Leandro v. State: The Challenges of Litigating School Funding Equity in Hyper-Partisan Times

The Leandro case serves as a critical case study highlighting the limitations of litigation in addressing educational inequities, particularly in states committed to undermining public education. Despite the judiciary\u27s constitutional role as an independent check on legislative actions, the politicization of state supreme courts has transformed them into partisan entities. This shift erodes public trust in the legal process and disproportionately harms marginalized groups, many of whom have historically relied on the courts to safeguard their constitutional rights, including equitable access to public education. The Leandro case underscores the challenges of achieving meaningful educational reform through litigation in a highly politicized environment

Stop WOKE Acts: How the Legislative Attack on CRT Harms Equality in Employment

In recent years, a growing media movement has publicized the concept of “wokeness” in America. Stopping wokeness is now a lightning rod for the political right and the political left, with the issue exploding from the traditional political arena to social circles, families, businesses, and even workplaces. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “woke” as being aware of and actively attentive to issues of racial and social justice. Prejudice and discrimination are not new concepts – they are the ancient obstacles in the path of society’s march towards equality. America’s journey on this path began with passing anti-discrimination legislation through the Civil War Era Constitutional Amendments, aimed at ensuring equality for African Americans, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Its successor, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which expanded protection against discrimination to include religious belief, sex, national origin, and familial status, represented the next mile marker on this journey. In the minds of many, its passing rectified the issue of discrimination entirely. In 2022, more than a dozen bills were proposed or enacted related to social and other issues, including “divisive concepts” like critical race theory. These anti-woke laws, aimed at individuals, education, and corporations, are used as political tools as America has become more politically polarized over issues from racial justice and LGBTQ rights to the environment and COVID-19 vaccines, and most recently abortion. This article examines how these anti-woke acts harm equality in America by examining the specifics of one of the first bills to pass into law. Florida’s recently enacted law dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” prohibits an employer from conducting, as a condition of employment, training that it specifies as divisive, however, the actual intended effect of this training is to stop tackling issues of implicit bias and discrimination. This article explains the heart of the conflict between the Act and federal law, reasons for supporting anti-discrimination training, and the positive effects of preventative discrimination training in the workplace

Suppressing Learning About Race and Law: A New Badge of Slavery? – A Brief Commentary

[There is a war being waged against African Americans, and their ability to speak out against racial injustice, which is more intense than any past attempt at suppression, since post-reconstruction in America. This war has been characterized by state legislative initiatives aimed at denying consideration or discussion of Critical Race Theory. Under the guise of “Anti-WOKE,” states, such as Florida have sought not only to prevent serious discussion of Critical Race Theory, but to broaden the attack to deny advocacy or discussion of the more general issue of systemic role of race in our understanding of American jurisprudence, as well. These actions have, to date, resulted in legal challenges drawn from First and Fourteenth Amendment considerations. While these constitutional issues are currently in litigation and have yet to be determined, there has not been additional consideration of the possible impact of silencing voices of communities of color in ways reminiscent of the voiceless role of slaves. The Thirteenth Amendment prohibition of” Badges of Slavery” suggests an analytical perspective that has heretofore not been discussed. This brief commentary explores both the history and possible current application of the Badges of Slavery doctrine as a counter to current state legislative efforts at silencing. Because the author is currently involved in litigation challenging these attacks on First and Fourteenth Amendment grounds, discussion of those issues are not addressed here. Instead, this commentary focuses exclusively on an argument not made – the Thirteenth Amendment ban on badges of slavery. enter Abstract Bod

Let the Sun Shine: Methods for Expansion of Small-Scale Solar Electricity to Reduce Fossil Fuel Dependence, Ease Financial Energy Burdens, and Enhance Community Resiliency

