CJLP Hosts Independent Forensic Gang Expert College Alumni Reunion
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LMU Loyola Law School’s Center for Juvenile Law and Policy (CJLP) hosted its inaugural Independent Forensic Gang Expert College (IFGEC) Alumni Reunion on Oct. 7, 2023. The Independent Forensic Gang Expert College (IFGEC) is a rigorous six-week program, the first of its kind in the nation, that trains formerly gang-involved individuals to graduate as forensic gang experts.
“The Independent Forensic Gang College is one of the most important things I’ve done in my career, and we are only beginning. The demonization of gang-involved youth is one of the most heartbreaking things that I’ve witnessed, and we see it over and over again,” said Sean Kennedy, '89 Kaplan & Feldman Executive Director of the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy, in his opening remarks.
Rhyzan Croomes ‘19, supervising staff attorney of Loyola’s Juvenile Justice Clinic, facilitated discussions on how the IFGEC program can better equip and train new students. “This work was already so important to me, but even more so after losing our former client this week to gang violence. It pushes me to listen to you more. What can we do to expand this program, and what can we do together to combat this narrative that we are monsters?” Croomes said.
The alumni shared valuable input on improving the IFGEC for the next cohort. They discussed access to research and publications on adolescent brain development and enabling knowledge sharing and collaboration among fellow alums.
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The open forum was followed by a live courtroom demonstration led by two Juvenile Justice Clinic students Mariam Bablanian ‘25 and Luis Gonzalez ‘24, who presented a mock Evidence Code § 402 hearing. These 402 hearings are preliminary fact determinations to decide evidence's admissibility, including determining an expert’s qualifications. Elie Miller, director of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction Justice Project (CCCJP) and one of the IFGEC faculty, led the group through tips on how to avoid preclusion.
The IFGEC strives to bring about systemic change within the juvenile justice system. The inception of the IFGEC in 2020 was a direct response to community feedback, acknowledging the imperative need to challenge narratives propagated by police gang experts concerning the motivations behind adolescent gang affiliations. Thanks to the support of the California Wellness Foundation, IFGEC will be opening the program to its third cohort in 2024. Learn more about the IFGEC and ways to support it here.