Wednesday, September 5, 2018
336 Law Professors Write Letter Opposing Kavanaugh's Nomination
Law professors around the country joined together in penning a letter to Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) urging them to vote "no" on Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination.
The letter highlights the imminent danger to reproductive health should Kavanaugh be confirmed. He would be expected to vote in support of efforts to overturn long established reproductive-rights precedents like Roe. Although Kavanaugh has publicly stated his support for stare decisis, the authors note that justices who support precedent do not always shy away from overturning it.
The overturning of Roe or Casey--both of which upheld the right to choose and based their decisions on the importance of protecting the principle that "matters involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime...are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment"--could also implicate harmful shifts in the subsequently upheld rights to privacy relating to parenting, family planning, and same sex relationships.
In 1965, the lawyers cite, "illegal abortion in the United States accounted for 17% of all deaths attributed to pregnancy and childbirth." As officially reported numbers, the actual mortality rate due to illegal abortion was likely much higher.
The threat to reproductive health and freedom is particularly acute for women of color, poor women, and rural women, the attorneys point out, citing disparate access to quality medical care based on racial and class lines as well as the heightened maternal mortality rate for black women.
The letter states that women in Maine and Alaska in particular may be heavily affected, as both states are large and have "widely dispersed populations, creating challenges for health care."
In conclusion, the authors write:
A "no" vote is necessary to protect women and families throughout this country. We urge you, as Senators who have long supported the right to choose, to make your legacy the protection of these fundamental constitutional rights for generations to come.
September 5, 2018 in Congress, Current Affairs, In the Media, Law School, Politics, President/Executive Branch, Supreme Court | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, February 12, 2018
CUNY Law's Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic Co-Hosting Symposium on Poverty and Women in the U.S.
On February 27, 2018, the Center for Reproductive Rights, CUNY Law's Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, NYU Law, and others will host a symposium titled "American Poverty and Gender: Government Control and Neglect of Women Living in Poverty."
After an opening keynote from Dr. Khiara Bridges, author of The Poverty of Privacy Rights, a panel of experts will address issues ranging from reproductive justice and maternal health to criminalization and its impact on women.
The moderated discussion follows the December 2017 fact-finding mission to the United States by Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. This forum aims to address the particular ways poverty affects women in the United States from an intersectional perspective considering gender, poverty, and race.
"American Poverty and Gender" is free and open to the public. It it will take place at NYU's Vanderbilt Hall on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM.
Register here.
February 12, 2018 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School, Lectures and Workshops, Politics, Poverty, Women, General | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, February 6, 2015
First Casebook on Reproductive Rights and Justice Is Now Available
The Center for Reproductive Rights and Justice (Berkeley Law): CRRJ Faculty Directors Author Groundbreaking Textbook:
The Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ) celebrates Faculty Directors Melissa Murray and Kristin Luker for co-authoring the first legal textbook to address reproductive rights and justice issues in a comprehensive manner. Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice marks the contours of the subject and provides a framework for instruction bound to increase the number of related classes offered. The casebook is available now from Foundation Press for a 20% discount with the code: MURRAY2015.
CRRJ Faculty Director Melissa Murray and Founding Faculty Director Emerita Kristin Luker spent the last two years co-authoring what they call their "best effort to provide structure to an intellectual and legal inquiry about how the law regulates all realms of reproduction, and in so doing, shapes our daily lives." They have also written a Teachers' Manual, which includes background stories to accompany the cases and popular culture references to enliven class discussions.
"We are thrilled to share this long-awaited, in-demand teaching tool with faculty and adjunct practitioners throughout the country who have, thus far, been forced to cobble together their own course materials or forgo offering the course in the absence of a casebook," said the book's Executive Editor and CRRJ Executive Director Jill E. Adams '06. She anticipates an uptick in reproductive rights seminars and reading groups on law school campuses as a result of the book's availability.
Associate Professor Aziza Ahmed '07 has been teaching a course titled "Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights" since she joined the faculty of Northeastern School of Law in 2010. "The casebook will be a boon to my teaching," she said, "Both as a comprehensive resource for students and as a landmark pronouncement of the legitimacy of this field of study." Ahmed was a student in Luker's first reproductive rights seminar and can appreciate the depth and texture brought to these complex issues by the interlocking disciplinary perspectives of law and sociology.
