April 06, 2009
On
Friday, March 20, over two hundred and fifty people attended the
School of Law Ronald H. Brown Journal of Legal Commentary’s 16th
Annual Symposium, Thinking Outside the Box: New Challenges and New
Approaches to Domestic Violence. Many of the audience members
were law students, while some were alumni and others were advocates
who work in the New York City domestic violence community.
The symposium featured legendary pioneers in domestic violence
scholarship as well as some new emerging voices including:
Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, Columbia Law School
Sarah M. Buel, University of Texas School of Law
Donna Coker, University of Miami School of Law
Elayne Greenberg, St. John’s School of Law
Cheryl Hanna, University of Vermont School of Law
Donna Lee, CUNY School of Law
Holly Maguigan, NYU School of Law
Kristian Miccio, Sturm College of Law, University of Denver
Emily J. Sack, Roger Williams University School of Law
Elizabeth Schneider, Brooklyn Law School
Deborah Tuerkheimer, University of Maine School of Law
Joan Zorza, Editor of Domestic Violence Report & Sexual Assault
Report
Mark Wynn, a longtime advocate
against domestic violence, gave the keynote address. As a
renowned trainer and lecturer around the world, he described the
strides we have made in law enforcement as well as the current
problems. Mr. Wynn also touched all our minds and hearts by
sharing us his own personal experience as a child survivor of
domestic violence.
The movement against domestic violence is over thirty years old and
as it matures, there have been some successes but also some
failures and lapses. The various speakers all agreed that
much work remains to be done to reinvigorate and to steer our
movement against domestic violence in more productive
directions. The recent coverage of reactions of young people
to the latest celebrity domestic violence between Chris Brown and
Rihanna reminds us how we need to improve not only our laws but
also our social perceptions and attitudes.
Please visit the
JLC Symposium site for a detailed description of the day’s
events and a photo gallery. The paper symposium with articles
and essays from some of the participants will be published by the
Ronald H. Brown Journal of Legal Commentary in the fall. If
you have any questions, please contact Professor Elaine M. Chiu.