Youth Advocacy Writing Group Working Paper Lunch with Anu Joy, Kirsten “Shaw” Mettler, Liz Coughlin, and Leela Mennillo

Join us for the final session of Y-Lab’s 2025 Youth Advocacy Writing Group Working Paper Lunch Series.

*Be sure to RSVP for lunch on April 23.

Revisiting School Accountability: The Shift to a Learning-Centered Regime

Anu Joy, Harvard Law School J.D. Candidate

Paper Topic: The modern school accountability system is driven by performance based accountability, measuring a school’s effectiveness by the assessment performance of students. Devoid from this system is the acknowledgment of students as active participants in their own education and a preference for higher test scores over true learning. In order for students to receive a high quality education, school accountability systems must shift to be more learning-centered, and in tandem, student-centered.

Biography: Anu is a 3L at Harvard Law School and a Youth Advocacy and Policy Lab Fellow.  While at HLS, Anu has been on the editorial board of the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Journal, on the YLab Fellows Leadership team, and involved in the Women’s Law Association. She has been deeply engaged in education law, participating in many of YLab’s clinics to advocate for the educational rights of youth. After graduation, Anu will be clerking with the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Civil Rights Liability and the EdTech Revolution

Kirsten “Shaw” Mettler, Harvard Law School J.D. Candidate

Paper Topic: Software to grade papers, cameras that take attendance: increasingly, education technology (EdTech) products are becoming a dominant force in American schools. But when those tools lead to discriminatory outcomes, who can be held responsible under federal civil rights laws? This paper argues that EdTech companies should generally qualify as “recipients” of federal funding via direct, indirect, and controlling authority theories of liability, meaning EdTech companies can, and should, be directly held accountable for putting discriminatory products in classrooms.

Biography: Kirsten “Shaw” Mettler (she/her) is a Class of 2026 J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School. During law school, she has interned with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. She is the Developments in the Law Chair for Harvard Law Review and Co-Editor in Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender. Prior to law school, Shaw graduated with honors from Stanford University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality studies. Her undergraduate thesis focused on gender-based violence in the digital age through a lens of both policy and speculative fiction, winning the Monica Moore Prize. She has also worked at the intersection of technology, discrimination, and child advocacy through experiences with Access Now and ChildFund International.

Drill Music and Juvenile Probation: Legal Challenges to Social Media Restrictions in the Juvenile Legal System

Liz Coughlin, Harvard Law School J.D. Candidate

Paper Topic: This paper scrutinizes the use of social media restrictions—particularly those targeting drill music—as probation conditions in the juvenile legal system and their disproportionate impact on Black and Brown youth. It also presents potential constitutional and legal challenges for defense attorneys.

Biography: Liz is a third-year law student from Norwood, Massachusetts. They graduated from Boston College in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Before attending law school, Liz served for two years in AmeriCorps as a full-time tutor at a public high school in Boston. At Harvard Law School, Liz has been active in Lambda, the LGBTQ+ affinity group, and has held positions as a Student Writing Editor and Executive Technical Editor for the Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review. Additionally, they are a student attorney in two practice organizations: the Prison Legal Assistance Project, where they also serve as Commutation Director, and Harvard Defenders. As a 3L, Liz has dedicated both semesters to working as a student attorney in the Criminal Justice Institute and as a Youth Advocacy & Policy Fellow. After spending both summers at public defense organizations, Liz is excited to begin their career as a public defender with the Brooklyn Defenders in New York City after graduation.

A Discussion with Leela Mennillo

Harvard Law School J.D. Candidate

More information coming soon.