This unusual pairing of a legal scholar and social scientist did not occur by accident. The authors intentionally seek to "locate reproductive rights and justice issues in the historical and political context in which legal doctrine and discourse have evolved." They believe this grounding will enable students to think rigorously and critically about what motivates certain laws and policies, as well as their impact on real people's lives.
February 6, 2015 in Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Richmond Journal of Law & the Public Interest: Call for Papers
From the Richmond Journal of Law & the Public Interest:
The Richmond Journal of Law & the Public Interest is seeking submissions for our 2015 Spring volume. We welcome high quality and well cited submissions from academics, judges, and established practitioners who would like to take part in the conversation of the evolution of law and its impact on citizens.
We currently have five total openings for articles for the two general issues of our volume. As a Journal that centers in large part on the Public Interest, we would be happy to accept and review articles on a broad range of topics that affect citizens on a national level or in the Commonwealth of Virginia. For a sense of what we are seeking for our general issues, please feel free to visit http://rjolpi.richmond.edu/archive.php.
If you would like to submit an article for review and possibly publication, or if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact our Lead Articles Editors - Rich Forzani and Hillary Wallace. They can be reached, respectively, at [email protected] and [email protected].
October 15, 2014 in Law School, Scholarship and Research | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, July 14, 2014
Legal Scholars Urge Obama To Resist Calls for Overly Broad Religious Exemption in Anti-Discrimination Executive Order
Columbia Law School press release: Public Rights/Private Conscience Project Spearheads New Effort:
Legal Scholars Urge President Obama to Resist Calls for Overly Broad Religious Exemption in Proposed Executive Order
New York, July 14, 2014—More than 50 legal scholars today strongly urged President Obama to resist calls for an overly broad religious exemption in a proposed executive order prohibiting sexual orientation and/or gender identity discrimination by federal contractors.
July 14, 2014 in Law School, President/Executive Branch, Religion | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, January 6, 2014
Call for Submissions: Sarah Weddington Prize for Student Scholarship in Reproductive Rights
Law Students for Reproductive Justice announcement:
Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ) in collaboration with the Center for Reproductive Rights, is pleased to announce the Call for Submission for the ninth annual Sarah Weddington Writing Prize for New Student Scholarship in Reproductive Rights.
This year, the Sarah Wedding prize will have no specific theme, but will be open to fresh student scholarship exploring a wide range of issues that affect reproductive health, rights, and justice in the U.S. For more information, please download the 2014 Call for Submissions.
The deadline for submission is January 15, 2014.
Winning authors will receive cash prizes: $750 (1st place), $500 (2nd place), or $250 (3rd place). The first place winner will also have a chance at publication with the NYU Review of Law and Social Change
January 6, 2014 in Law School, Scholarship and Research | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Call for Papers: Conference on Applied Feminism and Health
CALL FOR PAPERS: "APPLIED FEMINISM AND HEALTH"
The University of Baltimore School of Law’s Center on Applied Feminism seeks submissions for its Seventh Annual Feminist Legal Theory Conference. This year’s theme is “Applied Feminism and Health.” The conference will be held on March 6 and 7, 2014. For more information about the conference, please visit law.ubalt.edu/caf.
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare) and renewed attacks on reproductive health in the United States, the time is right to consider the relationship between feminism and health across multiple dimensions. This conference seeks to explore the intersections between feminist legal theory and physical, mental, public, and community health in the United States and abroad. Papers might explore the following questions: What impact has feminist legal theory had on women’s health policy and practice? How might feminist legal theory respond to the health challenges facing communities and individuals, as well as increase access to health care? What sort of support should society and law provide to ensure good health? How do law and feminist legal theory conceptualize the role of the state in relation to health rights and reproductive justice? What are the links between health, feminist legal theory, and sports? Are there rights to good health and what are their foundations? How do health needs and conceptions of rights vary across cultural, economic, religious, and other identities? What are the areas where health justice is needed and how might feminist legal theory help?
This conference will attempt to address these and other questions from the perspectives of activists, practitioners, and academics. The conference will provide an opportunity for participants and audience members to exchange ideas about the current state of feminist legal theories. We hope to deepen our understandings of how feminist legal theory relates to health and to move new insights into practice. In addition, the conference is designed to provide presenters with the opportunity to gain feedback on their papers.
September 11, 2013 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Conference: Beyond Roe: Reproductive Justice in a Changing World
September 1, 2013 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Thanks and Congratulations to My Spring Research Assistants!
