AALS Hot Topic Program

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This roundtable will address the contemporary crisis over “critical race theory” in public institutions, including legislative efforts to ban specific frameworks from public schools, government entities, and higher education. Roundtable participants will consider whether and how to square the growing movement to control the content of public education with parallel questions about the ABA’s proposed diversity and inclusion mandates, and related debates about academic freedom, free speech, and antiracism. The program includes scholars and practitioners who will analyze the current debate from a variety of perspectives including the 1st and 14th Amendments, academic freedom, and democratic theory.