Social Movements & the Law

The enemy of well-intentioned DEI initiatives is backlash — and not just from people from privileged groups. Backlash from all directions is often due to DEI initiatives being framed as solutions to individual problems to be fixed rather than to correct for systemic issues at play in an organization. To reframe the conversation the author recommends five steps to implement in your DEI strategy: 1) Collect data to diagnose specific inequities in your organization, 2) communicate about initiatives using a systems-focused framing, 3) as change-making efforts begin, appeal to “fairness,” 4) clearly lay out expectations for change alongside resources and support, 5) sustain momentum by affirming effort and celebrating wins.

Libraries do a lot of the heavy lifting for society. They not only circulate books, but also provide crucial Internet access for job seekers and students

Access to justice and research innovation were important topics at the recent World Justice Forum 2022 and the Annual Summit of Canada’s Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters. In this article, as part of a growing body of access to justice opportunities and initiatives, we discuss some exciting new developments […]

The White House's recently announced "fund the police" measure confirms that President Joe Biden’s administration will not pursue the kind of transformative criminal justice reform many voters supported during his candidacy, despite his previous rhetoric.

A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, returned two indictments that were unsealed today, and the Department of Justice filed a third charging document today, in connection with an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old woman who was shot and killed in her Louisville home on March 13, 2020, by police officers executing a search warrant.

Law schools should be free to individualize admission criteria, argue two law school deans, a chancellor, and a law professor. They call on the ABA to repeal the requirement that applicants for J.D. programs submit standardized test scores for admission.

EPA approves plan to truck contaminated soil from one North Carolina Black community to another; hazardous waster landfills

The ACLU says the law, which bans filming of police within eight feet, is ‘blatantly unconstitutional’.

We should trust individuals to make their own decisions. Raise your voice for everyone's freedom to read. #UniteAgainstBookBans

States must craft policies to rein in unbridled police access to newborn blood samples.

AALL Spectrum - AALL Spectrum / July/August 2022 / Volume 26, Number 6

The latest Tweet by Reuters states, 'Whole Foods workers lose appeal over 'Black Lives Matter' masks ...' 🌎 Whole Foods Workers Lose Appeal over 'Black Lives Matter' Masks - Latest Tweet by Reuters.

By Mikayla Redden I hadn’t been in graduate school more than a month when I noticed something alarming about the Library of Congress (LoC) classification system—the alphanumeric system we, in acade…

Post contributed by John B. Gartrell, Director, John Hope Franklin Research Center Duke University Libraries is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Civil Rights Movement Archive (CRMA) that designates the Duke Libraries as the stewards who will preserve and sustain the CRMA when the current managers are no longer … Continue reading Duke Libraries Partners with the Civil Rights Movement Archive to Sustain Activist Centered History →

Violators of the new law, which includes exceptions for traffic stops, will face a misdemeanor charge and up to 30 days in jail

Recently signed legislation in Arizona would bar people from recording video of police officers within 8 feet after being told not to.

Everywhere you look someone is worried that America has gotten too woke, writes W. Kamau Bell. For the premiere episode of the new season of 'United Shades of America,' Bell delves into the war on 'woke' in the state he refers as 'desert Florida.'

The 2022 Urban Libraries Unite Trauma Study addresses a crisis of trauma in urban public libraries.

Data from last year showed that of the state police department's roughly 1,400 troopers, only 172 were Black.

Spurred by a growing grassroots movement during the mid-20th century, Congress passed landmark legislation to protect Americans’ civil rights, to end discrimination, and to ensure access to the ballot. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 focused on access to public accommodations and equal employment. Despite its far-reaching provisions, the bill did not fully address barriers to voting in America, leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The narratives in this exhibit tell the stories of these important pieces of legislation.

Aftershock, a grimly revealing new documentary, focuses on grieving families in a system that endangers women of colour

A list of allegedly fake Native Americans has begun circulating in tribal and academic circles, accusing 195 people of falsely claiming an Indian identity for personal gain.

On Tuesday, we gathered with more than 70 of our colleagues for an information session on our recently announced Digital Equity Project. Our goal was to give some context and background on the project, share information on our big-picture plans and the opportunities this new funding presents, and answer questions from our community.  In 2019, …

By Lynie Awywen Black Lives Still Matter. It has been over two years since the untimely death of George Floyd, a Black man who died when Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his ne…