Law Commons^™

Tackling Singapore’S Terrorism Threat: Bringing The People Back In, Tan K. B. Eugene

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Eugene K B Tan, Associate Professor of Law at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University, considers Singapore’s response to the threat of terrorism following 9/11. This essay is based on an article published in the journal, Law and Policy (2009).

How To Talk About Racism, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a commentary, SMU Assistant Professor of Law Benjamin Joshua Ong wrote that recent debates about race and race relations have reminded him that using a single word to describe something can lead to quibbles over the precise definition, while discussion of the thing itself is neglected. He believes that in addressing important questions related to race, we should not reduce the potentially rich discussion to a simplistic argument over whether the incidents are "racist" or not, but should keep an open mind when having difficult conversations.

Nine Ways Of Looking At Oklahoma City: An Essay On Sam Anderson’S Boom Town, Rodger D. Citron

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Foreword—Police Misconduct And Kibbe V. City Of Springfield, Harris Freeman

Faculty Scholarship

The Law Review’s 2017 symposium, “Perspectives on Racial Justice in the Era of #BlackLivesMatter,” appropriately opened with a panel that addressed the ongoing challenge of combating police misconduct, as seen through the lens of Kibbe v. City of Springfield, a civil rights case that unfolded in Western Massachusetts and reached the United States Supreme Court thirty years ago. Kibbe presented the Court with the question of what the proper standard of liability should be for a municipality accused of a civil rights violation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for inadequately training a police officer who violates a person’s civil …

Constitutional Law—Do Black Lives Matter To The Constitution?, Bruce K. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

Do Black lives matter to the Constitution? To the original Constitution, premised as it is on white supremacy, they plainly do not. But do the post-Civil War Amendments, sometimes characterized as a "Second Founding," provide a basis for a more optimistic reading? The Supreme Court's application of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection guarantee, shaped by the long discredited (and now formally overruled) decision in Korematsu v. U.S., has seriously diminished the likelihood that our basic law can redeem the promise of racial equality. Korematsu's embrace of a purely formal account of racial discrimination, its blindness to the history and present …

How Much Is Police Brutality Costing America?, Eleanor Lumsden

Publications

The criminal law of the United States fails to stop the unlawful killing of minorities by law enforcement. In fact, it was never meant to do so. Civil tort law is also unequal to the task. The consequences of not correcting these legal failures are far-reaching for the United States and for our neighbors, and have so far been underreported. This article explores the direct and indirect costs of these failings, positive measures already underway, and makes further sugges-tions for reform.

Race, Rhetoric, And Judicial Opinions: Missouri As A Case Study, Brad Desnoyer, Anne Alexander

Faculty Publications

This Essay studies the relationship between race, rhetoric, and history in three twentieth century segregation cases: State ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, Kraemer v. Shelley, and Liddell v. Board of Education. Part I gives a brief overview of the scholarship of Critical Race Theory, majoritarian narratives and minority counter-narratives, and the judiciary’s rhetoric in race-based cases. Part II analyzes the narratives and language of Gaines, Kraemer, and Liddell, provides the social context of these cases, and traces their historical outcomes.

The Essay contends that majoritarian narratives with problematic themes continue to perpetuate even though court opinions have evolved to use …

Different Lyrics, Same Song: Watts, Ferguson, And The Stagnating Effect Of The Politics Of Law And Order, Lonnie T. Brown

Scholarly Works

This Article critically examines the Watts riots and their aftermath in comparison to the Ferguson situation, and demonstrates how little progress America has made in a span of fifty years in the area of race relations. More importantly, the Article points to the politics of “law and order” as the primary culprit for this static social condition.

Criminalization As Governance In The American Racial State, Charlton C. Copeland

Articles

No abstract provided.

Newsroom: Judge Keynotes Mlk Week, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Keyes To Reclaiming The Racial History Of The Roberts Court, Tom Romero Ii

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This article advocates for a fundamental re-understanding about the way that the history of race is understood by the current Supreme Court. Represented by the racial rights opinions of Justice John Roberts that celebrate racial progress, the Supreme Court has equivocated and rendered obsolete the historical experiences of people of color in the United States. This jurisprudence has in turn reified the notion of color-blindness, consigning racial discrimination to a distant and discredited past that has little bearing to how race and inequality is experienced today.

