Civil Rights

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.

Scholarship stemming from the “Religious Accommodation in the Age of Civil Rights,” conference held in April 2014 at HLS explored tensions within constitutional and statutory civil rights commitments.

Property law expert Joseph Singer argues that regulations make markets and property possible and promotes conservatives values. Regulations are needed to protect us from harm and fraudulent actions by others, to ensure that people can acquire property, and to allow all of us to exercise equal freedoms, he writes

Since his 3L year, Wolfson has been arguing for a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

What will the movement look like after a blockbuster win and how to engage the public with causes that have received comparatively scant attention?

Elizabeth Bartholet '65, renowned child welfare advocate and founding faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Child Advocacy Program, has been at the center of many public conversations following the discovery of the child, once known as Baby Doe, but since identified as Bella Bond.

Robert Greenwald, director of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and a clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School, has co-authored an editorial with David Holtgrave, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, on the updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) from the federal government.

A study on capital punishment co-authored by Harvard Law School Professor Carol Steiker ’86 and her brother Jordan Steiker ’88 a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, was influential in Connecticut’s recent decision to abolish the death penalty in that state.

A special reception was held at the White House on July 20 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On hand to introduce President Barack Obama ’91 and Vice President Joe Biden was Harvard Law School graduate Haben Girma ’13, who is currently a Skadden Fellow at Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley, Calif. Girma was the first deafblind student to graduate from HLS.

Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow, HLS Professor Alex Whiting and Syracuse University College of Law Assistant Professor Cora True-Frost have published a volume of essays that examine the role and the legacy of the first prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo.

Since at least 1983, when Harvard Law student Evan Wolfson ’83 wrote a third-year paper exploring a human rights argument for same-sex marriage, Harvard Law School has participated in anticipating, shaping, critiquing, analyzing and guiding the long path toward marriage equality.

HLS Professor of Practice Scott Westfahl '88, faculty director of HLS Executive Education, recently wrote "More women means more success," an article for the National Association of Women Lawyers' Women Lawyers Journal on the economic reasons for diversity at the management level.

The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School has released a report, authored by Chike Croslin '16, Justin Dews, and Jaimie McFarlin '15 of the Harvard Black Law Students Association, titled Independent Lens: Toward Transparency, Accountability, and Effectiveness in Police Tactics. The report explores the potential and limitations of body-worn cameras for police.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg received the Radcliffe Medal on Friday, May 29. Since the 1970s, Ginsburg has constantly sought to break down traditional male/female stereotypes “that held women back from doing what their talents would allow them to do.”

Christopher Melendez ’15 received the Outstanding Clinical Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association. The award is presented annually to one student from each law school in recognition of outstanding clinical coursework and contributions to the clinical community.

Racial reconciliation in America has been an elusive dream. To Bryan Stevenson ’85, the problem is that we haven’t been willing to tell the truth about our nightmares

Ronald Sullivan works to make the criminal justice system more accountable