Author Archives: GSU Law Student

02.29.24
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CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Modern Day

For Black History Month, the Law Library will spotlight Black law figures throughout history and their contributions to the legal field. Each week, a different figure will be featured.

by Sydney Hamilton, 1L

This month, we’ve looked back at a few figures who made the legal field more inclusive and changed the course of history. Their contributions paved the way for countless Black attorneys and legal scholars working today. So, to close out this Black History Month, let’s recognize the Black legal leaders of today who are continuing the legacy of their predecessors. Read more about each leader by selecting the triangle to the left of their name.

Ketanji Brown Jackson

While she spent most of her adolescence in Miami, Ketanji Brown Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., where she now spends her days as a Supreme Court Justice.[1] After President Biden appointed her in 2022, Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Before this significant accomplishment, Jackson held several other positions, including a clerkship for Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer and serving as Vice Chair and Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.[2] Despite being a new Justice, Jackson has already established her voice in the court, having already written a few solo dissents in her first term alone.[3]

[1] “The Current Court: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,” Supreme Court Historical Society. Accessed February 25, 2024. https://supremecourthistory.org/supreme-court-justices/associate-justice-ketanji-brown-jackson/

[2] “Ketanji Brown Jackson,” Oyez. Accessed February 25, 2024. https://www.oyez.org/justices/ketanji_brown_jackson

[3] Adam Liptak, “In Her First Term, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘Came to Play,’ The New York Times, July 7, 2023. Accessed February 25, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/us/supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jackson.html

Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz

Stacey Abrams

Though she grew up in Mississippi, Stacey Abrams literally and figuratively became a representative of Georgia. A Spelman College and Yale Law School graduate, Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives for eleven years and became minority leader in 2010.[1] In 2018, Abrams founded Fair Fight, an initiative that addresses voter suppression.[2] Abrams rose to prominence that same year when she announced her Georgia governor campaign. Despite losing, she was cemented as the first Black woman in a gubernatorial race to win a major party’s primary. During the 2020 Presidential and Senate elections, the media credited Abrams as the leading reason behind the Democratic win in Georgia.[3] Abrams is also a prolific novelist in addition to her political accomplishments.[4]

[1] Emma Rothberg, “Stacey Abrams,” National Women’s History Museum. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/stacey-abrams.

[2] “Meet Our Founder,” Fair Fight. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://fairfight.com/about-stacey-abrams/.

[3] Emma Rothberg, supra.

[4] “Meet our Founder,” supra.

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Bryan Stevenson

While finishing his degree at Harvard Law School, Bryan Stevenson began his exemplary career by working at the Southern Center for Human Rights to represent death row inmates.[1] The experience motivated Stevenson to leave his full-time position with SCHR in Atlanta and move to Alabama, where he founded the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a non-profit human rights organization.[2] Stevenson and EJI have argued and won numerous cases concerning prisoner rights and death sentences of innocent inmates.[3] In 1990, Stevenson took on the case of Walter McMillian, a black man who, in 1988, had been falsely accused of the murder of a white woman.[4] Stevenson’s efforts resulted in McMillian’s release from prison in 1993. In 2014, Stevenson published a best-selling novel about the case, Just Mercy, which has since been adapted into a film starring Michael B. Jordan (as Stevenson) and Jamie Foxx (as MacMillian).[5]

[1] “Bryan A. Stevenson – Biography,” NYU School of Law. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.biography&personid=20315.

[2] Meg Grant, “Bryan Stevenson,” People, November 27, 1995. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://people.com/archive/bryan-stevenson-vol-44-no-22/.

[3] “Bryan Stevenson,” Equal Justice Initiative. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://eji.org/bryan-stevenson/.

[4] Meg Grant, “Bryan Stevenson,” People.

[5] Id.

Photo by James Duncan Davidson

Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris has steadily climbed up the legal and political ladders for most of her life. After working as an assistant district attorney for the prosecutor’s office in Oakland, California, Harris eventually ran for District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003 against her former boss.[1] Despite the close race, Harris won and became the first Black woman in California’s history to be elected to the position.[2] Harris nabbed an even tighter victory in 2010 when she narrowly won the race for Attorney General for California; Harris beat her opponent, Steve Cooley, by only 0.8 percentage points.[3] As Attorney General, she won a $20 billion mortgage settlement for California homeowners.[4] In 2017, Harris was sworn into the Senate, and by 2019, she announced her campaign for President of the United States.[5] Though Harris eventually dropped out of the race, she joined Joe Biden as his running mate. Upon the two winning the 2020 Presidential Election, Harris became the first female, first Black, and first Asian Vice President of the United States.

