CENTER AND CGSL FACULTY IN THE NEWS
PRESS RELEASE—May 18
PRESS RELEASE—May 15
Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic Urges New York Lawmakers to Prohibit the Use of Condoms as Evidence
Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic today sent
letters to all New York State Senators and Assembly Members urging support for a bill that would prohibit the use of condoms as evidence in prostitution cases. The letters say the bill addresses a growing public health crisis in the State: Prosecutors’ use of condoms as evidence leads many New Yorkers – especially those at heightened risk for prostitution arrests – not to carry condoms at all.
TIKKUN MAGAZINE—May 10
Boycotting Equality Forum’s Israeli Sponsorship: Gay Rights Became a Tool in Israel’s Rebranding Campaign
Rebecca Alpert and Katherine Franke: This week we were scheduled to speak at the Constitution Center as part of the Equality Forum’s 2012 LGBT Summit. Instead we, a rabbi and a law professor, have withdrawn our appearances at the event, disturbed that the Equality Forum, a major mainstream gay rights group, chose Israel as the conference’s “featured nation” and gained sponsorship for the 2012 Summit from the Israeli Embassy and Ministry of Tourism.
PRESS RELEASE—May 9
Professors Franke and Goldberg Laud Obama’s Support for Marriage Equality
President Barack Obama’s announcement of support for same-sex marriage today was praised by gender and sexuality law experts at Columbia Law School, who lauded the president’s shift in position on the contentious issue as a sign of hope in the battle over marriage equality in the United States.
PRESS RELEASE—May 9
PRESS RELEASE—May 1
Carol Sanger, the Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law, spoke about abortion as a medical issue, a political issue, and a legal issue in a talk titled "About Abortion: Meaning and Methodology," for the 32nd Isaac Marks Memorial Lecture at the University of Arizona’s James F. Rogers College of Law.
BLOOMBERG – March 28
The likelihood that Strauss-Kahn’s argument will prevail is “slim to nil,” said Sarah H. Cleveland, a professor of human and constitutional rights at Columbia Law School in New York and an expert on international law.
PINKNEWS – March 23
Among the groups advocating for Ms Atala, Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic submitted a brief to the Court from 60 experts on sexual orientation, gender and family law from around the world. It pointed to an increasing acceptance globally that whether or not a parent is gay is irrelevant in determining the best interests of a child. The brief also argued that denying lesbian and gay parents custody of their children violates the rights of both children and parents to live freely without discrimination.
Suzanne B. Goldberg, a Professor of Law and director of the Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic said: “The Inter-American Court’s decision vindicates the American Convention’s basic promise of equality and non-discrimination and makes clear that lesbian and gay parents have and deserve these important human rights protections.
WNYC’S THE BRIAN LEHRER SHOW – March 23
Columbia University Law School professor, and columnist for The Nation magazine, Patricia Williams discusses the difficulties when perceptions of threats are protected under the law--in the context of the Trayvon Martin case and the Stand Your Ground law in Florida as well as in the Dharun Ravi conviction.
WHYY RADIO’ RADIO TIMES – March 22
We'll deconstruct the case against Dharun Ravi and discuss its implications for the future of hate crimes law, cyber law and bullying with DANIELLE CITRON of the University of Maryland's Francis King Carey School of Law and SUZANNE GOLDBERG of Columbia School of Law.
THE NATION – March 21 (print – April 9)
By Patricia Williams
It’s an interesting time to ponder the meaning of life and death in the eyes of the law. On one hand, Christian conservatives increasingly seek to sacralize embryos from the moment of conception. On the other, the Supreme Court just heard a case that, among other things, considers the extent to which the corporeal death of a parent is really the “end of the line” with regard to “survivor” benefits for children conceived by artificial insemination from the frozen sperm of a deceased father. On one hand, Citizens United granted First Amendment rights to corporations that are identical to—and some would say exceed—those of natural persons; on the other, the Second Circuit recently ruled that individuals, but not corporations, can be sued for human rights abuses.
THE NEW YORK TIMES – March 17
“The debate in this case was, Was this a stupid college prank or criminal intimidation? And the jury gave a clear answer,” said Suzanne B. Goldberg, a gender law expert at Columbia Law School.
