Civil Rights

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, founding Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and Tim McCormack, Visiting Professor of Law at HLS and Special Adviser on International Humanitarian Law to the Prosecutor of the ICC, recently discussed challenges that lie ahead for the organization, the first permanent court established to deal with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a recent talk at Harvard Law School, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch ’81, J.D. ’84 discussed criminal-justice reform “a transformative issue of our generation.”

Lecturer on Law Alan Jenkins ’89 shared ideas for reframing conversations on race and social justice at a talk at Harvard Law School on Jan. 12. The talk was moderated by Clinical Professor Dan Nagin, vice dean for experiential and clinical education at HLS.

The Harvard Muslim Law Students Association (MLSA) started a social media campaign to create a network of mentorship for Muslim American youth who are harmed and discouraged by Islamophobic sentiment. Using the hashtag #yourvoicematters, the students hope to generate a positive dialogue focused on reclaiming and celebrating Muslim identity.

In 2015, America had the lowest number of executions in 25 years, according to a new report released by Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. But of the 28 people executed, 68% suffered from severe mental disabilities or experienced extreme childhood trauma and abuse.

During a commencement address at the University of Michigan, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow urged students to address the serious challenges of our time and take action against injustice by being 'upstanders' instead of bystanders.

Supreme Court justices, performance art, student protests and a vice president. A look back at 2015, highlights of the people who visited, events that took place and everyday life at Harvard Law School.

Taking a leaf out of the American Civil Rights Movement’s book, Roma rights activists undertook a legal battle in European courts to challenge the pervasive discrimination that has kept them living on the fringes of society.

Accompanied by his lawyers Lisa Kavanaugh '00 and Andrea Petersen, Victor Rosario--a man who served 32 years in prison for a crime he said he didn’t commit--discussed his case, the state of criminal forensics, and innocence litigation at Harvard Law School.

Larry Schwartztol, executive director of Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Program of Study, Research and Advocacy, recently spoke with the Harvard Gazette about the HLS program, his role in it, and a conference sponsored by the new initiative on how the media helps shape the criminal justice narrative.

Yochai Benkler, who has written extensively on the “networked public sphere,” including his influential book “The Wealth of Networks,” recently spoke about his proposal for a defense of whistleblowers, his testimony in a trial of a well-known leaker of military documents, and a problem he calls a growing crisis in the country.

During a conversation Thursday with Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow at Wasserstein Hall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy LL.B. '61 addressed a wide variety of topics, including the American criminal justice system, teaching law abroad, and his opinion on being described as the high court's swing vote on major issues.

The Harvard Law School Association presented its highest award this past spring to William P. Alford ’77 and Charles J. Ogletree ’78 —two of Harvard Law School's most distinguished professors, mentors to generations of jurists, advisers to senators, presidents and world leaders, and celebrated doers of good works—and longtime friends.

Myanmar police officers used excessive force during a crackdown on protesters and arrested more than 100 individuals in Letpadan, Bago Region in March, according to a new report released today by Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic and Fortify Rights.

Harvard Law School’s Community Enterprise Project has published a first-of-its kind guidebook for immigrant entrepreneurs. The guidebook offers a comprehensive analysis of the many legal implications of immigrant entrepreneurship.

Brandeis University has selected Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow as the winner of the 2015-16 Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize, presented annually to a person whose body of published work reflects scholarly excellence and makes a lasting contribution to racial, ethnic or religious relations.

85 Harvard Law students participate each year in Harvard Defenders, a student practice organization in which they represent low-income clients in criminal show-cause hearings.

One year after a major win in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, will Obergefell herald a narrowing of space for those who oppose same-sex marriage to express their views?

Jeff Robinson ’81 worked as a Seattle criminal defense lawyer for 34 years—a span of time that, he notes, “basically coincided with the largest increase in our incarcerated population in the history of the United States.” Now, as the newly appointed director of the ACLU’s Center for Justice, he will be tackling that metastasis head-on.