaw Center, Geraghty is co-director of Loyola’s interdisciplinary Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy, and Practice, an outgrowth of the University’s strategic plan to build a more just, humane, and sustainable world.

Serving kids in the justice system

Geraghty has spent much of her career working to serve youth involved in the justice system. Reducing the number of youth tried as adults and introducing restorative practices—such as deflection and diversion—as alternatives to the formal justice system are positive changes made in law because of the work of Geraghty and her colleagues.

Advancing Loyola’s anti-racist mission

In 2020, Loyola University Chicago School of Law revised its mission to explicitly focus on dismantling racism and systemic oppression. “Increasingly, as academics and students and a society, we’re recognizing that, at their core, many institutions are grounded in racial unfairness and disproportionality,” Geraghty says. “Loyola’s new mission statement acknowledges the racism that pervades many of our public and private institutions and calls upon all members of the community to use the tools of the legal profession to dismantle systems that sustain this disproportionality.” Courses in the Civitas ChildLaw Center curriculum elevate the role, history, and impact of race and other forms of disparity in social systems.

Reflecting and acting

Geraghty says her students consciously “consider the role of lawyers in either advancing or inhibiting social justice” and propose possible responses to better serve children and their families. Working under the supervision of faculty, students provide legal representation to children and youth in a variety of settings. “Our goal is to provide a platform and foundation for our graduates to become changemakers and thought leaders in the field.”