June 30, 2013 in Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, February 25, 2013
Call for Submissions: Conference on Reproductive Justice in a Changing World
Rutgers School of Law - Camden: Beyond Roe Conference: Call for Papers:
Throughout 2013, five law schools in the Delaware Valley will hold events exploring various aspects of reproductive justice in the 40 years post-Roe v. Wade. The final event in this series is a conference sponsored by the Rutgers School of Law – Camden that will take place on Friday, October 11 on the Rutgers campus in Camden, New Jersey.* You can fine more information about the conference here.
We are now pleased to invite proposals for papers and panels. The conference theme is Beyond Roe: Reproductive Justice in a Changing World. We welcome submissions on any topic related to the law, policy and reproduction, including avoiding reproduction, public policy related to reproduction, and reproductive regulation post-Roe.
Paper abstracts should be no more than 500 words, accompanied by a descriptive title for the paper proposed. Proposed panels should include a description of the overall topic, as well as a panel title and the titles of all the papers and panelists to be included in the panel. Panels should include no less than 4 proposed panelists. Panel proposals should also be no more than 500 words. All submissions must include the names, e-mail addresses, and full affiliations of all authors. In the case of panels and co-authored papers, please identify a corresponding author and provide sufficient detail in your abstract or proposal so that reviewers can fully assess your proposal and determine how it will fit with other proposals being reviewed.
There will be two plenary sessions at the conference and some submitted papers might be selected for plenary presentations. If you wish for us to consider your paper for a plenary session, please indicate that desire on your submission.
Please e-mail submissions (in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format) to [email protected] by April 1, 2013. If you have any questions about the conference, please direct them to Kimberly Mutcherson at [email protected].
February 25, 2013 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Feminist Legal Theory Conference (March 7-8, 2013)
University of Baltimore School of Law Center on Applied Feminism: Sixth Annual Feminist Legal Theory Conference, March 7-8, 2013:
Join the University of Baltimore School of Law, the University of Baltimore Law Review, and the Center on Applied Feminism for the sixth annual Feminist Legal Theory Conference. There is no charge to attend, but pre-registration is requested as seating is limited.
RSVP here if you are interested in attending the full-day conference on Friday, March 8, 2013. Registrants for the full-day conference will be automatically registered for the keynote presentation.
There is also a workshop session the afternoon of March 7, 2013, which you can register for here. For additional details about the conference, including accommodations and parking information, please visit our website.
February 16, 2013 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School, Scholarship and Research, Women, General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Friday, February 8, 2013
Call for Submissions: NAWL Law Student Writing Competition
National Association of Women Lawyers: 2012-13 Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition:
The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) is a national voluntary legal professional organization whose mission is the advancement of women in the legal profession and women’s rights. Since 1899, NAWL has served as an educational forum and active voice for the concerns of women lawyers in this country and abroad. NAWL continues to support and advance the interests of women in and under the law, and in so doing, supports and advances the social, political, and professional empowerment of women. Through its programs and networks, NAWL provides the tools for women in the profession to advance, prosper and enrich the profession. NAWL has established the annual Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition to encourage and reward original law student writing on issues concerning women and the law. The rules for the competition are as follows:
Entrants should submit a paper on an issue concerning women’s rights or the status of women in the law. The most recent winning paper was “All Things Being Equal, Women Lose. Investigating the Lack of Diversity Among the Recent Appointments to the Iowa Supreme Court” written by Abigail Rury, Michigan State University School of Law.
Essays will be accepted from students enrolled at any law school during the 2012-13 school year. The essays must be the law student author’s own work and must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers written by students for coursework or independent study during the Summer, Fall or Spring semesters are eligible for submission. Notwithstanding the foregoing, students may incorporate professorial feedback as part of a course requirement or supervised writing project.
FORMAT: Essays must be double-spaced in 12-point font, Times New Roman font type. All margins must be at least one inch. Entries must not exceed fifteen (15) pages of text, excluding notes, with footnotes placed as endnotes. Citation style should conform to The Bluebook – A Uniform System of Citation. Essays longer than 15 pages of text, excluding notes, or which are not in the required format may not be read.
JUDGING: NAWL Women Lawyers Journal® designees will judge the competition. Essays will be judged based upon content, exhaustiveness of research, originality, writing style, and timeliness.
QUESTIONS: Questions regarding this competition should be addressed to the chair of the Writing Competition, Professor Jennifer Martin at[email protected].
