Family, Gender & Children

As more schools plan for remote learning, Elizabeth Bartholet and James Dwyer argue that school districts, child protective services, and other agencies across the nation must adopt new safeguards to prevent and respond to incidents of child maltreatment.

A new report from Boston University confirms the transformational benefits of a trauma-sensitive school culture as developed by the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative at HLS.

From new takes on famous figures from American history to the stories of lesser-known figures, including two who resisted fascism in war-torn Europe and went on to become the authors’ parents

Robert Anderson, the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, discusses the latest Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, a landmark for Native American rights that resolves decades' worth of legal argument.

Harvard Law Today spoke with Professor Benjamin Eidelson about the legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court's surprising ruling on DACA and what the decision means moving forward.

This year, the Harvard Law School Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs has recognized six students from the Class of 2020 for their outstanding clinical and pro bono work.

This year's commencement speaker, renowned public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson ’85 urged HLS graduates to keep their hopes intact and work to change the narratives that sustain inequality.

During HLS' virtual commencement ceremony, a number of graduates were recognized for their outstanding leadership, citizenship and dedication to their studies.

Jordana Arias, program administrator of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, received the Suzanne L. Richardson Staff Appreciation Award during Harvard Law School’s Virtual Commencement on Thursday, May 28.

D Dangaran ’20, this year's William J. Stuntz Award winner, intends to focus on gender issues and transformative justice long-term.

A physician-researcher, Machteld van Egmond LL.M. ’20 explored the intersections among empirical science, law, and medicine during her LL.M. year at Harvard Law School.

With the aim of advocating for refugees, Niku Jafarnia J.D. / M.P.P.’20 focused on the intersection of refugee rights, armed conflict, and counterterrorism as joint law and public policy student at Harvard.

Lyla Wasz-Piper ’20 and Kennedi Williams-Libert ’20 have received the 2020 Outstanding Clinical Student Team Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association, recognized for their unique partnership and exemplary teamwork during their time as student attorneys at the Criminal Justice Institute.

Sejal Singh ’20 is the recipient of the David Grossman Exemplary Clinical Student Award. She was recognized for her work on the Project on Predatory Student Lending, as well as her exemplary contributions to public-interest endeavors.

On May 12, Harvard Law School Clinical Professor Dehlia Umunna urged students to maintain a sense of gratitude as she kicked off the Last Lecture series for the graduating Class of 2020.

The 2020 Last Lecture Series is an HLS tradition where selected faculty members impart insight, advice, and final words of wisdom to the graduating class. Speakers this year included Dehlia Umunna, Daphna Renan, Ruth Okediji, and Naz Modirzadeh.

Nationally renowned child welfare expert Elizabeth Bartholet wants to see a radical transformation in homeschooling.

Renowned Public Interest Lawyer Bryan Stevenson J.D./M.P.P. ’85 was named Harvard Law School’s 2020 graduation speaker.

In late April, a federal appeals court handed an unprecedented win to schoolchildren, becoming the first appellate federal court in American history to conclude that children have a fundamental right to a minimum education that provides basic literacy.

Three Harvard Law School faculty members—Nancy Gertner, Tomiko Brown-Nagin and David Barron—have been elected as members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Years of advocacy by Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program have culminated in a landmark decision recognizing gender as basis for asylum claims.

Student fellows at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics recently celebrated their fellowships’ end virtually when their capstone meeting moved to Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

HLS Professors Glenn Cohen and Andrew Crespo discuss their proposals to protect doctors and hospitals from potential lawsuits and criminal prosecution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a March 27 Petrie-Flom event on medical debt and universal health coverage, health experts and journalists raise serious concerns about the affordability of testing and hospital care.

Martha Minow shared her thoughts on the subject of law and forgiveness, a focus of her most recent scholarship at TEDWomen, an annual conference that highlights the contributions and ideas of notable women across a number of fields.

Harvard Law School Professor Emily Broad Leib ’08, director of the HLS Food Law and Policy Clinic, and her students have been working furiously to ensure that the most vulnerable—and ultimately the rest of us—are fed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Q&A, scholars at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School raise important legal and ethical questions about health care delivery and the enactment of extraordinary public health measures in response to the ongoing epidemic.

