Law and Race Commons^™

Genetic Race? Dna Ancestry Tests, Racial Identity, And The Law, Trina Jones, Jessica L. Roberts

Faculty Scholarship

Can genetic tests determine race? Americans are fascinated with DNA ancestry testing services like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. Indeed, in recent years, some people have changed their racial identity based upon DNA ancestry tests and have sought to use test results in lawsuits and for other strategic purposes. Courts may be similarly tempted to use genetic ancestry in determining race. In this Essay, we examine the ways in which DNA ancestry tests may affect contemporary understandings of racial identity. We argue that these tests are poor proxies for race because they fail to reflect the social, cultural, relational, and experiential norms …

Race, Space, And Surveillance: A Response To #Livingwhileblack: Blackness As Nuisance, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article is an invited response to an American University Law Review article titled “#LivingWhileBlack: Blackness as Nuisance” that has been widely discussed in the news media and in academic circles.

Taming Uncivil Discourse, Gregory P. Magarian, James L. Gibson, Lee Epstein

Scholarship@WashULaw

In an era of increasingly intense populist politics, a variety of issues of intergroup prejudice, discrimination, and conflict have moved center stage in American politics. Among these is “political correctness” and, in particular, what constitutes a legitimate discourse of political conflict and opposition. Yet the meaning of legitimate discourse is being turned on its head as some disparaged groups seek to reclaim, or re-appropriate, the slurs directed against them. Using a Supreme Court decision about whether “The Slants” – a band named after a traditional slur against Asians – can trademark its name, we test several hypotheses about re-appropriation processes, …

Michael Vick, Robert Byrd, And The Case For Redemption, Vinay Harpalani

Faculty Scholarship

At the 2020 Pro Bowl, former NFL quarterback Michael Vick will be honored as one of the legends captains. Vick’s selection has sparked controversy, because in 2007, he was convicted of operating a dog fighting ring. Vick has served his prison sentence, and beyond that, he has sought redemption. We should extend forgiveness and let the NFL honor Michael Vick.

The Harvard Crimson Interviews Vinay Harpalani (Justice Department Continues Investigation Into Harvard Admissions), Vinay Harpalani, Camille G. Caldera

Faculty Scholarship

A Department of Justice investigation into alleged discrimination in Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policies remains ongoing. Harpalani believes the existence of this investigation supports Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), which knows that the Trump Administration is sternly behind eliminating race-conscious admissions policies. He believes the real purpose of the investigation is to pressure other universities with race-conscious admissions policies to reduce or eliminate the use of race as an admissions factor.

After 31 Years In Prison, Lee Chalk Asks For Forgiveness., Jeffery Harrell, Brenda Leon

Capstones

Lee Chalk has spent more than three decades in state prison, and is now applying for executive clemency to have his sentence ended early. He is guilty of a crime, being involved in an armed robbery turned deadly which killed two people. Our project explores the potential for transformation and rehabilitation inside prison, and the personal and political ramification of mass incarceration and extreme sentencing.

https://medium.com/p/738d1cb28532/edit

A shorter version of the capstone was also published with Gothamist here: https://gothamist.com/news/ny-prison-clemency-parole-cuomo

Who Ya Gonna Call? An Analysis Of Paradigm Shifts And Social Harms As A Result Of Hyper-Viral Police Violence, Ariana H. Aboulafia

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Racism On Maternal Health Outcomes For Black Women, Gabrielle T. Wynn

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Building A Lifeline: A Proposed Global Platform And Responsibility Sharing Model For The Global Compact On Refugees, Sarnata Reynolds, Juan Pablo Vacatello

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In 2016, the leaders of 193 governments committed to more equitable and predictable sharing of responsibility for refugees as part of the New York Declaration, to be realized in the Global Compact on Refugees. To encourage debate, this paper presents the first global model to measure the capacity of governments to physically protect and financially support refugees and host communities. The model is based on a new database of indicators covering 193 countries, which assigns a fair share to each country and measures current government contributions to the protection of refugees. The model also proposes a new government-led global platform …

Dignity Takings In Leviathanic Immigration Proceedings, Christopher Mendez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Current immigration law in the United States is rife with racially motivated biases necessitating immediate correction. Among the many problems with current law, constitutional rights are withheld from a large populace. This article reflects upon the history of immigration law in the United States, noting key decisions which have formed the status quo. This article also proposes remedies such as the cessation of infringement by government agents on the property rights that affected immigrants have on their own bodies and a modern-day amnesty reflective of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This article also introduces Bernadette Atuahene’s concept …

