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Federally-Funded
Ignorance: How Abstinence-Only Sex Education Fails Students Panelists: Brigitte Amiri, Maxwell Ciardullo, John Santelli Moderator:
Janice Irvine Build a 19-foot long model of “Speedy the Sperm” to
prove that condoms don’t prevent HIV transmission. Decide which household
chores are more appropriate for women, rather than men: mowing the lawn,
decorating the house, or washing the clothes. Dress up in second-hand
clothing and act out a wedding ceremony. What do these exercises have in
common? All are in-class activities found in popular abstinence-only
curricula—sex-education programs designed to teach that the only acceptable
place for sex is within heterosexual marriage. This panel will discuss the
“sex-ed wars,” including the history of the controversy, empirical evidence
on the effectiveness of different sex-ed programs, and legal issues that
abstinence-only programs raise. Lawyers, researchers, and activists will
describe their work, discuss the current socio-political landscape in which
abstinence-only education has flourished, and identify potential paths for
rebellious lawyers seeking to challenge federal and state support for
abstinence-only education.
Panelists: David Dean, Catherine
Ruckelshaus Moderator: Benjamin
Sachs In the waning days of the Bush administration, as
the National Labor Relations Board moves to further restrict workers' rights
to organize under the NLRA, unions and worker centers have sought to rely on
other statutory schemes to vindicate their labor and employment rights. This workshop will discuss some of the
trends and recent developments in the use of statutes traditionally thought
of as employment law statutes, to further a pro-worker labor law agenda. The workshop will focus particularly on
developments in case law and litigation strategy over the past two years.
Panelists: Steven
Banks, Catherine Bendor, Tracie
Washington Moderator: Carol
Walter This panel will bring together lawyer-activists and
policy advocates from New Orleans, New York, and a national coalition on
homelessness to examine the impact class-action litigation strategies can
have in the struggle against homelessness in U.S. cities. In particular,
panelists will discuss and compare strategies in New York City and New
Orleans. The aftermath of Katrina as both a natural and public planning
disaster has resulted in waves of crises, from the chaotic Superdome to
evictions of thousands from hotels during the winter of 2006. New York is one
of few cities in the country with a “Right to Shelter,” but homeless families
face increasing difficulty entering and remaining in the shelter system as
the city works to bring its numbers into line with Bloomberg’s promise to
reduce homelessness in New York by 25,000 people by the year 2009.
Panelists: Carter
Dillard, Peter
Petersan, Delcianna
Winders Moderator: Greg
Oschwald In the past thirty
years, human treatment towards animals has increasingly become an issue of
moral concern for people throughout the world. Although many lawyers played an
instrumental role as activists and intellectuals in the early years of the
movement, it was not until the late nineties that they began making
significant contributions in their roles as practicing lawyers. This panel
will look at the roles that lawyers can play in advancing animals’ rights and
discuss the legal resources for the protection of animals in the United
States.
Panelists: Kistine
Carolan, Jin Hee Lee, Barbara
Siegel Moderator: Sabi
Ardalan In predominately low-income and minority
communities, health services are often scarce, of abysmal quality, and
quickly vanishing. While hospitals serve as the primary or only source of
care in urban and impoverished communities, increasingly, cities are moving
to close them, further exacerbating the cycle of race, poverty and sickness
in these communities. This panel will discuss the effects of hospital
closures in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York and legal advocacy
initiatives to interrupt this process.
Panelists: Jeff Kaufman, Gabriel
Sayegh, Adam Wolf Moderator: Steven B.
Duke The "war on drugs" has contributed to a
dramatic rise in incarceration rates over the last quarter-century that has
disproportionately affected minorities and the poor. The impact on African Americans has been
particularly appalling -- although they account for only 14 percent of regular
drug users, African Americans comprise a disturbing 59 percent of persons
convicted for drug offenses. Panelists
will discuss the harmful consequences of our nation's punitive approach to
drug use, with a particular emphasis on its disparate racial impact, and will
offer suggestions for how lawyers and other concerned citizens can build a
sustained movement for change.
