Civil Rights

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association recently awarded Harvard Law School Lecturer on Law Alexander Chen ’15, founding director of the law school’s LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic, its Best Under 40 award.

On November 29, Sherrilyn Ifill delivered a talk titled “Reimagining American Democracy: Becoming Founders & Framers” to mark her appointment as this year's Steven and Maureen Klinsky Visiting Professor of Practice for Leadership and Progress.

Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, received the 2023 the Order of the Coif award for her book “Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality.”

In the 2023 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture, former AG Loretta Lynch ’84 argues that the arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it requires devotion to progress.

In a Martin Luther King address at Sanders Theatre, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch ’84 argued the arc of moral universe may bend toward justice, but it requires devotion to progress.

Imani Perry ’00 was awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s 2023 “genius grant” for her work on interdisciplinary interpretations on history, and culture of Black America

A two-day conference, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Social Justice, examined election law and electoral systems impact communities of color

In his last lecture to the J.D. and LL.M. classes of 2023, Michael Klarman celebrates civil rights heroes and issues a clarion call for democratic engagement.

Harvard Law School’s Guy-Uriel E. Charles spoke about the demise of the “civil rights consensus” and what comes next, at a lecture celebrating his appointment as the Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. Professor of Law.

Chief counsel of a respected mid-’70s Senate inquiry into improper federal investigations says the credibility of the oversight function is at stake.

A Public Service Venture Fund Fellowship helped Lauren Herman ’13 launch an organization to help underserved communities in New Jersey.

Kimberly J. Robinson argues for a federal right to education

During winter term, students in the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic work in Washington, D.C. with the MacArthur Justice Center on ongoing cases related to civil rights and the criminal justice system.

Harvard Law Clinical Professor Robert Greenwald retires after a long career securing health care access for vulnerable populations.

With support from PSVF and Wasserstein fellowships, Mercedes Montagnes ’09, founder of the Promise of Justice Initiative, has tackled injustices in the Louisiana carceral system.

Strategic lawyering by a team of Harvard Law students led Veterans Affairs to change its long-standing benefits policy.

How attorneys advance civil rights work in their practices, both at private public interest law firms and through pro bono work at large law firms, was the focus of discussion at two panel events at Harvard Law School

Harvard Law Professor Joseph Singer says the Supreme Court’s decision in Brackeen v. Haaland has the potential to upset tribal sovereignty.