02.01.23 ›› The Virtual Book Club became an instant “best seller” when it launched in 2020. This year featured a discussion with two Northeastern Law authors: Sofia Ali-Khan ’00, author of A Good Country: My Life in Twelve Towns and the Devastating Battle for White America, in conversation with Professor Hemanth Gundavaram; and poet b, author of My Dear Comrades, in conversation with Rishi Reddi ’92, author of Karma and Other Stories and Passage West.

02.02.23 ›› In the wake of yet another killing of a Black man, CLEAR brought the university community together for this conversation about the killing of Tyre Nichols and the need for systemic change in policing. Many students, graduates and faculty spoke at the event. “The problem with reform is you just make a nicer system of harm,” said Rahsaan Hall ’98, recently named president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
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3.30.23 ›› This virtual conversation featured Professor Deborah Ramirez, faculty co-director of CLEAR and chair of the law school’s Criminal Justice Task Force, Dennis D. Everett Jr., director of restorative justice practices and training for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and Professor Susan Maze-Rothstein, executive director of the Center for Restorative Justice at Suffolk University. This event was part of a series hosted by CLEAR in partnership with the Center on Crime, Race and Justice and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Northeastern University and Hinckley Allen.

3.15.23; 5.17.23 ›› CRRJ’s series on the legal and historical frameworks surrounding reparations policies recently included “Building the Record for Reparations,” a panel discussion focused on exploring different approaches to establishing a historical record that can lay the foundation for redress and considered how such a record can shape policy decisions about remedies, and “World War II: Black Soldiers and Veterans,” which featured Matthew Delmont, author of Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, and Richard Brookshire, executive director of the Black Veterans Project. The series is hosted by CRRJ’s Racial Redress and Reparations Lab in partnership with the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and the Black Reparations Project at Mills College at Northeastern.

6.9-10.23 ›› Northeastern Law’s clinical program hosted the Association of American Law Schools’ annual Transactional Clinical Conference, held at Northeastern and this year dubbed, “Pivots into Practice: Learning, Doing and Innovating in the Pandemic’s Wake.” Law school clinicians from across the country gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities for transactionallawyers, notably those working in
underinvested and under-resourced communities, particularly Black, brown and immigrant communities.

3.15.23 ›› During Problem Gambling Awareness Month, PHAI hosted a webinar on the law, science and impact of rapidly expanding gambling in America by drawing on the longer experience of the United Kingdom.

4.5.23 ›› Alexandra Tarzikhan JD/MPH ’18, legal advisor at the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, delivered the annual Valerie Gordon Human Rights Lecture. Tarzikhan, who spoke in her personal, not professional, capacity, delivered an address, “From PHRGE Fellow to International Human Rights Expert: Lessons for Building a Career in Human Rights Law.” In addition, the Valerie Gordon Book Award was presented to MyLinn Clément ’25, who read an excerpt from her award-winning essay, “Sex Trafficking in Black Communities as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
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3.15.23 ›› This gathering focused on catalyzing interdisciplinary, cross-sector research collaborations to inform policy and practice and have on-the-ground impact on communities affected by unjust surveillance by highlighting artists working on surveillance themes. Discussions touched upon surveillance flowing from anti-“critical race theory” and “don’t say gay” legislation, ICE surveillance, information capitalism, reproductive rights, location data and other timely issues. The See Something, Frame Something Project is an interdisciplinary research consortium of Northeastern Law’s CLIC and CPIAC, along with Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media and Design, College of Social Sciences and Humanities and Khoury College of Computer Sciences, that explores the legal and societal implications of state-private collaboration in the surveillance of marginalized communities.

2.6-8.23 ›› Derecka Purnell, human rights lawyer and author of Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom, came to Northeastern Law for three days in February as a Daynard Distinguished Public Interest Visiting Fellow. Purnell voiced her belief that police forces cannot be reformed and that new systems must be developed to address the root causes of violence. Purnell spoke in conversation with Andrea James ’98, founder and executive director of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and participated in a roundtable, “Abolition and the Future We Create Together.”
>> Watch Purnell in conversation with James ’98
>> Watch the roundtable
>> View photos of the roundtable

4.14.23 ›› Misinformation on issues such as vaccination, masking, abortion, COVID-19, gender-affirming care, m-pox and opioids is spreading quickly on social media and web-based news channels. Such misinformation can exacerbate health inequities and pose problems for health privacy. This dynamic conference focused on how law and policy are instrumental in determining the response to ongoing health misinformation and will influence how healthcare and public health systems develop strategies promoting science.
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3.31.23 ›› Many systems that contribute to future incarceration, including lack of housing or pervasive poverty, often operate as birth penalties for historically underresourced and underinvested communities. This conference focused on increased data access and transparency about these contributors, which can serve as tools for influencing legislation, advocacy and community activism within Massachusetts. CPIAC’s flagship research initiative, the Cradleto- Prison Pipeline Project (C2P Project), launched in 2019 with a Northeastern University Tier 1 grant, is a collaboration among CPIAC, Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media and Design and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities.

4.13.23 ›› Is a squeaky dog toy that pokes fun at a famous brand an expressive work that merits First Amendment protection or is it a commercial product subject to trademark infringement’s traditional likelihood of confusion analysis? Professor Alexandra Roberts was joined by Professor Rebecca Tushnet of Harvard Law School for a conversation about Jack Daniels v. VIP Products and related issues.
>>Watch the video

6.1-2.23 ›› CLEAR hosted racial justice centers and nonprofits from across the country for a conference to explore, discuss, strategize and share best practices about responding to various assaults on democratic processes that impact racial, social and economic justice. The conference started with a framing of the issues through a “Fireside Chat” between Rahsaan Hall ’98, president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, and Professor Margaret Burnham, director of the law school’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project and faculty co-director of CLEAR.
>> View photo gallery

6.1-2.23 ›› CLEAR hosted racial justice centers and nonprofits from across the country for a conference to explore, discuss, strategize and share best practices about responding to various assaults on democratic processes that impact racial, social and economic justice. The conference started with a framing of the issues through a “Fireside Chat” between Rahsaan Hall ’98, president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, and Professor Margaret Burnham, director of the law school’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project and faculty co-director of CLEAR.

6.15.23 ›› This virtual program featured keynote speaker Meg Satterthwaite, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program; and Margaret Huang, executive director of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The event included sessions on the courts and US compliance with treaty obligations as well as the treaty review process in the US. Multiple organizations co-sponsored the event, with funding from the Libra Foundation. More than 250 registrants attended, and CLE credit was offered for California and New York.

2.3.23 ›› When companies and investors talk about ESG commitments, most focus only on environmental issues — and overlook social and governance issues. Of particular concern are human rights violations related to supply chain policies and modern slavery practices. PHRGE invited Dennis Kwok, a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, current partner at Elliott Kwok Levine & Jaroslaw and visiting lecturer in the Political Science Department at Northeastern University, to speak about these issues.

5.10.23 ›› The 30th annual Denise Carty-Bennia Memorial Bar Awards were presented to 10 students of color during a reception that featured a keynote address by Dr. Deborah Jackson, managing director of the Center for Law, Equity and Race. Congratulations to these 2023 class members: Princess Diaz-Birca, Merafe Gedewon, Javier Gerardo, Maya Marie Hill, Sree Kotipalli, Grace Mamo, Robert Mogollon, Ruchi Ramamurthy, Sarah Ratsimbazafy and Tanvi Verma.