ATJI aims to build a community for law students who share a commitment to serving marginalized or underrepresented individuals, communities and causes. ATJI serves as the bridge between academics and action, encouraging students to be leaders for justice.

The Center’s mission is to advance justice and equality through a unified vision that combines research, advocacy, and education.  Its research work is focused on understanding the relationship between law and categories of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and disability, especially with regard to their intersections.  Its advocacy work seeks to combat discrimination and to support communities in advocating for themselves.  Its education efforts are focused on helping students become agents for social change, seeking to diversify the legal academy, and training the next generation of scholar/teacher/activists through post-graduate teaching and advocacy fellowships. 

The JRAP represents youth (with a focus on girls) who are in the delinquency system, comprehensively across systems, and until they reach majority.  JRAP representation uses the legal system to access social and community services and hold systems accountable, reducing the use of incarceration and supporting girls in their communities.  In addition to individual representation, the JRAP is involved in ongoing research and policy advocacy aimed at reducing incarceration and supporting youth in their communities

In step with the University’s mission, “care for the person,” Marquette University Law School (MULS) offers the Restorative Justice Initiative. The Initiative has fostered exceptional community connections in Wisconsin and continues to strive for excellence in the field of public service. Under the leadership of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, Distinguished Professor of Law, the Initiative has brought community focus to the law school by providing the students with substantial leadership training in addition to their considerable technical legal education. The Initiative has become a resource for other restorative justice organizations in the state, formed partnerships with local community groups that work with criminal justice issues, and has been providing victim/offender dialogues for crimes of severe violence through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), Office of Victim Services and Programs.