WNYC – March 16
“Immaturity is not a defense to criminal charges,” said Suzanne Goldberg, who teaches sexuality and gender law at Columbia Law School. “Sometimes, unfortunately, college students behave as though immaturity is a defense to criminal charges, and equally unfortunately, sometimes colleges and universities treat students who commit criminal acts with kid gloves.”
NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL—Mar. 9
The Columbia Law School Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic helped draft a law, recently passed by the Key West City Commission in Florida, that requires contractors who wish to enter the city's competitive bid process to offer employees with domestic partners the same benefits as married employees.
"Right now there is often great inequality where employees with spouses make more money than employees with domestic partners when you take into account benefits such as health insurance," said Suzanne B. Goldberg, the clinic's director. "Here, the community exercises its authority to say companies must treat their employees equally."
ABORTION REVIEW – March 8
We often hear of the ‘Americanisation’ of abortion politics in the UK, but unpicking the substantive threats to women’s reproductive rights in the USA can be a challenge. In the 2012 BPAS public lecture in London on 7 March, Carol Sanger, Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and a leading international scholar in the regulation of abortion, motherhood, and family, explored the current state of abortion politics in the USA and reflected on what lessons can be drawn by those keen to protect women’s reproductive autonomy in the UK, at a time when abortion appears increasingly politicised.
PRESS RELEASE—Mar. 2
Key West Law Requires City Vendors to Offer Equal Benefits to Domestic Partners
The Key West City Commission voted unanimously on February 22 to pass an equal benefits ordinance that requires companies doing business with Key West to provide domestic partners with benefits equal to those offered to married employees. The law was drafted with the assistance of students in the Columbia Law School Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic. Broward County adopted a similar law in November, also drafted with the Clinic’s support.
THE NEW YORK TIMES – February 22
By Patricia Williams
Does anyone really believe that we have “moved past race” considering that American schools are more segregated along the black-white divide than when Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954? Yes, there are new categories of the historically disenfranchised, like Hispanics and Native Americans — who ought to be more visibly integrated in the quest for “diversity.” But the recognition that we need to expand the number of groups who ought to be on the playing field — or ought to have been included long ago — does not mean that underlying impediments to full citizenship have been resolved.
REUTERS – February 22
"It would be exceedingly rare for anyone who was just a customer to be roped into a federal prostitution prosecution," said Daniel Richman, a former federal prosecutor who is a professor Columbia Law School in New York.
NPR’S MORNING EDITION – February 16
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Friday in the trial of Dharun Ravi. The former Rutgers University student is charged with using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi, who later committed suicide. Ravi faces 15 counts. The most serious charge, bias intimidation, is a hate crime, which carries a possible sentence of 10 years in prison. Suzanne Goldberg directs the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia University. She says this is a complex case that will be watched closely.
NYT ROOM FOR DEBATE – February 16
What I found most interesting about the federal appellate court's ruling that Proposition 8 violated the constitutional rights of same-sex couples in California is the degree to which the court outright rejected the approach taken at the trial by Ted Olson and David Boies, the so-called Dream Team: Denying access to marriage for same-sex couples, they argued, is a constitutional injury because of the fundamental-ness and sacredness of marriage.
COLUMBIA SPECTATOR - February 15
Thirty years ago, Columbia’s new president Michael Sovern decided that the time had come to admit women into the undergraduate program. Columbia was quite the latecomer to change its male-only identity—our peer schools survived the decision to become coeducational more than 10 years earlier.
THE NATION – February 15 (print – March 5-12)
By Patricia Williams
Michigan is a model of fiscal recuperation. At least that’s what the headlines said as I stepped off a plane in Detroit recently: its spending was slashed so ruthlessly in the past few years that the New York Times quoted a former state budget director as moaning, “We were so far down that the floor looked like up to us.” But now there is a budget surplus projected for 2013, of anywhere from half a billion to a billion dollars, with yet sunnier fiscal predictions ahead.
