Clive Pontusson: Working to Promote Change

Published: 
Friday, June 26, 2015

The ACLU of Washington has many wonderful interns who assist with our work. We would like you to meet some of them.

Clive Pontusson began his work at the ACLU of Washington as a volunteer receptionist.  It was an opportunity he pursued so that he could get a glimpse into the legal world in preparation for going to law school and to do some public service.  However, volunteering quickly became something more than that.

“It was great to see everyone at the ACLU working effectively to promote change.  You hear of people doing that, but I hadn’t seen it first-hand before.  It reaffirmed for me that people can change their society for the better. I thought, it is really being done. and I can be a part of it.”

Now as a second-year law school student at the UW School of Law, Clive is back at the ACLU as a Policy Advocacy Intern where he is researching Driving While License is Suspended in the 3rd Degree (DWLS 3) in Washington state. DWLS 3 is the least serious of three charges associated with driving with a suspended license and is often linked to a suspension that was caused by failure to pay fines.  Although Clive is only in the beginning phase of his research, he has already found that the charge of DWLS 3 is problematic.  

“There are thousands of people out there who don’t have the means to pay big tickets and wind up having their driver’s license suspended. When they drive with a suspended license, they are charged with DWLS 3, a charge that can carry jail time and even more fines.”

Clive’s research involves combing through state laws, revenue reports, and crime records, a process that is intense and time-consuming but ultimately worth it.

“It sometimes feels like a Sherlock Holmes thing, and then sometimes it’s like, why am I reading the 2013 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s annual report that is 200 pages long? However, it is so rewarding for me to do this kind of work, knowing that this research has the potential to change things.”

When not working at the ACLU, Clive volunteers at the Tacoma Detention Center with a UW student organization from the law school called the Center for Human Rights and Justice.  He helps people who are seeking asylum or who are detained move through the legal process.  Outside of the legal world, Clive loves mountain climbing, backcountry skiing, and exploring the outdoors.