Recent uclalaw_nblj items

Forgotten First: Macon Bolling Allen and the Journey to Becoming America's First Black Attorney

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article seeks to remove the shroud of mystery from this overlooked chapter in the annals of the legal profession. Section I of the article looks at Macon Bolling Allen’s humble beginnings. Section II examines standards for bar admission during the first half of the nineteenth century. Section III of the article looks at why Maine seemed to have been the most hospitable site for Macon Bolling Allen’s unprecedented attempt to become a lawyer, including Allen’s fortuitous backing by noted Maine abolitionist attorney Samuel Fessenden. Section IV looks at the historic admission itself, analyzing the setbacks and opposition that Allen had to overcome. Finally, Section V examines the aftermath of Allen’s triumphant achievement. His tenure in Maine rendered short-lived by uncertain financial prospects, and Allen relocated to Massachusetts in search of greener pastures. After gaining admission to the bar there in 1845, Allen carved out a precarious professional existence in the...

Stealing Education

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

While most state constitutions include provisions that indicate a commitment to equal access to education within one state, that commitment remains unfulfilled. This Article shines a light on a practice that has been overlooked by those concerned about school district inequality, but that contributes to this incongruity: a phenomenon I call “stealing education.” A parent “steals” education when he falsifies a child’s residence to take advantage of a school district’s schools. Stealing education also refers to the legal infrastructure that allows for criminal or civil punishment.

In this Article, I argue that stealing education laws contribute to the apparatus of race-class opportunity hoarding, where a race-class-privileged community sequesters valuable resources to the exclusion of another race-class-subordinated community. I show how stealing education laws structure and perpetuate stratified school districts between residents and nonresidents and describe how many...

Reparations for Inculcation: Deconstructing the Supreme Court's Tacit Endorsement of White Hegemony in School and Reparations as a Path Forward

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This comment argues that the law constructs the education system as a hegemonic device for the inculcation of ideologies that reproduce generational inequality and white supremacy. The Supreme Court created a values paradox wherein education is revered as the most important medium to prepare students for intelligent participation in the democratic process; yet in practice, it actively subverts all students—especially ethnic and racial minorities—from ever actually or intelligently participating in the democratic process. The consequence of this inculcation produces conditions that suppress dissent, exact curriculum violence on racial and ethnic minorities, and reproduce generational insubordination. Adequate remediation of the impacts of this inculcation requires a reparations framework, to achieve the promise of education as an incubator for an intelligent, multi–racial democracy and equitable socioeconomic outcomes. Reparations repair the harms of the education system for everyone,...

Movement and Crisis: A Social Health Manifesto

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this Article, we employ the terms Health (as a white supremacist mode of being) and social health to demystify how race and health are mobilized by the state and its representative bodies to shift accountability away from their role in crafting an anti-Black world, contain and quell Black protest, and how Black communities have dreamt and practiced alternative definitions of health whereby empowerment was achieved both nutritionally and politically.

Front Matter

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

Unveiling Complexity: Genetic Testing, Black Ancestry, and Legal Implications

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper critically examines the intersection of law, systemic inequality, and social justice, focusing on the structural barriers that marginalized communities face in accessing equitable legal remedies. By analyzing relevant case law, statutory frameworks, and empirical research, the study explores how legalinstitutions both perpetuate and address disparities. It delves into the historical and contemporary factors that contribute to these inequities, highlighting the role of implicit bias, economic constraints, and institutional policies in shaping legal outcomes. Additionally, the paper evaluates proposed reforms and policy interventions aimed at fostering a more just legal system, assessing their effectiveness in practice. Through this analysis, the paper underscores the dual nature of law—as both a mechanism of oppression and a vehicle for social change—while advocating for strategies that enhance equity and accountability within the legal landscape.

Contrasting Legal Perspectives on the Necessity of Positive Law to Sustain Slavery in Antebellum America

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper explores how the Antebellum South’s legal system perpetuated slavery through entrenched societal norms and judicial precedents, contrasting sharply with the principles established in Somerset v. Stewart.

This paper will proceed by examining the various legal perspectives on the necessity of positive law to sustain slavery in the United States used during the Antebellum Period. Section I will explore the legal origins of slavery, highlighting significant court cases in slaveholding states that shaped the institution’s legal framework. Section II will contrast these perspectives with those in non-slaveholding states, which often adhered to the precedent set in Somerset v. Stewart, requiring explicit legal authorization for slavery. Section III will discuss the role of domicile in determining the status of slaves, analyzing cases where the slave owner’s residence influenced the legal standing of enslaved individuals. The conclusion will synthesize these findings,...