SLATE – February 13
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s alternative abortion history
Last Friday, some of the most distinguished scholars and litigants working on gender and the law gathered to honor a foremother and inspiration, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as Columbia University Law School marked the 40th anniversary of Ginsburg becoming the first tenured female professor there.
THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR – February 11
Columbia Law School professor Suzanne Goldberg has also been a part of the legal opposition to Prop 8. In October 2010, Goldberg—who is the director of Columbia’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law—filed an amicus brief in appeals court on behalf of the center, arguing against Prop 8. Any person or organization can file an amicus brief to provide information that might assist the court in reaching a decision. The appeals court’s ruling adopted some of the arguments presented in Columbia’s amicus brief, Goldberg said, adding that many organizations filed briefs.
ASSOCIATED PRESS (via THE HUFFINGTON POST) – February 10
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggested Friday that her predecessors on the high court mistimed the milestone 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. "It's not that the judgment was wrong, but it moved too far too fast," Ginsburg told a symposium at Columbia Law School marking the 40th anniversary of her joining the faculty as its first tenure-track female professor.
US NEWS’ DEBATE CLUB – February 9
Katherine Franke and Elizabeth Sepper: Obama Rule Respects Religious Diversity and Employee’s Dignity
“Should Catholic and Other Religious Institutions Have to Cover Birth Control?” The better way to frame the question is: Should employers with a corporate relationship to organized religion be permitted to avoid constitutionally protected health measures that every other employer must follow? Of course not.
THE HUFFINGTON POST (blog) – February 8
Katherine Franke: Court of Appeals Prop 8 Ruling – Treating Marriage as a License, Not a Sacrament
Rainbow flags and corsages were waving high in front of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village last night. There's much to celebrate about the 9th Circuit's ruling issued yesterday confirming the lower court finding that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. As I noted yesterday and Nan Hunter pointed out as well in her reading of the opinion, the reasoning used by the court minimizes the likelihood that the Supreme Court will take it up on appeal.
THE NATION – February 6
“We see what we want to see,” my grandmother used to say. This insight visited me recently after I ran across the mall chasing a woman I thought was my cousin. It wasn’t, as it turned out, but I didn’t realize that until after I had puffed up behind her, bopped her amiably on the shoulder and cried out, “Boo!”
THE FEMINIST WIRE – January 26
TFW Forum on Palestine
By Katherine Franke
I return from a two-week visit to the West Bank wrestling with the complexities of solidarity in this region. The first half of my trip was as part of a delegation of 16 academics, journalists, artists, and activists who sought to better understand the relationship of Israeli occupation to Palestinian freedom and identity, particularly sexual freedom and identity. The group and its members identified as lesbian, gay, queer and/ or transgender. I stayed on for another week after the delegation concluded to begin work on an EU-funded project to enhance the role of women lawyers in the Palestinian Bar Association and in the legal profession more generally. Week One surfaced sexuality while admitting no interest in gender, while Week Two illuminated gender while leaving sexuality in the shadows. Of course the one cannot be fully understood apart from the other, but in practice it is difficult to keep both in view.
PRESS RELEASE—Jan. 23
Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw Honored as a Southern California Freedom’s Sister
Columbia Law School Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw has been named a Southern California Freedom’s Sister by the Los Angeles–based Museum of Tolerance. Freedom’s Sisters is a traveling exhibition that pays homage to a group of extraordinary African-American women who have been influential in shaping the spirit and substance of civil rights in America.
PRESS RELEASE—Jan. 16
Sex-segregated public schools: illegal and unwise
Professor Emerita Vivian Berger argues that same-sex public schooling is a diversion of resources and illegal.
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER – January 13
Gay, Binational Couple Joins Fight Against Federal Antigay Law
"In the immigration context," said Columbia University Law School professor Suzanne Goldberg, an expert on sexuality law, "DOMA tears binational gay couples apart."
