News

A Collective Improvisation: Professor Christopher Kutz Explores Publics in Action in New Book
Drawing on his training as a philosopher, his experiences living in the United States and France, and on his nearly three decades as a faculty member at a public university, Kutz uses the analogy of musical improvisation to describe the way collective actions take shape.

Greetings JSPeople,

Our second JSP Forum session of the semester will be on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 2:30pm in the Goldberg room just inside the door to Simon Hall (from Bancroft Way) Michael Banerjee will present a paper titled “Land-Grant Universities,” with Professor Jose Argueta Funes and Daimeon Shanks-Dumont commenting. 

Hi everyone,

Our first JSP Forum session will be on Friday, Oct. 17 at 2:30pmRachel Wallacewill present a paper titled “State of the Laws: Workers’ Rights in Prisons,” with Jon Simonand TJ Mertikas commenting. The paper can be downloaded here: https://tinyurl.com/2vzd9md3

JSP spotlight - Jason Ferguson

• [Alumni] Vicky Saker Woeste's book, Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech, has been optioned for film and television by Leviathan Productions. (Book info) 

Professor Obasogie Exposes the Flaws of ‘Excited Delirium’ in New Article

Writing in the Harvard Law Review, Professor Osagie K. Obasogie scrutinizes how the concept has become a problematic diagnosis that’s often used to absolve law enforcement officers from responsibility when suspects die in their custody.

Professor Catherine Albiston Cited in Supreme Court Opinion

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson referenced Albiston's 2007 article in her dissenting opinion in the Lackey v. Stinnie case.

New Faculty Hires Alina Ball and Jason Ferguson Bring Fresh Perspectives to Clinical, JSP Programs: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/new-faculty-alina-ball-clinical-program-jason-ferguson-jurisprudence-social-policy/

Highlighting Labor Law Advances

In a new policy brief for the Roosevelt Institute think tank, Professor Diana S. Reddy looks at recent innovations by the National Labor Relations Board, which has created policies responsive to economic and institutional realities without the statutory reform many scholars and experts thought would be required to do so. 

Professor Dylan C. Penningroth’s book Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights has won the 2024 Scribes Book Award and made the shortlist for the 2024 Cundill History Prize. They’re the latest in a long string of accolades and honors. 

Anthony Ghaly has co-authored a paper that was recently published in the Journal of International Criminal Justice.

And the latest in the “Strict Scrutiny” podcast’s "you absolutely must read this" series, the whole crew is together for a conversation with Dylan C. Penningroth about his book Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights

Big Shout out to Doug Sangster for coming in second in the Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition in California Legal History! 

JSP Faculty, Alumni & Staff Achievements: This was a banner year for our faculty, staff, and alumni. To name just a few of the laurels they garnered: in June, Dhammika Dharmapala was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the American Law & Economics Association (meaning he will be President in 2027).

In New Project, Professor Osagie K. Obasogie Explores ‘The Legacy of Eugenics’

Obasogie wants to bring the discredited theory out of hiding through a national conversation to confront the past and prevent its repetition in modern science.