1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Harvard Law Review investigated for alleged…

Law Schools

Harvard Law Review investigated for alleged ‘spoils system’ that uses race in article selection

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 29, 2025, 12:13 pm CDT

The federal government has opened an investigation into the Harvard Law Review “based on reports of race-based discrimination permeating the operations of the journal,” according to an April 28 press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

At issue is whether the law review’s policies for membership and article selection violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on race, color and national origin in education programs receiving federal funding.

Allocating opportunities and recognition based on race, rather than merit, is unacceptable, the press release said.

Reuters, Bloomberg Law, ABC News and the Harvard Crimson have coverage.

The civil rights offices of the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services are conducting investigation.

“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission,” said Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in the press release.

The investigation follows a report by the Washington Free Beacon concluding that race “plays a far larger role in the selection of both editors and articles” than previously acknowledged by the Harvard Law Review. The Washington Free Beacon article was based on leaked internal documents.

The press release cited alleged statements by editors at the Harvard Law Review in which they appeared to favor minority writers. In one instance, an editor allegedly voiced concern that four of the five people who wanted to reply to an article about police reform “are white men.” In another alleged incident, an editor suggested that an article should get expedited review because the author was a minority.

The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization that is legally independent from the Harvard Law School, according to a statement by a Harvard Law School spokesperson cited by publications covering the investigation.

The school is “committed to ensuring that the programs and activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws and to investigating any credibly alleged violations,” the statement said.

The investigation was launched amid the federal government’s decision to freeze more than $2 billion in grants and contracts with Harvard University, which has sued in response.

See also:

Lawsuits target law reviews at Harvard and NYU, saying they favor women and minorities

Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.

1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Morgan Lewis, plaintiff settle alleged age,…

Law Firms

Morgan Lewis, plaintiff settle alleged age, race bias case

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 19, 2025, 9:01 am CST

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and a patent prosecution specialist who sued for alleged age and race bias have agreed to dismiss the case.

The dismissal followed a settlement agreement between the law firm and the plaintiff, Melinda Robertson, Law360 reports.

Robertson’s attorney, Neil S. Hyman, told Law360 on Feb. 12 that a settlement had been reached, but he could not provide details.

Robertson, a Black patent prosecution specialist born in 1962, had alleged that Morgan Lewis gave better opportunities to white, younger co-workers. When she complained, Robertson alleged, the firm retaliated by having weekly performance meetings in a glass-walled conference room visible to colleagues.

Robertson had filed her lawsuit in March 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.

BARSTOW, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management will implement a temporary closure of public lands from Jan. 30– Feb. 8, 2025, in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, San Bernardino County, during the annual 2025 King of the Hammers desert race event. The race is authorized by a BLM Special Recreation Permit and the temporary closure is necessary to facilitate public safety and provide an enhanced recreation experience for event participants and spectators.

The BLM approved a five-year public land closure for 10 days a year through 2027. Registered race spectators, participants, and race officials are exempt from the closure. Approximately 81,000 acres of the Johnson Valley Off-highway Vehicle Recreation Area will be temporarily closed to public use and approximately 46,000 acres will be available for public use during the event.

“The BLM’s priority during these large race events is the safety of participants, staff, and spectators,” said BLM California Desert District Manager Shelly Lynch. “Please recreate responsibly and cooperate with race officials and law enforcement officers to ensure a safe and enjoyable race.”

The temporary closure complies with the management plan for the area. Recreation areas nearby will remain open to the public including the Ord-Rodman Limited Use Area and Stoddard Valley Off-highway Vehicle Area. Information and a map of the closure area for the 2025 race event will be posted at the main entry points into the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area and available for viewing at the BLM’s California Desert District Office and Barstow Field Office. Download a map of the closure.

 

1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Lawyers who critique critical race theory…

Lawyer Discipline

Lawyers who critique critical race theory may challenge Connecticut’s anti-bias ethics rule, 2nd Circuit says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 10, 2024, 12:45 pm CST

Two lawyers who fear their comments could lead to discipline under Connecticut’s anti-bias ethics rule have standing to sue, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a First Amendment lawsuit by Mario Cerame and Timothy Moynahan, report Law360, Reuters and Law.com.

Cerame and Moynahan say they regularly speak out “in forceful terms” on issues that include the free exercise of religion and critical race theory. Those with opposing viewpoints may construe the remarks as personally derogatory or demeaning, they say.

Contemplated comments by Cerame and Moynahan “are arguably proscribed” by the Connecticut ethics rule, the appeals court said in the Dec. 9 decision by Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston, an appointee of former President George W. Bush.

Connecticut Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(7) took effect in 2022. It bars conduct related to the practice of law that a lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination based on 15 protected characteristics. Those characteristics include race, color, ancestry, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

The rule defines discrimination to include “harmful verbal or physical conduct directed at an individual or individuals that manifests bias or prejudice on the basis of one or more of the protected categories.” It defines harassment to include “severe or pervasive derogatory or demeaning verbal or physical conduct.”

A “carve-out” in commentary to the ethics rule states that conduct protected under the First Amendment does not violate the rule.

While the First Amendment carve-out could make an ethics complaint more unlikely, it “is not enough to negate [the lawyers’] reasonable fear that their proposed speech” may be banned by the rule, Livingston said.

