Racial injustice, inequities and the law are all intertwined.

(This article, written by Anne Bader-Martin, was recently published by the American Bar Association.)

One day, a juvenile-court-appointed attorney sat in a Dunkin’ Donuts across from her pregnant 15-year-old client who lived in foster care, with her already overburdened elderly grandmother because her mom had died of an overdose a few years before and her father wasn’t in her life. She was a friendly girl with sad eyes but a very warm laugh. In looking ahead to the birth of her baby, she was really looking forward to having someone of her own to love—and to be loved back unconditionally.