The Constitutionality of Diversity Fellowship Programs at Big Law Firms: What are Diversity Programs and Why Should You Care If They Exist?

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the constitutionality of diversity fellowship programs at major law firms, contextualized within recent Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and ongoing legal challenges to diversity, equity, and includion (DEI) initiatives. The analysis begins by exploring the role and importance of diversity fellowship programs in promoting inclusion and addressing systemic inequities in the legal profession. The paper then delves into the implications of the Supreme Court's decisions on affirmative action for Black law students, highlighting the potential impact on admissions, educational experiences, and career opportunities. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the attacks on diversity fellowships by conservative legal activists and the subsequent changes made by law firms to their fellowship programs to avoid litigation. The discussion also considers the application of the American Bar Association's Rules of Legal Ethics to these diversity programs, questioning their constitutionality...

The New Racially Restrictive Covenant: Race, Welfare, and the Policing of Black Women in Subsidized Housing

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This Article explores the race, gender, and class dynamics that render poor Black women vulnerable to racial surveillance and harassment in predominately white communities. In particular, this Article interrogates the recent phenomenon of police officers and public officials enforcing private citizens' discriminatory complaints, which ultimately excludes Black women and their children from publicly subsidized housing in traditionally white neighborhoods. The Article suggests that these particular mechanisms represent a confluence of the racially exclusionary workings of the social welfare state and the criminal justice system. I thus argue that the concerted effort of welfare and criminal policing institutions, together with private actors, to restrict the housing choices of poor Black women functions in ways that are analogous to the formally repudiated racially restrictive covenant.

Front Matter

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

The Failure of Litigation to Challenge Racism in Health Care

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this article, I use a critical race approach and a civil rights of health framework to examine the role of racism in medical treatment, specifically of Black women. Because racism is built into our institutions, widespread in our culture, and influences our beliefs and behavior, it is necessary to recognize and understand its universal presence when determining the most effective method to confront its impact on patient care in the health care setting. The current civil rights doctrine is ineffective in addressing this insidious racism, which is why I propose a doctrinal shift in disparate impact claims and use patient narratives to demonstrate the need for this shift. This new doctrinal framework assumes the existence of bias once a patient has identified disparate impact, shifting the burden to the defendant to prove this impact was not a result of discrimination. This change removes the need for plaintiffs to identify a specific discriminatory policy or practice and acknowledges...

Suppressing Learning About Race and Law: A New Badge of Slavery? – A Brief Commentary

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

While recognizing intersectionality and its importance to critical race thinking, this Article begins in Part I with a discussion of the national efforts to suppress learning about race and law. Part II discusses the historical silencing of enslaved people and the origins of Thirteenth Amendment doctrine outlawing badges of slavery. Part III explores the new badges of slavery, and Part IV outlines the utility of Thirteenth Amendment doctrine in stopping legislation that suppresses learning about race. The Article provides a historical analysis of the Thirteenth Amendment and its application to both judicial doctrine and legislative power. This Article proposes that the Thirteenth Amendment is a source of both juridical and legislative remedies available today as a counter to the new attempt at badges of slavery.

This Article overall will discuss war against African Americans implicated in this legislation, including its linkage to other race-based suppression, such as...

Front Matter

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

American Exclusion Doctrine: A Response to Liberal Defenses of Stare Decisis

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Stare decisis has long been considered a conservative doctrine. Yet, in recent years, liberals have taken up a defense of the legal principle in efforts to preserve key liberal precedents. Despite the existing critiques of stare decisis as oppressive, political, and inconsistent, advocates along the entire political spectrum continue to claim its value as a neutral tool that ensures equality, consistency, and impartiality in jurisprudence. This Note pushes back on liberal defenses of stare decisis by highlighting well-established critiques through a case study of Supreme Court decisions on citizenship. The analysis, based on Critical Race Theory, provides an original approach to critiques of stare decisis and contextualizes the potential harm from continued advocacy to protect “progressive” decisions for the sake of setting liberal precedent.

Annalise Keating's Portrayal as a Black Attorney is the Real Scandal: Examining How the Use of Stereotypical Depictions of Black Women can Lead to the Formation of Implicit Biases

Tue, 8 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Law firms are struggling to increase the representation and retention of Black women, and Black women have reported feeling excluded, invisible, and a lack of support within law firms. In this Comment, I posit that ABC’s hit show “How to Get Away with Murder” over relies on traditional negative stereotypes about Black women. Annalise Keating, the show’s lead character, conforms to the stereotypes of the Jezebel, the Mammy, and the Angry Black Woman. Further, Keating’s representation as a Black female attorney is uniquely significant because historically Black women have done very little lawyering on the television screen. Thus, Keating’s representation as a Black female attorney on a show that has garnered upwards of twenty million viewers in a single episode is extremely influential, as it can have the effect of shaping audiences’ perceptions about Black women in the legal profession. As a result, I argue that the show’s negative depiction of Keating as a Black female attorney...

