Starting February 11, the weeklong celebration will focus on contemporary social justice issues like the #MeToo movement, immigration, Bail Reform, and many more.
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UMass Law is hosting Justice Week 2019 starting on February 11. The weeklong celebration is also an awareness campaign of contemporary social justice issues.
This annual event is hosted by the National Lawyers’ Guild – UMass Law Chapter, the Black Law Students Association, and other UMass Law affinity groups. This year’s theme is "Gender, Gentry, and Grace." Topics covered will be the impact of the #MeToo movement, the state of immigration, Bail Reform, and more parallel social justice issues. While the discussion of these issues in the current political climate may bring out frustration and sadness, the week looks to celebrate the positive aspects that unite.
All events are held at UMass Law, and include:
Bail Reform with Brandy Henry of the Mass Bail Fund
February 11, 12-1pm, LL7 (Downstairs Hearing Room) Hosted by National Lawyers Guild.
According to Massachusetts Law, bail is meant to ensure that people return to court. However, research shows that reliance on cash bail is no better than effective pretrial conditions or phone or mail reminders in ensuring that a defendant returns to court to address his or her case. Currently, many women and men in Bristol County are locked up, legally innocent, but unable to post bail, sometimes as little as $150. The longer they are locked up, the more likely it is that they may lose their jobs, apartments, connections to social services, counseling & treatment, even custody of their children. Join Brandy Henry of the Mass Bail Fund to hear how about reform efforts in the cash bail system, including a community fund.
CPCS v AG (The Dookhan Case) with CPCS Attorney Rebecca Jacobstein
February 12, 12-1pm, Room-123 (Moot Court Room) Hosted by Criminal Law Society.
In its decision in Committee for Public Counsel Services v. Attorney General (CPCS v. AG), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court dismissed thousands of drug cases found to have been tainted by misconduct by a state chemist at the Amherst Drug Lab and, later, prosecutorial misconduct by two former assistant attorneys general. Hear CPCS Attorney Rebecca Jacobstein’s firsthand account of this landmark case.
The Body Politic or the Politics of the Body? The Law and Social Constructions of Gender with Professor’s Jeremiah Ho and Margaret Drew
February 13, 12-1pm, Room-123 (Moot Court Room) Hosted by UMass Law Faculty
Professors Margaret Drew & Jeremiah Ho will lead a book-group style discussion on gender and identity performance, and its implications within the law. The discussion will be premised on two very short readings by Judith Butler and Kenji Yoshino.
DeportNation with Immigration Attorney Matt Cameron
February 14, 12-1pm, Room-123 (Moot Court Room) Hosted by National Lawyers Guild.
Immigration Attorney Matt Cameron, recently returned from US-Mexico border, shares his trials and tribulations with the US Immigration system.
#MeToo with Lee Clasper-Torch of the Ten Men Project
February 14, 5:30-6:30pm, Room-123 (Moot Court Room) Hosted by Legal Association of Women.
A #MeToo panel focusing on sexual harassment in the workplace. How sexual harassment relates to pay inequity and how men can take on the responsibility of shifting the culture of sexual harassment and violence against women and girls.