Civil Rights

Panelists at a February 23 event on the Harvard Law School campus discussed the benefits and consequences of pursuing “color-blind” policies.

The distinction between citizen and non-citizen lies at the heart of immigration law, and is often drawn at the border. But where precisely does the “border” lie in U.S. immigration law and practice?

University of Virginia School of Law Professor Michael J. Klarman has accepted an offer to join the Harvard Law School faculty with tenure this summer.

More than a thousand domestic violence victims who were wrongly denied welfare benefits can thank Elizabeth S. Saylor ’01 for fixing the system.

David Shapiro represents the true Renaissance man of legal academia. He has been a scholar, reformer, advocate, public servant and teacher, and at every turn, he has been a leader and model of excellence. There is much in his brilliant career to celebrate.

George Leighton '43 ('46) spent his childhood in Massachusetts summering in Plymouth and wintering in New Bedford. His summer home was a shanty with no running water or electricity near the cranberry bogs, and his winter home was an unheated apartment near the textile mills.

A restaurant employee is fired. He didn't violate company policy. In fact, he's a good employee, according to his manager. But he is fired because, as the regional manager put it, he is one of "those people."

Attorney Terry Lenzner '64 has made investigation his business.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health last fall has allowed gay marriage in the commonwealth--at least for now.

Because of two 5-4 Supreme Court decisions, physical desecration of the American flag is legal. Professor Richard Parker ' 70 supports a constitutional amendment that would change that.

Thanks to Josh Gottheimer '04, the greatest American civil rights speeches are together for the first time, demonstrating the injustices and progress of a growing nation and ultimately, he says, hope for its future.

Affirmative action remains contested terrain even among its proponents, as was evident in a debate between two Harvard Law School faculty members in the fall.

While writing about human rights in South Asia in the early 1990s, Carol Rose '96 was asked by a Pakistani activist, "And what is happening with human rights in your country?" Rose was stunned.

Richardson is founder and executive director of the Chicago-based nonprofit organization The HistoryMakers.

A Harvard Law School student works a few weeks in a London firm over the summer and can’t get back to the United States in time for his fall semester.

Known for her tart tongue and her tears (when she announced that she wouldn't run for president in 1988), Patricia Schroeder knew how to get things done in Congress, including the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

It took Weldon Rougeau '72 only 90 seconds to get himself expelled from college.

A hypothetical: A reporter is going to interview Professor Randall Kennedy. The reporter says to a group of coworkers: "That is one righteous nigger." A colleague complains. The reporter, whose intent was to compliment the professor, is fired for using grossly offensive language.

Cynics call them do-gooders, hopelessly naïve people disconnected from the real world. These days, the cynical view could easily prevail.

An Essay by Zanita Fenton

Professor Charles Ogletree Jr. '78 and Randall Robinson '70 want to educate Americans about the lasting impact of slavery. A lawsuit will be part of that education.