Two Confederate Statues Removed Peacefully. No Violence, No Torches. Brilliant Lawyering Instead

Date of Event

10-22-2020

Description

Event Description

Sponsored by the Dr. Maya Angelou & Professor Calvin Sharpe Interdisciplinary Lecture Endowment Lecture on Peaceful Conflict

In 1905 in Memphis, Tennessee, a large and artistically elegant equestrian statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest was erected, just as Jim Crow laws first appeared. In 1964 the city installed a statue of Jefferson Davis on the centennial of the Civil War, and just as federal Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation was enacted. Late in 2017, with unanimous endorsement from City Council, both statues were removed.

Despite statutory and litigation roadblocks at every turn, it was done completely legally, just months prior to the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. It was accomplished without riots, without sneaking about in the dead of night. This is a story about thinking ahead, about attention to every detail, about ingenious lawyering and, one cold December evening, a breathtaking success.

Speaker Biography

Haavi Morreim, JD, PhD, is a Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She does clinical teaching, consulting, and writing, with special interests in health care's changing economics, conflict resolution, and the litigation issues surrounding clinical medical research. Dr. Morreim is an active Tennessee Supreme Court-listed mediator for disputes in both civil and family matters. She is a licensed attorney, assisting clients pro bono in selected cases and representing clients successfully before the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Dr. Morreim has authored two books and over one hundred seventy articles in journals of law, medicine, and bioethics, including California Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, Journal of the American Medical Association and the Wall Street Journal. She has presented hundreds of invited lectures nationally and internationally, to such groups as the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association and American Health Lawyers Association.



Lecture Series

Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Conflict & Dispute Resolution

Subject Headings

removal of Confederate statues, lawyers and removal of Confederate statues, Confederate symbols and the law, civil rights, civil rights and voting rights, discrimination, racial discrimination

Location

CWRU Law Virtual Event

Document Type

Video

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