PRESS RELEASE—Dec. 19
Joy Ziegeweid ’12, Kate Stinson ’10 Awarded 2012 Skadden Public Interest Fellowship
Columbia Law School student Joy Ziegeweid ’12 and recent graduate Kate Stinson ’10 have been awarded prestigious Skadden Fellowships to further their public-service law careers. Ziegewied will use the fellowship to work at Sanctuary for Families’ Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services, where she will represent Russian immigrants who have been victims of domestic violence or sex trafficking. As part of her fellowship, Ziegewied plans to advocate for her Russian-speaking clients in family court, and on immigration matters and referrals to providers of medical, psychiatric, and social services.
PRESS RELEASE—Nov. 22
Broward County Law Requires Vendors to Offer Equal Benefits to Domestic Partners: Students in Columbia Law School Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic Helped Equality Florida Draft Legislation
The Broward County Commission voted unanimously on November 8 to pass an Equal Benefits Ordinance that requires companies doing business with Broward County to provide domestic partners with benefits equal to those offered to married employees. The law was drafted with the assistance of students in the Columbia Law School Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic.
THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL – November 21
Occupy Wall Street’s Message for Lawyers
By Katherine Franke
A scruffy-looking Occupy Wall Street protester takes out a big black magic marker and writes on a tattered piece of cardboard: "Ban 'Naked' Credit Default Swaps." Others hold signs calling for an end to "mortgage-backed securities" and "self-settled asset protection trusts." These demonstrations have a different, and more sophisticated, message than any we've seen before. "Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho — Interest Rate Swap Contracts Have Got To Go!"
USA TODAY – November 19
Boeheim is all in With Defense of Fine
"The case is likely to face difficulty whether a civil lawsuit or criminal charges are brought because the time for filing a lawsuit or prosecuting a crime appears to have passed," said Suzanne Goldberg, a Columbia University law professor and director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.
NEW YORK TIMES—Nov. 14
Why Herman Cain Is Unfit to Lead
Sexual Treatment of Women Now Part of the Open Political Process, Says Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw.
COLUMBIA SPECTATOR—Nov. 4
Gay man granted asylum with help from Columbia law clinic
A Columbia Law School clinic helped a gay man from the West African country Mauritania—where homosexuality is illegal—gain asylum in the United States.
PRESS RELEASE—Oct. 25
Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic Secures Asylum for Gay Mauritanian Refugee
Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic has won asylum in the United States for Ahmed A., a gay man who feared persecution because of his sexual orientation if he had been forced to return to his native Mauritania.
PRESS RELEASE—Aug. 22
Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic Submits Experts Brief In Case before Inter-American Court
Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic submitted a brief amicus curaie Friday to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on behalf of 60 global experts in sexual orientation, gender, and family law. The brief argues that the Chilean Supreme Court violated the American Convention on Human Rights when it ordered Karen Atala, a lesbian mother, to relinquish custody of her three children because of her sexual orientation.
PRESS RELEASE—Jul. 29
Reproductive Health and Human Rights Fellowship Awarded to Erez Aloni
Erez Aloni is the newest recipient of the Center for Reproductive Rights-Columbia Law School Fellowship, a full-time academic position designed to prepare recent law school graduates for legal academic careers in reproductive health and human rights.
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL MAGAZINE—Summer 2011
Columbia Law School Magazine Profiles in Scholarship: Suzanne B. Goldberg
NPR—Jul. 20
Katherine Franke on Morning Edition
Katherine Franke said she's thrilled for those same-sex couples clamoring to get married in New York, but isn't among the group eager to celebrate the institution of marriage: "I grew up as an adult in the '70s, when we were very critical of the institution of marriage. We saw it as a patriarchal, sexist institution," Franke said.
NPR—Jul. 11
Katherine Franke on All Things Considered
Columbia Law professor Katherine Franke says in many cases, there are more than two parents in the picture. "Sometimes, it's a sperm donor, but it can also be just another important person. So, lesbian and gay people have formed very complex families, and need more flexible norms," she says.
WNYC—Jun. 30
Katherine Franke on The Future of Domestic Partnerships
Professor of law and Director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia, Katherine Franke, discusses what happens to domestic partnerships - both straight and gay - now that gay marriage is legal in New York.
