Law and Race Commons^™

The Sikh Turban: Post-9/11 Challenges To This Article Of Faith, Dawinder S. Sidhu, Hena Singh Gohil

Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines how the turban has transformed from a sacred piece of attire for Sikhs to a target for discriminatory conduct and an object of marginalization after 9/11. Part I provides an introduction to Sikhism, which originated in 17th century South Asia, and discusses the religious significance of the Sikh turban. Part II examines incidents of discrimination in several contexts involving turbaned Sikhs in America. Part III analyzes the debate surrounding assimilation that has been taking place in the West, which implicates conspicuous articles of faith, including the Sikh turban. The essay also explores the legal remedies available to …

Poetry, Law, & Poetry: Some Notes Toward A Unified Theory, Frank Pommersheim

Tribal Law Journal

This work is a beautiful and profound commentary on law. In twenty points, Pommersheim reflects on the nuances of poetry and law. As Pommersheim juxtaposes poetry and law, law and poetry, he reminds us what law is and what it is not.

It is the first contribution to a new section of the Journal which will contain work that crosses law with other disciplines.

Latinas/Os' And The Politics Of Knowledge Production: Latcrit Scholarship And Academic Activism As Social Justice Action, Margaret E. Montoya, Francisco Valdes

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, Professors Montoya and Valdes examine various ways of developing Latina/o legal studies in the United States. As background, they first outline and examine the three main models of knowledge-production established within legal academia during the past century or so: 1) the traditional or imperial model; 2) the safe-space or vanguard model, and; 3) the big-tent or democratic model. Using this historical template to contextualize current efforts in Latina/o legal studies both substantively and methodologically, they next review the record of LatCrit theorists over the past dozen years. With this analytical framework in place, they situate the LatCrit …

Making And Breaking Habits: Teaching (And Learning) Cultural Context, Self-Awareness, And Intercultural Communication Through Case Supervision In A Client-Service Legal Clinic, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

This Article begins by offering teaching objectives that can be used to focus supervision and education on effective representation of clients from different cultures as issues arise in the course of representation. The Article then discusses the context of student supervision and explains how case supervision sessions can be extremely effective moments during which to pursue those teaching goals. The Article next examines vignettes that grew out of cases handled by the University of New Mexico's Clinical Law Program.

Culturally Effective Legal Interviewing And Counseling For The Mexican Immigrant - A Case Study, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Brief For Respondent Iqubal As Amicus Curiae, Dawinder S. Sidhu, Brian E. Robinson

Faculty Scholarship

Whether a conclusory allegation that a cabinet-level officer or other high-ranking official knew of, condoned, or agreed to subject a plaintiff to allegedly unconstitutional acts purportedly committed by subordinate officials is sufficient to state individual-capacity claims against those officials under Bivens.

Are Blue And Pink The New Brown? The Permissibility Of Sex-Segregated Education As Affirmative Action, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines segregation and affirmative action in a different context-that of gender. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX") l° prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. The regulations implementing Title IX, however, explicitly permit recipients of federal funding to offer single-sex schools, classes, and extracurricular activities. The regulations also permit recipients to "take affirmative action to overcome the effects of conditions which resulted in limited participation therein by persons of a particular sex.” This Article discusses whether and to what extent the affirmative action provision …

Leading Change In Legal Education - Educating Lawyers And Best Practices: Good News For Diversity, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Uniendo Comunidades By Learning Lessons And Mobilizing For Change, Margaret E. Montoya

Faculty Scholarship

Building community, that is, sustaining our connections to family and our ancestry is often hampered by going to law school. Law schools are highly adept at assimilating you into a profession and a worldview that can be at odds with who you were and how you saw the world before you began law school. Unfortunately, in order to fit in, it can seem advantageous to forget tus ralces, your roots. I began by talking about unigndo comunidades as a progressive objective and have been talking about the second part of your conference theme, learning lessons and mobilizing for change, as …

Indian Law Clinics And Externship Symposium Roundtable Discussion: Lawyering For Indigenous People, Tribal Law Journal

Tribal Law Journal

Several native and non-native Indian Law clinicians and scholars participated in a roundtable discussion on June 22, 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico to discuss lawyering for indigenous people. The attendees were organized into three different groups: discussants, respondents, and participants. The discussants began the dialogue and discussed their experiences in representing tribes to representing individual native clients in various areas of law. They discussed what it means as a lawyer "to do no harm" and their roles and challenges in teaching students how to serve native populations. The respondents provided their responses to the various topics presented by the discussants. …

The Xhosa And The Truth And Reconciliation Commission: African Ways, Douglas H.M. Carver

