Center for Law, Diversity & Justice Offers 'Race and Crime' Lecture Series

DATE: April 9, 2009 10:55:32 AM PDT

Contact: Niall Ó Murchú, (360) 650-2144 or niall.omurchu@wwu.edu

BELLINGHAM – The Center for Law, Diversity & Justice at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies presents “Race and Crime,” a series of lectures examining how people of color interact with the American legal system.

This spring’s speakers will explore how undocumented students pursue higher education, the increased legal pressure on undocumented immigrants since 2001, the use of peremptory traffic stops against people of color, and the experiences of African Americans with community policing practices during the ‘80s and ‘90s.

The lectures, co-sponsored by the American Democracy Project, World Issues forum and the departments of Sociology and Political Science, are free and open to the public. Learn more at www.wwu.edu/cldj/events.shtml.

April 14

Presenter: Tom Nerini, director, Student Outreach Services, WWU.

Learning from the Shadows: Undocumented Students in Higher Education.

Noon, Fairhaven 340.

Washington is among only 10 U.S. states allowing undocumented students to attend a public college and pay resident tuition. But these students still face many challenges such as decreased availability of financial aid, limits on the majors they may choose and constant fear of deportation. Nerini will help students, faculty and staff understand the issues faced by undocumented students.

April 29

Immigration Outside the Law

Presenter: Hiroshi Motomura, professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

Noon, Fairhaven Auditorium.

(Part of the World Issues Forum)

Immigration law scholar Motomura will discuss the legal aspects of immigration, the role of states and cities in immigration and the integration of immigrants into U.S. society. Motomura has testified before Congress as an expert on immigration and has served as co-counsel and volunteer consultant in several U.S. Supreme Court cases. He most recently served as an adviser to the Obama-Biden Transition Team’s Working Group on Immigration Policy.

May 5 (two events)

Presenter: Kim Forde-Mazrui, director, Center for the Study of Race and Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Tradition as a Suspect Justification: The Case of Different-Sex Marriage.

10 a.m., Fairhaven College 314.

Ruling Out the Rule of Law: The Case of the Peremptory Traffic Stop.

2 p.m. Academic Instructional Center West 204

Forde-Mazrui is the Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor in Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. His research interests include race and criminal procedure, race in the child placement process, affirmative action and reparations.

May 12

African Americans and the Politics of Community Policing, 1985-2000

Presenter: Wilson Edward Reed, assistant professor, Matteo Ricci College, Seattle University

5 p.m., Communication Facility 105

Reed will discuss the expectations and experiences of African Americans with community-oriented policing programs during the War on Drugs. He’ll discuss his “Community Policing Handbook: How to Do It!”

May 18

Banished: Social Control in the Contemporary American City

Presenter: Katherine Beckett, associate professor, Sociology Department and the Law, Societies and Justice Program, University of Washington

7 to 8:20 p.m., Academic Instructional Center West 204

Beckett’s research interests include policy responses to crime and drug use, socio-legal studies, punishment and social control. She has published two books, “The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment in America” and “Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics.”

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