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Speakers and Panels

Fall 2007

Spring 2007

 

 

Fall 2007

 

The Institute for the Study of Social Change and the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice present:
The Uses of Social Science in Anti-discrimination Law: Theories of Animus, Implicit Bias and Institutional Racism (Video)

Thursday, September 6, 2007
3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Goldberg Room, Boalt Hall

A panel featuring:
David Wellman , Professor of Community Studies and Sociology, UC Santa Cruz
Jack Glaser , Professor of Public Policy, UC Berkeley
Margaret Russell , Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
with Rachel F. Moran, Robert D. and Leslie-Kay Raven Professor of Law, Boalt Hall, and Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change, as moderator

Abstract:
This panel will bring together legal scholars and social scientists to discuss the ways that social science can be used to inform different legal approaches to discrimination. The "intent doctrine," which shapes much of antidiscrimination law, requires plaintiffs to prove a decision maker's specific intent to discriminate. Social scientists, however, have shown that discriminatory behaviors are often guided by stereotypes, deep-seated cultural norms, cognitive shortcuts, and other forms of unconscious bias. Others argue that the entrenched habits and structures of institutions are responsible for perpetuating inequality. What are the implications of these studies for antidiscrimination law? How can civil rights advocates who seek justice in the courtroom use these and other studies? The panel will feature David Wellman, who is Professor of Community Studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz and who was an expert witness in the recently settled ($2.7 million) racial discrimination lawsuit filed by an LA firefighter against the city of Los Angeles; Jack Glaser, who is Assistant Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy and an
expert in unconscious bias and hate crimes; and Margaret Russell, who is Professor of Law at Santa Clara University, an expert in constitutional law, contemporary legal theory, and critical race theory, and a founding
member and past chair of the board of directors of the East Palo Alto Community Law Project.

 

Town Hall on Class Privilege -- Wednesday, September 28

  • This town hall is the final event in a four-part series on privilege and power. Class privilege is a central component of our experience as members of Boalt and communities beyond. As law students, future practitioners, judges, and professors, we are all involved in the strugglefor economic justice. Come join us as we create a space at Boalt for challenging yet illuminating conversations about class privilege.

 

Diane Bellas

Diane Bellas was a student at Boalt when she began working as a law clerk in the Alameda County Public Defender's Office in 1979. While a line lawyer, she represented clients throughout the County in countless criminal cases, including more than 50 murder cases, as well as in the civil conservatorship and mental health courts. Her last trial, occurring shortly before her appointment to the administrative position of Public Defender in 2000, was a double-murder death penalty case in which the jury returned a verdict of life without possibility of parole. In 2004, at the inception of the Alameda County Homeless and Caring Court , Bellas resumed representation of individual clients; the court convenes monthly in locations that provide services to the marginally housed or homeless, people in recovery, and the working poor. Bellas serves by Senate appointment on the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice and on the board of C.U.R.A. (Carnales Unidos Reformando Adictos).

Bill Quigley

Professor Quigley has been an active public interest lawyer since 1977. He has served as counsel with a wide range of public interest organizations on issues including Katrina social justice issues, public housing, voting rights, death penalty, living wage, civil liberties, educational reform, constitutional rights and civil disobedience. In addition, he has litigated numerous cases with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the Advancement Project, and with the ACLU of Louisiana, for which he served as General Counsel for over 15 years.

Bill teaches in the Law Clinic and teaches courses in Law and Poverty and Catholic Social Teaching and Law. His research and writing has focused on living wage, the right to a job, legal services, community organizing as part of effective lawyering, civil disobedience, high stakes testing, international human rights, revolutionary lawyering and a continuing history of how the laws have regulated the poor since colonial times. He has served as an advisor on human and civil rights to Human Rights Watch USA, Amnesty International USA, and served as the Chair of the Louisiana Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights. Bill received the 2006 Camille Gravel Civil Pro Bono Award from the Federal Bar Association New Orleans Chapter. Bill received the 2006 Stanford Law School National Public Service Award and the 2006 National Lawyers Guild Ernie Goodman award. He has also been an active volunteer lawyer with School of the Americas Watch and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.

Larry Paradis

Larry Paradis is the Executive Director and Co-Director of Litigation for Disability Rights Advocates. Larry specializes in class action and other high impact disability rights litigation. He has handled many precedent-setting ADA cases in areas such as employment, housing, transportation, education, insurance, and public accommodations. Larry was recently named by California Lawyer Magazine one of California 's Lawyers of the Year for his victories in civil rights cases in 2003. In 2004, Larry was voted, along with his co-counsel, Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.