Tribal Law Journal

The author begins by providing a conceptual framework for indigenous people generally and then focuses on indigenous people in South Africa. Mr. Carver then discusses the culture and customs of the Xhosa, one of the main ethnic groups from the Republic of South Africa. He then discusses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up in South Africa after the fall of the apartheid regime, which was meant to rebuild a society divided by racial and ethnic lines. The author explains how the Xhosa concept of "ubuntu" – encompassing African concepts of justice, harmony and reconciliation — became a core …

Shadow War Scholarship, Indigenous Legal Tradition, And Modern Law In Indian Country, Christine Zuni Cruz

Tribal Law Journal

In this essay, Tribal Law Journal Editor-in-Chief Zuni Cruz comments on the purpose of the Tribal Law Journal. She borrows the term "shadow war" from the Zapatistas' use of the Internet as she describes the Journal's endeavor to make Indigenous law explicit and to promote mental sovereignty. She challenges and invites others who write about the law of Indigenous Peoples to join in making legal scholarship in this area accessible to the public, especially the Indigenous public, and to create a depository of thought, rejecting the scattering of thought, by publishing legal scholarship in the global, publicly accessible e-journal, that …

Indigenous Legal Traditions, Cultural Rights, And Tierras Colectivas: A Jurisprudential Reading From The Emberá-Wounaan Community, Lauren Koller-Armstrong

Tribal Law Journal

This paper provides an overview of the Emberá-Wounaan indigenous group of Panama in the context of its legal traditions, worldview, and socio-political organization. In addition, this work examines how overlapping systems of tribal law and national Panamanian law have shaped 1) the tribe's geographic boundaries; and 2) environmental management in tribal communities

Toda Cambia Y Todo Sigue Siendo Igual (The More Things Change, The More The Stay The Same): How Fifteen Years Later The Constant Threat Of An End To The Zapatistas Continues To Justify Their Means, Pamela Genghini Hernandez

Tribal Law Journal

This article gives a chronological account of the events pre-dating the uprising of January 1, 1994 and the Zapatista struggle through the years. The author examines these events in light of indigenous self-determination, taking into consideration conditions within Mexico, to defend the course of action taken by the EZLN as a means of creating a space for themselves within Mexican society. The author argues the current state of federal Mexican law and international law do not leave Indigenous Peoples, including the EZLN, viable options for resolving injustices committed against them. She also provides an overview of the structure that the …

Brief For Pb&J, Family Services, Inc. As Amicus Curiae, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez, Iris Augusten, Deana M. Bennett, Amber Chavez, Kimberly Halpain, Leigh K. Haynes, Cody Lujan

Faculty Scholarship

PB&J, Family Services, Inc., through this brief as amicus curiae, has demonstrated that the decision rendered by the Court of Appeals was correct. The New Mexico Legislature did not draft NMSA 1978, § 36-6-1(D) (1973) to encompass the situation of a pregnant woman using drugs or alcohol during pregnancy. The Legislatures failure to pass legislation specifically criminalizing such conduct after careful consideration indicates that the Legislature did not intend for the statute to be so broadly construed. This is particularly true when considering the fiscal impact reports accompanying the proposed legislation. This decision by the Legislature is consistent with sound …

Antigona: A Voice Rebuking Power, Margaret E. Montoya

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Chilling Effect Of Government Surveillance Programs On The Use Of The Internet By Muslim-Americans, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

This article demonstrates that the effect of the post-9/l1 climate facing Muslim-Americans pervades even ordinary aspects of contemporary life. Part II of the article discusses the legal paradigm of when discrimination has legal implications and merits government action. Part III explores al-Qaeda's sophisticated use of the Internet and summarizes the government's post-9/l1 online surveillance efforts. Part IV discusses OUPOLL's survey results.

Denial, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Defending The Future Voices Of Critical Race Feminism, Margaret E. Montoya

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Immorality And Inefficiency Of An Efficient Breach, Dawinder S. Sidhu

Faculty Scholarship

This Article attempts to analyze a concept in contract law known as the doctrine of efficient breach, which “compels [or at least encourages or invites] a party to a contract to breach if they can compensate the other party and remain better off than if they had fully performed the contract.”2 This doctrine appears to encourage immoral conduct, namely the breach of a contract. However, in the name of economic efficiency, wealth maximization, and social wealth, several prominent legal scholars, including Judge Richard A. Posner, the “leader of the school of Law and Economics movement,”3 have argued that an efficient …

Latcrit At Ten Years, Margaret E. Montoya

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Latinas In Legal Education- Through The Doors Of Opportunity: Assimilation, Marginalization, Cooptation Or Transformation?, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Who Gets In? The Quest For Diversity After Grutter, Margaret E. Montoya, Athena Mutua, Sheldon Zedeck, Frank H. Wu, Charles E. Daye, David L. Chambers