Panelists:
Monique Harden,
Anhthu Hoang,
Mark Mitchell Moderator:
Robin Schafer In recent years,
the focus of many environmental justice advocates has shifted from the
outdoor environment to the indoor environment, as gentrification and housing
displacement have resulted in a decline in housing quality for minority and
low-income residents, giving rise to health concerns associated with
pesticides, lead, mold, and other contaminants. At the same time, EJ
advocates face new iterations of the same old problems—for example,
cap-and-trade legislation to address climate change may help produce
pollution hot spots in EJ communities. Environmental justice advocates from
New Orleans, West Harlem, and Hartford will discuss how their organizations
are addressing emerging EJ challenges, focusing on housing displacement and
the disparate impact of environmental laws and policies on minority and
low-income populations.
Panelists: Kristen
Clarke, Laughlin
McDonald Since the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act
in 2006, a number of legislative proposals, constitutional challenges, and
political decisions have threatened to endanger minority ballot access: state
photo identification proposals; litigation challenging the constitutionality
of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; and executive pressure on U.S.
Attorneys to prioritize voter fraud claims over disenfranchisement concerns.
As the 2008 election nears, voting rights attorneys and supporters are
working to understand challenges and developing strategies to protecting
minority voting rights. Panelists will discuss these efforts.
Panelists:
Maureen Murphy,
Elizabeth Saylor,
Lynda Munro Moderator:
Camille Carey Family Law is often ignored by progressives in the legal academy as a stale or irrelevant discipline. Yet, in recent years, family law has been at the forefront of two of the hottest political issues: immigration and same-sex marriage. This panel will present new and innovative approaches to the progressive practice of family law. Two lawyer-activists and a judge will present strategies they have pursued in their own professional lives, such as legislative advocacy for immigrant survivors of domestic violence, representation of same-sex families in adoptions, and impact litigation on behalf of battered women. The discussion will be both retrospective and prospective: learning from the lessons of the past and setting the course for a new progressive agenda.
Panelists: Malik
Ndaula, Judy
Rabinovitz, Kerri Sherlock Talbot Moderator: Michael
Wishnie The U.S. government holds over 280,000 people a year in immigration detention in more than 400 facilities, at an annual cost of more than $1.2 billion. Many detainees, though in civil detention, are held under virtually the same conditions and in the same facilities as criminal detainees. Immigrants' rights organizations are working to shed light on this issue, to advocate for an end to immigration detention and for more humane treatment of immigrants. Such groups challenge detention through a combination of approaches, including legislative and regulatory advocacy, activism, educating the public through media, and litigation. One way that advocates are challenging immigration detention is by attempting to improve—and call attention to—conditions of confinement. This panel will examine different approaches to improving the conditions in which immigrants are detained and redressing wrongs, including denial of adequate medical care, denial of access to family and counsel, and prolonged detention. Panelists will discuss the work of lawyers, people working in policy, and activists to address detention conditions.
Panelists:
Christine Griffin,
Andrew Imparato,
Jim Weisman Moderator:
Christine Jolls The landmark
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was created to insure that people with
disabilities could access the services to which all Americans are entitled.
But recent Supreme Court opinions have combined with negative media
portrayals and resistance from the private sector to make it difficult to
keep the promise of the ADA. What does it mean to restore this promise? See
how disability lawyers, in their capacity as lawmakers, law enforcers, and
community organizers are redefining civil rights for a new generation of
Americans with disabilities.
Panelists: Chino Hardin, Dylan Rodriguez, Kate Rhee Moderator:
David Stein The U.S. prison system currently holds more than 2.2
million people, one fourth of all the incarcerated people in the world.
Panelists will provide an overview of what has been called “The Prison
Industrial Complex” and introduce the growing movement towards reforming and
ultimately abolishing the prison system.
Moderator: Harold Koh This spring, the United States will defend its
record on race relations and civil rights on the global stage. Under CERD,
nations are required to submit bi-annual reports discussing the legislative,
judicial, administrative, and other measures they have adopted and that give
effect to the provisions of the Convention. This report, the United States’
first since 2001, covers a wide range of areas including criminal justice,
voting rights, employment, housing, education, and public accommodations.
