Derechos y Esperanza – Rights and Hope: ASU Law Civil Rights, Migration and Workplace Law Initiative

The Supreme Court's recent decision in Callais v. Louisiana has raised questions as to whether this was the latest of several decisions eviscerating the landmark and transformative Voting Rights Act of 1965, often called the "crown jewel" of the civil rights era. We are joined by Todd Cox, Associate Director and Counsel of LDF and long-time civil rights attorney, to explain why the Supreme Court's most recent voting rights decision threatens equitable representation of Black and other voters of color, and how the recent pilgrimage of thousands to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, ground zero for the historic civil rights struggle, to protest the decision promises to revitalize and re-engage citizens to vote and speak up.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Throughout its history, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a product of the iconic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and transformative civil right movement has been at the cutting edge in removing discriminatory barriers in the workplace including pressing disparate impact discrimination to address systemic hiring barriers (often confronted by Black and female workers), to the development of hostile workplace and sexual harassment law, the expanded understanding of religious accommodation in the workplace, and the protection of the LGBTQ workers from discrimination. Former EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum and former EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride join ASU professor David Lopez (also a former EEOC General Counsel) to discuss how several former agency officials organized to speak up against the agency's seeming retreat from its mission. This includes the agency's dismissal of gender identity claims allowed by the Supreme Court, to its refusal to use statutorily-codified disparate impact, its repeal of critical workplace guidance and self-auditing tools, and, most fundamentally, its apparent abandonment of the agency's deep tradition of deliberative, inclusive, bipartisan development of policy to protect workers.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Wendy Greene, the trailblazing Law Professor and Drexel Director of the Center for Law, Policy and Social Action (CLPSA), breaks down how grooming codes and court created distinctions between culture and "immutable: race have intersected to exclude workers with locs, braids, and other natural and protective African-descendent hairstyles, and the grassroots movement to expand our understanding of how race discrimination and create greater workplace fairness and opportunity.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

ASU Law Vice Dean and Charles J. Merriam Distinguished Professor of Law, and immigration law expert, Angela Banks and Rutgers Professor, Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar, and Founder of the Rutgers Center for Immigrant Justice Rose Cuison-Villazor join David Lopez to break down the Supreme Court's recent arguments on the birthright citizenship executive order, asylum and temporary protective status. These cases may seem complex but our experts explain the human consequences for these decisions and why merely taking these cases matters for impacted communities regardless of the ultimate outcome.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Prof. Lopez interviews Daniel Rodriguez, ASU Law alum and one of the leaders of the immigrants right youth movement and Abdi Lopez, CRMWLI Fellow who grew up in a farmworker family, candidly reflect on the range of emotions unleashed by the NY Times revelations, after five years of investigation, of child abuse and sexism during his time as President of the United Farmworker Movement, centering the victims but examining questions of complicity, the yearning for an individual leader even in collective struggles, broader patterns of abusive power by powerful men, and how this moment can strengthen the movement to give voice and power to farmworkers and others working in low-wage jobs.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Prof. Lopez continues the special series interviewing geographer Scott Warren, a resident of Ajo in the middle of the Sonoran desert and a migration route sometimes called the Devil's Highway due to the large number of migrant deaths discusses how the federal government has leveraged this beautiful but hostile landscape he loves so much through is prevention through deterrence policy, ultimately leading to federal harboring and smuggling charges for his humanitarian work, a two-year ordeal including the assertion of religious conscience defenses under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and finally his ultimate acquittal.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Prof. David Lopez and Elizabeth Reiner Platt start their discussion with Reverend Marilynn Budde's call for mercy at the inaugural prayer service, a large section of the inter-denominational faith community has become increasingly vocal about what they view as a harsh and punitive immigration system. Elizabethe Reiner Platt, Director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project, discusses the organization's recent report analyzing the legal landscape safeguarding religious conscience and observation in the face of state action.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Join Professor Lopez as he interviews legal labor law giant William Gould IV as they discuss his memoir "Those Who Travail and Are Heavy Laden: Memoir of a Labor Lawyer," a path that takes him to from New England, as the descendant of runaway slaves, to become the first Black law professor at Stanford Law School and the Chair of the National Labor Relations Board - along the way working to ensure organized labor integrated Black workers, working with the United Auto Workers, developing a lifelong friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and mediating the longest strike in major league baseball history. On the way, he explains how the law impacts March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament and his lifelong love affair with the Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Join Professor David Lopez as he interviews Noreen Farrell, executive director of Equal Rights Advocates, and Joi Chaney, board director of Equal Rights Advocates and founder of J.O.I. Strategies. The discussion highlights the importance of honoring the many women who have advanced equality and justice, challenged barriers, and reshaped culture. It also addresses ongoing challenges, including the gender pay gap and the persistent marginalization of low-wage workers. The conversation draws on examples from popular culture, including the Academy Awards and the manosphere.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.

Former Federal Judge Abdul Kallon shares with host Prof. David Lopez the story of his American Dream, immigrating from Sierra Leone as a child and finding his way to federal district court judgeship in Birmingham, Ala., replacing his mentor and icon William Clemons. He then discusses the Article III Coalition, a bipartisan group of federal judges dedicated to education and advocacy about the critical importance of judicial independence, democracy and separation of powers.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University or the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Nothing discussed should be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counsel. All errors are the responsibility of the speaker.