Events, Meetings & CLE

    The Section regularly sponsors a variety of events, including quarterly Council Meetings, in-person panels, on-demand webinars, and more!

    Using the Clery Act Where the New Title IX Regulations Fail

    January 27, 2021 | Webinar

    The new Title IX regulations issued during the Fall of 2020 under the Trump administration have been criticized for leaving gaps in protections for survivors of campus-based gender violence. This webinar will review how the Clery Act, which addresses gender violence in higher education, can be used as a stop-gap measure to prevent colleges and universities from disenfranchising survivors from their rights and options to participate in campus disciplinary process addressing their reports of intimate partner violence, sexual misconduct, and stalking.

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    Pandemic Trials: Defending Criminal Clients During COVID-19

    January 28, 2021 | Webinar

    The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed criminal court operations. This webinar will explore these changes, with a focus on how they are impacting public defenders and defendants. We will examine the use of video, hybrid and in-person trials with pandemic conditions. Topics will include masking issues for defendants, witnesses and jurors, identification issues, courtroom set-up, the impact of maintaining social distancing, and jury composition challenges.

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    When Race and the Environment Collide: The Impact of Systemic Racism on Environmental Justice

    February 3, 2021 | Webinar

    This program will examine the impact of structural and systemic racism and its impact on the environment, specifically environmental justice, and intentionality. Panelists will address the ongoing crisis in Flint, MI and the continued failure to provide sufficient relief; tribal environmental issues including the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Trump Administration's 2020 waiver of environmental and cultural laws to allow the destruction of tribal burial grounds for the southern border wall; and the intersectionality of environmental justice and COVID-19 in terms of higher pollution and infection rates among people of color.

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    2021 CRSJ Section Midyear Meeting

    February 17-22 | Virtual

    We invite you to attend our 2021 Midyear Council Meeting. If you want to become active, but are unsure where to start, join us as we discuss the civil rights & social justice issues that 2020 has presented us with and how CRSJ plans to address them in the new year.

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    2020 US Elections Aftermath: A Social Justice Policy Summit

    In the wake of the 2020 US presidential elections, the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice Rights of Immigrants Committee - in strategic partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States - is hosting a policy summit designed to advance racial equity and social justice principles. Over the course of two days, the interdisciplinary conference will explore myriad manifestations of interpersonal, structural, and institutionalized discrimination to create enhanced awareness around these issues. The convening will also culminate in concrete community-driven policy recommendations to achieve positive social, political, and legal reform to ensure a better tomorrow for all.

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    HIV/AIDS Webinar Series

    The HIV/AIDS Impact Project, Center for Human Rights, and Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice brings you the latest programming on HIV/AIDS in this multi-part free webinar series.

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    Death Penalty Virtual CLE Series

    The Death Penalty Due Process Review Project has developed a three-part CLE webinar series exploring the fundamental issues in using the death penalty, how the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these issues, and recent legal developments in death penalty legislation. In these free CLE webinars, panelists will explore the intricacies of the death penalty, identifying certain elements as barricades in our collective pursuit of advancing law and justice.

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    Beyond Redlining Webinar Series

    This multi-part free webinar series explores historical patterns of racism in the context of redlining by exploring the intersections of the Black Lives Matters movement and community development.

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    Recent Programs

    Recent Section programming will be available for three months before being included in the Program Archive.

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    Program Archive

    Each month, the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice presents a variety of timely and topical programming on the latest developments in civil rights, social justice, and human rights. CRSJ members have unlimited access to the Section’s past online webinars and on-demand programs now included in their membership at no additional cost, with more programs added each month.

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    2020 ABA Annual Meeting

    During the first-ever virtual Annual Meeting, the Section honored prodigious activist Marian Wright Edelman with the 2020 Thurgood Marshall Award. The Section also continued its work on voter rights and election protection, organizing a Showcase CLE on Women in Elections. In addition, the Section held two days of governance meetings and sponsored a record-breaking number of policies adopted by the House of Delegates.

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    Submit an Idea for Programming

    As part of our effort to support our Rapid Response Project, we have created an easy form for those wanting to host a program through the Section or have the Section co-sponsor an outside entity's event.

    Submit - your proposal