SALT Blog

SALT Breaking-In Event For New Law Teachers at 2016 Annual SE/SW People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference

A SALT-sponsored pipeline (“breaking-in”) workshop for new law teachers was held on February 25, 2016, in conjunction with the 2016 Annual Southeast-Southwest People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law in Orlando, Florida from February 26 -27, 2016. The theme of this year’s conference was “Power and Authority in Promoting Justice for All.” There were sixty-five attendees to the conference, which included twenty-five students.  Topics ranged from “Conceptualizing Islamophobia, Extremism, Radicalism and Terrorism” to “Teaching Social Justice in the Law Curriculum.” The panels at the SALT breaking in event were entitled “So You Think You Want to Be an Administrator,” “How to Navigate the World with Your Law Degree,” and “Shark Tank:... Continue »

PARC Faculty Development Seminar

PARC is pleased to announce its seventh annual Faculty Development Seminar (FDS). This 12-day intensive travel seminar is for U.S. faculty members with a demonstrated interest in, but little travel experience to, Palestine. Professor from all fields of study are encouraged to apply. Applications are due January 11, 2016. For more details about the FDS, please see our website: http://parc-us-pal.org/facultyDevSem.htm.

Teaching Opportunity at Port Au Prince, Haiti

Daly Quigley letter to American Law Professors (1) To: Law Professors Interested in International Social Justice From: Erin Daly, Widener University Delaware Law School, Bill Quigley, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Dear Colleagues: We write to invite you to participate in an exciting experience — to share some of your knowledge with Haitian law students at the Université de la Fondation Dr Aristide (UNIFA) in Port au Prince, Haiti. Both of us have had the privilege of working here at UNIFA. Erin Daly is responsible for Institutional Development during this academic year; Bill Quigley taught a short seminar on Social Justice Law. Other faculty members from American law schools have also taught at UNIFA in the past few years. Courses can range from one-day seminars to multi-week or… Continue »

Unwarranted Warrants in Baltimore

In this holy day season of Light, Hope, and “good will toward all humanity,” we join together to trumpet our support for the proposal put forth by Professor Doug Colbert’s University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law students in their op-ed piece in the Baltimore Sun (“Unwarranted Warrants in Baltimore,” Thursday, December 10, 2015).   The idea of a “Warrant Forgiveness Program,” that allows for the one-time re-scheduling of court appearances for failure to appear may not solve all the problems of our criminal justice system, but can serve as a spark of light and hope for some who must navigate the system.  This program will serve the guiding principle of “harm reduction,” rooted in our values of justice and forgiveness, and will allow offenders to meet their… Continue »

SALT Cover Workshop Explores Race Relations on Campus, Jan. 9 in NYC

  Faiza Patel Co-Director of the Liberty & National Security Program Brennan Center   Amna A. Akbar Assistant Professor of Law Ohio State   Katherine Demby, 3L Yale Law School   Victor Goode Associate Professor of Law CUNY   Moderator: Steve Bender Associate Dean & Professor of Law, Seattle University   Hosted by: Fordham Law School 150 West 62nd Street New York, NY 10023 Costantino B Room 12:30-2:30 p.m. Reception to follow Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 Please RSVP at info@saltlaw.org Continue »

The Fishing Expedition Continues: Will There Be A Fisher III?

By Vinay Harpalani Savannah Law School On Wednesday, December 9, for the second time, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The question in Fisher II is the exactly the same it was in Fisher I: does the University of Texas at Austin (UT) need to use a race-conscious admissions policy to achieve the educational benefits of diversity, in addition to Texas’s facially race neutral Top Ten Percent plan which automatically admits 80 percent of UT’s incoming class? Previously, I contended that the entire Fisher case is a fishing expedition—an unwarranted attack on race-conscious admissions by Abigail Fisher, and a fruitless effort by the Court to address matters that are insoluble,... Continue »

SALT Condemns Harvard Law School Hate Crime and Racially Hostile Learning Environments Across the Country

Nov. 24, 2015 We are witnessing an alarming trend across the nation, where overt acts of racism and dismissive responses to racist conduct continue to plague institutions of higher learning. As officials launch an investigation over last week’s hate crime incident at Harvard Law School, the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) condemns this and other attacks against diversity in legal education.  On November 18, 2015, the portraits of African American Harvard Law Professors that line the walls at the school were defaced with black tape across their images. The incident happened a day after students from Harvard and nearby schools participated in demonstrations to show support for Black activists on campuses nationwide. But the Harvard incident is just one... Continue »

SALT Co-Sponsors BA to JD Pipeline Event at Villanova

Villanova Law School will co-host a pipeline conference with The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) on Friday, November 13, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The conference will include thought-provoking discussions with lawyers and advocates on the obstacles that marginalized communities face in accessing and succeeding in the legal field. Breakout sessions will allow current lawyers and law school graduates the opportunity to earn five CLE credits towards their continuing professional development for the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board. The event seeks to attract local high school, college, and law school students, administrators and faculty as well as practitioners, lawyers, public interest officials, social justice advocates, and community members. The main objectives are to: Identify, discuss, and... Continue »

SALT Files Amicus Brief in Fisher v. Texas Supporting University Diversity Efforts

14-981 bsac Society of Am Law Teachers Nov. 6, 2015 — The Society of American Law Teachers (“SALT”) has filed a friend-of-the-court (amicus curiae) brief in support of the respondents in the United States Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.  The brief was completed and filed thanks to the pro bono help of the international law firm Morrison & Foerster and SALT members who formed a committee to work on the brief. In the Fisher case, undergraduate student Abigail Fisher was denied admission into the University of Texas at Austin. Fisher, a white woman, claims that she was rejected from the university based on racial discrimination due to the University of Texas at Austin’s affirmative action admissions program. The University of Texas at... Continue »