ANNUAL SYMPOSIA

The 2023 Symposium focuses on recent decisions anchoring constitutional interpretation on historical understandings of the Constitution, and on the independence of the judiciary. Each panel will explore various issues arising in, faced by, and stemming from the judicial branch. Panelists include professors from across the nation as well as judges from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Each of the three panels will discuss a wide range of topics, from the history of the judicial branch to the role of modern-day judges.

The prosecutorial reform movement is largely attributed as a response to mass incarceration. But where did mass incarceration come from? How does it relate to structural changes in the economy over the past several decades? How did the punitive turn in American criminal justice generate a popular constituency? How and to what extent was it opposed in its early stages, and why did this opposition fail? What are the possibilities and limits of reform prosecution in turning the tide?

Structural racism has created complex, yet often hidden, barriers that make it harder for Black people to succeed. These laws and policies might seem racially neutral on their face but often have insidious roots. Decades of racist policies, such as neighborhood segregation, have been a driving force in creating the racial wealth gap that persists today.