Law School conference to examine U.S. Supreme Court's "Rodriguez" decision regarding educational opportunity

University of Richmond School of Law will host a conference March 8 to examine a 40-year-old ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court that says an education is not a constitutional right.

“Rodriguez at 40: Exploring New Paths to Equal Educational Opportunity” will bring together more than a dozen law professors, educators and practitioners, along with Benjamin T. Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, to reflect on the state of educational opportunity in the United States, critique the effectiveness of existing efforts to advance equal educational opportunity, and develop and analyze novel approaches to achieving this goal.

The conference will be held from 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the law school. There is no charge, but registration is required by visiting law.richmond.edu/rodriguez.

Charles Ogletree, the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and founder and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, will present the 25th annual Emanuel Emroch Lecture as part of the conference. The institute is co-sponsoring the conference.

In 1973 the court ruled in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez that the federal constitution did not grant a right to education and that financing school districts through property taxes was not a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

For more information, call 804-289-8985.

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