SCOTUS affirmative action cases topic of Tulane Law Constitution Day event

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action decision will be the topic of Tulane Law’s annual commemoration of Constitution Day on Sept. 18.

This year’s lecturer is attorney David Hinojosa, Director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he spearheads the organization’s systemic racial justice efforts in education.

Hinojosa’s lecture topic will be “From Hallowing Brown to Hollowing Brown: The Supreme Court’s Interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause in the Affirmative Action Cases” where he will discuss the implications of recent affirmative action decisions and their impact on access to equitable education for students from marginalized backgrounds.

Hinojosa is a national leader and advocate in civil rights. He led the Committee’s team representing multiracial groups of students and alumni defending affirmative action admissions plans in three separate cases filed against Harvard College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Specifically, Hinojosa argued the UNC case before the Supreme Court on behalf of student intervenors, and the Harvard case in the First Circuit on behalf of student amici. He is also leading the Committee’s national work in responding to the increasing number of anti-diversity and inclusion laws that seek to censor critical discussions on systemic racism and sexism.

Hinojosa serves as lead counsel representing the Charlotte Mecklenburg NAACP Branch in the historic North Carolina school finance case, Leandro v. State, where he helped obtain a precedent-setting order from the state supreme court that will ensure equitable resources for students of color and students in at-risk circumstances.  He also co-led national efforts to protect tens of thousands of English learner students from being forced into schools solely for English proficiency testing during the pandemic.

Hinojosa will appear remotely in the Wendell H. Gauthier Appellate Moot Court Room 110 of the John Giffen Weinmann Hall, 6329 Freret Street, from noon to 1:15 p.m. The event is open to the public.