Connecticut is one of just a few jurisdictions that have adopted anti-bias rules that are “substantially similar” to Rule 8.4(g) of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which was adopted in 2016, the appeals court said.

In their lawsuit, Cerame and Moynahan listed the kind of comments that could lead to ethics complaints in Connecticut if made by other lawyers. Examples could include a failure to use a transgender person’s preferred pronouns, using the term “gender preference” rather than “gender orientation,” telling jokes that could offend some members of protected groups, publishing cartoons that mock a religious deity, or espousing theories that socioeconomic disparities are largely due to disparities in cognition and social behaviors among racial groups.

Cerame and Moynahan are represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance. NCLA president Mark Chenoweth commented in a press release.

The 2nd Circuit decision “gets the rules of First Amendment standing right,” Chenoweth said. “The court distinguished on two grounds the 3rd Circuit’s recent case denying standing to plaintiffs challenging a similar rule. First, Pennsylvania’s rule, unlike Connecticut’s, focuses on intentional harassment or discrimination. Second, the Pennsylvania Office of Disciplinary Counsel interpreted the rule there not to prohibit general discussion of controversial ideas and specifically blessed plaintiffs’ planned speech as not violating the rule. Not so in Connecticut, where the rule at issue is stricter.”

The Connecticut case is Cerame v. Slack.

The Bureau of Land Management will implement a five-day temporary closure of all public use from Oct. 2 – 6, for all 40,000 acres of public lands within Stoddard Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area in San Bernardino County. The temporary closure is necessary to provide for competitor and spectator safety during the annual California 300 off-road race and to protect natural and cultural resources. Johnson Valley Off-Highway Recreation Area and nearby trails in limited use areas, will remain open to the public for recreation.  

“The safety of participants and spectators is our top concern,” said BLM Barstow Field Manager Marc Stamer.  “Please cooperate with race officials and local law enforcement officers to ensure the safety of everyone involved in this event.” 

Visitors to the event must access the approved spectator areas through designated access points provided by California 300.  

The BLM has approved a five-year public land closure for up to nine days a year through 2028. The temporary closure complies with the management plan for the area. Additional information and a map of the closure area for the 2024 race event is available online and at the BLM’s California Desert District Office and Barstow Field Office. The BLM encourages the public to Tread Lightly on public lands. 

Hundreds of people were sickened with rashes, fevers, headaches, and swollen lymph nodes after crawling through mud pits contaminated with bacteria from untreated water at a so-called “Tough Mudder” obstacle course in California last year, a new lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit was filed by Evan Goldsmith, who was among hundreds of racers who took part in the event on Aug. 19 and 20, 2023, at the Sonoma Raceway and who reported rashes with fever, muscle pain, or nausea/vomiting from a bacterial infection called Aeromonas, typically found in freshwater, estuaries, marine environments and sludge. Participants flooded emergency rooms, a public health advisory was issued and an investigation was launched into the cause of the breakout in Sonoma County, about 45 miles north of San Francisco.

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of stoking “racial animus” during a recent speech at a historically Black church on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The six-page motion obtained by Law&Crime was filed in Fulton County Superior Court. The filing is stylized as a motion to dismiss the Georgia election interference and racketeering (RICO) case against him. Trump also aims to disqualify the district attorney, her entire office, and the special prosecutors hired to oversee the case.

Attorneys for the 45th president technically filed their request as a supplement to a recent motion filed by co-defendant Michael Roman, a staff member for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, who argued earlier this month that Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade should be tossed due to a “conflict of interest” because of an alleged affair.

Trump’s motion largely eschews rehashing the details of Roman’s earlier motion in favor of passing references to the “alleged affair” — in service of an argument that Willis used “racially charged” language during a lengthy speech at Big Bethel A.M.E. Church in Atlanta.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The Bureau of Land Management will implement a temporary closure of public lands from Jan. 25 – Feb. 3, 2024, in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, San Bernardino County, during the annual 2024 King of the Hammers desert race event. The race is authorized by a BLM Special Recreation Permit and the temporary closure is necessary to facilitate public safety and provide an enhanced recreation experience for event participants and spectators.

In 2022, the BLM approved a five-year public land closure for ten days a year through 2027. Registered race spectators, participants, and race officials are exempt from the closure. Approximately 81,000 acres of the Johnson Valley Off-highway Vehicle Recreation Area will be temporarily closed to public use and approximately 46,000 acres will be available for public use during the event.

“The safety of everyone involved, from participants, staff and spectators is paramount for an event of this magnitude,” said BLM California Desert District Manager Shelly Lynch. “We encourage the public to recreate responsibly and cooperate with race officials and law enforcement officers to ensure a safe and enjoyable race.”

The temporary closure complies with the management plan for the area. Recreation areas nearby will remain open to the public, including the Ord-Rodman Limited Use Area and Stoddard Valley Off-highway Vehicle Area. Information and a map of the closure area for the 2024 race event will be posted at the main entry points into the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area and available for viewing at the BLM’s California Desert District Office and Barstow Field Office. Download a map of the closure here.

The BLM encourages the public to recreate responsibly on public lands. Find additional tips for recreating responsibly on public lands. The BLM manages public lands for the benefit of current and future generations, supporting conservation in pursuit of its multiple-use mission. For more information, contact the California Desert District Office at 951-697-5200, or the Barstow Field Office at 760-252-6000.