At #ACS2018, a panel of legal experts discuss the upcoming census and what it will mean for redistricting.
The nation is fast approaching the next census and round of redistricting. 2020 could be a chance to undo the distortive gerrymandering of the past decade, or it could see a doubling down on manipulation and entrenchment. There are already troubling signs that the census itself may be politicized to an unprecedented degree, and that it will result in a significant undercount that penalizes minority communities and those with high immigrant populations, among others. The next redistricting cycle will take place with a very different Supreme Court, with open questions about whether the traditional remedies relied upon my voting rights advocates will continue to be viable. On the other hand, there are encouraging signals that the Supreme Court may finally be willing to wade into the question of partisan gerrymandering. This panel will preview the 2020 redistricting and the battles ahead of us. What risks are there to a full and accurate census count? What challenges will communities of color likely face in ensuring fair representation? How is redistricting jurisprudence likely to be different in the next cycle?
Featuring:
Adam Liptak, The New York Times (moderator)
Guy-Uriel Charles, Edward and Ellen Schwarzian Professor of Law, Duke Law School
Terri Ann Lowenthal, Consultant; Former Staff Director, House Subcommittee on Census and Population
Katherine McKnight, Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Wendy Weiser, Director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at Slate, is awarded the 2018 ACS Progressive Champion Award. Award presented by Linda Greenhouse, ACS Board of Advisors member and Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law and Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence, Yale Law School.
Hon. Margaret H. Marshall, Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, is awarded the 2018 ACS Lifetime Achievement Award at #ACS2018. Introduced by Janson Wu, Executive Director, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders.
Margaret H. Marshall served for eleven years as Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. She was the first woman to hold that position in the Court’s history. Chief Justice Marshall is presently a senior research fellow and lecturer at Harvard Law School and serves as Senior Counsel at Choate, Hall & Stewart, where she focuses on community outreach, pro bono and diversity programs, mentors lawyers and provides senior level counsel to clients on special projects. During her fourteen years on the Supreme Judicial Court, Chief Justice Marshall wrote numerous, groundbreaking opinions, including the 2003 decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which declared that the Massachusetts Constitution prohibits the state from denying same-sex couples access to civil marriage. The ruling made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay marriage. She is recognized as a champion for an independent judiciary and as a leader in the promotion of administrative reforms within the judicial branch. A long-time advocate of access to justice for all, she implemented innovative procedures for selfrepresented litigants and strengthened pro bono services by the bar. Prior to her service on the Supreme Judicial Court, Marshall was in private practice for sixteen years, before joining Harvard University as Vice President and General Counsel. Marshall served as President of the Boston Bar Association and as President of the United States Conference of Chief Justices. She is a member of the council of the American Law Institute, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She served as a Fellow of the Corporation of Yale University, the governing board and policymaking body for the University, and was subsequently appointed Senior Fellow, the first woman to hold that position. The ACS Boston Lawyer Chapter annually bestows it’s Margaret H. Marshall Leadership Award on a member of the Boston legal community who best embodies ACS’s mission. Marshall is a graduate of Witwatersrand University (Johannesburg, South Africa), Harvard University, and Yale Law School.
This timely and important discussion on Reclaiming the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. took place at the ACS 2018 Convention.
Dr. King sought not only to dismantle the Jim Crow laws that perpetuated racial segregation and debasement in the South, but to upend institutionalized racism throughout the country, assemble a “multiracial army of the poor,” and help workers of all colors organize against unjust labor practices. Today, his heirs seek foundational changes to policing and criminal justice. More than a half century after his work began, what does it look like to truly honor Dr. King’s legacy and move closer to the just society envisioned by the Civil Rights Movement?
Featuring:
Hon. Carlton Reeves, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
Paul Butler, Albert Brick Professor in Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Tefere Gebre, Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO
Cheryl Harris, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, UCLA Law
Richard Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation Marianne Engelman Lado,
Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Jeanne Theoharis, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates gives remarks on the first night of the 2018 ACS National Convention.
ACS President Caroline Fredrickson welcomes attendees to the 2018 ACS National Convention.