Could the State Takeover of Public Schools Create a State-Created Danger? Theorizing at the Intersection of State Takeover Districts, the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and Racial Oppression

Tue, 8 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Federal courts have consistently rejected plaintiffs’ arguments that the government is liable when citizens suffer injuries at the hands of private third parties. In the context of education, there are few cases where federal courts have held that schools are liable for the injuries that students incur at the hands of private third parties. This Article puts forth a theoretical argument for schools, specifically schools operating under the governance of a state takeover district in a predominately Black school district with a predominately Black-elected school board, to be held liable for participating in disciplinary practices that are linked to the school-to-prison pipeline. The Article first traces the roots of the State-Created Danger Doctrine and then discusses the role of education reform policies in enabling the school-to-prison pipeline. Next, the Article provides a statistical analysis of three case studies in state takeover districts (Detroit, Memphis, and New Orleans)....

Front Matter

Tue, 8 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

Tue, 8 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Table of Contents

Editor's Note & Acknowledgements

Tue, 8 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note & Acknowledgements

Creating a Roadmap to a LGBTQ Affirmative Action Scheme: An Article on Parallel Histories, the Diversity Rational, and Escaping Strict Scrutiny

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Creating a Roadmap to a LGBTQ Affirmative Action Scheme: An Article on Parallel Histories, the Diversity Rational, and Escaping Strict Scrutiny

Editor's Note

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note

Rad Talk: The Radical Solidarity of Dolores Huerta and Harry Belafonte

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Rad Talk: The Radical Solidarity of Dolores Huerta and Harry Belafonte

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Table of Contents

Why Diversity Fails: Social Dominance Theory and the Entrenchment of Racial Inequality

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Why Diversity Fails: Social Dominance Theory and the Entrenchment of Racial Inequality

The Myth of Abortion as Black Genocide: Reclaiming our Reproductive Cycle

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Myth of Abortion as Black Genocide: Reclaiming our Reproductive Cycle

Front Matter

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Front Matter

Editors' Note

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[no abstract]

“I’ll Say I’m Home, I Won’t Say I’m Free”: Persistent Barriers to Housing, Employment, and Financial Security for Formerly Incarcerated People in Low-Income Communities of Color

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

Acknowledgements

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[no abstract]

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

[Front Matter]

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[No abtract]

The Impact of Race and Policing -- Past, Present, and Future

Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy by Howard Jones

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy by Howard Jones

Minority Vote Dilution edited by Chandler Davidson.

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Minority Vote Dilution edited by Chandler Davidson.

ALEXANDER P. TUREAUD 1899-1972

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

ALEXANDER P. TUREAUD 1899-1972

THE HONORABLE IVAN L.R. LEMELLE

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

THE HONORABLE IVAN L.R. LEMELLE

Best Intentions: The Education and Killing of Edmund Perry by Robert Sam Anson

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Best Intentions: The Education and Killing of Edmund Perry by Robert Sam Anson

"THE LORD DON'T LIKE NO UGLY."- RACISM IN AMERICA And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice by Derrick Bell

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

"THE LORD DON'T LIKE NO UGLY."- RACISM IN AMERICA And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice by Derrick Bell

Honorable Mentions

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

"THE STAFF OF THE NATIONAL BLACK LAW JOURNALCONSORTIUM BOARD WOULD LIKE TO GIVEHONORABLE MENTION TO THE FOLLOWING MEMBERSOF THE JUDICIARY IN THE STATE OF LOUISIANA FORTHEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD CIVIL RIGHTS ANDJUSTICE:Judge Joan Bernard ArmstrongCourt of Appeal - 4th CircuitState of LouisianaNew Orleans, LAJudge Lionel R. Collins24th Judicial District ofJefferson Parish - State of LouisianaGretna, LAMagistrate Louis MooreFederal Magistrate in theEastern District of LouisianaNew Orleans, LA"

UNCONSTRAINED IDEOLOGY: A POLEMICAL REVIEW OF THOMAS SOWELL'S A CONFLICT OF VISIONS

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

UNCONSTRAINED IDEOLOGY: A POLEMICAL REVIEW OF THOMAS SOWELL'S A CONFLICT OF VISIONS

Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman

Minority Report: What Has Happened To Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, And Other Minorities In The Eighties, edited by Leslie W. Dunbar

Thu, 9 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Minority Report: What Has Happened To Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, And Other Minorities In The Eighties, edited by Leslie W. Dunbar

