James Forman (Associate Professor of Law, Georgetown University and Founder of Maya Angelou
Charter School): The Rise and Fall of School Vouchers: A Story of Race, Religion, and Politics

Tuesday, November 21, 2006 from 2:30 to 3:50 p.m. in Bannan 110
Reception at 5 p.m. in Strong Common Room

Professor Forman co-founded the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in 1997, which is recognized as one of the most successful programs of its kind in the country, combining rigorous education, job training, counseling, mental health services, life skills, and dormitory living for school dropouts and youth who have previously been incarcerated.

Lia Epperson teaches the Fall 2006 Social Justice Workshop: RACE, ECONOMICS, AND EDUCATION.  This workshop examines how race and economic stratification affect educational opportunity.  Education plays a crucial role in sustaining a democratic society.  As such, it is critical that we understand and are able to critique the legal and public policy choices that shape our education system.

The workshop will begin with an examination of the evolution of the concepts of racial integration and equal educational opportunity in the 50 years since Brown v. Board of Education, and the impact of recent Supreme Court affirmative action jurisprudence on integration in public schools.  The next part of the semester will scrutinize school finance litigation and the relationship between school resources and student achievement.  The third part of the semester will explore contemporary issues affecting educational opportunity, including ability grouping, standardized testing and assessment, and the expanding role of law enforcement measures in schools.  The workshop will conclude by critically evaluating various reforms, including the school choice movement and the federal government’s expanding role in educational reform.  In addition to examining legal authority and the work of legal scholars, students will examine the writings of historians, social scientists, and education policy experts.  Visiting scholars and practitioners who work directly with these issues will address the class.

Lectures are open to members of the university community and the general public.

Attention Fall 2006 Graduates:

The deadline for applying for the Public Interest and Social Justice Law Certificate is Friday, November 17, 2006 at noon. Please turn in your applications to the Center for Social Justice and Public Service in Loyola Hall, room 108.

Please find application forms on the Center for Social Justice and Public Service’s website at http://law.scu.edu/socialjustice/certificate.html

Professors Eric Wright and Nancy Wright will discuss the following article on Thursday, November 16, 2006 from Noon to 1 p.m. in Bannan 139. Pizza will be provided.

Torts: William L.F. Felstiner, Richard L. Abel, Austin Sarat, The Emergence and Transformation of Disputes: Naming, Blaming, Claiming . . ., 15 LAW & SOC. REV.631(1980-81).

The Social Justice Thursdays series enriches the first-year curriculum by providing law students with a forum in which to discuss social justice issues, alternate perspectives on legal education, and first-year subject areas.
Readings are available in the Library and outside the Faculty Support Office, 214 Bergin Hall.

Law and Social Justice Case Study Conference

Tuesday, November 14, 2006 from 4 to 7:15 p.m. in Bannan 137

The Center for Social Justice and Public Service and students in the Law and Social Justice Seminar are pleased to invite you to attend the Case Study Conference.  Students in Law and Social Justice will describe their research on social justice cases, legislation, and issues.  We encourage interested students, faculty, and staff to attend some or all of the sessions.  To reserve dinner, call or e-mail the Center for Social Justice & Public Service at (408) 551-1720 or socialjustice@scu.edu.