CJRL Will Publish Symposium on Economic Injustice in Upcoming Volume

On Friday, November 4, 2011, the Journal hosted its second annual symposium at Columbia Law School’s Jerome Greene Hall.  The event was entitled “Show Me the Money: Race, the Great Recession, and the Challenge of Economic Injustice,” and featured an array of legal scholars who specialize in the intersection of race, class, and ethnicity and economic inequality.  The presentations provided insight on a variety of issues, including the role of federal housing policy on the mortgage crisis during the economic downturn; the impact of the Tea Party movement on the latest political climate and laws which disproportionately have an impact on Americans of color; and policies regarding local taxes, student lending and banking practices that affect the financial stability of low-income people of color.  Papers from the conference will be published in a symposium issue in Volume 3 during the 2012-13 school year.

CJRL is the only journal at the law school which has made a commitment to hosting an annual symposium on a pressing issue of race and law.  Its inaugural symposium, “So Goes Arizona, So Goes the Nation? Immigration and Civil Rights in the 21st Century,” focused on Arizona’s S.B. 1070 and the impact of America’s immigration policies on the Latino community.  The event featured a debate between Heather McDonald of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.  A symposium issue of select papers from that conference can be found in the Archives under Volume 1, Issue 2.  “For CJRL, scholarship happens in the pages of the journal, but also at gatherings that allow members of diverse communities of scholars, lawyers, students and activists to connect and share perspectives,” said Jade Craig, the Journal’s former Editor-in-Chief.  The Journal’s third annual symposium will be held this fall.

This year’s symposium was funded through generous contributions from the law firms of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Dechert LLP and DLA Piper LLP (US); Wells Fargo & Company; and the Center for the Study of Law & Culture at Columbia Law School.