Digital Commons Network^™

The Perils And Possibilities Of Refugee Federalism, Burch Elias

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ending Disparities And Achieving Justice For Individuals With Mental Disabilities, Robert K. Goldman, Sheila Shea

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Blowing Past Minnesota Nice: New Opportunities Arise To Utilize Disparate-Impact Theory And Practice In Twin Cities Low-Income Housing Discrimination Litigation, Anne M. Robertson

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sanctuary Cities And The Federal Government Power Struggle: How Sanctuary Cities Are Fighting Back, Conor Grealish

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

How Can Big Data Impact Affordable Housing?., Kara Simon

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Clemency And The Administration Of Hope, Erin R. Collins

Law Faculty Publications

In 2014, President Obama announced his intention to ‘‘restor[e] fundamental ideals of justice and fairness’’ to the criminal justice system by exercising his executive clemency power to commute sentences of those who had ‘‘already served their time and paid their debt to society.’’ Soon thereafter, the Department of Justice (DOJ) specified six criteria it would use to prioritize applications. The primary targets of these criteria were the casualties of the war on drugs: people sentenced to draconian sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, some of which involved less than a handful of narcotics. Most of these individuals had exhausted any available …

The Economic Justice Imperative For Transactional Law Clinics, Lynnise E. Pantin

Faculty Scholarship

The economic, political, and social volatility of the sixties and seventies, out of which clinical legal education was born, has certain mythical qualities for most law students, and perhaps some law professors. America still bears the scars of the economic policies of those previous eras, such as redlining, blockbusting, poverty and urban decay. While the realities of the era may seem out of reach for many of our students, those arising out of that era have contributed to the wealth gap in this country, which has worsened over the last twenty years. Now more than ever, society needs social justice …

Judges Need To Exercise Their Responsibility To Require That Eligible Defendants Have Lawyers, Robert C. Boruchowitz

Faculty Articles

There are many courts in the United States, particularly misdemeanor courts, in which accused persons appear and often plead guilty without ever receiving the advice of counsel, even when they are eligible for a public defender. In various states, between twenty-five and sixty-eight percent of the defendants in misdemeanor cases do not have lawyers. In many courts in South Carolina, there is no public defender ever available. The American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) has filed a class action lawsuit against two South Carolina cities, alleging that they are unconstitutionally denying counsel to eligible accused persons.

There is no question that …

Race Liberalism And The Deradicalization Of Racial Reform, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Faculty Scholarship

Recent works by neoconservatives and by Critical legal scholars have suggested that civil rights reforms have been an unsuccessful means of achieving racial equality in America. In this Article, Professor Crenshaw considers these critiques and analyzes the continuing role of racism in the subordination of Black Americans. The neoconservative emphasis on formal colorblindness, she argues, fails to recognize the indeterminacy of civil rights laws and the force of lingering racial disparities. The Critical scholars, who emphasize the legitimating role of legal ideology and legal rights rhetoric, are substantially correct, according to Professor Crenshaw, but they fail to appreciate the choices …

The Deserving Poor, The Undeserving Poor, And Class-Based Affirmative Action, Khiara M. Bridges

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is a critique of class-based affirmative action. It begins by observing that many professed politically conservative individuals have championed class-based affirmative action. However, it observes that political conservatism is not typically identified as an ideology that generally approves of improving the poor’s well-being through the means that class-based affirmative action employs — that is, through redistributing wealth by taking wealth from a wealthy individual and giving it directly to a poor person. This is precisely what class-based affirmative action does: it takes a seat in an incoming class (a species of wealth) from a wealthy individual and gives …

Brief For The Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Hispanic National Bar Association, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, National Bar Association, National Lgbt Bar Association, And National Native American Bar Association As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Counsel For Amici Curiae

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Lee v. Tam

Brief For Amici Curiae Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Anti-Defamation League, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Asian American Bar Association Of New York, Asian American Legal Defense And Education Fund, Hispanic National Bar Association, Latinojustice Prldef Inc., Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Naacp Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc., National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Bar Association, National Native American Bar Association, Society Of American Law Teachers, Inc., South Asian Bar Association Of New York, South Asian Bar Association Of North America, And Law Professors In Support Of Defendant-Apellant, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Attorneys For Amicus Curiae

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

People v. Joseph Bridgeforth

A Free Speech Response To The Gay Rights/Religious Liberty Conflict, Andrew Koppelman

