By: Alexis Franks, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 In the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter protests erupted all over the world in response to murders of Black individuals at the hands of law enforcement. The grief and anger kickstarted a conversation. Society was forced to acknowledge that racism is not an issue of the past […]
From Our Editors
Racial Disparities in the Legalized Marijuana Industry
By: Elisa Teeter, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 These days, it’s hard to overlook the explosion of cannabis retail stores on every corner, or the numerous cannabis billboards scattered along highways near the borders of states with legalized marijuana. Despite a global pandemic, legal cannabis sales hit $20 billion in 2020, $25 billion in 2021, and […]
BLOG 3: Surveillance, Dark Sousveillance, & the Law
By: Rihan Issa, Executive Articles Editor, Vol. 27 Part 1 of the series discussed the argument in Simone Browne’s book, Dark Matters. She highlighted the importance of racializing surveillance as an important conceptual understanding of the way surveillance has been used to order society along racial lines. She argues that this framing will allow us […]
The Discriminatory Effect of U.S. Intellectual Property Law on Black Artists
By: Shelly Feldman, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 In many areas of the law, facially neutral legal doctrines do not affect groups equally in practice.[i] This is well known and documented in America’s criminal justice system, which has historically oppressed racial minorities in disproportionate numbers.[ii] Though less known, this is also true in civil law and […]
Reappropriation and USPTO[i]
By: Kathy Jara, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 Linguistic reclamation[ii] of racist slurs has been described as “the process of taking possession of a derogatory label – usually introduced by a dominant group – by stigmatized group members.”[iii] Scholars believe this practice can empower marginalized groups because it “limits the dominant out-group’s control of the words […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Historic Supreme Court Nomination
By: Madelyn Hughes, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 On February 25, 2022, President Biden made history when he nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.[i] She is the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court and, if confirmed, will be the first Black woman Justice.[ii] […]
BLOG 2: Runaway Slave Advertisements & Counting Violent Extremism
By: Rihan Issa, Executive Articles Editor, Vol. 27 In part one of the blog series, I presented an overview of Simone Browne’s argument in Dark Matters. She argues that one cannot understand the history of surveillance without examining its racial past. She presents a few examples of the racial roots of current surveillance practice to […]
Social Maladjustment: Misidentification Prevents Black Students from Receiving Special Education Services
By: Alexis Franks, Associate Editor Vol. 27 The IDEA and the Emotional Disturbance Category The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), first enacted in 1975, provides federal funding for special education services for children with disabilities.[i] The goal of the legislation is that all handicapped children, who were historically excluded from the classroom, would be […]
Under the Threshold: Gaps in State Employment Discrimination Laws
By: Elisa Teeter, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 The purpose of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is to “improve the economic and social conditions of minorities and women by providing equality of opportunity in the work place.”[i] The law is meant to address a “larger pattern of restriction, exclusion, discrimination, segregation, and […]
International Tax Law and the Legacy of Colonialism
By: Madelyn Hughes, Associate Editor, Vol. 27 During the 1884 Berlin Conference, European powers including Britain, France, Spain, and Belgium met to carve up the African continent to create colonies in what was known as the “Scramble for Africa.”[i] For decades after this conference, African countries were stripped of their natural resources and subjected to […]
Michigan Journal of Race & Law 