conference

Two Takeaways on Property Law (So Far)

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

Here are two of my many takeaways from 1L year so far–one surprising, and one not so surprising. First, I find Property Law extremely fascinating. But perhaps I shouldn’t have been shocked. After all, property rights are essential to our everyday lives. The Fifth Amendment declares that the government cannot deprive anyone of three fundamental things—“life, liberty or property”—without due process. But then there is my second takeaway: the government has not always upheld this. Looking at the law with a critical lens, it is clear that unequal administration of the law is as old as the law itself. 

This is where the Heirs’ Property and the Racial Wealth Gap Conference comes in. Hosted by BC Law’s Initiative on Land, Housing, & Property Rights (ILHPR), this two-day conference set to begin a week from today (March 21) will tackle a pressing issue: $32 billion of heirs’ property in the United States is at risk. A wide-range of speakers, from officials at the USDA and HUD to academics and researchers, will speak about the rising racial wealth gap and how to uplift black property issues. 

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Dispatches from Dubai Part Two: Attending COP28

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

Note: this is the second in a two-part guest post series from BC Law 3L Edwin Ward. Read part one.

Day 5: 12/11/23

Welcome back to the second half of my experience as an observer with the Boston College delegation to the UN Climate Conference. If you haven’t read the first half, you can do so here.

Monday was a rest day for many on the BC delegation, including myself. Rest of course, is a misnomer, as it only means I had to briefly return to the reality of finals season at BC Law—performing a policy and plan analysis of car-centric infrastructure in Syracuse, NY, writing a paper on how US tax law can incentivize more lobbying by environmental organizations to fight back against fossil fuel lobbying, and studying for my international law final. Although it felt odd doing schoolwork in Dubai, it was such a privilege to be able to do it inside the awe-inspiring dome of Al Wasl Plaza.

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The Land Loss, Reparations & Housing Policy Conference

/ Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes / Leave a comment

On March 23-24, BC Law will be hosting The Land Loss, Reparations & Housing Policy Conference in partnership with Harvard Law School Food Law & Policy Clinic, The Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at the New School, and Institute for the Liberal Arts at Boston College. 

The conference will bring national experts in the areas of land loss, housing, and reparations for a two-day discussion of Black land loss,  potential strategies for redress, and housing inequality and affordability issues, and is part of Property and Housing Law Week at BC Law, which will take place March 20-24.

The conference is the kickoff event for BC Law’s new Initiative on Land, Housing, and Property Rights (ILHPR), which is the brainchild of BC Law Professor Thomas Mitchell. Professor Mitchell, who joined BC Law’s faculty at the start of this academic year, is a national expert on the ways that the property system can adversely impact marginalized communities in the United States. In particular, his research has explored the ways in which property laws have been used to systematically strip Black landowners of intergenerational wealth. In just one sector (agriculture) between 1920 and 1997, an estimated $326 billion in intergenerational wealth was taken from Black farm families. In addition to conducting research, Professor Mitchell has also drafted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) – a uniform act promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission, which aims to help preserve family wealth passed on through real property. 

The sign-up link for the conference is here and for a more detailed overview of Prof. Mitchell’s work, see this recent BC Law Magazine article. 

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