Martha Minow

Renowned human rights expert Martha Minow, the Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence at Harvard Law School and a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, has been named a University Professor, Harvard’s highest faculty honor. Minow, who was dean of Harvard Law School from 2009 to 2017, will begin her appointment as the 300th Anniversary University Professor on July 1. Known for her wide-ranging intellectual curiosity and influential interdisciplinary scholarship, Minow has offered original ways to frame and reform the law’s treatment of racial and religious minorities as well as women, children, and persons with disabilities...John F. Manning, Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (HLS), noted that “Martha Minow has been a transformative scholar across multiple fields and disciplines, a devoted and influential teacher, an innovative and impactful dean, and a tireless advocate for those in need of legal services."

...And then, for 50 years — a half-century of memories and myths — men and women of a certain age, and millions of Americans uncertain of what might have been, have disagreed about the meaning of Robert F. Kennedy’s life but have a curious, almost eerie, agreement about the meaning of that presidential campaign. Many he touched, and even some who were not moved by his insurgency against a sitting president of his own party, cursed his death at the time — and today almost inevitably employ a four-letter word to describe the meaning of his final years...“He represented the possibility of hope in politics,’’ said Martha Minow, former dean of the Harvard Law School.

For Blessing Jee, one of the best things about her Harvard education was putting it on hold. Jee knew when she arrived that she would take time off from her studies. What she didn’t expect was that it would make her “fall back in love with Harvard” — and set her, newly energized, on her future path. When she graduates in May, Jee will take another break before returning to pursue public interest law at Harvard Law School...For the past several months, Jee has been working with former Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow, who is writing a book about forgiveness in the law. Jee said Minow, whose work includes research into amnesty and pardons, debt relief, and child soldiers, helped her see that “forgiveness has a real place in the law and it shouldn’t be discarded just because the law should just be principled and objective.”...Minow, the Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, called working with Jee “joyous because of her wide-ranging interests, precise reasoning, and boundless energy and generosity. … It is unusual to find someone so powerfully able to combine deep focus and wide vision. She will bring tremendous talents to the Harvard Law School.”

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have become so closely linked that their names have been joined to form a talisman for left-wing Democrats who embrace membership in the party's "Sanders-Warren wing." There are, however, differences to be considered as each ponders a run for the presidency in 2020. Sanders is an avowed socialist. Warren isn't. She's a capitalist, albeit one who believes in a strong government role if markets aren't protecting people..."She remains a legendary teacher, mentor and model of scholar-law-reformer," said Martha Minow, former dean of the Harvard Law School, where Warren taught before joining the Senate.

...Korematsu v. United States upheld America’s wartime internment of thousands of Japanese Americans, and it’s still cited as legal precedent today. Harvard Law School’s Martha Minow recently wrote about the decision and its relevance in 2018. In the Spiel, president Trump’s approval ratings are highest in West Virginia. Senate candidate (and former convict) Don Blankenship is rolling with it.

Busy penning holiday cards in 1975 at his home in Cambridge, Law School Professor Frank E. A. Sander ’48 started in surprise: He had received a telegram from Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. The Chief Justice had telegramed to say he was impressed with Sander’s newly circulating ideas about alternative dispute resolution. In the coming months, Sander would pioneer this form of dispute resolution as an entirely new method of legal mediation. Sander, the Bussey Professor Emeritus at the Law School, died on Feb. 25. He was 90...Harvard law lecturer David A. Hoffman credited Sander with almost single-handedly creating field of dispute resolution. “It’s surprising now to think about the fact that negotiation was not widely taught in the years that he spent in the Law School,” Hoffman said...Law Professor Martha L. Minow, who played violin and piano with Sander in chamber music events he organized, said Sander’s talents as a musician helped define who he was as a professor. “To play chamber music, you play alongside other people,” Minow said. “You pay close attention to where others are, and when you do, you can actually make something better than what you could do by yourself.”

“It Can't Happen Here,” a book written by Sinclair Lewis over 80 years ago, concludes with a president all but ending democracy in favor of an authoritarian regime of his own. To get elected, he promised the nation great economic reform and a return to traditional, patriotic values, vowing to save the country from welfare fraud, sex, crime and a liberal media — sound familiar? That book is now the jumping off point for a new book, “Can It Happen Here? Authoritarianism in America.” It's a collection of essays from some of the nation's leading thinkers, theorists and historians on exactly how democracies can crumble. Jim Braude was joined by Cass Sunstein, former administrator for the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Barack Obama and editor and contributor of “Can It Happen Here?” and Martha Minow, former Dean of Harvard Law School, now professor and contributor to “Can It Happen Here?” to discuss their latest book.

This month's tragic slaughter in a Florida high school has prompted national outrage and mobilized young people around the state and the country. But it has led to little besides a minimal state proposal in Florida that has not yet been formalized nor passed and to the cancellation of some airline, rental-car, insurance and moving-van discount programs for National Rifle Association members. ..."The Second Amendment conviction about guns is a relatively recent one, the result of a campaign from the NRA to prove there is a guarantee of individual rights to bear arms rather than the guarantee of the right for militias," Martha Minow, dean of the Harvard Law School, said in an interview. "That was not the consensus among scholars, but the NRA promoted the idea so much that it became part of the American canon."

Students, faculty, and administrators at the Law School say they are pleased Harvard’s 29th president will be one of their own. University President-elect Lawrence S. Bacow, who will take office after President Drew G. Faust steps down in June, graduated from the Law School with a J.D. in 1976. He also holds two degrees from the Kennedy School...John F. Manning ’82, dean of the Law School, wrote in an emailed statement that he is “delighted” with Bacow’s appointment and “look[s] forward to working with him.”...Manning’s predecessor as dean, Martha L. Minow, wrote in an email that she thinks Bacow’s legal training has equipped him well to lead universities like Tufts, and now, Harvard. “Larry Bacow is not only a proven, effective leader in higher education who passionately cares about access, inclusion, and excellence; he is also genuinely perceptive and wise,” she wrote...“Larry Bacow wasn’t my student, but I wish he had been,” [Laurence] Tribe wrote in an email. “He’s a wonderful choice as Harvard’s next President and I look forward to getting to know him. Just listening to one of his long-form interviews is a source of inspiration and comfort. His background and vision seem ideal for this difficult time of turmoil and transition.”...Jyoti Jasrasaria ’12 [`18], a third-year law student who chaired the student committee that advised the presidential search, said the committee reached out to students across the University, including law students, to solicit input about the search. “Personally, I think, based on the outreach that I did to students along with the rest of the committee over the course of the past few months, that what we have seen and heard from Larry Bacow so far it seems like he is going to be a really good president,” Jasrasaria said...Historically, the Law School has shown a tendency to strike out on its own and occasionally depart from University-wide policy. Jacob R. Steiner [`18], a third-year Law student who served as a Law School representative on the student advisory committee, said he thinks Bacow’s experience at HLS will translate into a deeper understanding of the school’s specific needs and a stronger relationship between the Law School and the University.

An op-ed by Martha Minow. The Constitution created three coequal branches of government, but President Trump repeatedly demeans the judiciary. Before he was president, the Justice Department charged Donald Trump’s company with violations of the Fair Housing Act. Black “testers” were denied apartments when similar white testers were offered apartments in the same buildings managed in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Trump settled.

On Monday, Nov. 6, Khizr Khan promoted his new book, “An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice,” at First Parish Church in Harvard Square. Khan, a Pakistani-American lawyer and Gold Star father, is best known for denouncing then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in a rousing speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Khan discussed the contents of his memoir with Harvard Law School professor Martha Minow before taking questions from the audience.