[1] Catherine Kim, Zack Stanton, “55 Things You Need to Know About Kamala Harris,” POLITICO, August 11, 2020. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/11/kamala-harris-vp-background-bio-biden-running-mate-2020-393885

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] “Kamala Harris: The Vice President,” The White House. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-harris/

[5] Andrea Wurzburger, “Vice President Kamala Harris’ Career in Photos,” People, October 20, 2023. Accessed February 26, 2024. https://people.com/politics/kamala-harris-career-in-photos/

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Benjamin Crump

An avid activist since his days at Florida State University, Ben Crump has made it his business to defend the Black community.[1] In the wake of numerous reports of police brutality against Black Americans and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Crump became known widely when he represented the family of Trayvon Martin.[2] Although the court acquitted George Zimmerman—the man who shot and ultimately killed Martin—of murder, Crump acquired a million-dollar settlement with Zimmerman’s homeowner’s association on behalf of the Martin family.[3] Crump went on to represent the families of Michael Brown, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, winning large settlements for them, too.[4] In addition to these cases, Crump also defended the citizens of Flint, Michigan, during the ongoing Flint Water Crisis and spurred a suit against Johnson & Johnson after reports that its powder had led to several cases of ovarian cancer in Black and Hispanic women. [5] [6]

[1] Gareth Evans, “How Ben Crump became America’s go-to police brutality lawyer,” BBC News, May 29, 2021. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57038162

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] “Flint Water Crisis & Ben Crump,” Pintas & Mullins Law Firm. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://www.pintas.com/resources/flint-crisis-ben-crump/

[6] Dawn Onley, “Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump goes after Johnson and Johnson for marketed baby powder to Black women,” The Grio, February 26, 2019. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://thegrio.com/2019/02/26/civil-rights-attorney-benjamin-crump-files-class-action-lawsuit-johnson-and-johnson/

Photo attributed to Lorie Shaull

Michelle Obama

As one of the most recognized and admired female figures in history, Michelle Obama is a woman who requires no introduction. A Chicago native and a Harvard Law graduate, Obama got her start in corporate law, where she specialized in intellectual property.[1] Eventually, Obama sought a new path and dedicated herself to public service. This included serving as an assistant commissioner of planning and development at the Chicago City Hall and developing the University of Chicago’s first community service program while working as the Associate Dean of Student Services.[2] When her husband, Barack, was elected President of the United States, Obama became the first Black First Lady of the United States. In her role, Obama launched several successful programs, such as Let’s Move!, which addressed childhood obesity by encouraging children to be physically active and pushing for healthy lunches in US schools.[3] Obama also spearheaded Let Girls Learn, which, with the assistance of the Peace Corps, the US Department of State, and other federal agencies, promoted quality education for girls and young women across the globe.[4] In 2018, Obama published her best-selling memoir Becoming, which charted her journey of growth and the lessons she has learned throughout her extraordinary life.

[1] Rosalind Ross, “The woman behind Obama,” Chicago Times, January 20, 2007. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20080215230648/http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/221458%2CCST-NWS-mich21.article

[2] “Michelle Obama,” The White House Historical Association. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/michelle-obama

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

Photo by EJ Hersom

Barack Obama

For the rest of history, the name Barack Obama will always be synonymous with “the first Black President of the United States.” It was considered a historic moment when Chief Justice Roberts swore Obama into office on January 20, 2009. However, technically, this wasn’t the first time that Obama had accomplished such a feat. Funny enough, while attending Harvard Law School, Obama became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review, attracting media attention even back then.[1] After graduating from college, Obama focused his efforts on rebuilding communities in the US. For example, when he first moved to Chicago, Obama collaborated with local churches to reestablish communities badly affected by the mass closure of steel plants.[2] His penchant for civil rights influenced his work as a lawyer and eventually as a US Senator.[3] In 2007, he began his presidential campaign, a challenging yet ultimately rewarding journey, which resulted in his win over Senator John McCain in 2008. During his presidency, Obama achieved many triumphs, such as appointing several female justices to the Supreme Court, striking down “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies and thus paving the way for same-sex marriage, and adopting the Paris Climate Agreement, which helped decrease greenhouse emissions.[4]

[1] “President Barack Obama,” Obama White House Archives. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/president-obama

[2] Barack Obama,” The White House Historical Association. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/bios/barack-obama

[3] Id.

[4] David Von Drehle, “Honor and Effort: What President Obama Achieved in Eight Years,” Time, December 22, 2016. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://time.com/4616866/barack-obama-administration-look-back-history-achievements/

Photo by Lawrence Jackson

02.19.24
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CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Charles Hamilton Houston

For Black History Month, the Law Library will spotlight Black law figures throughout history and their contributions to the legal field. Each week, a different figure will be featured.

by Sydney Hamilton, 1L

Charles Hamilton Houston in undated photo taken sometime between 1940-50. Photographer unknown. From the Library of Congress NAACP collection of portraits of founders, board members, staff, branch officers and other prominent cultural, social and political figures. LOT 13074, no 249 [P&P].

Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895 – April 22, 1950)

Born in Washington, D.C., Charles Hamilton Houston first encountered the legal field through his father, a hard-working attorney in the nation’s capital. However, his father’s exemplary career did not solely inspire Houston to go down a similar path. After graduating from Amherst College and teaching at Howard University, Houston enlisted in the military when the First World War began. During this time, Houston experienced tremendous racial discrimination. He came to a bewildering epiphany: he served a country that did not even value his life and scorned his existence. “I made up my mind,” Houston once said, “that if I got through this war, I would study law and use my time fighting back for men who could not strike back.”[1]

Houston returned to the U.S. in April 1919, the beginning of a period now called the “Red Summer.” This period of violence resulted from several events. For one, the war had further encouraged the Great Migration, a mass emigration of Blacks to the North and the Midwest from the South, seeking to escape increasing racial violence and find better job opportunities. At the same time, the veterans were returning home from the war. This led to a flurry of emotions and opposing attitudes. Many White veterans and civilians were upset about Blacks “taking” jobs that Whites felt rightly belonged to them. Additionally, Whites feared that many of the Black veterans, now equipped with more experience and military training, would no longer allow themselves to be subjected to the racial status quo established in the U.S. On the other hand, many Black veterans were returning from foreign countries where they had been treated better and resented coming home to a country that did not appreciate their service. These rising tensions culminated in some of the bloodiest riots in American history, the worst occurring in Elaine, Arkansas, where at least 100 Black Americans were killed. However, this was notably one of the first times in U.S. history that the Black community had collectively fought back against racial violence.

These events colored Houston’s law school education when he entered Harvard Law School. While there, Houston became the first Black student elected to Harvard Law Review’s editorial board.  He later obtained a Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, which allowed him to study at the University of Madrid and earn a Civil Law degree. After graduating, Houston returned to Washington and joined his father’s law practice, one of the first Black law firms established in D.C.

A foundational tenant of Houston’s approach to the law was the importance of defending and protecting the Black community. He felt that Black lawyers had an obligation to argue on behalf of their community because White lawyers could not be depended on to fight against racial injustice. Eventually, Houston began teaching part-time at Howard Law School and was appointed vice-dean in 1929.  In his new role, Houston made it his mission to turn Howard Law School into a “training ground” for future civil rights lawyers, such as Thurgood Marshall. Before long, Houston turned the law school into a formidable institution, helping them to attain accreditation from the American Bar Association.

In 1935, Houston left Howard to work as the first special counsel for the NAACP. Houston’s main objective was to diminish and eventually abolish Jim Crow laws, which he did through his arguments in several civil rights cases. However, Houston’s most impactful contribution was his strategy to debunk the “separate but equal” myth from Plessy v Ferguson (1897). He first used this tactic in Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1939), arguing that it was unconstitutional to prevent a Black applicant from attending a law school “when no comparable facility for Blacks existed in the State.” Winning that case proved the effectiveness of Houston’s ingenious approach.

Houston’s efforts officially paid off in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), when the courts declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Unfortunately, Houston passed away four years earlier, in 1950, before seeing the fruits of his labor. However, his pupil, Thurgood Marshall, made the winning argument in the case. So, perhaps Houston’s spirit was present that day.  

[1] “Charles Hamilton Houston.” Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/alumni/charles-hamilton-houston. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

Other Sources:

“Charles Hamilton Houston.” Separate Is Not Equal: Brown V. Board of Education, americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/3-organized/charles-houston.html. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

“Charles Hamilton Houston.” NAACP, naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/charles-hamilton-houston. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

“Long Road to Brown: Cases and Lawyers: Charles Hamilton Houston.” Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise, www.pbs.org/beyondbrown/history/charleshouston.html. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

“Red Summer: The Race Riots of 1919.” The National WWI Museum and Memorial, http://www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/red-summer. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

“Racial Violence and the Red Summer.” National Archives, http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/wwi/red-summer. Accessed 18 Feb. 2024.

02.13.24
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CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Pauli Murray

For Black History Month, the Law Library will spotlight Black law figures throughout history and their contributions to the legal field. Each week, a different figure will be featured.

by Sydney Hamilton, 1L

“Pauli Murray approx. 1955” by FDR Presidential Library & Museum is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Pauli Murray (November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985)

A frustrating truth about history is that for all the trailblazers and visionaries who fought for change, only a select few go down as household names. However, the present allows us to rediscover those figures that helped to ensure the very future we now sit in. One such figure is Pauli Murray.

