Cardozo’s Center for Public Service Law is pleased to announce that Eddie Pruette ‘21 is the recipient of the 2021 David Rudenstine Postgraduate Fellowship and is pursuing his fellowship year working at Equal Justice Under Law in Washington, D.C.

Pruette got his undergraduate degree from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and while a student at Cardozo he was actively involved in both the Bet Tzedek Civil Litigation Clinic and the Criminal Appeals Field Clinic, where he had an internship at Appellate Advocates of New York.

Pruette started his fellowship on January 3 and will continue there until the end of 2022. He said, “As a Rudenstine Legal Fellow at Equal Justice Under Law, I will be working to challenge the criminalization of poverty through class action impact litigation in federal courts. I feel so privileged to have this incredible opportunity to build my legal skills while serving an important cause. I owe my deepest thanks to the Susan Halpern Foundation and Cardozo School of Law for supporting this work.”

One Postgraduate Fellow is selected from each year’s graduating class by members of the Cardozo administration. The fellowship provides funding for the student to pursue work in the public sector for one year and is made possible by a generous endowment from Susan Halpern. The fellow commits to working for one calendar year at a nonprofit organization or government agency that, in turn, will commit to hosting the fellow, providing him or her with training, supervision by an attorney, and workspace. In applying for the David Rudenstine Fellowship, the fellow proposes a specific project that will address a need that can be executed at the host organization. 

Alissa Bernstein, director of Cardozo’s Center for Public Service Law, said, “We are thrilled to award Eddie the 2021 David Rudenstine Fellowship for his work with Equal Justice Under Law. The focus of his work on ending money bail and cost-prohibitive expungement practices nationwide is exciting and crucial to eliminating the criminalization of poverty. Throughout his time at Cardozo, Eddie was a committed public service student, with an unwavering commitment to serving indigent clients through his internships and clinic experiences. We look forward to the impact that Eddie will make for the clients served by Equal Justice Under Law, and we are proud to support this important work.”