Francois Williams Legal ’s Post

Join me on July 1 to talk about the importance of DEI Programs and what the future of DEI looks like!

Let’s hear what Black History Month means to Michael Agwara, one of our BLSA- Black Law Student Association members. #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory2024 #BLACKHistoryMonth365 #blackhistoryiseveryday #BLSA #blacklawstudentsassociation #blacklawstudentsmatter #blacklawstudentassociationpresidents #ASLStudentLife #lawstudentlife #asllaw #lawschool #asl #AppalachianSchoolofLaw #appalachianschooloflaw

Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938) In the landmark case Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938), Lloyd Gaines, an African American student, challenged Missouri's refusal to admit him to its all-white law school, arguing that the state’s provision of a separate but unequal law school for Black students violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Gaines's favor, holding that Missouri had to either admit him to the University of Missouri Law School or create a comparable institution for Black students. This case was a pivotal moment in the fight against segregation, highlighting the inadequacies of the "separate but equal" doctrine and setting a precedent for future civil rights litigation. Following the Court’s decision, Missouri established a separate law school for African Americans, Lincoln University School of Law, but it remained inferior to the University of Missouri's facilities. Lloyd Gaines, however, never attended the law school, as he disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and his ultimate fate remains unknown. The case was a significant precursor to the broader civil rights movement and set the stage for future legal challenges to racial segregation, ultimately influencing landmark decisions like *Brown v. Board of Education* and contributing to the ongoing struggle for educational and civil rights equality. #LloydGaines #MissouriExRelGainesvCanada #CivilRights #SupremeCourt #LegalHistory #EducationalEquality #14thAmendment #RacialSegregation #SeparateButEqual #LegalPrecedent #CivilRightsMovement #EqualProtection #Justice #RacialDiscrimination #HigherEducation #JimCrow #CivilRightsCase #LandmarkDecision #GainesCase #LawSchool #LegalChallenge #EducationalJustice #BlackHistory #HistoricalCase #CourtRuling #EqualOpportunity #LincolnUniversityLaw #JusticeForGaines #SocialChange #LegalImpact #HistoricCase #CivilRightsEra #AmericanHistory #FightForEquality #EducationalReform #LegalRights #SegregationCase #CourtDecision #CivilRightsLegacy #BlackStudents #HistoricalImpact #PrecedentSetting #LawAndEquality #CivilRightsLegislation #EducationEquality #JusticeServed

Mr. Eisner asserts "The law has often proved a tool of dispossession, and in the antebellum South, it was frequently a tool of white supremacy. But refusing to admit Black testimony created the same problems that other witness competency restrictions created: publicly known eye-witness accounts could not be admitted as sworn testimony. It was harder for courts to arrive at the truth, or, perhaps more importantly, it was harder for courts to convincingly present themselves to the public as arriving at the truth. The admission of free Black witnesses into court sometimes served the immediate interests of the white elite and sometimes it did not, but it always alleviated the friction created by having two public narratives, one widely known in the community but legally inadmissible, and another, narrower narrative, presentable at court. The legitimacy of the law, partly resting on its self-presentation as truth-seeking, benefitted from the minimization of this tension. The exceptions to the general bar against Black testimony in cases involving whites demonstrate the diversity of legal trends in the antebellum South. Competing pressures to administer a well-functioning legal system and to maintain racial hierarchy exerted force on the white elite. Southern elites, even before the great convulsion of the Civil War, sometimes divided on how best to administer a white supremacist legal regime."

The Citing Slavery Project, led by Associate Professor Justin Simard at Michigan State University College of Law, is shedding light on the deep-seated connections between slavery law and present-day legal cases. The project, which has identified hundreds of thousands of instances where slave-era laws are used to support legal arguments, aims to end the practice of citing slave-era precedents in modern court cases. Simard's research reveals that the judicial system's legacy of slavery is still embedded in U.S. laws, and he believes that acknowledging this history is key to healing the nation. He and his students are presenting their findings to judges, lawyers, law librarians, and historians, hoping to raise awareness and prompt change. The project's outreach director, Torence Witherspoon, is a law student who has been surprised by the positive reception of their presentations. He believes that acknowledging the problem is the first step towards healing, and that the profession should more formally acknowledge the issue. What are your thoughts on the Citing Slavery Project and its potential to bring racial healing to the legal profession and judicial system? Do you think this is a step in the right direction? Read the full story by Renata Sago from Word In Black at dallasweekly.com #iamdw #blackpress #racialhealing #justicesimard #slaveryinlaw #legallegacy #citingslavery Word In Black

Highly recommend this engaging talk by legal historian Dylan C. Penningroth (Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights) to both my law friends and my history friends! Law friends, it's a great insight into what (really good) historians actually do and how casebook editing colors how the law is taught and learned. History friends, this is an awesome use of legal sources and a well-executed challenge to the narrative of Black history as only the history of race relations and the freedom struggle. #law #history #legalhistory #blackhistory #civilrights

Parisa Clovis becomes the first Black, female, full-equity Partner laterally hired by a Magic Circle law firm in the UK... EVER Well done Julian Richard for this work and thank you for highlighting it Julian is the author of the report that found black lawyers made up just 1% partners in law firms. extense conducted a 21-month-long study, interviewing Black partners at law firms across the UK to discover the key contributing factors that assisted them in reaching partnership level #womeninlaw #femalelawyers #womenattorneys #womeninlegal #womenleaders

As we wrap up Black History Month, let’s reflect on what this month means with some of our BLSA- Black Law Student Association members. Below President, Lauren Stewart, shares a couple thoughts about what Black History Month means to her. #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory2024 #BLACKHistoryMonth365 #blackhistoryiseveryday #BLSA #blacklawstudentsassociation #blacklawstudentsmatter #blacklawstudentassociationpresidents #ASLStudentLife #lawstudentlife #asllaw #lawschool #asl #AppalachianSchoolofLaw #appalachianschooloflaw

University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law Prof. Tiffany D. Atkins has an eye-opening new article on the international and domestic responses to media-fueled violence, especially as it relates to Black Americans. It's coming out in the University of Louisville Law Review. Take a look! #UKLawProfResearch

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