The Peer Review is part of a new series in which we shine the spotlight on the students behind the CJLPP. To view other Peer Review issues, click on the tag below.
John Paul Ferrantino is a Staff Writer at the Claremont Journal of Law and Public Policy, and a first-year student at Pomona College. He’s been a part of the Journal for 2 semesters!
How/why did you get involved with the CJLPP?
When I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted to go to Pomona, I came across the CJLPP page. I was really impressed with the quality of the content and knew I had to join if I ever made it to Pomona — which I did.
What have you recently been working on in the Journal? Anything specific you’d like to share?
Lately, for the journal, I’ve been working on a piece about historically Black colleges and universities, a unique niche within higher education that punches well above its weight in terms of promoting student success. Next, I’m looking to investigate intelligence policy and how post-9/11 surveillance state ethos is changing amidst a drop in terrorism. But that’s just a thought.
What else has been going on in your life that you might like to share?
Last semester, I interned with a text banking start-up called Resistance Labs, which worked primarily on registering people to vote (and vote by mail) with the goal of expanding civic participation and electing candidates who represent the will of the people. Having conversations with so many people through text banking and learning its importance to the electoral process was a lot of fun and really helped broaden my political understanding. And as a bonus, it gave me ideas for people I’d like to interview in the upcoming months!
