More Just

For recent law school graduates, clerking for a federal judge can be a key career stepping stone, and the hiring process is both highly opaque and famously nerve-wracking. Even as law school cohorts have become more diverse, the clerkship ranks have remained heavily skewed toward white men, particularly from a handful of top-ranked law schools. Leaders from Berkeley Law’s Berkeley Judicial Institute wanted to know why. So they asked 50 federal judges how and why they hire particular clerks in the first qualitative study of the issue. These conversations yielded a number of insights for law students, law schools, and other judges, from how much an aspiring clerk’s cover letter matters to the fact that “diversity” doesn’t mean the same thing to every judge. The pathbreaking study will be published in the Harvard Law Review later this year. In this episode, Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky talks to the study’s three authors: Former U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California Jeremy Fogel, who’s now the executive director of BJI; California Supreme Court Associate Justice Goodwin Liu; and Mary Hoopes, an associate professor of law at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and co-director of the William Matthew Byrne Jr. Judicial Clerkship Institute. About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind.For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas built a legacy of strong progressive and libertarian views. Nominated by President Franklin Roosevelt, he was confirmed in 1939 at age 40 and served until 1975 — the longest tenure of any associate justice. Law students get to know Douglas well because he turns up in many of the most famous cases of the 20th century. He wrote for the majority in blockbuster cases such as Griswold v. Connecticut, which established the right to birth control, and Brady v. Maryland, which established that the prosecution must turn evidence that might exonerate a defendant over to the defense team. He also penned withering dissents, particularly in a string of First Amendment cases, including United States v. O’Brien, Terry v. Ohio, and Brandenburg v. Ohio.During his storied tenure, Douglas was also a fierce advocate for the environment. In this episode, Berkeley Law Dean Chemerinsky talks with Judge M. Margaret McKeown, who’s just published a fascinating book, Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas — Public Advocate and Conservation Champion. She explores Douglas’ activism and the ethical questions it raised that still haven’t been fully resolved. Judge McKeown was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1998. She recently took senior status. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an affiliated scholar at the Center for the American West at Stanford University, and jurist-in-residence at the University of San Diego School of Law. AboutMore Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind.For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky has been defending free speech — as a scholar, educator, and administrator — for decades. Recently, he joined Michelle Deutchman, the executive director of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, for an episode of the center’s podcast, “Speech Matters.” They discussed how to foster and protect free speech on campuses, along with Howard Gillman, chancellor of the University of California at Irvine. Chemerinsky and Gillman are co-chairs of the center’s national advisory board and wrote the book Free Speech on Campus together. Other episodes of the “Speech Matters” are available wherever you get your podcasts. Full transcript available here.Learn More: “More Just”: Free Speech on CampusOp-Ed: Free Speech Doesn’t Mean Hecklers Get to Shut Down Campus Debate, Washington PostQ&A: The Free Speech-Hate Speech Trade-Off, New York TimesResource Materials from the National Center for Free Speech and Civic EngagementSpeech Matters 2022: Safeguarding DemocracyAbout: “More Just” from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of “More Just” starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With authoritarian regimes on the rise around the world, the need to protect basic human rights is more urgent than ever. How can law schools, law students, and law faculties help do this critical work — at home and internationally?Three Berkeley Law experts join Dean Erwin Chemerinsky for this episode: Chancellor’s Clinical Professor Laurel E. Fletcher, co-director of the school’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and its Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law; Eric Stover, faculty director of the Berkeley Human Rights Center; and Professor Saira Mohamed, whose research focuses on criminal law and human rights. About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind. For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub.Related:As the World Watches Ukraine, Berkeley Law Experts Discuss Recent Events and What to ExpectNew Project Tracking Campaign to Curtail Reproductive Rights Showcases Cross-Campus AllianceNew Podcast and Human Rights Blog Series Further Expand Miller Institute’s International ReachClinic Reveals ‘Increasingly Hostile Environment’ for Online Freedom of Expression in Gulf Nations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. Supreme Court just wrapped up one of the most consequential terms in recent memory, handing down a string of momentous decisions that strike at the heart of our legal system. In this episode, Joan Biskupic, legal analyst for CNN and the author of several books about the court, joins Dean Erwin Chemerinsky to discuss what happened and the implications of these opinions. About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind.For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2021, only 11.6% of the workforce in the United States was unionized — down a half a percentage point from 2020. But after decades of decline, there are also hopeful signs for unions and the rights of workers. The rise of the gig economy, years of flat wages, and the economic turbulence unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic have given rise to a new movement, from Amazon warehouses to graduate schools, with a particular focus on how to protect workers’ rights. In this moment, what can law schools do to advocate for workers, from scholarship and