Larry is a past member of the President's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities and has been on the boards of many public interest organizations such as the Berkeley Center for Independent Living, National Council on Disability: International Watch Committee, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Berkeley Commission on Disability, Disability Statistics Center at UCSF (Advisory Board), UCSF Center for Personal Assistance Services Advisory Committee.

Larry has also assisted the courts as a court appointed mediator, as a Ninth Circuit Judicial Council Lawyer Representative from the U.S. District Court for Northern District of California and as a member of a Magistrate Judge Selection Panel, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Before co-founding Disability Rights Advocates, Larry was a partner at the law firm Miller, Starr and Regalia, where he focused on complex business litigation as well as pro bono civil rights work.

Alegria De La Cruz

Alegría De La Cruz '03 is the Directing Attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance's Migrant Farmworker Project in Fresno, California. Her work addresses the unique issues facing California's farmworker community. Alegría provides advice and counsel, brief services, and administrative advocacy for her clients in the areas of wage and hour law, housing, civil rights and discrimination, and environmental justice, as well as litigating these claims in state and federal courts. Alegría serves as a Director on the Boards of Fresno Metro Ministries, Centro Binacional por el Desarrollo del Indígena Oaxaqueño (CBDIO), and the ACLU-Fresno. She received her B.A. in History from Yale University in 1997 and her J.D. from U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law in 2003. At Boalt, Alegria was active in the Coalition for Diversity, La Raza Law Students Association, and served as a co-Editor-in-Chief of the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal.

Lisalyn Jacobs

Lisalyn R. Jacobs joined Legal Momentum as Vice-President for Government Relations in March of 2003. She began her legal career at the National Partnership for Women and Families under the auspices of Georgetown 's Women's Law & Public Policy Fellowship. Following three years in private practice, she joined the Office of Policy Development of the U.S. Justice Department in 1995 and worked on a number of issues including implementation of the Violence Against Women Act, the welfare reform law, judicial nominations and affirmative action. She also served as Chief of Staff of the Civil Rights Division, as well as Special Counsel to the Director of the Violence Against Women Office. In May of 2000, she left DOJ and for nearly three years, Lisa was a civil and human rights consultant on issues ranging from capital punishment to affirmative action, and international human rights. She has testified before congressional committees at both the state and federal levels, and appeared widely in television and print media including CNN and the New York Times.  

Jack Londen

Jack Londen has led major pro bono cases on inequalities in public education, defending legal aid organizations, and other public policy issues. He is now Chair of the Consortium for the National Equal Justice Library and Chair of the Public Interest Clearinghouse. He has served as Co-Chair of the National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice, Chair of Californians for Legal Aid, Chair of the Legal Services Section of the State Bar of California, and Chair of the Legal Services Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Mr. Londen has received awards for his public interest work from organizations including the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the State Bar of California, the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Center for Youth Law, California Rural Legal Assistance, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Bar Association of San Francisco. He was recognized as one of The National Law Journal's 2006 "Top 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America." He has been a partner in Morrison & Foerster since 1984, after graduating from the Yale Law School in 1978 and clerking for the Honorable William W. Schwarzer in the Northern District of California.

 

Spring 2007

 

 Academic Careers Workshop --

Wednesday, April 18, 2007; 3 – 4 PM in the Dean’s Seminar Room

A talk about how to pursue an academic career. If you are interested in an academic career, it is not too early to begin preparing for the process and requirements of obtaining a teaching position.

 

 

Panel Discussion with Public Interest Lawyers --

Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 4p.m. in the MoFo Room

Panelists were:
Nina Perales, Southwest Regional Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF)
Brooke Thacher (Boalt '03), Staff Attorney, Legal Aid of Marin
Diane T. Chin, Associate Director, Henderson Center for Social Justice

An intimate panel discussion/reception helped advise those interested in impact litigation, direct services, government service, criminal law practice, broad-based legislative and media advocacy, the state of civil rights, immigrants' rights, poverty in the Bay Area, how to pursue public interest law practice directly out of law school, how to transition from private practice, or those curious about how to create and maintain a personal life within public interest and public interest lawyering?