Northwestern University Law Review

The most sensible reconciliation of the tension between religious liberty and public accommodations law, in the recent cases involving merchants with religious objections to same-sex marriage, would permit business owners to present their views to the world, but forbid them either to threaten to discriminate or to treat any individual customer worse than others. Even if such businesses have no statutory right to refuse to facilitate ceremonies they regard as immoral, they are unlikely to be asked to participate in those ceremonies. This solution may, however, be forbidden by the law of hostile environment harassment. That raises a severe free …

The Second Circuit And Social Justice, Matthew Diller, Alexander A. Reinert

Articles

The Second Circuit is renowned for its landmark rulings in fields such as white collar crime and securities law — bread and butter issues growing out of Wall Street’s preeminence in the financial landscape of the nation. At the same time, the Second Circuit has a long tradition of breaking new ground on issues of social justice. Unlike some circuit courts which have reputations in the area of social justice built around one or two fields, such as the Fifth Circuit’s pioneering role in civil rights litigation or the Ninth Circuit’s focus on immigration, there is no one area of …

Confronting Race And Collateral Consequences In Public Housing, Ann Cammett

Seattle University Law Review

Access to affordable housing is one of the most critical issues currently facing low-income families. In many urban areas, rising costs, dwindling economic opportunity, and gentrification have foreclosed access to previously available rental stock and contributed to a crisis in housing. For African Americans lingering economic disparities arising from generations of forced racial segregation and the disproportional impact of mass incarceration have magnified these problems. In this Article I explore legal barriers to publicly subsidized housing, a “collateral consequence” of criminal convictions that increasingly serves as a powerful form of housing discrimination. Evictions, denial of admission, and permanent exclusion of …

Keynote Address, Stephen B. Bright

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Session One: Learning From Souther History And Culture

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legal Aid's Once And Future Role For Impacting The Criminalization Of Poverty And The War On The Poor, Aneel L. Chablani

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Recent media coverage and advocacy efforts on behalf of individuals subjected to criminal sanctions as a result of their poverty status has resulted in increased attention on this nation’s troubled history of oppression and control of the poor and people of color. At the federal, state, and local levels, a growing number of policies create criminal sanctions for poverty-related circumstances. These, in turn, result in collateral consequences that unfairly affect those who lack the means to afford their criminal justice experience (i.e., processing costs, fees, and fines), or affect their ability to access employment, housing, or other basic services. These …

Online Case Resolution Systems: Enhancing Access, Fairness, Accuracy, And Efficiency, Maximilian A. Bulinski, J.J. Prescott

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Online case resolution (OCR) systems have the potential to dramatically increase access to our justice system. Part I introduces the concept of an OCR system, how it might work in practice, and its likely impact on courts and citizens. Part II argues that OCR systems can lower many of the barriers to going to court by reducing the need for face-to-face resolution of disputes; cutting the amount of time needed for hearings; mitigating litigant confusion and fear; allowing asynchronous scheduling that can accommodate work and child-care schedules; and offering a more reliable and easier-to-use means for litigants to voice their …

Let’S Invest In People, Not Prisons: How Washington State Should Address Its Ex-Offender Unemployment Rate, Sara Taboada

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Police Misconduct - A Plaintiff's Point Of View, Fred Brewington

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reply Brief Of Appellant, Charlotte Garden, Jessica Levin, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Merrick v. Inmate Legal Services

It’S A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird: The Need For Idealism In The Legal Profession, Jonathan A. Rapping

Michigan Law Review

“[T]he first thing I lost in law school was the reason that I came.” This prescient quote by an unnamed law student defines, in a single sentence, our growing problem in training lawyers. From the moment he or she steps foot in a law school classroom, the future lawyer feels a strong pull to pursue a career that has nothing to do with justice. The law school experience will discourage the future lawyer from pursuing a career advocating for those in society who most need a voice. Once graduated, the young lawyer will enter a world where he or she …

Brief Of Appellant, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic, Charlotte Garden, Jessica Levin

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Merrick v. Inmate Legal Services

How To Screen For Success In Employment Law Cases, Robert M. Rosen

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Poor Idea: Statute Of Limitations Decisions Cement Second-Class Remedial Scheme For Low-Income Children With Disabilities In The Third Circuit, Jennifer Rosen Valverde

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Solution Hiding In Plain Sight: Special Education And Better Outcomes For Students With Social, Emotional, And Behavioral Challenges, Yael Cannon, Michael Gregory, Julie Waterstone

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"It Takes A Lot To Get Into Bellevue": A Pro-Rights Critique Of New York's Involuntary Commitment Law, Zachary Groendyk

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Real Social Security Disability Fraud(S), Steve Berenson

DePaul Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Fundamentals Of Section 1983 Litigation, Martin A. Schwartz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.