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In the mid-20th century, the Warren Court revolutionized constitutional law by nationalizing norms of rights and equality. From Brown v. Board of Education to Miranda v. Arizona to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court invited those seeking to promote rights and equality to litigate in the federal courts. But, following changes in the composition of the Court in later decades, the tide has turned.

The Roberts Court has shown a willingness to water down or eliminate rights in some areas and seems likely to continue the trend of lowering the federal constitutional floor. Litigators who explore the alternative of going to the states confront the expense of litigating issues fifty times instead of one, among other challenges.

This symposium will assess how organizations whose mission is to promote rights and equality have responded to these challenges. It will compare the strategies that have led to successor failure in different areas, such as the death penalty, reproductive freedom, LGBT rights, eminent domain, and school equity, and will consider how well national and local organizations have adapted to decentralization.

About the Sparer Program

The Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Program honors the late Ed Sparer, Professor of Law and Social Welfare at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a 1959 graduate of Brooklyn Law School. Established in 1985, the program inspires Brooklyn Law School students to work for justice and provide legal services to underrepresented constituencies, and also fosters a strong public interest community at Brooklyn Law School. Directed by Professor Elizabeth M. Schneider, Rose L. Hoffer Professor of Law, the program provides Sparer Fellows with paid summer internships, and sponsors programs and symposia on public interest law.

Scheduled Participants

Ursula Bentele Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School Dana Berliner Senior Attorney Institute for Justice David S. Buckel Marriage Project Director Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Erwin Chemerinsky Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science Duke Law School Ronald Chen Public Advocate for the State of New Jersey John D. Echeverria Executive Director Georgetown Environmental Law & Policy Institute Georgetown University Law Center Deborah Goldberg Democracy Program Director Brennan Center for Justice New York University School of Law Sondra Goldschein State Strategies Attorney American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project and South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families Susan N. Herman Centennial Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School Nan D. Hunter Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School

George H. Kendall Senior Counsel Holland & Knight LLP Jason Mazzone Associate Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School Burt Neuborne Inez Milholland Professor of Civil Liberties Legal Director Brennan Center for Justice New York University School of Law Dennis D. Parker Director American Civil Liberties Union Racial Justice Program Michael A. Rebell Executive Director and Counsel Campaign for Educational Equity Teachers College Columbia University David Reiss Associate Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School Elizabeth M. Schneider Rose L. Hoffer Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School Diann Rust-Tierney Executive Director National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Deborah A. Widiss Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Brooklyn Law School Former Senior Staff Attorney Legal Momentum