PRESS RELEASE—Jun. 30
Gender and Sexuality Law Clinic Receives Award for Pro Bono Work
The Gender and Sexuality Law Clinic of Columbia Law School is a 2011 Lehigh Valley LGBT Community Award winner in recognition of the Clinic’s success in writing domestic Partner Benefits legislation for the Cities of Allentown and Easton, PA. The Allentown ordinance, drafted by clinic students, was signed into law Jan. 26 of this year.
PRESS RELEASE—Jun. 27
Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic Files Brief in Household Labor Trafficking Case
Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit case, Velez v. Sanchez, highlighting the serious problem of family members trafficking young relatives into domestic labor. This practice, which has young family members working as barely-paid servants in relatives’ homes, violates both international and U.S. law.
NEW YORK TIMES—Jun. 24
Marriage Is a Mixed Blessing
Professor Katherine Franke writes an op-ed piece in the New York Times about marriage is a mixed blessing.
PRESS RELEASE—Jun. 1
Center for Gender & Sexuality Law Launches Major New Project on “Engaging Tradition”
Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender & Sexuality Law announced the launch of the Engaging Tradition Project to study how the ideas of tradition are deployed both to undermine and support gender and sexuality-based social justice projects.
PRESS RELEASE—Apr. 8
Professor Katherine Franke Named a Guggenheim Fellow
Professor Katherine Franke, director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School, has been awarded a fellowship to write a book that will look at marriage as the centerpiece of a civil rights movement.
WALL STREET JOURNAL—Feb. 23
Katherine Franke: Civil Unions in Hawaii and Illinois: How'd They Get it Right?
Unlike in most jurisdictions in the U.S. that have enacted a civil union law, the Hawaii and Illinois laws cover both same-sex and different-sex couples. This is great news.
WINDY CITY TIMES—Feb. 23
Justice Department to Stop Defending DOMA, Groups Respond
The Obama administration made a blockbuster announcement Feb. 23, saying it has concluded that one part of the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) will not be able to pass constitutional muster in the 2nd Circuit and that the Department of Justice ( DoJ ) would not defend that part of the law in two pending cases in that circuit.
PRESS RELEASE—Feb. 23
Obama Administration Says Defense of Marriage Act is Unconstitutional, Directors of Law School's Center for Gender and Sexuality Law Comment on Decision
The Obama administration said today that it would not defend in court the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 15-year-old federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The Justice Department had previously defended the law, but said it had determined in a pair of cases in the federal appeals court in New York that it was no longer constitutional. The co-directors of the Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law offered comments about the announcement.
HUFFINGTON POST—Feb. 21
A Gay Rights Angle on the Egyptian Revolution?
Katherine Franke: Egyptian officials announced on Saturday that the state's emergency laws might be lifted in six months. We'll see. Since 1967, Egypt has spent all but five months under a declared "state of emergency" by which the regime has rationalized the outlawing of demonstrations, the use of indefinite detentions without trial, the extensive use of "security courts" that afford little or no due process or transparency as compared with civilian courts, the endowment of presidential decrees with the power of law, among other things.
IRCPL PODCAST—Feb. 15
Dahlia Lithwick in Conversation
Listen to a conversation with Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate and writer of the “Supreme Court Dispatches” and “Jurisprudence” columns. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post, and Commentary, among other places. Moderated by Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia Law Professor and Director of Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.
ASSOCIATED PRESS—Jan. 27
Allentown Now Offers Domestic Partner Benefits
The policy applies to the city's white collar employees and members of the Service Employees International Union. The police and fire unions are reviewing a memorandum of understanding that extends the benefits to those members. Allentown's ordinance was written by students at Columbia Law School's Sexuality & Gender Law Clinic.
STARS AND STRIPES—Jan. 24
DADT—A Look at Our Allies
A recent article in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes points out how—in the implementation of the new policy—our Services could take a look at how our allies managed the transition when they enacted similar policies. The author, Suzanne B. Goldberg, a clinical professor of law and director of Columbia Law School’s Gender & Sexuality Law Center, writes how some of our allies, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, did it.
