2020 Midyear Meeting Highlights

Friday, February 14 - Saturday, February 15

JW Marriott
110 E Second St
Austin, TX

In case you missed it — or even if you attended — highlights of our Section of State & Local Government Law midyear meeting can be found below:

Legally Stolen Lands: Impacts and Remedies for Historically Disadvantaged People (CLE)

Highly vulnerable forms of home and land ownership for which the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, adopted in 15 states and DC, is only a partial remedy will be explored. Members of minorities holding undivided property interests over many generations, caused in part by inability to receive estate planning, often cannot access mortgages due to state law requirements. Native peoples are subject to different requirements under tribal law or state law, as in Hawaii. Buying informally through contract for deed or lease to own is fraught with risk for low-income purchasers.
Moderator
Erica Levine Powers, Chair-Elect, Section of State & Local Government Law, Albany, NY
Speakers
Thomas W. Mitchell, Texas A&M University School of Law, Fort Worth, TX
Skipper G. StipeMaas, Director, The Georgia Heirs Property Law Center, Athens, GA
Heather Katharine Way, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, TX

Earn on-demand CLE credit

Police Civil Rights Litigation: From Ferguson to Dallas — 2020 Vision Today? (CLE)

Criticism of police activity — particularly concerning police operations and police interaction with suspects and citizens — is publicized regularly in the news and on social media. Attacks against police officers also receive much publicity. The result is a growing public awareness of police operations from both the officer's perspective as well as from the perspective of police suspects and persons of interest. In both instances, police & public interaction often results in a federal civil rights lawsuit.

This program provides updated information from a previous ABA Webinar, and is designed to explore current issues facing practitioners on both sides of such lawsuits, whether bringing such a case on behalf of a plaintiff against law enforcement, or defending the case on behalf of the police and/ or governmental entity. Attending this program will provide insight from experienced practitioners from both sides of the docket.
Moderator
Edwin P. Voss Jr, Brown & Hofmeister LLP, Richardson, TX
Speakers
Paul D. Henderson, Executive Director, Department of Police Accountability, City & County of San Francisco, CA
Ronald A. Norwood, Lewis Rice LLC, St. Louis, MO
Ranjana Natarajan, Clinical Professor Director — Civil Rights Clinic, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, TX

Earn on-demand CLE credit

Implicit Bias: Government Complicity (CLE)

Do governmental policies perpetuate implicit bias? Long-standing & new governmental policies, laws & regulations and their impact upon communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in housing, transportation, education and the criminal justice system will be discussed.

This is the first in a series of discussions to determine if there is governmental complicity in implicit bias and if so, if there are ways to neutralize its impact. In this discussion on Implicit Bias: Governmental Complicity, panelists will lay the foundation for future, in depth discussions in each area of interest. They will also review metrics, laws and legislative initiatives governmental entities use to level the playing field and determine which ones pass or fail.
Moderator
C. Elisia Frazier, Managing Deputy City Attorney, City of Atlanta Department of Law, Atlanta, GA
Speakers
Sara E. Redfield, Professor Emerita, University of New Hampshire Law School; Editor, "Enhancing Justice: Reducing Bias"
Kimberly J. Norwood, Henry H. Oberschelp Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law; Editor, "Ferguson's Fault Lines," St. Louis, MO

Earn on-demand CLE credit