Constance Baker Motley Speaker Series on Racial Inequality

Webinar
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time)

During this multi-part series, attendees will explore the history of slavery in Connecticut through a legal lens. During this first part of the series, attendees will discuss the history of slavery and its legality in the northern/New England states in the antebellum period, the early abolition movement, the economic impact of slavery during this time, and Connecticut’s gradual emancipation law, which resulted in slavery continuing in Connecticut as late as 1848, when there were only a handful of persons enslaved in the state. Later events in the multi-part series will examine the ways that the present legal sphere was shaped by CT’s history of slavery and explore current and future initiatives engaging with that history.

Webinar
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Join us for a conversation with a panel of esteemed professors who will discuss the history of American immigration laws, the motivations behind the enactment of various statutes and their racially disparate impact over the course of the last hundred and fifty years.

Webinar
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time)

The Rules of Evidence are used on a daily basis in the legal system, but little thought is given to how those rules reflect the cultural norms, sensibilities, and racial biases operating at an institutional and societal level at the time they were written. Practitioners and laypeople alike may believe that the Rules of Evidence are unbiased and equitable, but we find racially coded language throughout, and the application of these rules cannot escape the system in which they are employed. Often times, race and racism themselves are used as de facto evidence and sources of proof. This program will explore the development of the Rules of Evidence, examining what was going on at the time the rules were developed, the many examples of how parties do not experience equitable evidentiary burdens, and the negative effect that racially-biased use of the Rules of Evidence can have on the economic empowerment of people of color. From lack of evidentiary scrutiny to the introduction of antiracist expert evidence, we can see how race is used as a proxy for credibility and character, further enflaming racial stereotypes and negatively influencing jurisprudential decision making.

Webinar
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time)

The right to vote is the foundation of American democracy, enabling the ordinary citizen to raise their voice to reflect the collective will of the American people. But can the promise that a vote represents be realized when voters are confronted with significant obstacles to exercising that right? For generations, Black voters and other voters of color have faced discriminatory policies and other obstacles that disproportionately affect their communities. These obstacles include limited polling places, long lines at the polls, voter identification laws, restrictive voting hours, and fewer opportunities to vote by mail.

Zoom
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM (Eastern Daylight Time)