What’s New

Call for Nominations, Board of Governors – 2019

The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) Nominations Committee is currently developing a slate of nominees to fill several openings on the SALT Board of Governors for three-year terms beginning January 1, 2019. Service on the Board of Governors gives members a close and active opportunity to shape and enforce the policy of SALT. The board is designed to fulfill SALT’s basic mission of “making the legal profession more inclusive and reflective of the great diversity of this nation; enhancing social justice training and quality legal education with cutting edge teaching methodologies; and advancing the use of the law to serve under-served persons and communities.” We invite you to suggest names of current SALT members who may be interested in serving on the SALT Board.  SALT has some particular needs for board members skilled with technology and website development. If you would like to nominate someone… Continue »

SALT celebrates at 2018 Annual Event!

SALT celebrated the 2018 annual event with the the Great Teacher award, the Shanara Gilbert Human Rights award, and Junior Faculty Teaching awards.  And we had a great time celebrating together! More photos from the event posted here. Continue »

SALT Honors 2017 Junior Faculty Teaching Award Winners

Join us in honoring  Professor Katie Eyer and Professor Lua Yuille at the SALT Annual Awards Celebration! on January 5, 2018 in San Diego   SALT is proud to recognize Associate Professor Katie Eyer (Rutgers) and Associate Professor Lua Yuille (University of Kansas) as its 2017 Junior Faculty Teaching Award winners. The award recognizes outstanding recent entrants into legal education who demonstrate commitment to justice, equality and academic excellence. It is designed to honor emerging teachers and support outstanding individuals new to the legal academy. This award also recognizes law teachers who exemplify SALT values though SALT membership and participation in SALT activities. The awards will be presented during SALT’s Annual Awards Celebration on Friday, January 5, 2018, at California Western... Continue »

SALT Names 2018 Great Teacher and Human Rights Honorees

Join us for the SALT Annual Awards Celebration! Friday evening, January 5, 2018  Click here for details, including tickets, sponsorships, and journal ads.   At its upcoming Annual Awards Celebration to be held on January 5, 2018, in San Diego, SALT will honor two champions of justice, diversity and teaching excellence. Professor Jeffrey Selbin of Berkeley Law will receive the 2018 SALT Great Teacher Award. Professor Robert S. Chang and the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality will receive the 2018 M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights Award (details below). We are revamping the SALT Annual Dinner to increase interaction and fun! The 2018 SALT Annual Awards Celebration will feature presentations by the Great Teacher and M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights awardees along... Continue »

SALT Announces Co-Presidents Elect, Nominees to Board of Governors

  SALT is proud to announce the selection of Co-Presidents Elect and nominees to the Board of Governors.  Their photos and statements of interest are set out below.  The Board nominees will be presented as a slate at the SALT Annual Member Meeting to be held on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at 6 p.m. at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic and Center for Social Justice, 540 Broadway Street, New Orleans, LA 70118.  The Co-Presidents Elect will serve two-year terms starting on January 1, 2018, and elected Board members will begin three-year terms on the same date. SALT members may submit additional Board of Governors nominations.  The additional nominations must (1) be made no... Continue »

Farewell to SALT Founder and Civil Rights Giant Norman Dorsen

In memoriam: Norman Dorsen (1930-2017) Founder of SALT, NYU School of Law Legend, Former General Counsel and President of the Board of the ACLU, Civil Liberties Giant, Social Justice Visionary, and Friend   The Founding of SALT by Norman Dorsen, Michael Rooke-Ley, and Joyce Saltalamacchia   2008 SALT Tribute to Norman Dorsen Thirty-five years ago, Norman Dorsen created the Society of American Law Teachers, dedicated to justice, equality, excellence and academic freedom. He appreciated that law teachers could act and speak more boldly than law schools. He also understood that an organization should include, not just professors, but the many professionals who make significant contributions to legal education without the title of professor. Plus the acronym—SALT—is cool! In creating... Continue »

SALT STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION

“LSC plays a critical role in preserving our nation’s promise of equal justice under law and the effective functioning of our adversary system of justice.”   Please read and share widely SALT’s Statement in Support of Legal Services Corporation, which is set out below and available here. SALT STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) writes to express serious alarm and deep concern about the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposal to eliminate funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Since 1974, LSC has provided essential civil legal services to low-income Americans.  LSC is often the sole lifeline for vulnerable people with civil legal problems that affect their health,... Continue »

UPDATED–The SALT Student Advisory Council: Getting Students Directly Involved In SALT

By Madeleine Harnois and SSAC The pilot year of SSAC, the SALT Student Advisory Council, is coming to a close. It has been an exciting learning process as its members learned the ins and outs of SALT’s operations and administration and helped to get SSAC off the ground. Law students Madeleine Harnois, Christina  Nguyen, Emma Douglas, Preston Brasch, Isabel Breit, and Tabias Olajuawon all worked as part of SSAC during its first year. SSAC was originally conceived to assist SALT in advancing progressive legal education by connecting students to the dedicated professors who work to better the law school experience. SALT has long sought to increase the social justice aspects of law school curricula, and its board members wanted to open more direct lines of communication for student input and… Continue »

Will a Trumped-Up Justice System Mean a Return to Mass Incarceration?

By Hugh Mundy, Associate Professor, The John Marshall Law School During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump relied on vague “tough on crime” rhetoric over policy specifics. Trump’s post-election selection of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, though, lends credence to his campaign trail exhortations. As the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama in the 1980s, Sessions prosecuted hundreds of federal cases during the apex of the mass incarceration era. Later, as a United States senator, he opposed legislation introducing modest reductions in prison time for drug offenders. In light of Sessions’ track record, an uptick in federal prosecutions from recent years appears inevitable. The views on crime and punishment espoused by Trump and Sessions are out of step with reform-minded initiatives popular on both sides of the political aisle…. Continue »