NEW YORK, April 19, 2004— Gary Orfield, professor of education and social policy, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Derrick A. Bell, Jr., visiting professor of law, New York University School of Law, headline a panel of experts discussing the current state of desegregation in America and the effect of Brown v. Board of Education beyond American education at a symposium on Monday, April 26 at New York Law School, 57 Worth Street (corner of Church Street).

The Justice Action Center’s spring symposium, “Brown is Dead? Long Live Brown!,” will commemorate the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision and critically examine the legacy of the Court’s ruling that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. The symposium will take place in the Stiefel Reading Room beginning at 9:30 a.m. with opening remarks by Dean Richard A. Matasar, Professor Lenni Benson, cochair of the Justice Action Center, and Professor Denise Morgan, who is chairing the symposium.

Professor Orfield will deliver the morning keynote address at 10 a.m. The morning panel, “Is Brown Dead? The current state of desegregation in America,” will begin at 11 a.m. and will address whether the promise of that case has been fulfilled. Professor Morgan will moderate the morning panel, which includes panelists:

• Danielle Holley, associate professor of law, Hofstra University School of Law
• Miranda K. S. Massie, associate, Scheff & Washington, P.C.
• Dennis D. Parker, civil rights bureau chief, New York State Attorney General’s Office
• Juan F. Perea, professor of law, University of Florida Levin College of Law

Professor Bell will make the afternoon keynote address at 1:30 p.m.  The afternoon panel, “Long Live Brown! The effect of Brown beyond American education law,” will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will discuss the case’s progeny in other areas of the law. New York Law School Professor Edward A. Purcell, Jr., will moderate the panel, which includes panelists:

• Penelope Andrews, professor of law, CUNY School of Law
• Rachel Godsil, associate professor of law, Seton Hall Law School
• Hiroshi Motomura, professor of law, University of North Carolina School of Law
• David S. Schoenbrod, professor of law, New York Law School.

For more information on the symposium, please contact Chris Alan Kendall at 212.431.2314, or by e-mail at ckendall@nyls.edu. To pre-register for the symposium, please complete the online form at old.nyls.edu/jac.

ABOUT NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL

Located near the centers of law, government, and finance in New York City, New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. Its faculty of noted and prolific scholars has built the school’s curricular strength in the areas of tax law, labor and employment law, civil and human rights law, media and information law, urban legal studies, international and comparative law, and interdisciplinary fields such as legal history and legal ethics. The Law School enrolls 1,400 students and has more than 11,000 graduates.

Contact: Jim Hellegaard, Office of Public Affairs, 212.431.2191, jhellegaard@nyls.edu 

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