Amicus Blog
Over Zoom and In-Person, Prosecution is Criminally Inefficient
In the good ol’ days before the pandemic, what may have felt like efficiency in the criminal legal system was really just the whirring machinery of the New Jim Crow. We should care about the efficiency of the criminal legal system. But we must define it appropriately. Does each hour and dollar we invest in it do all that it can to repair harm, help individuals thrive, and build strong communities?
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This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. This week, President Biden forms a panel to study Supreme Court reform, Maryland establishes a multitude of police reform measures, and California’s COVID-19 related restrictions are once again struck down by the Supreme Court.
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Historic New York State Legislation Shows Us What is Possible When Elected Officials Listen to Organizers and Directed-Impacted Communities
On the morning of March 31st, New York, home to the city once considered to be the marijuana arrest capital of the world, became the 15th state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Just hours later, the Governor signed into law an act dramatically limiting...
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Rejecting the Myth of Amateurism Beyond NCAA v. Alston
At the center of the case is the sustainability of the NCAA’s vision of “amateurism” in the face of growing profits, coaches’ salaries, and public skepticism. But amateurism—the belief that sports is part of a students’ educational experience which would be undermined by the pursuit of profit— has been a tool for racist and classist exploitation since its inception.
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This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. This week, evictions are continuing despite the federal moratorium, Virginia bans the “gay/trans panic” defense, President Biden announces his first slate of judicial nominees, and the second week of the trial of Derek Chauvin begins.
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Supreme Court Considers Property Rights—and Future of Regulation—in Cedar Point
The Supreme Court heard oral argument last week in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. The case, brought by two agricultural employers, involves a challenge to a 1975 California regulation that requires businesses employing farmworkers to allow union organizers on their...
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Will the Pandemic Change How the Federal Government Provides Support to Children and their Families?
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended households across the country and exacerbated long-existing income inequalities. As has been well documented, not all have felt the effects of the pandemic and its corresponding economic crisis the same. Women, caregivers, and...
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This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Pressure builds to push the Biden Administration to address the overcrowding and harsh conditions in federal detention facilities; the Supreme Court will review a Boston federal appeals court decision vacating...
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Wave of Anti-Trans Legislation Threatens Kids Nationwide
Across the country, Republican state legislators have introduced bills that would enshrine discrimination against trans student athletes. But the bills have an even larger goal and impact: telling trans people, and in particular trans kids, that they don’t belong....
read more2021 Ames Moot Court Finals Live Blog
Welcome to the 2021 Ames Final – the first Ames Final to be conducted in a virtual setting. Live coverage begins at 5:00pm EST The following information is courtesy of the HLS BSAs. You can see all of tonight’s information, including copies of the briefs, here. The...
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Pleas Are Out of Control. The Fix? Put Communities Back Where They Belong
Community Plea Proposal Panels move review by a jury of one’s peers to the most critical phase in the modern criminal adjudication process. They would empower communities that best know the harms caused by crime and the effects of criminal sentences, rather than prosecutors, to craft the disposition in most criminal cases.
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This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Welcome to This Week in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Folks in Jackson, Mississippi are still without running water, state legislatures continue to introduce and pass anti-trans legislation, and jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former officer...
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Hey! You! It's Friday afternoon and I know you're not really working. Take a minute to read my post on @HarvardCRCL's blog! I reflect on my recent experience in West Roxbury court and how we define "efficiency" in the criminal legal system.
https://harvardcrcl.org/criminally-inefficient/
Today on the Amicus Blog, @ava_cilia uses NY's recent marijuana law to explore what's possible when elected officials listen to organizers and directly-impacted communities! https://harvardcrcl.org/historic-new-york-state-legislation-shows-us-what-is-possible-when-elected-officials-listen-to-organizers-and-directed-impacted-communities/
A new episode of our podcast, Taking Liberties, is up! On this episode, @GeorgiaArmani_ speaks with Professor Spencer H. Boyer, the founder of CR-CL and a professor at @howardlawschool. They discuss the most pressing civil liberties issues we face today! https://harvardcrcl.org/taking-liberties-episode-15-prof-spencer-h-boyer-on-the-founding-of-cr-cl/