UVA Law Alum Jessica Childress On Charlottesville, Children’s Books, And Attorneys Of Color

“I wrote my way out / Wrote everything down far as I could see / I wrote my way out / I looked up and the town had its eyes on me.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda

JC picture from book.png — (The Briefcase of Juris P. Prudence is dedicated to Josephine Crowell, Childress’s Granny, who always reminded her that she was her Granny’s horse, even if she never won a race.)

Last weekend, Jessica Childress and her organization, Juris Prudence LLC, hosted seventeen students for the Juris Prudence Kids Mock Trial Academy in the Ward 7 neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

As the founder and host of the Academy, Childress worked with the East River Family Strengthening Collaborative (ERFSC), community volunteers, sponsors, and the Francis Gregory Neighborhood Library staff to make the event a success. The purpose of the ERFSC grant, which helped to finance the event, is: to reduce violence, expand community support, and develop and improve leadership skills among local youth and families.