As soon as they were born, Anne Pauline “Pauli” Murray could not ignore the subject of race. The violence of slavery impacted their family’s genetic makeup, as many of Murray’s ancestors were the children of white enslavers and enslaved Black women.  However, this resulted in what Murray described as a “mini-United Nations”[1] and that simply by existing, they defied an era shaped by segregation.

At age three, Murray’s mother died, and their father arranged for Murray to leave Baltimore and live with their maternal aunt and grandparents in Durham, North Carolina. Murray thrived in Durham, teaching themselves to read by age five. In school, Murray excelled academically and had their hands in as many extracurriculars as possible, from president of the literary society to editor-in-chief of the school newspaper to forward on the basketball team. It’s no wonder that, throughout their life, Murray would be known for wearing many hats.

In 1926, Murray graduated high school at 15 with qualifications to attend any university. While they dreamed of attending Columbia, the university did not accept women then. This reality of segregation by gender also infuriated them. Instead, Murray enrolled at Hunter College- a racially integrated women’s college in New York City.

During and after college, Murray began to question their gender and their sexuality and officially changed their name from “Anne Pauline” to “Pauli.” Murray experimented with dressing more masculine and even asked doctors to examine them, seeking gender-affirming treatments that did not exist then. Questions about their gender identity often influenced Murray’s writings about gender equality.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Murray truly stepped into their role as a civil rights activist. When Murray applied to the University of North Carolina for graduate school, they were rejected because of their race. In response, Murray began a letter-writing campaign, writing to several officials, such as the university presidents, newspapers, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The First Lady responded, and this correspondence led to a decades-long friendship between Pauli and Eleanor. Additionally, on a trip from New York to California in 1940, Murray and a friend were arrested when they refused to sit in the back of the bus. Later, while working for the Worker’s Defense League, Murray assisted in the case of a black sharecropper who had been sentenced to life for killing his white landlord during an argument. These events, among others, inspired Murray to pursue a legal education.

In 1941, Murray began attending Howard University Law School and was the only woman in their class. The experience led Murray to coin the term “Jane Crow,” similar to Jim Crow but focused on the inherent misogynoir of segregation. Murray continued to fight for equal rights, often leading protests and sit-ins on Howard University’s campus.

More than anything, it was Pauli Murray’s words which defined their life and, ultimately, the lives of so many others. In 1948, Murray published their first book, States’ Laws on Race and Color, a 700-hundred-page analysis and critique of segregation in the United States. The book greatly influenced Thurgood Marshall, who “referred to the work as ‘the bible’ of Brown v. Board of Education.”[2] A case argued by Murray and attorney Dorothy Kenyon for women to have the equal right to serve on juries inspired Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the point where, when Ginsburg wrote her brief for Reed v. Reed, a landmark decision that made differential treatment on the basis of sex unconstitutional, Ginsburg credited Murray as a co-author.[3]

Murray acquired many other accolades, like being the first Black person to receive a JSD from Yale Law School and the first Black woman to become an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Though Murray’s name and life may not be familiar to some, their contributions have made an invaluable mark on history and the future as we know it. In 2024, Murray is scheduled to have their face featured on the U.S. Quarter, a tribute that should encourage more people to recognize Pauli Murray’s name.

[1] “Life Story: Pauli Murray (1910-1985).” Women & the American Story by the New-York Historical Society, (last visited Feb. 13, 2024). wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/world-war-ii/pauli-murray/.

[2] Emma Rothberg. “Pauli Murray.” National Women’s History Museum, (2021). http://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/pauli-murray.

[3] Philippa Strum. “Pauli Murray’s Indelible Mark on the Fight for Equal Rights.” American Civil Liberties Union, (June 24, 2020). https://www.aclu.org/issues/womens-rights/pauli-murrays-indelible-mark-fight-equal-rights.

Other sources:

Julian Cardillo. “Pauli Murray, Civil Rights Icon and Former Professor, to Appear on American Quarter.” Brandeis University, (Feb. 7, 2024). http://www.brandeis.edu/75/stories/pauli-murray-quarter.html.

“Pauli Murray.” Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, (last visited Feb. 13, 2024). msa.maryland.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshallfame/html/murray.html.

“Pauli Murray As a LGBTQ+ Historical Figure.” National Museum of African American History & Culture, (last visited Feb. 13, 2024). nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/pauli-murray-lgbtq-historical-figure.

“The Pioneering Pauli Murray: Lawyer, Activist, Scholar and Priest.” National Museum of African American History & Culture, (last visited Feb. 13, 2024). nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/pioneering-pauli-murray-lawyer-activist-scholar-and-priest.

“Who Is the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray?” Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, (last visited Feb. 13, 2024). http://www.paulimurraycenter.com/who-is-pauli.