With so many benefits to solar electricity generation, it behooves state and local governments across America to explore laws and policies which encourage small-scale solar deployment. To help guide development of such laws and policies, Part I of this Article will explain the mechanics and the financing involved with the installation, operation, and maintenance of an on-site solar system. Part II explores the unique benefits and challenges of small-scale solar usage in low-income and weather vulnerable communities. Part III explains the legal and financial governance of American electric companies and how existing frameworks may lead utilities to erect hurdles to prevent on-site solar electricity generation. Part IV explores strategies, specifically laws and financing tools, used successfully by Hawaii, California, and Illinois to encourage widespread investment in on-site solar systems. Finally, Part V presents recommendations on how best to incorporate legal and political tools in jurisdictions seeking to expand use of small-scale solar, with an emphasis on benefiting low-income and weather vulnerable communities

2024 Hooding Ceremony Program

https://commons.law.famu.edu/hooding-ceremony-programs/1019/thumbnail.jp

Big Brands Stay in Your Lane, Small Designers Made It First : An Examination of the Harmful Effects the Lack of Copyright Protection has on Small Apparel Designers

This paper aims to emphasize the importance of expanding current United States (“U.S.”) copyright law (“law”) to include protection for apparel designs, as the lack of such protection has a multitude of adverse consequences for small individual apparel designers (“small designer”)

Exceedingly Unpersuasive” - Discrimination, Transgender Students, and School Bathrooms

This Article is organized chronologically, in an effort to more effectively reflect the nearly identical fact patterns, timelines, and intersecting opinions of these cases. Part I provides the factual background of both cases. Part II summarizes the substantial preliminary litigation in Grimm; Part III examines the district court ruling in Adams; Part IV analyzes the summary judgment ruling in Grimm. Part V covers Adams’ first appellate ruling; Part VI discusses the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Grimm three weeks later, and Part VII considers the aftermath of that decision. Parts VIII and IX explore the second panel ruling in Adams and the majority and dissenting en banc opinions, respectively. Part X considers the significant lessons from all these opinions and analyzes the relative strengths and weaknesses of the arguments for expanding or restricting the LGBTQ rights

Why I Will Not Stop Teaching Law Students to Think Critically About Race: the Attack on Teaching about the Role of Race in Law

As someone who has been involved in legal education teaching for over 40 years and as someone who was drawn to legal education as an alternative to a career more directly devoted to litigation concerning racial justice, so that others might be encouraged to explore critically both what race has meant to our legal system and how we might collectively counter its negative influence, the “Stop W.O.K.E act” presents a real and present danger. Thus, in August of 2022 I agreed to be the lead named plaintiff in Pernell, et. al. v. Florida Board of Governors of the State University System, et. al. Case No. 4:22cv304-MW/MAF, with representation by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, The American Civil Liberties Union, and the law firm Ballard Spahr.6 On November 17, 2022, Judge Mark Walker, United States District Court, issued a preliminary injunction barring the Florida Board of Governors of the State University System, from the enforcement of this act. It is the first decision of its kind to halt suppression of thought surrounding Critical Race Theory. As of the date of this writing the case is on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. This article is not about that case or its specifics as it applies to me. Rather, this article will explore the national effort to legislatively suppress Critical Race Theory and the teaching of the significance of race as a pedagogical tool and to demonize those who support and promote the importance of such teaching in our legal education system – particularly at this time. This article will explore the Critical Race Theory (CRT) connection to the educational development of the African American community as well as its role in providing both a voice for a community often historically voiceless and a vital cog in bringing about transformative change. This article will also look behind the egalitarian façade used to justify these laws through false fears and somewhat disingenuous declarations of a “Color-Blind”, Post-Racial Society

Kara Consalo

Recent Publication: Karen Consalo, Let the Sun Shine: Methods for Expansion of Small-Scale Solar Electricity to Reduce Fossil Fuel Dependence, Ease Financial Energy Burdens, and Enhance Community Resiliency, 24 NEV. L.J. 793 (2024).https://commons.law.famu.edu/homepage-images/1017/thumbnail.jp