University of Detroit Mercy School of Law launched the Current Events in the Law Series on Friday, September 24, 2021 with two back-to-back sessions. This is a series of panels hosted via Zoom in which Detroit Mercy Law faculty members and other legal experts gather to discuss how the law relates to current events.
Both sessions were moderated by Richard Broughton, associate dean for Academic Affairs and professor of law at Detroit Mercy Law. The first session was a State of the Law School with Jelani Jefferson Exum, the new dean at Detroit Mercy Law.
Jefferson Exum covered her vision for the law school as the new dean, which include expanding support for academic success and bar preparation across the curriculum, enhancing Detroit Mercy Law's reputation through increased promotion of faculty scholarship and the development of unique programming, and engaging Detroit Mercy Law's network of alumni to collaborate on programs and opportunities that serve the school's social justice mission and dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The second session, titled "Understanding the Law of Reproductive Rights in the U.S. Today," featured Catherine Archibald, associate professor of law at Detroit Mercy Law; Ederlina Co; associate professor at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law; and Merissa Kovach, policy strategist at ACLU of Michigan. This session was a belated celebration of Constitution Day.
Archibald began the session with an overview of the history of reproductive rights in the U.S. and the constitutional basis of reproductive rights in the U.S. Co discussed laws in different states attempting to restrict reproductive rights and court challenges to those laws that have happened in recent years. Kovach covered the landscape for reproductive rights in the state of Michigan.
For additional information about future events, visit https://law.udmercy.edu/about-us/events/index.php.
