Featured Scholar: Lahny Silva, J.D., LL. M.
Professor of Law
IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Research Video: https://youtu.be/lV5ohx0x4ZI
Community Engagement at its “Best”: A Holistic Approach to Prisoner Reentry
Professor Lahny Silva's research centers on improving outcomes around offender reentry and criminal recidivism. These issues impact public safety. Successful reentry is critical not only to the stability of the individual offender, but also to the strengthening of family units and the improvement of overall community health. Criminal recidivism typically means more crime. Moreover, high rates of imprisonment are geographically clustered in “hot spots” that are predicted by social factors correlated to urban disadvantage - poverty, unemployment, family disruption, and racial seclusion. These communities overwhelmingly bear the burdens associated with imprisonment and are not safer. Sociological studies report that these communities are considerably damaged when those released from prison return with reduced political, economic, and social opportunities and status. Successful reentry can make all the difference.
Professor Silva's research project hopes to build on the community work of the IU McKinney School of Law reentry clinic by forming a partnership with the IU School of Social Work. Focusing on civil legal barriers, the reentry clinic assists people released from prison navigate reentry related issues such as getting valid driver's licenses, securing employment, etc.. To better facilitate a successful reintegration, best practices encourage a holistic approach. Social work fills this gap.
Professor Silva's translation of research into using the reentry clinic to bring hope and help to an often neglected and overlooked group of people that do not typically have access to systems of justice is another excellent example of how IU Indianapolis's faculty members are TRANSLATING their RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.
Selected Publications in IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks
With several research works contributed to IU Indianapolis's free, open access repository, Professor Silva has made translational research knowledge available to professionals, researchers, students, and communities around the world.
Lahny R. Silva, Reaching for Reentry: Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law's Contribution to the Reentry Movement, 54 Ind. L. Rev. 527 (2021). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/30074
Lahny R. Silva, Ringing the Bell: The Right to Counsel and the Interest Convergence Dilemma, 82 Mo. L. Rev. 133 (2017). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/30075
Silva, L. R. (2015). Criminal Histories in Public Housing. Wis. L. Rev., 375. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/8186
Lahny R. Silva, Collateral Damage: A Public Housing Consequence of the "War on Drugs", 5 UC Irvine L. Rev. 783 (2015). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/9998
Silva, L. R. (2014). Right to Counsel and Plea Bargaining: Gideon's Legacy Continues. Iowa L. Rev., 99, 2219. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/8189
Silva, L. R. (2013). Best Interest Is the Child: A Historical Philosophy for Modern Issues, The. BYU J. Pub. L., 28, 415. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/8188
Lahny R. Silva, In Search of A Second Chance: Channeling BMV v. Gore and Reconsidering Occupational Licensing Restrictions, 61 U. Kan. L. Rev. 495 (2012). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/10000
Lahny R. Silva, Clean Slate: Expanding Expungements and Pardons for Non-Violent Federal Offenders, 79 U. Cin. L. Rev. 155 (2010). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/9999