SUBMISSION AND DEADLINE: Entries must be received by May 1, 2013. Entries received after the deadline will be considered only at the discretion of NAWL. Entries must provide a cover letter providing the title of your essay, school affiliation, email address, phone number and mailing address. Entries must be submitted in the following format: email an electronic version (in Microsoft Word or PDF format) to[email protected].
AWARD: The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize of $500. NAWL will also publish the winning essay in NAWL’s Women Lawyers Journal in the summer of 2013.
February 8, 2013 in Law School, Scholarship and Research, Women, General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Call for Symposium Papers: "Gender Matters: Women, Social Policy and the 2012 Election"
Call for Symposium Papers
Gender Matters: Women, Social Policy and the 2012 Election
April 2, 2013 at American University Washington College of Law, Washington, DC
The American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law and Women and the Law Program invite papers for a symposium on gender, social policy and the election of 2012. The organizers welcome papers that explore how current or proposed social polices affect the lives of women and their families, and/or that analyze what role, if any, rhetoric about those polices may have played in the recent election. Abstracts from professors or practitioners (sorry, no student pieces) addressing gender and health care, labor and employment, taxation, fiscal policy and social welfare or other relevant social policy are due by midnight January 7, 2013. Papers selected will be presented at a symposium on April 2, 2013 at American University Washington College of Law, and strongly considered for publication. To read the full Call for Papers and to submit an abstract online, please visit the symposium website. Please contact the organizers at [email protected] with any questions.
November 20, 2012 in 2012 Presidential Campaign, Conferences and Symposia, Law School, Scholarship and Research, Women, General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, November 15, 2012
"On Having Fun and Raising Hell" - A Symposium Honoring Ann Scales
Keynote Speakers: Kathryn Abrams, UC Berkeley Law School & Katherine Franke, Columbia School of Law
For more information, please contact Stefanie Carroll at [email protected] or 303.871.6076. Registration information coming in December.
* “Have fun. Raise hell. Question everything. Celebrate difference.” – Ann Scales
November 15, 2012 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, November 10, 2012
2013 Sarah Weddington Writing Student Scholarship Prize: Call for Submissions
Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ) and the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR): Invite Submissions for Eighth Annual Sarah Weddington Writing Prize – “Economic (In)Justice of Reproductive Regulation”:
The 1st place winning submission will have a presumption of publishability and will receive expedited review by New York University School of Law's Review of Law and Social Change. Winning authors will also receive cash prizes: $750 (1st place), $500 (2nd place), or $250 (3rd place).
LSRJ & CRR seek student scholarship exploring the economic justice implications of laws and regulations that affect reproductive health and rights in the U.S. Papers may explore a range of issues, such as: tensions between affirmative state obligations and individual rights; consequences of health insurance regulation and the needs of individuals seeking preventative and/or “elective” reproductive care (e.g. should reproductive technologies and contraception be covered, and if so, how?); the impact of state support for specific practices (e.g. breastfeeding, vaccinations, birthing options) on the ability of women and families to make decisions about their care; and the role of the state in health care regulation and funding (e.g. how will Medicaid expansion affect reproductive health access? Who is most benefitted and/or who is left out of the Affordable Care Act?). These ideas are examples of topics that would fit the theme; however, many more issues could be fruitfully explored through the lens of economic justice. . . .
(Submissions due March 4, 2013)
November 10, 2012 in Law School, Scholarship and Research | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Michele Bratcher Goodwin at the University of Utah: The New Reproductive Battlefront
Monday November 5, 12:15 p.m. MST
(2:15 p.m. EST, 11:15 a.m. PST)Michele Bratcher Goodwin, the 47th Annual Leary Lecturer, is the Everett Fraser Professor in Law at the University of Minnesota. She holds joint appointments at the University of Minnesota Medical School and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Women's reproduction dominates recent political platforms and debates. However, relatively little attention has focused on the criminal policing targeted at pregnant women across America. Since the late 1980s, state legislatures have enacted punitive feticide laws that ostensibly apply to a broad range of activities, including falling down steps, suffering drug addiction, refusing cesarean sections, and attempting suicide. Legislators and prosecutors from both political parties have decided that a very strong "stick" should be used against pregnant women. Indeed, despite the fact that early feticide laws were intended to protect women from third party harms to their pregnancies, such as domestic violence, because women are more likely to be the targets of domestic violence during their pregnancies, now fetal protection laws—in 38 states—lead to unreasonable arrests and senseless convictions of pregnant women. The scope of the problem is difficult to measure. Yet, what is clear from the legal cases and news reports is that most of the victims are poor and many are women of color. In this year’s Leary Lecture, Professor Goodwin examines the expanded use of criminal laws and civil commitments to shape new reproductive health norms. Watch Live Online >>.