SCHOLAR ADVOCACY: FASHIONING NEW REMEDIES FOR INJUSTICE

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
12:45-1:45 p.m.
Boalt Hall School of Law
Room 121

 

Speakers:
ERIC K. YAMAMOTO
Professor of Law, University of Hawai‘i Law School; Scholar in Residence Spring 2007, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice; Moderator

SUSAN K. SERRANO
Director of Educational Development, Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, University of Hawai‘i Law School; former Research Director and co-founder of Equal Justice Society “Rethinking How Discrimination Actually Occurs in the Real World”

SANDRA KIM
Class of 2007, University of Hawai‘i Law School; former Patsy Mink Congressional Justice Fellow; Equal Justice Society Scholar-Advocate“Reparations at the Intersection of Gender and Race”

IOKONA BAKER
Post-Juris Doctor Research Fellow, Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law “Cultural Self-Determination for Native Hawaiians”

 


Ruth Wilson Gilmore --Friday, March 16, 2007 at 2 p.m. in Boalt Hall Room 122

Ruth Wilson Gilmore is Associate Professor of Geography and Director of the Program in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. She is a member of the founding collective of Critical Resistance, one of the most important national anti-prison organizations in the United States. Gilmore will give a special lecture to discuss her new book, Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California. Despite a crime rate that has been falling steadily for decades, California has led the way in this explosion, with what a state analyst called "the biggest prison building project in the history of the world." In her new book, Gilmore examines this issue through statewide, rural, and urban perspectives to explain how the expansion developed from surpluses of finance capital, labor, land, and state capacity. Detailing crises that hit California's economy with particular ferocity, she argues that defeats of radical struggles, weakening of labor, and shifting patterns of capital investment have been key conditions for prison growth. The results--a vast and expensive prison system, a huge number off incarcerated young people of color, and the increase in punitive justice such as the "three strikes" law--pose profound and troubling questions for the future of California, the United States, and the world.

 

Luis Rodriguez: "Hearts & Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times"
Response by Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender
Thursday, March 8, 2007
4 p.m. Booth Auditorium
Reception followed lecture in the Goldberg Room

Luis J. Rodriguez has emerged as one of the leading Chicano writers in the country with ten nationally published books in memoir, fiction, nonfiction, children’s literature, and poetry. Luis’ poetry has won a Poetry Center Book Award, a PEN Josephine Miles Literary Award, and “Foreword” magazine’s Silver Book Award, among others. His two children’s books have won a Patterson Young Adult Book Award, two “Skipping Stones” Honor Award, and a Parent’s Choice Book Award, among others. A novel, Music of the Mill, was published in the spring of 2005 by Rayo/HarperCollins; a poetry collection, My Nature is Hunger: New & Selected Poems, 1989-2004, came out in the fall of 2005 from Curbstone Press/Rattle Edition.

Luis is best known for the 1993 memoir of gang life, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. An international best seller—with more than 20 printings, around 250,000 copies sold—the memoir also garnered a Carl Sandburg Literary Award, a Chicago Sun-Times Book Award, and was designated a New York Times Notable Book. Written as a cautionary tale for Luis’ then 15-year-old son Ramiro—who had joined a Chicago gang—the memoir is popular among youth and teachers. Despite this, the American Library Association in 1999 called Always Running one of the 100 most censored books in the United States. Efforts to remove his books from public school libraries and reading lists have occurred in Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and more recently in California, where the battles were quite heated.

 

Rashida Manjoo: "The Challenges of Promoting and Protecting Gender Equality in South Africa"

Monday, February 5th
12:45 – 1:45 p.m.
Room 121

Rashida Manjoo is currently a visiting fellow in the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School. She is an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and a member of the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE), a constitutional body mandated to oversee the promotion and protection of gender equality. Prior to being appointed to the CGE she was involved in social context training for judges and lawyers, where she has designed both content and methodology during her time at the Law, Race, and Gender Research Unit—University of Cape Town and at the University of Natal, Durban. Manjoo was involved in setting up both a national and a provincial network on violence against women and is the founder of the Gender Unit at the Law Clinic at the University of Natal and the Domestic Violence Assistance Programme at the Durban Magistrates Court (the first such project in a court in South Africa). She has also been involved in the Provincial Executive of the Women’s Coalition, a forum that was established pre-democracy to formulate the Women’s Charter (a document setting out the demands of women in a new democracy). She was also an active member of the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice in the International Criminal Court and remains an Advisory Board member. She is a member of the Women Living Under Muslim Laws Network.

 

Elizabeth Beck --"Restorative Justice and Death Row Familes"
Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. in the Dean’s Seminar Room

A fascinating discussion about restorative justice and the experiences of those whose loved ones have been sentenced to death. Dr. Elizabeth Beck, Professor of Social Work at Georgia State University, will be at Boalt to discuss her research conducting hundreds of hours of interviews with family members of offenders and victims, and her recent book, which shows that forgiveness and recovery are possible in the wake of even the most terrible crimes.

This event is co-sponsored by the Death Penalty Clinic and the Death Penalty Discourse Project.