Faculty Scholarship

Transcript of The 2004 James McCormick Mitchell Lecture. On March 8, 2004, the University at Buffalo Law School hosted its annual Mitchell Lecture,1 a panel discussion entitled, "Who Gets In? The Quest for Diversity After Grutter." The Mitchell Committee decided to focus this year's lecture on innovative proposals to ensure diversity in law school admissions in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, which confirmed that race and ethnicity could be taken into consideration in admission decisions for diversity purposes. Noting that much of the debate about Grutter thus far has emphasized the decision's constitutionality or its …

Intertribal Conflicts And Customary Law Regimes In North Africa: A Comparison Of Haratin And Ait 'Atta Indigenous Legal Systems, Anna Natividad Martinez

Tribal Law Journal

The Haratin people of North Africa are subjects in crisis; they are people whose origins are debated and whose social status is scorned. As an indigenous population in the midst of regional turmoil, they have been subject to removal, forced labor and economic deprivation. Their exploitation by both French colonial forces and other indigenous populations (namely Arabs and Berbers) has displaced the Haratin way of life and has subsumed their legal culture.

Diné Bi Beenahaz'Áanii: Codifying Indigenous Consuetudinary Law In The 21st Century, Kenneth Bobroff

Tribal Law Journal

The fundamental laws of the Diné, "the People" in the Navajo language, were placed by the Holy People long before Spaniards arrived in the New World. Since Coronado first traveled to Navajo Country almost five centuries ago, Diné have resisted European assaults on Navajo Law. On November 1, 2002, the Navajo Nation Council acknowledged the survival of the fundamental laws of the Diné, recognizing four specific constituent elements — traditional law, customary law, natural law, and common law – and explaining the principles of each.

Cultural Eclipse: The Effect On The Aboriginal Peoples In Manitoba, Kwesi Baffoe

Tribal Law Journal

Cultural eclipse is a phrase that I coined to describe the inter-relationship between the Aboriginal and European cultures as seen by an observer in space. It depicts the scene of two cultures initially rotating separately in time through the Universe. The European culture slowly drifts towards the Aboriginal culture and partially covers it without consuming it. This paper explores one of the ways indigenous culture is damaged during this "union".

Profile Of The Sayisi Dene Nation Of Tadoule Lake In Northern Manitoba, Kwesi Baffoe

Tribal Law Journal

The cultural groups among the Aboriginal peoples of Northern Canada correspond to climatic latitudinal divides. Above the tree line, where the boreal forest meets the tundra, are the Inuit whose territory stretches far into the arctic. South of the tree line are the Dene, and below them are the Cree nations of the prairies. The goal of this paper is to concentrate on the nature of the particular culture of the Dene People.

A Restatement Of The Common Law Of The Grand Traverse Band Of Ottawa And Chippewa Indians, Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Zeke Fletcher

Tribal Law Journal

This this article sets forth the case law propounded by the Grand Traverse Band Tribal Court. The Grand Traverse Band, with whom the United States concluded two treaties in the 19th Century, only to be denied sovereign status wrongly for over one hundred years, was "re-recognized" by the United States in 1980. The 1988 Grand Traverse Band Constitution established a politically independent Tribal Judiciary that has ruled on a wide spectrum of issues ranging from administrative and constitutional law to fishing and gaming, and from sovereign immunity and tribal economic development to tribal membership. The Restatement distills the principles of …

Navajo Nation V. Rodriguez And The Traditional Navajo Principle Of Hazhó'Ógo, Philip A. Morin

Tribal Law Journal

This case note examines in detail the adoption, and adaptation, of the United States Supreme Court's Miranda decision by the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation.

The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation carried out the directive of the Fundamental Laws of the Diné, to make Diné bi beehaz'áanii, or Navajo Common Law, the fundamental basis for its decisions. By doing so, the Supreme Court defined uniquely Navajo rights and procedures governing the custodial interview, holding that the traditional Navajo principle of hazhó'ógo requires truthful, transparent explanations to, and respectful treatment of, persons in police custody.

Mr. Morin's case note …

The Origins, Current Status, And Future Prospects Of Blood Quantum As The Definition Of Membership In The Navajo Nation, Paul Spruhan

Tribal Law Journal

In this article, the author discusses the origin of the Navajo Nation's blood requirement. Mr. Spruhan examines the intended purpose of the quarter-blood quantum definition and the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He reviews the current status, regulation, and recent attempts to change the quarter-blood quantum requirement. He discusses the future of the quarter-blood quantum requirement with respect to the Navajo Nation Council's 2002 resolution known as the "Fundamental Laws of the Diné," a resolution mandating the application of traditional law, customary law, natural law, and common law to the Navajo Nation Government and its entities. In this …