02.05.24
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CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Thurgood Marshall

For Black History Month, the Law Library will spotlight Black law figures throughout history and their contributions to the legal field. Each week, a different figure will be featured.

by Sydney Hamilton, 1L

Photo taken by Yoichi R. Okamoto on June 13, 1967.

Thurgood Marshall (June 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993)

History often remembers Thoroughgood “Thurgood” Marshall as a focused, articulate man who dedicated his life to the law and the people. However, as a kid growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, his high school teachers knew Marshall better for being a bit of a class clown with a rambunctious nature. Funny enough, his punishment for misbehaving turned out to be a glimpse into his future: sitting on a bench, reading the Constitution.

As a Black boy living in the inner city, Marshall recognized the effects of segregation. However, being uniquely familiar with the Constitution, he realized understanding and reshaping the law would be the key to eliminating this injustice. After high school, Marshall attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where his classmates included the soon-to-be-renowned poet Langston Hughes.  After a hazing incident with his fraternity earned him a two-week suspension, Marshall focused his attention and energy on his academics. His involvement in the debate club furthered his passion to become a lawyer. In 1930, Marshall graduated at the top of his class.

After marrying his wife, Viven, Marshall continued to work towards his goal. However, the ever-looming presence of racial discrimination nearly thwarted his plans. The University of Maryland School of Law rejected Marshall based on his race. Instead, he attended Howard University but still dealt with financial burdens. His mother pawned her wedding rings to pay for his tuition.

During law school, he began to formulate the perspectives and arguments that would later define his career. While there, he studied under Charles Hamilton Houston, the vice dean at the law school and later, the director of NAACP’s Legal Defense and Education Fund. Through Houston, Marshall better understood how the Constitution and the law could be used to extinguish racial discrimination. After graduating from Howard as valedictorian in 1933, Marshall moved back to Baltimore to take his first steps as a lawyer.

Back in Baltimore, Marshall opened his own practice, assisting clients even if they could not pay. Eventually, he dedicated more time to volunteering with the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP. One of Marshall’s first significant strides came in the case of Murray v. Pearson (1936). Just like Marshall, the University of Maryland Law School rejected Donald Murray because of the color of his skin. Marshall sued on Murray’s behalf and, assisting his mentor Houston, won the case.

Following this success, Marshall and Houston strategized how to chip away at the “separate but equal” doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that fueled segregation. In Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada (1938), the two men argued that the University of Missouri had violated Lloyd Gaines’s equal protection rights by rejecting him due to his race and thereby denying him legal education equivalent to what white students received. Winning this case set the stage for Marshall’s most memorable victory.

After Houston retired, Marshall took over Houston’s position at the NAACP. He continued to win several more cases before finally landing on the one that would forever impact history: Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In this case, which was five separate cases consolidated into one, Marshall argued that segregating the school system was unequal and unconstitutional. During the second hearing, Marshall stated that segregation evolved from a desire to keep “the people who were formerly in slavery as near to that stage as possible.” After much indecision and deliberation, the Supreme Court finally ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine should not take precedence in the public education system.

In the years following that decision, Marshall was appointed as a federal judge and then Solicitor General before eventually being appointed as the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967.  As a Justice, Marshall was known for his progressive views and strong moral compass, opposing the death penalty and ensuring the civil rights of all people. Marshall served 25 terms before retiring in 1991 as one of the greatest voices on the Supreme Court.

Sources:

Justice Thurgood Marshall profile – Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment. United States Courts. (n.d.). https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/justice-thurgood-marshall-profile-brown-v-board

Brown v. Board of Education: The case that changed America. Legal Defense Fund. (2023, December 15). https://www.naacpldf.org/brown-vs-board/

History – Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment. United States Courts. (n.d.). https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/history-brown-v-board-education-re-enactment

Thurgood Marshall. Oyez. (n.d.). https://www.oyez.org/justices/thurgood_marshall

09.13.23
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I know what (legal research) you did last summer: researching innocence

In this blog series, real GSU law students tell you about their legal research experiences over the summer.

by Carlos Becerra-Gomez , 2L

During my junior year of undergrad, I took a course called, “Eyewitness Testimony” taught by the famous psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus.  Throughout the course, we learned about how unreliable eyewitness testimonies can be, but how the general public, including juries, put a lot of weight on eyewitnesses during a criminal trial.  Dr. Loftus introduced us to the Innocence Project, a non-profit organization whose sole mission is to liberate those who have been innocently incarcerated.  After such introduction, I was intrigued by the project, and I decided to attend law school to be somehow a part of this organization.  As soon as my first semester of law school ended, I started to send out my resume and a cover letter to multiple Innocence Projects around the country.  Fortunately, the project from my hometown emailed me back and offered me an internship position.  It was impossible to say no, so I gladly took the position. 

