Students from the Forensic Science and Criminal Justice course saw the process in action during a tour of the Alaska Department of Public Safety Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory. They learned how to collect and analyze common types of evidence found at crime scenes including fingerprints, footprints and DNA.
Mateo Jaime, a Legal Studies student, arrived at the court hearing that would, finally, end his years in custody of the Alaska Office of Children’s Services in a buoyant mood. At age 21, young adults “age out” of foster care in Alaska if they have not been adopted or reunified with parents. A judge approves it in a hearing that amounts to a grim bureaucratic formality: A child has passed into adulthood without the foster care system laying a path to permanent legal family for them, and now they are on their own.
Trial and Advanced Litigation Processes students present their oral arguments before Justice Jennifer S. Henderson in the Alaska Supreme Court Courtroom on Oct. 3, 2022.
In mid-February, students in UAA legal studies professor Dr. Ryan Fortson's Trial and Advanced Litigation course (LEGL A487) had the opportunity to practice arguing a motion in front of a U.S. District Court judge in his courtroom in the James M. Fitzgerald U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in downtown Anchorage.
Legal studies senior Amanda Magnusen knows a thing or two about scholarship application anxiety. As a lead coach for the UAA eWolf ePortfolio program stationed in the UAA Multicultural Center, she helps students navigate what can be a complicated and time-consuming process.
