Race and the Law

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The Body
Involuntary Reproductive Servitude: Forced Pregnancy, Abortion, and the Thirteenth Amendment
Michele Goodwin
Chancellor’s Professor of Law & Founding Director, Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy at the University of California, Irvine.

Much appreciation to the Chicago Legal Forum editors and staff for their thoughtful editorial contributions. My gratitude to the research librarians at Georgetown University Law Center who assisted in my data collection. My appreciation to Dorothy Brown, David Cruz, Victoria Nourse, Dorothy Roberts, Gregory Shaffer, Allison Whelan, Mary Ziegler.

The balance of this Essay describes and analyzes originalism from a different point of view, centering the experiences of Black women and girls. It then argues that the Court's selective canvassing of history exposes a serious fault in the legitimacy, integrity, and character of not only Dobbs, but also its supposed application of originalist methodology.

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The Body
Black Masculinity and the Government
Paul Butler
Albert Brick Professor in Law at Georgetown University Law Center

This essay was presented as a work in progress at the University of Arkansas School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. I thank the participants in those sessions. Special shout out to Chris Gordon and K-Sue Park. Chibunkem Ezenekwe, Aubrianna Mierow, and Torrell Mills provided exemplary research assistance. Much respect to Timothy Kowalczyk and Kristen Powell, the student editors of a law professor’s dreams.

Black male bodies have long been the subject of special attention from the state. This essay focuses on two government interventions in Black masculinity, dating from the 1960s, and their continuing consequences—including for the criminal justice system, and race and gender justice.

Volumes

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    Does Election Law Serve the Electorate?
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    The Civil Rights Act at 50 Years
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    Frontiers of Consumer Protection
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    Crime, Criminal Law, and the Recession
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    Law and Life: Definitions and Decisionmaking