This panel will examine the role that “rebellious” lawyers can play and have
played during the drafting of the reports and the convention process.
Panelists will discuss the substance of the reports, key critiques of U.S.
civil society regarding the country’s progress in eliminating racial
discrimination, and the benefits and limitations of the process as a whole.
Panelists: Nan Aron, Leslie
Proll, Mark
Tushnet Moderator: Reva Siegel Panelists will
critically assess the current judicial confirmation process and envision a
confirmation process that better suits the needs of he American political
system. In particular, panelists will discuss the extent to which the system
conveys useful information to the American public and their representatives
about the judges who they are approving or rejecting; provides a forum for an
honest and informative discussion of the pressing political and juridical
issues of the day; and acts as a relevant broker in balancing the interests
and powers of the different branches of government. Panelists:
Emily
Creighton,
Dan
Kesselbrenner,
Michael
Wishnie Moderator:
Hope Metcalf Since May 2006,
more than18,500 people have been arrested during raids by immigration
officers on the homes and workplaces of alleged undocumented immigrants. In a
recent raid in New Haven 32 individuals were detained by ICE officials. A
growing number of lawyers, law students and activists are responding at the
municipal, state and national levels to challenge these raids and address the
legal issues they raise. Panelists will include lawyers and activists working
in a variety of different ways including litigation of individual cases;
conducting grassroots organizing and "know your rights" training
for immigrants; national advocacy to institute minimum standards for ICE
teams conducting raids; and legislative advocacy to change current
immigration laws.
Human Rights and
Corporate Accountability in the Global Economy Panelists:
Gerardo Chavez, Julia Perkins, Cathy Albisa, Steven Watt Moderator:
Amanda Shanor Increasingly
consolidated and integrated business models have put pressures on communities
around the world. The effects of these
new, often multinational, corporate practices are felt in arenas from trade
and immigration to labor, health, and the environment. As corporate models have enlarged beyond
legal regimes, social movements have responded with new advocacy and
organizing models. This panel will
look at cutting edge work in corporate accountability in the global economy
and question the future of human rights advocacy both at a time when the
political right has increasingly controlled the U.S. federal court system and
companies have outstretched the social and political muscle of labor, human
rights, and environmental movements.
Workshop: Transgender Issues and the Law Transgender,
transsexual, intersex and other gender non-conforming people face persistent
and severe discrimination in employment, education, health care, social and
legal services, criminal justice and many other realms. This workshop will
examine how gender identity discrimination operates in our society and
discuss current activism addressing both the root causes and effects of
discrimination and violence on the basis of gender identity and expression.
With a focus on the ways in which gender difference intersects issues of
poverty and race, the workshop will highlight the multi-issue movement for
justice and self-determination of all people, in which the right to self
determine gender identity and expression and be free from violence is only
one facet.
Black Law Students' Association Race and the 2008
Election: This focus group will consider discussions of race by the media, candidates,
and voters during the 2008 presidential election both as a substantive
campaign issue and with respect to presidential candidates. Outlaws
Legislation,
Litigation, or Mobilization? LGBT Rights After the 2008 Elections. Yale Law Women The New Glass
Ceiling: Do billable hours make work-life balance impossible? Is the
workplace structure itself forcing women out of the legal workplace? Universities Allied for Essential Medicines
This lunch will
discuss the crucial question of access to medicines in developing
countries--in particular, what can be done to reduce the price of
medications, including university-developed medications, in low-income
countries; and what can be done to increase the amount of research
conducted at universities on neglected diseases such as malaria. American Constitution Society Building a
Progressive Movement: Sharing strategies for building community at your
school for progressive action and change. Pacific Islander, Asian and Native American Law
Students Association
This focus group
lunch will study ways to increase political participation by Asian Americans
and explore the issues that unite and divide the Asian American community. Yale Environmental Law Association This focus group
lunch will discuss eco-sabotage. American Constitution Society and Workers' and
Immigrants' Rights Advocacy Clinic This focus lunch
will supplement the conversations from the day's panels by examining various
clinical models for immigrants' rights work. |
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