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Equal
Justice Society e-Newsletter - Issue 7 - Summer 2006
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SUBSCRIBE IN THIS ISSUE Notes on the Right: The Real “Unmentionable Secret” Poll Shows Californians Think Race Discrimination Still a Problem Unique Collaboration with Teachers’ Union Addresses Unconscious Bias in the Classroom Dismantling the Intent Doctrine: an International View Two New Books Focus on Rights Won and Lost EJS Welcomes New Members; Motley Fellowship Launch Newsletter
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Letter from the President The Equal Justice Society was conceived to help make the world a better place. That may sound corny, but at our essence, that is who we are and what we are about. The piece of the world we have staked out to transform is that place where law, justice and equality intersect. |
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on the Right: The Real 'Unmentionable Secret'
We are reaching an important crossroads in American race relations. Over the past several months the issue of race has been forced to the surface by two stories: the inept and some said racist government response to Hurricane Katrina, and the well organized and impressive political reaction of the Latino community and its allies to the Republican Right’s passage of the racially-charged and punitive Sensenbrenner immigration bill. |
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Poll Shows California Voters Believe Race Discrimination Still a Problem, Government Should Seek Solutions
A recent
poll commissioned by Equal Justice Society, the Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights and the ACLU of Northern California to gauge
California voters' perceptions on race, discrimination and federal
judicial nominations revealed widespread agreement that race discrimination
is a serious problem in the state and the government must take
steps to address it. |
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Unique Collaboration with Teachers' Union Addresses Unconscious Bias in the Classroom
"People
truly opened up to a level of authentic dialogue that is not the
norm among groups talking about such sensitive issues," said
Dr. Shakti Butler of World Trust Educational Services, Inc. Butler,
a member of the EJS-California Teachers Association planning team
responsible for the groundbreaking phase of the Unconscious Bias
Pilot Project, was describing the initial phase of the project
that launched in Davis, Calif., last year. |
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Dismantling the Intent Doctrine: An International View
In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Washington v. Davis that a plaintiff must prove the intent of the defendant to discriminate, in order to prove that discrimination had occurred. This "intent doctrine" transformed our federal civil rights laws, making it much more difficult to litigate race discrimination cases. Unfortunately, the intent doctrine is still the legal standard in this country, despite the fact that social science has proven that unconscious bias is usually the cause of discrimination, making it near impossible to prove intent. |
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Inequality
in the Gene Age Editors' Note: The EJS staff, concerned about the racial implications of new biotechnological research, invited Osagie Obasagie to brief us on this controversial and often misunderstood path breaking field and to share his insights with EJS Newsletter readers. The new human biotechnologies - stem cell research, genetic screening, and racially tailored medicines, just to name a few - have the potential for great good. We all want to be healthy, and we all want the same good fortune for our friends and family. Yet a critical eye is needed to ensure that our personal drives for good health do not, as we've seen many times in the past, hurt the public good. |
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Two New Books Focus on Rights Won and Lost
The National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights and the Equal Justice Society hosted a book discussion April 18 at Berkeley's Black Oak Books on Awakening from the Dream: Civil Rights under Siege and the New Struggle for Equal Justice. |
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Welcome New Members! Over 200 of you have thus far joined as members of the Equal Justice Society! If you still have not joined, just click here. We are proud of the people who have become EJS members -- diverse stalwarts of the progressive movement including students, professors, attorneys, artists, policy-advocates, and media experts to name a few - all of whom share with us a deep commitment to racial and social justice. |
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Staff/Board News & Notes Read
more about our staff changes, and honors and recognitions bestowed
on EJS board members. |
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From
Eva Paterson
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The Equal Justice Society is a national organization of scholars, advocates and concerned individuals advancing innovative legal strategies and public policy for enduring social change. We generate critical analysis on issues of race and social justice through research, public education and bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to reshape jurisprudence to ensure that the rights of all are expanded, rather than diminished, by our courts and policy makers. Equal Justice Society, 220 Sansome St, 14th Flr, San Francisco, CA 94104, Ph (415) 288-8700 |