“I decided to attend law school to be somehow a part of this organization.  As soon as my first semester of law school ended, I started to send out my resume and a cover letter to multiple Innocence Projects around the country. “

On my first day, I hit the ground running and I was immediately assigned to a case: a 1980’s homicide.  This particular case was deemed a cold case for almost twenty years until our client was tried and convicted in the early 2000s.  Sadly, our client has been imprisoned for almost twenty years for a crime that he consistently claims he did not commit.  The managing attorney provided me with at least 1,000 pages worth of records for me to thoroughly review.  The attorney asked me to read each record to find anything that could be valuable to our client and his innocence.  At first, I felt absolutely overwhelmed; a human being’s life was placed in my hands.  Each day I was reading these records was one more day he was spending in prison.  That overwhelming feeling turned into motivation to give my best effort to help our client prove his innocence.

“Each day I was reading these records was one more day he was spending in prison.“

My primary duties were to investigate and read all police reports, identify witnesses and potential suspects, analyze the murder scene photographs and videos, analyze the incriminating DNA data, locate and interview these witnesses and suspects.  Each day consisted of something different, we even spent hours driving throughout the state just to locate witnesses and suspects.  I quickly realized that this type of research was completely different to the traditional research work a legal intern does, but I absolutely loved it.  Every day I came into the office was a new day to challenge myself to find something helpful for our client.  There were some days that were harder than others, such as watching the brutal crime scene video that showed the lifeless body in a pool of blood.  Days like those made me truly realize that this was not just another day in law school, but this was real life.

One of my proudest moments during the summer was when I found a huge piece of evidence that had not been previously discovered that affected the state’s argument.  In fact, the managing attorney admitted that she never had seen that piece of evidence before.  I was happy to be able to contribute to the case in such a drastic way, but I was also motivated to continue to find other useful evidence.  At the end of the summer, the managing attorney asked me to write an investigative legal memorandum that included my own theory of who committed the murder and why.  In conclusion, I absolutely loved this experience and it only reassured my desire to work for the project or indigent defense to help those in need of justice and representation.

08.22.23
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I know what (legal research) you did last summer: researching conspiracies

by AJ Murray, 2L

In this new blog series, real GSU law students tell you about their legal research experiences over the summer.

This past summer, I worked at a local firm. We dealt primarily in white collar criminal law, as well as trademark infringement. The first task I was assigned to was to work on developing a memo for multiple conspiracies. Conspiracies often come in two flavors: multiple conspiracies and multiple-object conspiracies. Multiple-object conspiracies are defined by an interest in multiple objectives that may or may not support each other, but support an overall plan of action whilst multiple conspiracies are not well-related save for a figurehead or ringleader who most of the individual conspiracies are tied to.

Our objective was to illustrate how a potential defendant might be innocent of a conspiracy to commit fraud. We wanted to argue that there were multiple separate conspiracies rather than one. We also wanted to argue that the indictment was duplicitous. As pulled from Wikipedia, “duplicity is the error committed when the charge on an indictment describes two different offenses. An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offense, so that the defendant can know precisely what offenses he or she is accused of.” Because there are multiple conspiracies, it is possible that one of the conspiracies could be duplicitous because it did not account for the difference between the conspiracies.

My first objective was to better understand what conspiracies were. Criminal Law classes can only cover so much! Using cases provided to me by a coworker, I used the cases’ notes of decisions, headnotes, and keycites to further develop my understanding. In addition to that, I also looked at the court websites for all eleven circuits to find their jury instructions to see how they help the jury understand multiple conspiracies. They include helpful cases in their explanation and I used those as well. Unfortunately, the memo was challenging to write because conspiracies commonly exist for drug-related purposes, not for financial abuse. You don’t necessarily want to compare fraud with the distribution and manufacturing of drugs when using cases. Plus, the more similar the case, the better its utility for offensive and defensive purposes. When all was said and done, I had provided some important nuggets of wisdom, but was unable to find exactly what my attorney needed. I read hundreds of cases in pursuit of that illustrative and similar case, but, as far as I could see, it did not exist.

I learned this summer that, while there are MANY cases, sometimes the one you’re looking for just doesn’t exist. It’s totally ok that I wasn’t able to find it. Not only did I find very useful quotes and caselaw, but because I was a first-year intern, a client could have potentially paid less for my services for researching than for that of one of our attorneys. Since I could do the grunt work of sorting, analyzing, and synthesizing cases, I provided a unique benefit that no one else at the firm could, considering no one had a paralegal or another intern. It was a wonderful and insightful summer!

