The Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law is a project of the New York University (NYU) School of Law that claims to address alleged racial biases in the legal system. The Center conducts research, creates publications, and hosts or sponsors various events.

Activities

The Center is a project housed under the NYU School of Law. The Center claims to address racial biases in the legal system by conducting research and publishing materials on a variety of matters. ¹ The Center claims to be working to reform the criminal justice system by addressing parole release decisions, among other concerns, by “diagnos[ing] and address[ing] the causes of racial disparities in parole hearing releases.” ² Additionally, the Center is also working to address racial disparities in transportation and infrastructure policies. ³

The Center also creates various publications including amicus briefs, such as the brief filed regarding Citro v. Lee in New York state court in September 2020 “in support of the release of a transgender woman at risk of serious illness or death in the event that she contracted COVID-19.” ⁴ The Center highlights faculty-authored publications such as faculty director Vincent Southerland’s piece, “The Master’s Tools and a Mission: Using Community Control and Oversight Laws to Resist and Abolish Police Surveillance Technologies.” ⁵

The Center provides a list of various left-of-center organizations that serve as “advocacy resources” including Black Lives Matter, Equal Justice Initiative, NAACP, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. ⁶

Events

The Center hosts various events throughout the year. In October 2022, the Center co-sponsored “Immigration, Equal Protection, and the Promise of Racial Justice: The Legacy of Jean v. Nelson,” a two-day conference that was co-presented by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU School of Law. ⁷ In March 2021, the Center co-sponsored the “Politics, Power, and Women’s Leadership” symposium for which U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) served as a keynote speaker. ⁸ In April 2022, the Center co-sponsored a screening of a documentary, We Still Here/Nos Tenemos, with other co-sponsors including the left-leaning Center for Popular Democracy. ⁹

Leadership

Jason Williamson is the executive director of the Center. Previously, he worked at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) since 2011, most recently as the deputy director of the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project. Prior to working at the ACLU, he was a litigation associate at a law firm in New York and worked as a law clerk for a federal judge. ¹⁰

Vincent Southerland is the faculty director of the Center. Prior to joining the Center in 2017, Southerland worked at the Federal Defenders for the Southern District of New York and an earlier role included working at the left-of-center NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He sits on the boards of the left-leaning Bail Project as well as the center-left Center for Constitutional Rights. ¹¹

1. “Our Work.” Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law/our-work.
2. “Criminal Legal System.” Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law/our-work/race-and-discretion-in-criminal-legal-system.
3. “Social and Economic Justice.” Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law/our-work/race-and-community-equity.
4. Rep. Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law Annual Report 2020-2021, December 1, 2021. https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2021%20Center%20on%20Race%20Inequality%20%20%20The%20Law%20Annual%20Report%20%281%29_508.pdf.
5. Rep. Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law Annual Report 2021-2022, December 1, 2022. https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2022%20Center%20on%20Race%20Inequality%20%2B%20The%20Law%20Annual%20Report%20Final_508-sm.pdf.
6. “Organizations.” Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. Accessed August 27, 2023.    https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law/resources/organizations.
7. Rep. Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law Annual Report 2020-2021, December 1, 2021. https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2021%20Center%20on%20Race%20Inequality%20%20%20The%20Law%20Annual%20Report%20%281%29_508.pdf.
8. Rep. Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law Annual Report 2020-2021, December 1, 2021. https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2021%20Center%20on%20Race%20Inequality%20%20%20The%20Law%20Annual%20Report%20%281%29_508.pdf.
9. Rep. Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law Annual Report 2021-2022, December 1, 2022. https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2022%20Center%20on%20Race%20Inequality%20%2B%20The%20Law%20Annual%20Report%20Final_508-sm.pdf.
10. “Who We Are.” Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law/leadership.
11. “Who We Are.” Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. Accessed August 27, 2023. https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/race-inequality-law/leadership.