Law Commons^™

Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’S Intended To Help, And Why Universities Won’T Admit It (Book Review), Michael S. Ariens

Faculty Articles

Mismatch is one of the most important books about law and public policy published recently. The authors, Richard H. Sander and Stuart Taylor, Jr., offer a provocative and deeply researched conclusion: empirical evidence strongly suggests that affirmative action in the admission of African-Americans and Hispanics to selective colleges and law schools is more harmful than helpful.

The problem of underrepresentation of African-Americans and Hispanics in the American legal profession is a continuing problem. But the work of Richard Sander strongly indicates that relying on the power of affirmative action has generated deleterious effects for those this “solution” was designed to …

Judge Wayne Justice: A Life Of Human Dignity And Refractory Mules, Albert H. Kauffman

Faculty Articles

Judge Wayne Justice had a deep impact on the lives of many people and was an unyielding advocate who protected the rights of all U.S. citizens. Many of the Judge’s orders and consent decrees forced Texas to comply with more stringent federal requirements in education and health care and had a far reaching effect across the nation. Judge Justice presided over Doe v. Plyler that ensured the benefit of public education for the children of undocumented immigrants. In United States v. Texas, Judge Justice required that the Texas Education Agency monitor school district actions and policies to assure that they …

Observations On The Evolution Of Minorities In The Law: From Law School To Practice, Charles E. Cantú

Faculty Articles

The St. Mary’s University School of Law has a rich history in promoting the representation of minorities in its faculty and student body. Moreover, its history in this area was a tradition long before the country found its social conscience, and before the American government, prodded by the civil rights movement, urged institutions of higher learning to engage in affirmative action. St. Mary’s and Hispanics led the way in this national movement. This year, as St. Mary’s University School of Law celebrates its seventy-fifth year, it is a perfect time to reflect upon the evolution of minorities in the Law …

The Diminishing Sphere Of The Cooperative Virtues In American Law And Society, Ana M. Novoa

Faculty Articles

Exploration of destructive developments in American law and society show that family law is completely askew. Although family law deals with the most intimate and basic personal relationships, it applies a legal process based on autonomous individual public and private economic rights to those intimate relational realities. It is a hallowed expression of male virtues and a paradigmatic example of the use of the law to protect vested interests and shape society, rather than a reflection of reality.

The split between the private/family/female and the public/business/male spheres of the nineteenth century created the separation of competitive attributes, virtues, and vices …

Unequal Justice: Lawyers And Social Change In Modern America, By Jerold S. Auerbach (Book Review), David A. Dittfurth

Faculty Articles

In Unequal Justice, Jerold S. Auerbach attempts to prove that the legal profession has failed to adequately pursue equality of justice. He finds little evidence that the legal profession or its dominant factions have made an adequate effort to assure the provision of legal services according to need. On the contrary, most of the historical evidence presented in this book leads one to believe that the legal profession has accepted profit as its real goal.

The author contends that, because the legal profession is responsible for formulating and applying law in a very legalistic society, it serves a very important …