OpEd

During Symposium, Law Students Tackle Racial Inequity in Legal System

Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer

More than a dozen HBCU law students spent 10 months conducting research and learning from experienced attorneys in their endeavor to tackle racial inequity in the legal system.

Their work culminated in the development of solutions they recently presented before an audience of their peers and advocates during the second annual Equity in Law Symposium.

Law students from D.C., Texas and Louisiana converged on the second floor of the Conrad Hotel in Northwest on Friday, October 28, to present projects designed to tackle various manifestations of racial inequity in the legal system.

Issues addressed at the Equity in Law Symposium included transparency in real estate appraisals, Georgia’s death penalty, marijuana arrests, school resource officers and how to make court appearances easier.

Alexus McNeal, a third-year law student at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law focused on diversifying law school casebooks so law students can study and analyze more landmark cases involving African Americans.

For McNeal, this particular solution highlighted a moral dilemma African-American lawyers face when they're navigating a legal system that upholds racial inequity while disregarding their unique outlook and experiences.

“Law is a discipline through which history can be charted through cases,” McNeal said. “By not putting cases that affect us in casebooks, we lack the chance to establish our record of achievement," she added.

McNeal and her peers represented the second cohort of the LexisNexis African Ancestry Network & LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation Fellowship.

Since its inception last year, the LexisNexis African Ancestry Network & LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation Fellowship has advanced a mission to eliminate racial discrimination in the legal system. That work has been documented in "Increasing Equity in the Legal System," a collection of advocacy papers written by the 2022 fellows.

Students representing member schools in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Law School Consortium made presentations. Their presentation topics fell into one of 6 cohorts. After each cohort of presenters showcased their project, award-winning journalist and documentary producer Soledad O'Brien, moderator and keynote speaker at the Equity in Law Symposium, engaged them in discussion.

In his presentation, Edrius Stagg, a law student in his last year at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana proposed using big data to diversify the jury pool and ensure it accurately reflects the demographics of a jurisdiction where a defendant is facing trial.

For years, attorneys in Louisiana selected prospective adult jurors with no criminal record exclusively from voter and homeownership rolls. Stagg, referencing a criminal defendant who pointed out the danger of this arrangement, said the status quo increased the likelihood of Black defendants not standing before a jury of their peers.

Stagg added that without tapping into readily available data, government officials in Louisiana and elsewhere would not be able to fully guarantee that the jury selection pool accurately represents a wide and diverse range of residents.

“One would think that’s intrusive but this information is public and it’s what people voluntarily give," Stagg said. "It’s not as intrusive as it is a means to an end. We’re making sure that all accused persons are given the opportunity [to a fair jury trial]. It’s about creating a different avenue for the government to create this list and increase the diversity.”

In her presentation, Brianna Joaseus highlighted Tate v. Austin, a court case in which a Black couple alleged racial discrimination in the home appraisal process. Her project, a checklist that targets biases and discriminatory practices, takes into account the gaps in the housing laws that appraisers and others have used to marginalize non-white homeowners.

“This will substantially impact minority consumers to help them keep their land," said Joaseus, a third-year law student at Southern University Law Center. “The monumental part of my project is about generational wealth. This is hopefully a solution.” WI @SamPKCollins

4 (From left seated) Adonica Black, director of Global Talent and Inclusion for LexisNexis, Soledad O`Brien, and Ronda Moore, Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer with LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation Fellows in Northwest on Oct. 28. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

Biden, What Have You Done For Me Lately?

With two weeks to go until the midterm elections, President Joe Biden took the stage last week at the Lincoln Theatre to encourage people to get to the polls and vote for the Democrats running nationally.

Before a crowd of reproductive rights advocates and Democratic operatives, Biden promised that if Democrats hold their majorities in the House and the Senate this November, the first bill he will send to Congress will protect abortion access at the federal level. Telling the crowd he will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by signing the law, he said, “Together we will restore the right to choose for every woman in every state in America.”

Although voters living in the District don’t get to cast ballots for Senators, voting congressional representatives or governors, it’s imperative that we remind our friends and family in the rest of the country what’s at issue.

Celebrities such as rapper Killer Mike and Luke Campbell of 2 Live Crew fame have argued that supporting the Biden/Harris Administration and the democrats this fall is akin to ignoring Black men’s concerns. While it’s impossible to please every Black voter, it’s important to stress that the current GOP have resisted the Biden Administration’s aims to pass laws and policies that directly benefit Black people.

Here are highlights of just a few of the laws passed under this administration:`

H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan that cut Black child poverty by more than 33% overall. It made more Black families eligible for the child tax credit, and helped to feed 30 million children with the summer EBT program and expansion of WIC benefits.

H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that addresses climate change, health care costs, job creation and corporate taxes. But it also capped out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 for the 1.6 million to 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries taking insulin, and it limits out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for seniors at $2,000 each year.

This bill also gives $3 billion in Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants to cut pollution and improve public health in communities that have suffered from long-standing environmental and health hazards. Sixty billion dollars worth of environmental justice initiatives are now being funded through this act.

H.R. 55, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act that makes lynching a federal hate crime, and will impose fines and prision terms up to 30 years, on anyone who commits a lynching.

While national polls reflect that voters are concerned right now about the economy and inflation issues that typically favor republicans, it’s important to keep in mind that this administration is far likelier to pass laws that benefit Black families. Voting for democrats is also more likely to insure voter rights and access around the country. And surely, even the most disgruntled rap artist would agree.

WI

Affirmative Action is a Cure that Needs More Time

Race relations is the number one problem facing America. Some will admit it, but fewer are willing to commit to doing the work to end racism and discrimination that impacts almost all people of color. The victims of racism experience it on the job, on the street, in the doctor’s office, at the DMV, at the bank, in the grocery store, in the classroom and the courtroom, in college admissions, and anywhere else every American should expect equal and fair treatment.

In the early 1600s, when Africans were brought to the U.S. by force, laws were established to ensure they would never be treated equally. The legacy of slavery remains, even though laws were created to protect Black people from inhumane treatment to provide equal protection under the law.

Are we there yet?

Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week regarding one of the protections Blacks and others lost their lives seeking. The movie Till is a reminder of what it took to force policymakers to pass laws that reinforced those protections and to create a system that promotes equal opportunities and fairness. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The law laid the ground for affirmative action policies, which forced open doors to the “others” that were previously once open for Whites only.

Consistently, individuals and institutions decide to test the waters to see if the progress

What a powerful photo that was on the cover of the last edition of the Washington Informer. It was truly one of those moments worth a thousand words: the pink casket and the messages on the hoodie. We must bring attention to environmental racism to our elected leaders and make them do their jobs.

Debra Gould Washington, DC

TO THE EDITOR

Karine Thomas Bowie, Md.

Blacks, in particular, have attained enough to do away with affirmative action policies. At Monday’s hearing, Harvard University and the University of North Carolina tested affirmative action mandates.

In some ways, it reduces the acclamations of success Black people have experienced. While they can point to numerous achievements they have made over the decades, inequality and inequity continue to exist. There is no statistic one can point to

I cannot believe there are people in this country (Republicans) who have a problem with student loan relief. What sense does that make? And now a judge has temporarily blocked the order. Why? What’s the difference between this loan forgiveness and the various other forgiveness programs? I can’t help but think it’s because of who will be positively impacted.

that shows Blacks have significantly caught up with whites, suggesting affirmative action should be a thing of the past.

No, we are not there yet, and we won’t be as long as others have the power to decide when Black folks have been given enough. In this case, the decision rests with the nine justices that sit on the Supreme Court. And how did they get there? Think about that when you decide whether to vote on November 8.

WI