NEW YORK TIMES—Jan. 5
NFL Declined to View Favre Texts, Lawyer Says
Suzanne Goldberg, a Columbia Law School professor and director of the school’s Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, said the women do not necessarily need to prove they were full-time employees to win their case. “Even if they were not full-time employees, they were hired by the Jets to do a job, and the law prohibits employers from sexually harassing who they hire,” she said.
THE BEST OF LGBT BLOGS - December 2010
WNYC—Dec. 6
The Supreme Court has announced it will hear a case that involves the world's largest retailer. The case is also the nation's biggest employment discrimination lawsuit. A class action lawsuit against Walmart alleges the company unfairly discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women in both pay and promotions. Suzanne Goldberg is a professor at Columbia Law School, where she directs the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. She traces the timeline of the lawsuit, and explains what's at stake.
PRESS RELEASE—Nov. 30
A Pentagon report that sees little impact if gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly should serve as the final “nail in the coffin” for the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, say gender and sexuality law experts at Columbia Law School...“We're in the don’t ask, don’t tell end game,” said
Katherine Franke, Director of the
Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. “Having given the military ample and robust opportunity to consider lifting the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. armed services, it is clear that the time has come to lift the ban.”... “The report should be the final nail in ‘don't ask, don't tell's’ coffin,” said
Suzanne B. Goldberg, Director of the Law School’s
Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic. “As many military and civilian leaders have long argued, sexual orientation discrimination does not belong in our military. Lesbians and gay men are currently serving and have long served in the military with distinction. It is time for the law to catch up with reality.”
PRESS RELEASE—Nov. 9
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he wants the Senate to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays serving in the military. But such a vote, even if it fails, may be part of a larger administration strategy to repeal the policy, says
Katherine Franke, director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School.
PRESS RELEASE—Oct. 25
Proposition 8 should be struck down because it denies same-sex couples access to the “unique” value” of marriage and “denigrates” domestic partners by not allowing them to marry, Professor
Suzanne Goldberg argues in a
brief filed for the latest challenge to the California law.
PRESS RELEASE—Oct. 20
The “clear and emphatic” refusal by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips to stay her ruling that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was unconstitutional was easy to make given the government’s weak case, said Professor Katherine Franke, Director of Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender & Sexuality Law.
PRESS RELEASE—Oct. 1
The
Columbia Law School Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic has urged the European Court of Human Rights to recognize and respond to intersectional discrimination, a form of discrimination based on an individual’s combination of characteristics, such as race
and sex together, rather than on a single trait.
Columbia Law School’s Sexuality and Gender Law Clinic addresses cutting-edge issues in sexuality and gender law through litigation, legislation, public policy analysis and other forms of advocacy. Under the guidance of Professor
Suzanne Goldberg, clinic students work on a wide range of projects, from constitutional litigation to legislative advocacy to immigration cases, to serve both individual and organizational clients in cases involving issues of sexuality and gender law.
NEW YORK TIMES (Room for Debate Blog)—Sept. 29
Obama’s Message to Voters
Patricia Williams: You can’t eat anger; and anger depletes mindfulness. The democracies that will survive on an increasingly exhausted planet will be those that ensure the fairest possible distribution of resources among their citizens. Thus, President Obama needs to preach the benefits of his programs to the real Samuel Wurzelbachers of the world, rather than refuting the “Mr. Moneybags Has Been Unfairly Taxed” narrative of an imagined Joe the Plumber.
BBC RADIO—Sept. 27
Goldman Sachs Class Action
Three women who worked for Goldman Sachs are suing the Wall Street firm. Suzanne Goldberg, Professor of Law at Columbia University and former partner and MD at Goldman Sachs Jacki Zehner discuss.
WNYC—Aug. 31
But certainly, basic labor laws require equal opportunities for promotion. Columbia Law School professor Suzanne Goldberg says she’s wondered why B&H hadn’t been sued sooner for gender discrimination. “It is certainly not permissible for a store to refuse to hire women as sales people, even if the store had certain religious commitments; a store is open to the public,” Goldberg says.
SALON—May 26
Katherine Franke and Katherine Biers discuss their new course on "Gay Marriage" and why controversial college courses about same-sex unions are a much-needed lesson in critical thought.
