Inequality Inquiry >> Category

Face It: Police Can’t Be Trusted with Facial Recognition Technology

March 7, 2023

As facial recognition technology becomes more common, governments must confront the more sinister aspects of this new field, including privacy concerns, threats to free speech, and government surveillance. This piece by JLI Online Editor Joseph Scanlon breaks down the issues with police’s use of facial recognition technology.

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Protecting Civil Liberties: Easier Said Than Done

April 1, 2022

by Julia Decker*   It is easy to say that voting is the cornerstone of our democracy, perhaps easier still to say that protecting the right to vote is paramount. There is nuance, however, in assessing those protections. In an era of what many perceive to be increasing political polarization, ostensibly neutral yet increasingly stringent…

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Racism, Social Control, and the Regulation of Bar Admissions

April 14, 2022

By Professor David Schultz* Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously declared: “The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience.” When it comes to admission to practice law, one could say that “The life of admission to practice law has not been fairness but exclusion.” From its birth, America was a racist…

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Gentrification, Displacement, and Disparate Impact Liability: How Gentrification Theory is Not Cognizable Under the Fair Housing Act

May 2, 2022

by Adam Mikell*   In the United States, the topic of housing has an ugly history comprised of decades of government-sanctioned discrimination and segregation carried out through racially-motivated practices such as “neighborhood composition” rules, racial covenants, steering, and redlining. In 1968—the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement—the Fair Housing Act (FHA) was passed to…

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Thomas Jefferson: Derailing the Native American Future

November 23, 2021

Jefferson sought to play both sides of the conflict. On the one hand, he had to appease the zealous settlers who were eager to take Native American land. On the other, he wanted to “cultivate the love” of Native Americans even as he sought to rob them of their property.

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Breonna Taylor is Not Forgotten: Department of Justice Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government

May 9, 2023

By Alejandrea Brown* Police violence and misconduct against Black people in America is not a new phenomenon. Studies have shown that Black people are 3.23 times more likely than White people to be killed by the police.[1] The lack of accountability concerning police misconduct and violence against the Black community is also not new trend.[2] …

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Expungement: The Missing Federal Piece

May 10, 2023

While states have created their own expungement laws, nothing similar exists under federal law. In this blog post, staff member Diana Kawka explores federal expungement law and offers solutions to solve this gap.

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Redefining De Facto: Cruz-Guzman and the Future of Racial Segregation in Minnesota Public Schools

April 17, 2024

By: Fariza Hassan*
As Cruz-Guzman makes its way back into the legal sphere with this new lens, it is important for Minnesota courts to take into consideration the historical trends and impacts of state-imposed desegregation. Minnesota has a powerful opportunity to rectify a long history of racial discrimination faced by young Black and brown children within the realm of public education, but the question of who will truly reap these benefits and how exactly such benefits ought to be derived is one that requires great care and diligence by the state. 

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Minneapolis Organization Spotlight: New Justice Project MN

April 11, 2025

By: Fariza Hassan, Volume 43 Editor-in-Chief View/Download PDF Version: Minneapolis Organization Spotlight – New Justice Project MN (Hassan) During a long-time friend’s going away picnic at Boom Island Park earlier this summer, we noticed that under the nearby chateau was a lively group hosting some sort of celebratory, yet informative, event. While we reminisced our stories…

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