who was committed to racial justice
Students, lawyers, judges, faculty members and civil rights activists will explore the issues of race, values and civil rights activism in a Law School conference honoring and reflecting on the legacy of a Yale alumnus and former federal judge.
"Race, Values and the American Legal Process," a major scholarly working conference, pays tribute to Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. LAW '52, former chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. It will take place Friday-Sunday, Feb. 22-24, at the Law School, 127 Wall St.
"No American of his generation contributed more than Leon Higginbotham to our understanding of race, and to the ongoing effort to cure the terrible injustices of slavery and racism in America," says Law School Dean Anthony Kronman. "As a lawyer, judge and scholar, Leon Higginbotham advanced the cause of racial justice with all the resources of his mind and heart." The conference in his honor, adds Kronman, will both "celebrate Higginbotham's inspiring legacy and explore concrete ideas for political, social and legal reform."
Friday's events will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a panel discussion on "Race, Values and the Criminal Justice System." The panelists for this event are Angela Davis, a political activist, professor and author who is a former member of the Black Panthers; Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general of the United States and a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling; and Tracy Meares, professor of law and director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice at the University of Chicago Law School.
The keynote address will be delivered at 6:30 p.m. by Eleanor Holmes Norton '63 M.A., '64 LAW, former chair of the Equal Opportunity Commission under President Jimmy Carter and now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Washington, D.C.).
Saturday's program offers panel discussions from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by working group sessions at 4:15 p.m. Panel topics include "Race, Values, Gender and Sexuality," "Race, Values and the Judiciary" and "Race, Values and Democracy." Cory Booker '97 LAW, an activist and Newark city councilman and mayoral candidate, will deliver the keynote address on Saturday evening.
A Sunday morning panel on "Race, Values and the Academy" will be followed by a closing worship service in Battell Chapel on "Race, Values and Faith." Remarks will be presented by the Reverend Walter Fauntroy. Members of the Yale Gospel Choir and Black Church at Yale will participate.
Higginbotham had a career as a lawyer, teacher, judge and author. After his graduation from the Yale Law School in 1952 he was appointed to the Federal Trade Commission by President Kennedy -- the first African American to be appointed to a federal commission. President Johnson named him a federal district judge in 1964, and President Carter appointed him to the Court of Appeals in 1977. He served as chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1989 to 1991, and served as senior judge until his retirement in 1993. At the time of his death in 1998, Higginbotham was the Public Service Professor of Jurisprudence at Harvard University and of counsel to the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He wrote the award-winning book "In the Matter of Color: Race and the American Legal Process." His many honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the NAACP's Spingarn Medal and the Award of Merit from the Yale Law School Association.
Registration for the conference is required. Registration for students is $30 (including a Saturday lunch) and $70 (including lunch and dinner). General registration is $150, which includes all meals. A public interest subsidy for registration may be available. For information on the conference or to register, visit the conference website at www.yale.edu/higginbotham; write to the Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Yale Law School, P.O. Box 208215, New Haven, CT 065420-8215; call (203) 432-4875; or send e-mail to blsa@pantheon.yale.edu.
"Race, Values and the American Legal Process" is sponsored by the Black Law Students Association at the Law School and the school's Office of the Dean.
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