Since its founding, the United States government has created and then abrogated treaties with tribal nations, taken tribal land, and pushed policies aimed at stripping indigenous communities of their language and culture. On a day that we celebrate the ratification of our founding document, it is important to remember and better understand the extent to which the U.S. Constitution specifically addresses tribal sovereignty and the ways in which the U.S. government, often enabled by the federal judiciary, has too often blithely violated that sovereignty and harmed the citizens of tribal nations.
Join ACS as we explore the unique impact our constitutional “founding failures” had for Native Americans, the ways in which that legacy differs from other marginalized populations excluded from the original constitutional bargain, and the lessons we can learn to move forward in redressing the harms the United States has committed against tribal nations and their people.
Welcome Remarks: Russ Feingold, President, ACS
Featured Speakers: Ambassador Keith Harper, Partner, Jenner & Block, Moderator Chase Iron Eyes, Lead Counsel, Lakota People’s Law Project Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Foundation Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law Elizabeth Reese, Assistant Professor of Law, Stanford University Law School Addie Rolnick, San Manuel Professor of Law, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law
Now that American troops have left Afghanistan, the story of the remaining 39 detainees in the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay Cuba may or may not be coming to an end. The fate of these men is in the hands of both the Biden administration – which states it wants to close the facility – and the judiciary, which is more conservative and more deferential to the executive branch than it was 20 years ago when it granted limited habeas corpus rights to detainees.
What does this changed judiciary and polarized political climate mean for the remaining Guantanamo detainees? Will courts defer to executive branch claims that the U.S. Government can legally detain suspected terrorists after the withdrawal from Afghanistan as the Justice Department claims? If so, what does this say about how – or if – the judiciary will police separation of powers and protect civil liberties in the face of national security claims moving forward? And what is Congress' role in all of this – what has it done and what should it do?
Welcome Remarks: Russ Feingold, President, ACS
Featured Speakers: Linda Greenhouse, Clinical Lecturer in Law and a Senior Research Scholar in Law, Yale Law School, Moderator Baher Azmy, Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights Hina Shamsi, Director of the National Security Project, American Civil Liberties Union Rita Siemion, Senior Counsel, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Steve Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts, University of Texas Austin Law School
In recent months, a growing number of states have enacted laws prohibiting the teaching in public schools of curricula that posits systemic racism permeates American society as a result of the legacy of slavery and the racial caste system it created. Public debate has focused on the teaching of critical race theory, and objections have been lodged against the use of The New York Times' 1619 Project materials, more specifically, and to diversity, equity and inclusion training, more broadly. What are we to make of this movement and what should be the response? Do state legislatures have the authority to enact such bans? What are the implications for academic autonomy? Join ACS for a discussion with experts about the relevant law and policy questions and answers.
Welcome Remarks: Russ Feingold, President, ACS
Featured Speakers: Alice O' Brien, General Counsel, National Education Association Khiara M. Bridges, Professor of Law, Berkeley Law Jin Hee Lee, Senior Deputy Director of Litigation & Director of Strategic Initiatives, NAACP LDF, moderator
As our nation continues to grapple with the legacy of slavery and the racial caste system it created, activists have been calling for the long-overdue dismantling of systemic racism. ACS has joined a growing coalition of organizations and thought leaders calling for a truth, racial healing, and transformation commission to take a hard look at the role our legal systems and institutions have played in building and maintaining racial inequality. What should truth, racial healing, and transformation look like in the United States, and how do we get there? How can other countries' experiences with truth and reconciliation commissions inform our own? How does the growing movement for reparations fit into this work?
Welcome Remarks: Russ Feingold, President, ACS
Featured Speakers: Dreisen Heath, Researcher/Advocate, Human Rights Watch Dr. Yuvraj Joshi, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia Allard School of Law Zenita Wickham Hurley, Chief Counsel for Civil Rights, Maryland Office of the Attorney General Zinelle October, Executive Vice President, ACS, Moderator
ACS hosted its annual Supreme Court Review panel discussion reviewing the 2020-21 Supreme Court term on July 1. Leading experts discussed the court's noteworthy decisions and analyzed emerging trends.
Welcome Remarks: Russ Feingold, President, ACS
Featured Speakers: ACS President Russ Feingold Thomas Goldstein, Partner, Goldstein and Russell; Co-Founder and Publisher, SCOTUSblog (Moderator) Debo Adegbile, Partner, WilmerHale Rachel Barkow, Vice Dean and Charles Seligson Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Center on the Administration of Criminal Law; NYU School of Law Sarah Harris, Partner, Williams & Connolly Elizabeth Sepper, Professor of Law, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law Pratik Shah, Partner, Akin Gump
Leadership in the Face of Hate: A Conversation in Response to Rising Anti-Asian Racism and Violence
Panelists: Lorraine K. Bannai, Director, Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality; Professor of Lawyering Skills, Seattle University School of Law, Moderator Goodwin H. Liu, Associate Justice, California Supreme Court Hon. Grace Meng, United States Representative, 6th Congressional District of New York Hon. William Tong, Attorney General, State of Connecticut
