Join us as we collaborate with Texas Journal of Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, for a conference bringing together Legal scholars, practitioners, and community advocates from across the country for a discussion focused around “Criminalizing Dissent.” The programming highlights some of the most pressing issues affecting all of us, including:
Attacks on DEI in higher education
Crackdowns on campus protests (including the detention of Leqaa Kordia)
ICE violence and weaponization of immigration law
Resistance and capitulation of Big Law firms
Lawyers as the architects of political and social movements (movement lawyering)
Government accountability (which includes a legal observer training!)
Join the American Constitution Society, the Equal Justice Society, and OutLaw for a discussion with Dee Farmer, the plaintiff in the landmark 1994 prisoners' rights case Farmer v. Brennan, on the state of transgender rights in prison under the present administration.
This panel examines how the First Amendment regulates protest, policing, and public dissent, and equips students with practical tools to defend speech and assembly rights in real time. The American Constitution Society and the National Lawyers Guild at the William S. Boyd School of Law will host a moderated discussion featuring:
Jacob T.S. Valentine (he/him), Staff Attorney, ACLU,
Frank Rudy Cooper, William S. Boyd Professor of Law and Director of the Program on Race, Gender & Policing, and
Shaelyn Dieter, Clark County Public Defender’s Office, with a student moderator.
Speakers will address First Amendment-related litigation, criminal procedure defenses, police authority and limits, and the legal strategies lawyers use to protect demonstrators and communities facing arrest or surveillance.
The event is open to law students, faculty, and community advocates interested in civil rights, criminal defense, and movement lawyering.
Co-sponsors include ACS and NLG. RSVP will be open to the Boyd community and local advocates to support broad participation and dialogue.
Register via Zoom: https://unlv.zoom.us/meeting/register/PolpcZMeT7KZmyMJFV0_kQ
Join ACS for a panel discussion on Michigan's ongoing housing crisis. The panel will feature speakers from SOS Community Services and the Homeless Action Network of Detroit (HAND). Lunch provided!
The Georgia State University College of Law Student Chapter of the American Constitution Society, in partnership with the Christian Legal Society and the Law & Philosophy Forum, will host a panel discussion on religious accommodations in American law. The conversation will explore the historical relationship between the common law and religion, as well as the modern legal framework governing religious accommodation in the United States. Panelists will discuss how courts and employers navigate conflicts between religious belief and workplace obligations under federal statutory law and the Constitution, along with recent developments shaping this area of law.
The panel will feature Professor Ryan Rowberry (Georgia State University College of Law), James McCabe (Employment Attorney), and Meeta Dama (Employment Attorney). Drawing on perspectives from both legal practice and academia, the discussion will examine the historical foundations of religious accommodation and the contemporary challenges of balancing religious liberty with other legal rights and institutional responsibilities in a diverse and pluralistic society.
ACS invites you to join us in welcoming John Michelli, a current Fairfax County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, U.S. Coast Guard veteran, GMU Law 2024 graduate, former Arlington County Circuit Court clerk, EIC of the George Mason Law Review, and President of GMU Law's ACS Chapter. We'll learn about the clerkship application process and navigating a career in local government while promoting progressive Constitutional values. Shawarmas will, of course, be served, with a falafel vegan option available.