To commemorate International Women’s Day, a team of experts met at Harvard Law School on March 9 to trace the history of the Equal Rights Amendment to date, and to argue for its importance going forward.

During Winter Term, 12 Harvard Law School students traveled to 12 countries as Cravath International Fellows to pursue clinical placements or independent research with an international, transnational, or comparative law focus.

Patients are often subjected to nonconsensual procedures and other mistreatment during the birthing process; Alexa Richardson, a student fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School, is working to bring this situation to light.

Professors Annette Gordon-Reed, Kenneth Mack and David Wilkins discuss the Harvard Law School's first black graduates and the legacy of African Americans at HLS throughout the years.

Eloise Lawrence, a community lawyering advocate, was named assistant clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School and deputy faculty director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.  

Professor Crystal Yang ’13 discusses her paper "Fear and the Safety Net: Evidence from Secure Communities," which examines the link between tougher immigration enforcement in the United States and the lack of participation in government safety-net programs by Hispanic citizens.

Harvard Law School has announced the launch of the new LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic, to be led by HLS Lecturer and Clinical Instructor Alex Chen '15, a tireless advocate in recent years in efforts to protect and expand LGBTQ+ civil rights.

Sabrineh Ardalan ’02, who teaches in the fields of immigration and refugee law and advocacy, was appointed a clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School and faculty director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program.

On January 22, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case that may dramatically impact the ability of states to provide public funding to private, religiously-affiliated schools. In advance of the arguments, Harvard Law Today sat down with Professor Mark Tushnet to preview the case.

When Benet Magnuson joined Kansas Appleseed in 2013 as its executive director he pretty much had only himself to supervise. But within a couple of years the social justice nonprofit had a dozen staffers working all over the state.

The Harvard Gazette recently sat down with Martha Minow, the 300th Anniversary University Professor and former dean of Harvard Law School, to talk about her book new book, "When Should Law Forgive?," and why she thinks forgiveness could make the law more just.

This fall, Harvard Law School Clinical Professor Susan Farbstein ’04 is teaching "Human Rights Careers: Strategic Leadership Workshop," a seminar focused on advocacy and leadership for students interested in careers in human rights or social justice.

At a packed Brattle Theatre last week, five short films created by 12 Harvard Law students from eight countries debuted. The documentaries, ranging across topics from gentrification to climate change, are the results of an innovative January term workshop taught by Martha Minow, former Harvard Law dean and 300th Anniversary University Professor.

Two teams of 3Ls competed for the coveted recognition of their advocacy skills in the final round of the 2019 Ames Moot Court Competition on November 12 at Harvard Law School.

The Veterans Legal Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School recently announced the launch of a new statewide initiative aimed at helping close the significant gap between low-income veterans in Massachusetts and the financial assistance they are eligible for under state law.

With the advent of sweeping disaster comes the complicated question of how properly to compensate victims. The Program on Negotiation at HLS convenes an expert panel on dispute resolution in the wake of mass disasters.

The Harvard Gazette recently spoke with Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the U.N. independent expert who is now a visiting researcher in residence at Harvard Law School, in advance of the presentation of his report on the adverse effects of laws and cultural norms on LGBTQ individuals to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.

Clinical Professor Robert Greenwald discusses PEPFAR’s impact at home in the United States, policy barriers to "getting to zero," and ways to address the epidemic head-on.

In her first book "Sharenthood," Leah Plunkett of the Berkman Klein Center's Youth and Media team warns those with young children not to "over-sharent" online.

Harvard Law School recently welcomed two justices from the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice to discuss recent decisions affirming access to abortion in their country.

Seventy-four years later Setsuko Thurlow still remembers the moment of detonation after the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the first of two exploded over the island nation, a deployment that proved so horrendous the weapons have never been used since.

Bonnie Docherty ’01, associate director the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative (ACCPI) at Harvard Law School, discusses humanitarian disarmament, and a recent discussion with Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow.

S.J.D. Candidate Eric Gitari describes his work this summer monitoring the status of human rights for LGBTIQ persons in Gambia and Senegal.