Judicial Politics: An Introduction by Jerome R. Corsi

Thu, 9 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Judicial Politics: An Introduction by Jerome R. Corsi

Reagan for Beginners by David Smith and Melinda Gebbie

Thu, 9 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Reagan for Beginners by David Smith and Melinda Gebbie

Torts and Sports: Legal Liability in Professional and Amateur Athletics by Raymond Yasser

Thu, 9 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Torts and Sports: Legal Liability in Professional and Amateur Athletics by Raymond Yasser

BECOMING A LAWYER: A HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE ON LEGAL EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONALISM by Elizabeth Dvorkin, Jack Himmelstein, and Howard Lesnick

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

BECOMING A LAWYER: A HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE ON LEGAL EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONALISM by Elizabeth Dvorkin, Jack Himmelstein, and Howard Lesnick

BLACKS AND WHITE TV: AFRO-AMERICANS IN TELEVISION SINCE 1948 by J. Fred MacDonald

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

BLACKS AND WHITE TV: AFRO-AMERICANS IN TELEVISION SINCE 1948 by J. Fred MacDonald

CRIME AND CRIMINAL LAW: THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE, 1960-1975 by Walter L. Gordon, III

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

CRIME AND CRIMINAL LAW: THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE, 1960-1975 by Walter L. Gordon, III

THE POLITICS OF LAW: A PROGRESSIVE CRITIQUE, edited by David Kairy

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

THE POLITICS OF LAW: A PROGRESSIVE CRITIQUE, edited by David Kairy

Plain English for Lawyers by Richard C. Wydick

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Plain English for Lawyers by Richard C. Wydick

From The Black Bar-Voices For Equal Justice by Gilbert Ware

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

From The Black Bar-Voices For Equal Justice by Gilbert Ware

Taking Ideals Seriously: The Case for a Lawyers' Public Interest Movement, edited by Robert L. Ellis

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Taking Ideals Seriously: The Case for a Lawyers' Public Interest Movement, edited by Robert L. Ellis

Foreword

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

Books Received

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Books Received

THE NAACP CRUSADE AGAINST LYNCHING, 1909-1950 by Robert L. Zangrando.

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

THE NAACP CRUSADE AGAINST LYNCHING, 1909-1950 by Robert L. Zangrando.

The Dred Scott Case.- Its Sign&fcance in American Law and Politics by Don Fehrenbacher

Tue, 7 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The Dred Scott Case.- Its Sign&fcance in American Law and Politics by Don Fehrenbacher

Acknowledgements

Mon, 6 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

CREATING WISE CLASSROOMS TO EMPOWER DIVERSE LAW STUDENTS: Lessons in Pedagogy from Transformative Law Professors

Mon, 6 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Many of today’s law students experience a triple-threat. They suffer from the solo status that accompanies being a member of an underrepresented group, the stereotype threat that accompanies being a member of a stereotyped group, and the challenges that attend lacking a background in the law before beginning law school. But today’s law schools often fail to create safe1 environments, teach foundational content and skills, or take basic steps toward providing instruction that ensures students from all backgrounds are empowered to thrive. While much has been written about improving legal education and about the failure of current pedagogies to provide a sound education to students experiencing this triple-threat, little has been written about approaches that ensure that these students succeed. This article is an attempt to identify an initial pathway forward. It builds off of research regarding legal pedagogy, inclusive pedagogy, and the results of eleven in-depth-interviews with...

Editors' Note

Mon, 6 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

[Front Matter]

Mon, 6 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[No abstract]

[Dedication to Mr. Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court]

Tue, 2 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[Dedication to Mr. Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court]

Preface

Tue, 2 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Preface

Foreword

Mon, 1 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Foreword

A LAWYER'S MANUAL ON COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, A Publication of the National Housing and Economic Development Law Project

Mon, 1 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A LAWYER'S MANUAL ON COMMUNITY-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, A Publication of the National Housing and Economic Development Law Project

Struggles & Support: Diversity in U.S. Law Schools

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Struggles & Support: Diversity in U.S. Law Schools

Trading Sex, Marking Bodies: Pornographic Trademarks and the Lanham Act

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Trading Sex, Marking Bodies: Pornographic Trademarks and the Lanham Act

[Front Matter]

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

[Front Matter]

A Modest Proposal in Deference to Diversity

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A Modest Proposal in Deference to Diversity

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Table of Contents

Editor's Note

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note

A Badge of Inferiority: One Law Student's Story of a Racially Hostile Educational Environment

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A Badge of Inferiority: One Law Student's Story of a Racially Hostile Educational Environment

Nationalism, Federalism and Political Consensus