The racial history of the Roberts Court is centrally informed by the context and …

Can't We Be Your Neighbor? Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, And The Resistance To Blacks As Neighbors, Jeannine Bell

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 paved the way for the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which was designed to address discrimination in one of our most intimate space — neighborhoods. Fifty-six years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, Americans remain fiercely resistant to the concept of neighborhood integration. This Article uses an unlikely event, the killing of Trayvon Martin, to discuss one manifestation of that resistance with disturbing implications.

Opening Borders: African Americans And Latinos Through The Lens Of Immigration, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

African-American and Latino voter turnout during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections hit record numbers. Polls show that the immigration debate influenced Latino voter turnout and preference. Presidential candidate Barack Obama's voiced support of comprehensive immigration reform strengthened his lead among Latino voters in 2008 and, once in office, his executive policy of granting temporary protection to DREAMers solidified his lead among Latino voters in 2012. Both elections showed the power that minority groups can exert when they vote in support of the candidate. If the demographic changes continue as currently estimated, African Americans and Latinos will contribute in large …

Making The World In Atlanta's Image: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Morris Abram, And The Legislative History Of The United Nations Race Convention, H. Timothy Lovelace

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A Defense Of Stand Your Ground Legislation, Jarrett Field '14

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

No abstract provided.

Unfinished Equality: The Case Of Black Boys, Nancy E. Dowd

UF Law Faculty Publications

Vulnerabilities and identities theories have an interdependent and symbiotic relationship that is critical to achieve social justice. Vulnerabilities analysis demands the state to explain and correct structural inequalities, while identities theories call for constructs and stereotypes to be confronted, challenged, and transformed in order to achieve justice and equality. An example of the value of both theoretical perspectives is in challenging, uncovering, and demanding action to end the subordination of black boys. Analyzing the situation of black boys, from birth to age eighteen, and the interaction they have with individuals, institutional structures, and culture leads to a conclusion that identity …

The End Of Annulment, Kerry Abrams

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amici Curiae, Neil Vidmar Et Al., Connecticut V. Guilbert, Neil Vidmar, Theresa A. Newman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

States’ Rights, Southern Hypocrisy, And The Crisis Of The Union, Paul Finkelman

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the arguments used by southern secessionists to explain why they left the Union. The article demonstrates that support for "states' rights" was not the main reason for secession, and that on the contrary, most of the slave states left the Union because the free states were exercising their states' rights in opposing slavery. The main reason for secession, as this essay shows, was the desire to protect slavery and to create a new nation, self-consciously based on slavery and white supremacy. This article began as part of an AALS legal history section program in 2010 and is …

Critical Race Materialism: Theorizing Justice In The Wake Of Global Neoliberalism, Sumi Cho, Francisco Valdes

Articles

Critical Race Theory's (CRT's) first two decades produced a rich and diverse literature deconstructing law and society using a racial lens. CRT's emergence and rise occurred at a moment in history where the U.S. was still the uncontested unipolar superpower whose privileged elites enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and status. Despite its dominant standing in the world economy and polity, prevailing "social structures of accumulation" within the United States were already in decline. For CRT's next iteration, we argue that a critical race materialist approach is necessary to interpret the history of how economic and social structures of identity are inextricably linked. …

Fostering Race-Related Dialogue: Lessons From A Small Seminar, Jonathan R. Cohen

UF Law Faculty Publications

People frequently shy away from discussing race. Yet, for many reasons, discussing race is extremely important. Drawing upon my experience of teaching a small seminar that addressed race through the lens of reconciliation, in this essay I offer several suggestions for fostering constructive race-related dialogue. I begin by identifying some factors that can make race-related dialogue difficult. I then suggest five steps that may facilitate constructive dialogue: (1) establish trust and good conversational dynamics before discussing race, (2) prompt the discussion with a reading or other informative stimulus, (3) listen to others with the goal of understanding their thoughts, (4) …

The International Implications Of Quality-Of-Life Policing As Practiced In New York City, Bruce D. Johnson, Andrew Golub, James E. Mccabe

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has made enforcement of laws against disorder and quality-of-life offenses a central part of its policing strategy. Concomitantly, New York City (NYC) experienced a renaissance in orderliness, cleanliness, tourism, real estate value, and crime reduction, although other problems such as poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, racial tensions, and homelessness persist. This paper examines quality-of-life policing practices in NYC, describes the philosophical underpinnings, explores the critical response to the program, and presents lessons of potential relevance to other policing organizations in the USA and around the world.