Free and open to the public. No registration required. One hour CLE.
Call 801-585-3479 or visit law.utah.edu.
November 1, 2012 in Fetal Rights, Law School, Lectures and Workshops, Politics, Poverty, Pregnancy & Childbirth, Race & Reproduction, Scholarship and Research, Women, General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Symposium, "In Search of Equality in Family Law": Call for Papers
Michigan State Law Review and Symposium (April 11-12, 2013) – Call for Papers: “In Search of Equality in Family Law”:
The Michigan State Law Review along with Professors Melanie B. Jacobs and Cynthia Lee Starnes, invite participants for our upcoming symposium, "In Search of Equality in Family Law" to be held April 11-12, 2013. The list of confirmed presenters include keynote speaker, Dean David Meyer, and Professors Susan Appleton, Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, James Dwyer, Theresa Glennon, Leslie Harris, Courtney Joslin, Alicia Kelly, Linda McClain, Raymond O'Brien, Ruthann Robson, Barbara Stark, Richard Storrow, and Lynn Wardle.
The theme of the symposium is the continuing struggle to reform family law to ensure equality. The focus is on relationships within families, on access to the family structure, and on family members’ status in society at large. The topic of equality in family law is also particularly timely: family is at the heart of social debate and the focus on family is magnified as we approach an election year. Daily, news stories highlight issues of equality that arise in many areas of the family -- adult partnerships, including same-sex marriage; parenting responsibilities; divorce and its economics; paternity; the definition of family; same-sex adoptions; and full faith and credit recognition for out-of-state same-sex marriages. A central theme will be the sameness/difference debate in feminism over how equality is best attained: by treating men and women exactly the same, or by recognizing differences in power and circumstance so that different treatment is required to ensure equality. This topic will appeal to family law scholars working on a variety of projects.
In addition to the rich discussion at the Symposium, this dialogue will result in the publication of participant articles in an issue of the Michigan State Law Review. The Law Review is an acclaimed scholarly journal that publishes five issues yearly. Each participant is invited to offer an academic article for publication in the Law Review. Tentatively, final draft papers are due Friday, June 7, 2013.
The goal is to be inclusive and to engage scholars focusing on various reform issues in a conversation about the equality implications of their work. Interested individuals should send a one-page proposal to Professor Melanie Jacobs at [email protected] by October 31st.
October 17, 2012 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School, Parenthood, Scholarship and Research | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, October 8, 2012
2013-2014 LSRJ Reproductive Justice Fellowship Program Applications Now Available
Law Students for Reproductive Justice: 2013-14 Fellow Application Now Available:
In 2010, LSRJ launched a funded legal fellowship program for current 3Ls and recent law school graduates interested in working to advance reproductive justice through policy advocacy. Following a tremendous response from students and advocates in the field, LSRJ successfully selected and placed six Reproductive Justice (RJ) Fellows with six organizations in Washington, D.C. for the 2010-11 fellowship year.
The RJFP is intended to enhance capacity at reproductive justice organizations working to influence law and policy and to build a pipeline for future reproductive justice lawyers. The RJ Fellows are each paid $50,000 plus benefits and placed with placement organizations in Washington, D.C. for a year-long program (running August to August) that includes mentoring, professional development, training, and networking opportunities.
Applications for the 2013-14 Fellowship year are now available here. Fellow application deadline: November 1, 2012.
October 8, 2012 in Law School | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Cheryl Hanna on Importance of Highlighting Gender in Teaching Constitutional Law
Cheryl Hanna (Vermont Law School) has posted Gender as a Core Value in Teaching Constitutional Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This essay was part of a symposium sponsored by the AALS Section on Women, entitled Gender as a Core Teaching Value. In this piece, Professor Hanna discusses the importance of highlighting gender in Constitutional Law courses, not just on 'equal protection day" but throughout the curriculum. To that end, she provides concrete ideas and examples about how to help students discuss issues of gender in a variety of cases and contexts.
July 11, 2012 in Conferences and Symposia, Law School, Scholarship and Research | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Thanks To My Spring Research Assistants!
Thank you to my fabulous research assistants for their invaluable help with this blog during spring semester 2012:
Philip Grommet (3L), Beth Shyken (2L), and Olivia Carrano (2L)
June 19, 2012 in Law School, Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)