Northern Illinois University
College of Law

The NIU College of Law series, Race and the Law Conversation, provides a platform with expert panelists who engage in conversations on a wide range of racial and social justice issues. These issues include, but are not limited to racial inequality, police brutality, mass incarceration, voting rights, environmental justice, and immigration.

Housing and Racial Disparities
August 23, 2022

• Antoinette “Toni” Jackson, principal with The Banks Law Firm
• Professor Robert G. Schwemm, Ashland-Spears Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky College of Law.
• NIU Law Clinical Professor Colleen Boraca, moderator

Immigration and Racial Disparities
February 23, 2022

• The Honorable Bianca Camargo ('10), 16^th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois
• Professor César García Hernández, The Gregory Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at Ohio State University College of Law
• NIU Law Assistant Dean Anita Maddali, moderator

Examining the Case for Reparations
August 31, 2021

• U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the 18th Congressional District of Texas
• NIU Law Dean Cassandra L. Hill, moderator

Cannabis and Restorative Justice
November 16, 2021

• Toi W. Hutchinson (’14), senior advisor to Governor Pritzker on cannabis control and former Illinois Senator
• NIU Law Professor Wendy Vaughn, moderator

Combating Structural Racism in U.S. Elections
October 21, 2020

• Professor Pamela S. Karlan, Stanford Law
• NIU Law Professor Jeffrey Omari, moderator

Environmental Justice: Communities in Crisis
March 30, 2021

• Professor Seema Kakade, University of Maryland School of Law
• Professor Nancy Loeb, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law 
• NIU Law Professor Emeritus Mark Cordes, moderator

Understanding Issues of Police Accountability and Reform
August 26, 2020

• Professor Sharon Fairley, University of Chicago Law School and former chief administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority in Chicago
• Paige Fernandez, policing policy advisor for the ACLU National Political Advocacy Department
• NIU Law Professor Paul Cain, moderator