02.13.23
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The Day RBG Came to Campus

by Alison Guffey, 3L

On this day 20 years ago, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg visited the Georgia State University College of Law to deliver the 32nd Henry J. Miller lecture. The topic of her lecture was “Little Known Pages from the Supreme Court’s History,” and her focus was on re-telling the accounts of two women: Burnita Shelton Matthews, the first woman to be appointed as a Federal District Court judge, and Malvina Harlan, wife of Supreme Court Justice John Harlan and author of a memoir titled, “Some Memories of a Long Life, 1854-1911.”

Justice Ginsberg, Professor Mary Radford, and Dean Knowles converse after the Miller Lecture.

One particular story highlighted by Justice Ginsburg from Malvina’s memoir featured Malvina inspiring her husband to finish his dissent in the Civil Rights cases by swapping his inkstand for one with a different history: the very inkstand that was used by Justice Taney in composing the Dred Scott opinion. Justice Harlan knew of this inkstand’s history, and by writing with the same inkwell that decades earlier had “tighten[ed] the shackles of slavery,” Justice Harlan finished his dissent and powerfully asserted the need to “protect the recently emancipated slaves in the enjoyment of equal civil rights.”[1]

Ginsburg told this story of poetic justice, of an inkstand in need of absolution, and she wondered of the pen in need of absolution in her own career. She determined the next time her thoughts on an opinion refuse to flow easily, she may visit the pen “that Judge Justice Bradley used to write his now-infamous concurring opinion in Myra Bradwell’s case, Bradwell v. Illinois, an 1873 decision upholding a state’s right to exclude women from the practice of law.”

Without ever directly addressing why Justice Bradley’s pen would be in need of absolution, Justice Ginsburg spoke of a photograph that is taken periodically of the Supreme Court Justice’s spouses. The audience knowingly chuckled while Justice Ginsburg explained that, with her and Justice O’Connor on the Supreme Court, “the subject of these photographs have changed beyond anything Justice Bradley or even Justice Harlan would have contemplated.”

Justice Ginsburg’s lecture was poised, clear, and moving as she masterfully led the audience through monumental moments in the Supreme Court’s history that came from the lives of Burnita Shelton Matthews and Malvina Harlan. Georgia State Law’s own Professor Mary Radford was in attendance for Justice Ginsburg’s lecture, and had the opportunity to speak with her one-on-one. Of this experience, Radford reflects on Justice Ginsburg’s “dignity and grace,” her “shy smile, almost embarrassed by the amount of attention that was flowing her way,” and recalls that Justice Ginsburg “greeted each individual, from student to faculty member to judge to local dignitary, with a quiet smile and a light handshake . . . wearing black lace gloves.” Professor Radford sums up the day: “An uninformed observer would probably have been astounded to learn that this unassuming, soft-spoken, petite woman was in fact one of the most powerful, insightful, and influential legal thinkers of our time.”


It is undeniable the impact Ruth Bader Ginsburg left on the nation and the world. On February 13, 2003, she visited our campus in celebration of GSU Law’s 20th anniversary. This year, as GSU Law celebrates its 40th anniversary, we take time to recount her lecture and remember her legacy. To watch Justice Ginsburg’s lecture, learn about other notable visitors, and read about the history of the Georgia State University College of Law, check out GSU Law’s 40th Anniversary Exhibit here.

[1]  Harlan, M.S. and Przybyszewski, L. (2003) in Some Memories of a Long Life, 1854-1911. New York: Modern Library, pp. 113–114.

02.06.23
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5 tips for succeeding on the MPRE

by Ralaya Evans, Law Library GRA

The Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) is one of the stepping stones that law students must confront at some point on their journey to becoming a licensed attorney. This exam is usually offered three times during each year: March, August, and November.  NCBEX.org will always provide reliable information on any and all things concerning the MPRE, including upcoming important dates.

Often, law students are overwhelmed when it comes to the MPRE. This is understandable, as there are uncertainties that usually lie around this exam, such as how much one should study, what materials to study with, and more.

Here are five tips to ease some of the uncertainty around taking the MPRE:

(1) Take advantage of free resources. Law school is expensive in every way: tuition, books, BAR prep, etc. There are numerous sources of MPRE prep out there that one can pay for. However, many platforms also offer free resources that are extremely useful for preparation of the exam. For example, Barbri offers free practice exams and numerous modules and explanations to practice questions. In addition, the Short & Happy Guide to the MPRE is available to GSU students through the law library’s online study aid collection.

(2) Practice exams are your best friend. Speaking of free practice exams, these exams will be one of the best resources for your preparation for several reasons, including: (a) the practice exams help you become comfortable with the formatting of the exam, (b) you become aware of how different potential topics are tested, and (c) many of the practice exams are timed. Therefore, they will help you gauge whether your pace at answering needs improvement before taking the official exams.

