I worked at PRS Legislative Research in New Delhi, India. PRS is a small independent research organization with a core team of less than 10 people working to improve the democratic process in India. Their aim is to make legislative debate in India more transparent and participatory by providing the Members of Parliament in both houses with 4-6 page "legislative briefs" on a range of bills in order to better inform the MPs on the issues contained in those bills.

As a second initiative, PRS is working to establish an online database of state laws. Unlike elsewhere, there is no centralized way of looking up state legislation, making it extremely difficult for the public, attorneys, advocates, NGOs, etc. to know what any state's laws are on a particular subject. Though central legislation (federal legislation) is searchable online, finding state legislation requires going to a state court library, a national law school library, or Parliament's library – which can be extremely tedious. The summer associates were each assigned two broad sectors (i.e., health, water, agriculture, land reform, child-related laws, etc.). Summer associates researched state legislation in those sectors and created a summary report of each law found. These reports are to be uploaded to begin a state-law database. Towards the end of the summer, state and central policy/legislative approaches in those sectors were compared to related policy in other nations and international conventions

Amanda Klasing, Class of 2008, RFK Center for Human Rights – Right to Water Project, Port-de-Paix, Haiti
As an intern with RFK Center for Human Rights, I served as the primary investigator on a Right to Water Project that was a collaborative effort between RFK and NYU’s International Human Rights Clinic, technical support was also provided by Partners in Health/ Zanmi Lasante. The project was an innovative approach to the documentation of violations of the right to water and the impact of those violations on the right to health. My position involved overseeing the implementation of the study, based on quantitative and qualitative research instruments. This entailed applying for approval from the Internal Review Board at the university, to drafting participant consent forms, designing a household survey to the human right to water, setting up and attending meetings with local officials, coordinating with a physician in the development of a right to water/right to health household survey, testing the quality of water and various other activities.

A typical day working on the project required me to rise early; the church bells in town began tolling at 5:30 am. I lived in the same location with my two Haitian co-investigators and we prepared for the day over breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, we would begin our survey work or focus groups. Conducting interviews at randomly chosen households allowed us an opportunity to meet many people in the community and our morning walks to our survey locations presented the chance to speak to many community members. At the end of the project, I felt very close to the community and am committed to continuing the work we began this summer. RFK, IHRC and PIH are currently working towards publishing a human rights report based partially on the data gathered this summer.

My summer internship was a defining moment in my career and in my life. I was able to do the work I came to law school to do and it was more amazing than I could ever have imagined. PILC’s summer funding was an absolutely necessary component of the project.

This past summer I was an intern in the Criminal Division of the NYPD Legal Bureau. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I honestly enjoyed going into work every single day.

While there, I researched and helped to draft a new regulation to be adopted by another city agency and drafted a memo in support to be read by the Police Commissioner. For that project I contacted police departments across the country and met with high-ranking officers in the NYPD to discuss logistics. I wrote Legal Bureau Bulletins which educate officers on complex legal issues and are distributed to the entire New York City police force. In addition, almost daily I was given smaller assignments dealing with police interrogations, counter-terrorism, and First Amendment issues. It was a veritable smörgåsbord of legal topics.

Some of the perks included a day of shoot/don't shoot simulations and firearms training at Rodman's Neck in the Bronx where I got to fire fully automatic sub-machine guns; going on raids to shut down establishments with numerous violations; being included in a police training video; and meeting the Mayor at a reception at Gracie Mansion. Plus, it's been the gift that keeps on giving; I now have an open invitation to the police-only viewing areas for the 4th of July, Halloween, and New Years. I loved everything about my work last summer and never once regretted not choosing a firm job.

I spent the summer of 2007 at the International Law Commission, in Geneva. The ILC has been created in 1948 and is in charge, in the United Nations system, of the progressive development and codification of international law. I assisted Alain Pellet, French Member of the Commission and Special Rapporteur on Reservations to Treaties.

On my first day, the Commission hold a special meeting with the representatives of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies. I felt so privileged attending this unique session with eminent professors and diplomats from around the world debating on how to improve the law of human rights treaties. My decision to study at NYU was greatly influenced by this fellowship. The role of the ILC in Public International Law is fundamental and I had the opportunity to appreciate its contribution in my studies in France and in my work experiences. I hoped to have the opportunity to assist in the formation of international law and in particular to assist Professor Pellet.

It was a fascinating experience in the fundation of international law and my guide was generous and extremely knowledgeable. I have not been disappointed by the institution or by my supervisor.