policy papers to clinics and classes? Three experts talk about the past, present, and future of this movement with Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky: Sameer Ashar, a clinical professor of law and associate dean for equity initiatives at the University of California, Irvine, School of Law, and director of the school’s Workers, Law, and Organizing Clinic; Sharon Block, a professor of practice and the executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School; and Catherine Fisk, Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong Professor of Law at Berkeley Law and faculty director of the school’s Center for Law and Work.About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind, and follow @MoreJustPod on Twitter.For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the night of May 2, Politico published a draft Supreme Court majority opinion, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, that would overrule the seminal abortion rights cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. While the draft opinion was from February — and the Court has yet to release a binding decision — the news sent seismic shocks through the nation. Since Justices Brent Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett were confirmed, activists on both sides of the abortion debate have expected the Court to roll back at least some of the reproductive rights enshrined in Roe, which was handed down in 1973, and Casey, decided in 1992. But many were still taken aback at the sweeping nature of Alito’s draft, especially in light of recently-passed laws in several states that would ban abortion entirely if Roe is overturned. University of California, Irvine, School of Law Chancellor’s Professor Michele Goodwin joins Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky to talk about how we got to this moment and what a post-Roe legal and political landscape might look like. Goodwin, director of UCI Law’s Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, has written extensively about reproductive rights and the implications for women of the abortion debate, including in the book Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, and in several articles with Chemerinsky. About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. Have a question about teaching or studying law, or a topic you’d like Dean Chemerinsky to explore? Email us at morejust@berkeley.edu and tell us what’s on your mind. For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub.Related:The Enormous Consequences of Overruling Roe v. Wade Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the First Amendment was written, there has been vigorous discussion, and often vehement disagreement, about exactly what “free speech” does, and should, mean. Increasingly, campuses are where the debate over free speech boils over. Universities — and law schools — aspire to be laboratories for knowledge, a place where ideas and debate about those ideas flow freely. And yet, free speech can also cause great harm. What should free speech look like on campus? Should universities impose limits, and should they punish students who violate those restrictions? In this episode, Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, talk about how universities and law schools can navigate these situations without compromising the larger principle of free speech. About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter. For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than three dozen states have passed, or are considering, laws restricting how public school teachers can talk about racism under the guise of banning “Critical Race Theory.” But what is Critical Race Theory? And how can law schools, law professors, and law students respond to these campaigns, when most — if not all — of the political discussion falls somewhere on the spectrum between misleading and false? Three experts join Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky: Kimberlé Crenshaw, Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA Law, and Co-Founder & Executive Director of The African American Policy Forum, whose work has been foundational in critical race theory and in “intersectionality,” a term she coined to describe the double bind of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice; Berkeley Law Professor Khiara M. Bridges, the author of “Critical Race Theory: A Primer”; and Emerson Sykes, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, who focuses on First Amendment free speech protections and is working on litigation involving some of these new laws.About: Introducing “More Just,” a podcast about how law schools can and must play a role in solving society’s most difficult problems. Hosted by Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and follow us on Twitter at @MoreJustPod. For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub.Related:The Push to Cancel Critical Race Theory: Scholars Explain Factors Driving the Backlash Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How should law professors teach about the foundations of constitutional law when it’s clear the current Supreme Court won’t respect precedent and approach the law as the institution once had?Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explores the impact on legal education — and the public’s perception of the legal system — of the court’s change in trajectory. His three guests, who are all teaching or have taught Constitutional Law, are Jeffrey Abramson, a professor of law and government at the University of Texas; Melissa Murray, a professor at NYU Law and a co-host of the podcast “Strict Scrutiny”; and journalist Dahlia Lithwick, who chronicles the court for Slate.  About: More Just from Berkeley Law is a podcast about how law schools, students, and professors can make our legal system better and more equitable for all. The rule of law — and the role of the law — has never been more important. In these difficult times, law schools can, and must, play an active role in finding solutions. But how? Each episode of More Just starts with a problem, then explores potential solutions, featuring Dean Erwin Chemerinsky as well as other deans, professors, students, and advocates, about how they’re making law schools matter.For a transcript, please visit the episode page on the Berkeley Law podcast hub. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.