Family Law Center Names Senior Fellow
November 6, 2009
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Sharon Rubinstein has been named a senior fellow for the University of Baltimore School of Law's Center for Families, Children and the Courts. A lawyer and former journalist with a strong background in public interest advocacy, particularly for children, Rubinstein comes to UB from the Public Justice Center, where she was a fellow on the Right to Counsel project. For more than eight years prior to that, Rubinstein worked at Maryland's Advocates for Children and Youth, where she served as communications director, interim child welfare policy director, and for part of her tenure as a registered lobbyist.
"We are pleased to have Sharon join our team as we continue to develop CFCC as a leader in addressing the most important issues facing families and children today," said Barbara Babb, director of the center and associate professor in the School of Law. "Her experiences and perspective will enhance our effectiveness in seeking justice for families in Baltimore and beyond."
Rubinstein has a long-term commitment to juvenile justice issues. In addition to membership on the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Committee, she has consulted to the ABA's Juvenile Justice Center. She remains active in the ABA, and is one of the editors of the Fourth Amendment Handbook, now in its second edition. She also acts as the liaison from the association’'s Criminal Justice Section to the ABA Journal.
Rubinstein spent nearly two years abroad as a faculty member with the University of Maryland's European Division. She also taught a Law and Education seminar for the George Washington Graduate School of Education, and currently serves on the faculty of the Advocates for Children program, part of the College Park Scholars initiative at the University of Maryland, College Park.
As a journalist, Rubinstein wrote for BusinessWeek, Newsweek International, The Baltimore Sun, Criminal Justice Magazine and many other publications. She also wrote for CNN and CBS News, and was the producer of a local radio show, "Justice for Youth." She serves on the board of the Megaphone Project, a video production company that promotes social justice causes.
Rubinstein is a former law clerk to the Hon. John Feikens, previously chief judge of the Eastern District of Michigan, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan's Law School. She has a B.A. in psychology with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University.
In her position as a senior fellow at CFCC, Rubinstein will be involved the full range of the center's growing catalog of activities, including CFCC's highly successful Truancy Court Program, a cooperative effort of the center, city schools and the court system to lower Baltimore's truancy rate for students in a number of specially-selected public schools; initiatives involving Unified Family Court promotion and technical assistance; the Urban Child Symposium; and outreach and communications to foster the work of CFCC. She will work alongside Babb, Senior Fellow-in-Residence Gloria Danziger, and the center's professional staff, volunteers and School of Law student fellows.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.