(3) Be aware of your state’s requirements for a passing rate. Every state has a different threshold for what is passing and failing. Be sure to know what your specific state requires and defines as passing, so that you can measure your readiness on practice exams based on that number.

(4) Take your Professional Responsibility class before you sign up for the MPRE. This class is such a great starting place for preparing for the exam. Though it will not fully prepare you for everything on the exam, this class will introduce you to how this specific area is approached by attorneys and make you comfortable with reading the rules.

(5) During the test, be confident in yourself. Confidence plays a major role in test-taking, and the MPRE is no different. There will always be some answers that you are iffy on. However, if you are familiar with the rules, the best answer will jump out at you. On the other hand of that, there will be some questions that seem too easy to be true. Do not get tripped up on these! If the answer seems easy and obvious to you, that doesn’t automatically mean that it isn’t correct.

Hopefully, these five tips will set you on a path to MPRE success. If you have any tips that have helped you along, feel free to share them in the comments!

11.30.22
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Study Aid Spotlight: Acing Evidence

by Ralaya Evans, 2L

As 1Ls, we are often guided on which study aids are good to use to help us prepare for some of the hardest exams we will ever have to take. Once we enter into 2L year, we are aware that study aids are helpful, but not always sure where to find them. I talked with a few friends, and we all are of the opinion that Evidence, during 2L year, is one of the courses in a study aid that could be most helpful. Evidence is such a dense and rule-intensive course. During the semester, we review and learn the rules separately, which is not so bad. However, when it is time for the final exam, we quickly realize we will have to be able to identify which rule applies to each problem and this is not always so easy.

Study Aids for Evidence are important for so many reasons. This area of law is important for litigators and transactional attorneys, and studying it gives us all practice for the bar.

Knowing this, I searched for several Evidence study aids and came across Acing Evidence by Aviva Orenstein. I worked with this guide to study for my upcoming final exam and can honestly say that my confidence greatly increased as a result. The “Acing Evidence” study aid has been extremely helpful for a few reasons:

  • Practice Problems: This study aid provides examples and practice at the end of every lesson. For example, the first chapter discusses Relevance, which is a big part of Evidence. At the end, there is a page titled “Illustrative Problems.” Here, you will find questions and answers to practice. The majority, if not all, Evidence professors will tell you that one of the best ways to get great at Evidence and prepare for exams is to practice.
  • Checklists: There are checklists for the majority of the rules. In Evidence, checklists are your absolute best friend. You can virtually get every question correct if you find/develop the correct check list for that rule and apply it to the question. Character is one of the best parts of Evidence to have a checklist for and Chapter 2 of the study aid provides this checklist. Try it out next time you are practicing evidence
  • Reminders: Another great aspect of this study aid is the Points to Remember after each chapter. This provides a quick highlight of the important parts of the chapter and sometimes acronyms to remember points about Evidence during an exam.

As far as study aids go, I give this one two thumbs up. If you need help finding a study aid for another course, don’t forget that the reference librarians are always here to assist. Good luck with exams!

11.29.22
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4 Tips for In-Person Exams

by Alison Guffey, 3L

For many law students, this semester marks the first time you will be taking a law school examination in-person, either because you are a finals novice altogether (welcome 1Ls!) or because you have been a faithful student of the Zoom School of Law. In either case, as you sit for your first in-person exam, here are four tips to prepare you.

Tip 1: Study on campus.

Carve out some time to study on campus before your exam date. Though it is often more comfortable and convenient to study at home, studying at least once in the same environment you will be taking the exam will help improve your overall performance.

Tip 2. Noise is inevitable.

You never realize just how loud someone can type until you’re an hour into an in-person final, reading the same multiple choice question for the third time in a row while the sound of tiny, tap-dancing mice fills the room. Typing, pencils scratching, chairs moving and creaking – these sounds can be distracting during an exam. Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way to avoid this one. The best tool you have is to mentally prepare yourself that noise will happen, and try not to be caught off guard by it.

Tip 3: Arrive an hour early.

The trek to your in-person final will likely be longer than that from your bed to your laptop. Thus, in addition to triple-checking the start time, plan to be at the COL at least an hour before your final exam begins. You will be grateful for the extra time if Atlanta traffic rears its ugly head or T-deck is inexplicably full. Plus, you will never regret reading through your outline one last time before the exam starts.

Tip 4: Think through what materials you can bring.

The days of sprawling notebooks on your kitchen table are over. In-person exams limit the space you have available to reference other sources, and your professor might further limit those resources. Review what is and is not allowed in your exam and plan accordingly.

Taking exams in person might seem daunting or even scary. Just remember – you are now one in a long line of law students who have taken in-person final examinations. Welcome to the club, and best of luck!