News and Events

California Attorney General Proposes New Theory to Invalidate Proposition 8

In a surprise development, California Attorney General Jerry Brown asserted in the state's December brief to the California Supreme Court that Proposition 8 should be overturned. On November 4, California voters approved Proposition 8, providing for an amendment to the California constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman. On November 17, the California Supreme Court agreed to hear challenges to Proposition 8; legal briefs were due to the court by December 19. Click here to read more about these developments in the January issue of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes.

A new issue of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes is published each month. You can sign up to receive email notification of new issues (click here and then scroll to the bottom of the page) or you can access the archive by clicking the "Publications" tab on the left side bar.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the 2008 JAC graduates on passing their state bar exams! JAC affiliates passed bar exams in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania. Congratulations on all of your hard work!

Obama-Biden Transition Team Appoints JAC Professor to Agency Review Working Group

Professor Seth Harris has been named a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project's Agency Review Working Group. Among other things, Professor Harris will be responsible for managing the review of all the labor, education, and transportation agencies in the federal government.

Professor Harris served as the Chair of Obama for America's Labor, Employment, and Workplace Policy Committee and a Co-Chair of its Disability Policy Committee. During the Clinton Administration, he served as Counselor to the Secretary of Labor and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy, among other policy-advising positions. Before joining the administration, he was a law clerk to Judge William Canby of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Gene Carter of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. He currently teaches Labor Relations Law, Employment Discrimination Law, and Torts, and is a Senior Fellow of the Life Without Limits Project of the United Cerebral Palsy Association and a member of the National Advisory Commission on Workplace Flexibility.

Click here to read the press release.

Exploring the Subprime Mortgage Collapse

Faculty and students working with the Center’s Economic Justice Project have undertaken a series of reports exploring the rise and fall of the subprime mortgage market. To learn more, click on each report:

• The Subprime Mortgage Market Collapse: Causes and Solutions
• Subprime Home Mortgage Lending in New York City and Westchester County, 2005–2006
• The Higher Cost of Being African American or Latino: Subprime Home Mortgage Lending in New York City, 2004–2005

To view the report, click here.

Racial Justice Project Publishes Student Work

The Racial Justice Project has launched Diverse Opinions, a new forum for student writing on issues of race, justice, and the law. W. Demia Wilburn's note Redefining the Ideal Debtor explores the effects of the housing market decline on Black and Hispanic communities. Zachary Kerner, JAC class of '09, reports on the constitutionality of teacher assignment plans after Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1.

For more information or to download copies of these reports, please click here.

Center Alum Helps Author Habeas Corpus Report

The New York State Bar Association ("NYSBA") Committee on Civil Rights has issued a report on executive detention, habeas corpus, and the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The report began as a Justice Action Center Capstone project, initially drafted and researched by Patrick Campbell, then a third year student at the Center. Patrick worked under the guidance of Fernando Bohorquez (NYLS, '99), a partner at Baker Hostetler and Chair of the NYSBA Committee on Civil Rights. The initial draft of the report was presented by Patrick to the students and faculty of the Center in April of 2007.

After graduating from law school, Patrick joined the law firm of Baker Hostetler as an associate in the fall of 2007 and continued working on the report with Fernando. The final report, submitted to the NYSBA in May 2008, was primarily authored by Fernando and Patrick, with the assistance of other members of the Committee and other Baker colleagues. The Report was formally presented and accepted by the NYSBA at its June 20–21, 2008, summer meetings in Cooperstown, New York. A copy is available by clicking here.

At the request of the NYSBA, the report is now being revised to address Boumediene v. Bush, the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down the habeas-stripping provisions of the Military Commissins Act and extended the habeas privilege to aliens detained at Guantanamo as "enemy combatants." The revised report is expected this coming winter.

Save the Date: Sixth Annual Adoption Conference

On Friday, March 6, 2009, the Center will cosponsor the Sixth Annual Adoption Law Conference, International Adoption: One Year After the Hague.

The Conference will examine the state of international adoption to and from the United States one year after the effective date of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption in the U.S. While the conference stands alone, it will also function as the conclusion of a working group session on Intercountry Adoption which was held at Harvard Law School on January 25, 2008.

Webcast of 4th Annual Coelho Lecture Now Available

On April 14, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois presented the 4th Annual Tony Coelho Lecture in Disability Employment Law & Policy. If you were unable to attend the live event, a webcast and transcript of the event are now available:

• Click here to view the webcast.
• Click here to view the webcast with split-screen closed captioning. (Requires Microsoft Internet Explorer.)

To download a copy of Senator Durbin's remarks, click here.

For a description of the event, please click here.

Global Human Rights Bulletin
For neutral and global coverage of human rights, check out the Global Human Rights Bulletin, a monthly publication created by the NYLS student division of Lawyers Without Borders.