The Taxation Without Representation Of Undocumented Immigrants: Counting Unlawfully Earned Tax Dollars While Intentionally Ignoring Unlawful Presence, María Fernanda Alfaro

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Federal law mandates that wage earning undocumented immigrants pay taxes. Like all U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, undocumented immigrants are not exempt from tax obligations solely because of their immigration status in the country. It seems like federal immigration laws are punishing undocumented immigrants for their unlawful presence in the United States, while federal tax laws praise and encourage their continued tax reporting. The Supreme Court’s opinion in Department of Commerce v. New York effectively ended the attempt to get a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, but it by no means closed the door on future attempts. Even …

In Search Of The Common Law Inside The Black Female Body, 114 Nw. U.L. Rev. Online 187 (2019), Teri A. Mcmurtry-Chubb

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Still Writing At The Master’S Table: Decolonizing Rhetoric In Legal Writing For A “Woke” Legal Academy, 21 The Scholar 255 (2019), Teri A. Mcmurtry-Chubb

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Addiction-Informed Immigration Reform, Rebecca Sharpless

Articles

Immigration law fails to align with the contemporary understanding of substance addiction as a medical condition. The Immigration and Nationality Act regards noncitizens who suffer from drug or alcohol substance use disorder as immoral and undesirable. Addiction is a ground of exclusion and deportation and can prevent the finding of "good moral character" needed for certain immigration applications. Substance use disorder can lead to criminal behavior that lands noncitizens, including lawful permanent residents, in removal proceedings with no defense. The time has come for immigration law to catch up to today's understanding of addiction. The damage done by failing to …

Judicial Treatment Of Aboriginal Peoples’ Oral History Evidence: More Room For Reconciliation, Jimmy Peterson

Dalhousie Law Journal

Oral history is the only past record in many Aboriginal groups in Canada. In 1997, in Delgamuukw, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that the strict approach to evidence law with respect to oral history had to be relaxed for Aboriginal peoples to be able to pursue claims to Aboriginal rights or Aboriginal title. This was a necessary element of the attempt to achieve reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. Yet, while evidence law has become increasingly flexible when it comes to accommodating Aboriginal peoples, courts have struggled with how to value oral traditions. A review of the case …

What’S The Point? The Missing Piece Of Criminal Justice Reform Through Consensus And Compromise, Jelani Jefferson Exum

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Criminal justice reform has had a firm place in news headlines for more than a decade. When the mass incarceration crisis came to the fore in 2008, with reports that one in a hundred adults in America was behind bars, there had already long been cries for reducing the prison and jail populations. Reform has mainly been sought through two approaches: consensus through ballot initiative or legislative compromise. But these modes of reform share a fundamental failure: both often lack a clear articulation of the purpose of criminal sentencing. In other words, “What’s the point?” Without an agreement on …

The Daily Work Of Fitting In As A Marginalized Lawyer, Kim Brooks

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Despite increased public dialogue about the need for inclusion, marginalized lawyers adjust their behaviour to “fit” in their legal workplaces. In this article, the author presents the results of interviews with lawyers in Canada who self-identify as belonging to a marginalized group based on race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, gender or sexual identity, working-class background, and/or disability. Based on these interviews, the author advances a taxonomy of the five strategies employed by these lawyers to fit in to their workplaces: covering strategies, compensating strategies, mythologizing strategies, passing strategies, and exiting strategies. Marginalized lawyers employ covering strategies, which may be appearance-, affiliation-, advocacy-, …

Pay Now, Play Later?: Youth And Adolescent Collision Sports, Vivian E. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

The routine and repeated head impacts experienced by athletes in a range of sports can inflict microscopic brain injuries that accumulate over time, even in the absence of concussion. Indeed, cumulative exposure to head impacts—not number of concussions—is the strongest predictor of sports-related degenerative brain disease in later life. The observable symptoms of disease appear years or decades after initial injury and resemble those of other mental-health conditions such as depression and dementia. The years-long interval between earlier, seemingly minor, head impacts and later brain disease has long obscured the connection between the two.

Risk of injury differs across demographics, …

Examining Racial & Ethnic Disparities In The Reach Of The Medicare Shared Savings Program, Lindsey Arneson

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

It is important to understand the quality of health care for racial and ethnic minorities covered under the largest U.S. government-run insurance program, Medicare, because the demographics of the U.S. are becoming older and more diverse. A new value-based program under Medicare is the Shared Savings Program (MSSP), which creates incentives to improve care quality and health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with a specific focus on increasing the provision of preventive care services. This capstone project aims to understand the representation of racial/ethnic minority Medicare beneficiaries, namely African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics/Latinxs, that receive care from providers or facilities (i.e., Accountable …