Protecting The Dignity And Equality Of Children: The Importance Of Integrated Schools, Sharon E. Rush

UF Law Faculty Publications

The primary goal of this Article is to motivate equality-minded people to renew their commitment to the goal of invalidating the race myth – a belief in white superiority and black inferiority – that has plagued this country far too long. When the Supreme Court ruled in Brown that “separate is inherently unequal,” it understood that integrated schools were necessary to achieve racial equality because only by teaching children to respect each other’s dignity, is it possible to debunk the race myth. This Article suggests that “integration” is about more than ensuring that children have the opportunity to physically share …

The United States And Human Rights Treaties: Race Relations, The Cold War, And Constitutionalism, Curtis A. Bradley

Faculty Scholarship

The United States prides itself on being a champion of human rights and pressures other countries to improve their human rights practices, and yet appears less willing than other nations to embrace international human rights treaties. Many commentators attribute this phenomenon to the particular historical context that existed in the late 1940s and early 1950s when human rights treaties were first being developed. These commentators especially emphasize the race relations of the time, noting that some conservatives resisted the developing human rights regime because they saw it as an effort by the federal government to extend its authority to address …

The Color Of Our Future: The Pitfalls And Possibilities Of The Race Card In American Culture, Christopher A. Bracey

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

We live in a country haunted by a past of slavery, segregation, racism, and violence. Though many systemic corrections have been attempted, a large percentage of African-Americans continue to fall behind their White counterparts in nearly every index of socio-economic well-being. The debate rages on as to why this situation exists and persists, and people on both sides of the color divide have become increasingly sensitive to perceptions and accusations of racial injustice. In his book, The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse, Richard Thompson Ford explores the phenomenon called “the race card,” wherein individuals play …

Unconscious Racism Revisited: Reflections On The Impact And Origins Of "The Id, The Ego, And Equal Protection", Charles R. Lawrence Iii

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Twenty years ago, Professor Charles Lawrence wrote “The Id, The Ego, and Equal Protection: Reckoning With Unconscious Racism.” This article is considered a foundational document of Critical Race Theory and is one of the most influential and widely cited law review articles. The article argued that the purposeful intent requirement found in Supreme Court equal protection doctrine and in the Court’s interpretation of antidiscrimination laws disserved the value of equal citizenship expressed in those laws because many forms of racial bias are unconscious. Professor Lawrence suggested that rather than look for discriminatory motive, the Court should examine the cultural meaning …

Majority Politics And Race Based Remedies, Darren Lenard Hutchinson

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Essay applies the principles of social movement theory and analyzes the legal status of race-based remedies. Many scholars have debated the constitutionality and efficacy of affirmative action, the appropriateness of race-consciousness (from legal and social perspectives) and the legitimacy of structural judicial remedies for various types of discrimination. This paper will add to this literature by demonstrating the influence of conservative race politics and ideology on Court doctrine concerning affirmative action and other race-based remedies. In particular, this Essay will demonstrate that, consistent with broader political trends, the Court disfavors governmental usage of race as a remedy for discrimination …

Beyond Invisibility: Afro-Argentines In Their Nation's Culture And Memory, Robert J. Cottrol

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This essay examines recent works on the history and culture of Afro-Argentines. It discusses why the study of Afro-Argentines has traditionally been an underexamined topic by scholars specializing in Argentina and why there has been a recent renewal of interest in the topic. Essay explores influence of Africans and Afro-Argentines on Argentine culture and the question of the so-called disappearance of the Afro-Argentines.

The Cul De Sac Of Race Preference Discourse, Christopher A. Bracey

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Affirmative action policy remains a contentious issue in public debate despite public endorsement by America’s leading institutions and validation by the United States Supreme Court. But the decades old disagreement is mired in an unproductive rhetorical stalemate marked by entrenched ideology rather than healthy dialogue. Instead of evolving, racial dialogue about the relevance of race in university admissions and hiring decisions is trapped in a cycle of resentment.

In this article, I argue that the stagnation of race preference discourse arises because the basic rhetorical themes advanced by opponents have evolved little over 150 years since the racial reform efforts …

Democracy, Race, And Multiculturalism In The Twenty-First Century: Will The Voting Rights Act Ever Be Obsolete?, Sheryll Cashin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part I of this essay begins one hundred years before the passage of the Act, with Reconstruction. I briefly canvas the interracial alliances of the Reconstruction and Redemption periods, underscoring that American democracy has been most responsive to the masses, including working class whites, when interracial alliances between whites and blacks commanded majority power. I then recount how a politics of white supremacy animated and perpetuated racial schisms between blacks and whites for a century in the South. Part II describes how the Act came to be passed, emphasizing the role of protest and coalition politics in its enactment, and …