ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

10/23/2026

Looking for ways to get involved in the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice? Join one of our dynamic committees! Whether your passion lies in immigration, reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental equity, or racial justice, there’s a place for you here.

✅ Collaborate with like-minded advocates
✅ Contribute to timely policy work
✅ Help shape the future of civil rights law

🔗 Learn more and find your committee today: https://ow.ly/8PvL50WNfHy

10/22/2026

Be sure to tune in TODAY at 1:30 p.m. ET! 💡 Register HERE ➡️ https://ow.ly/8nUt50ZZ8h7

🚀 A Conversation with Trailblazing Astronaut John Herrington and His Current Mission of Standing Up for Democracy

📅 Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026
🕰️ Time: 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET
📺 Format: Free non-CLE Webinar, available on-demand immediately after on YouTube
Sponsor: ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Co-Sponsors: Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation and Task Force for American Democracy

Join us for a special pre-election and Native American Heritage Month program with astronaut John Herrington, an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, who became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to travel to space. Dr. Herrington will discuss his trailblazing career at NASA and his journey to becoming an astronaut. In July 2026, he became a member of the Steering Committee of a new organization, Astronauts for America, that works to strengthen public understanding of constitutional principles and civic responsibility. In a fireside chat, Dr. Herrington will discuss its mission and activities and how the legal profession can get involved.

📢 Speaker: Dr. John Herrington – Former Astronaut and Member, Steering Committee, Astronauts for America
✴️ Moderator: Mary Smith – President, Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation; CEO, Task Force for American Democracy

💡 Register HERE ➡️ https://ow.ly/8nUt50ZZ8h7

10/22/2026

Title IX Athletics: A Practical Guide to Equal Opportunity and Compliance

📅 Premiere: Thursday, October 22, 2026
🕰️Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
📺Format: CRSJ Chair Chat, premiere to YouTube

This CRSJ Chair Chat offers a practical overview of Title IX athletics compliance. Learn how schools and colleges assess equitable participation opportunities, athletic financial assistance, and program benefits—including facilities, equipment, scheduling, travel, publicity, and support services. The discussion also explains the three-part test and common concerns such as disparities between baseball and softball programs.

📢 Speakers
💠 Adele Rapport — Education Committee Co-Chair, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice; former Regional Director, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
💠 Zachary Pelchat — In-House Counsel, California Interscholastic Federation; former Regional Director, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

⏯️ WATCH HERE ➡️ https://ow.ly/XqGX51006ps

10/21/2026

🌲 Land is back in the Penobscot Nation’s hands!

About 11,000 acres of Penobscot ancestral homeland along the Penobscot River have been returned to the tribe.

This is the first phase of a larger effort to return around 30,000 acres just south of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument to the tribe. The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization focused on land conservation and park development, bought the land from timber harvesters and is working with the Nation to complete the return. The remaining acres of the land will be returned after an additional $12 million is raised for the project.

📋 What’s next for the land:
🎯 Restoring habitat around its waterways
🎯 Monitoring bat species and tracking ticks
🎯 Access for hunting, harvesting, and economic development
🎯 A possible future access road to the monument (long-term, details still being worked out)

Too often, tribes have only had an advisory role in the conservation of their ancestral lands. Land returns like this put decisions back in the hands of the people who have cared for these lands and waters for thousands of years.

📖 Read the full story from Maine Public here➡️ https://ow.ly/aLF250ZZR5b

10/21/2026

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ 60 Years of LGBTQ Advocacy and the ABA Civil Rights and Social Justice Section: Looking Ahead - Part 2

📅 Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2026
🕰️ Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET
📺 Format: Free non-CLE Webinar, available on-demand immediately after on YouTube
Sponsor: ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Co-Sponsor: ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

We just celebrated the 60-year anniversary of the ABA's Civil Rights and Social Justice Section. Over the course of that time, both the LGBTQ+ movement and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community within the CRSJ have evolved. Last month, in Part I of our webinar series, we explored the history of the movement and the evolution of support for the LGBTQ+ community within the ABA. In Part II, our panelists will discuss how young lawyers and advocates envision the movement's future in light of the current legal landscape and sociopolitical realities.

📢 Speakers:
💠 Jenna Cutler – Associate, Barclay Damon LLP
💠 Matt Halverson – Staff Attorney, Legal Assistance Of Western New York, Inc. (LawNY)
💠 Shannon Minter – Vice President of Legal (Legal Director), National Center for LGBTQ Rights
💠 Milan T. Pham – Durham LGBT, Adoption amp; Family Lawyer and Founding Member, NicholsonPham L.L.C.
💠 S. Collins Saint – Of Counsel, Cedar Law LLP

✴️Moderator:
💠 Bobbi M. Bittker – Council Member, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

🔗Register HERE ➡️ https://ow.ly/1mcP50ZZpX8

10/20/2026

📣 | 2027 Father Robert F. Drinan Award

📅 Thursday, January 21, 2027
🕡 6:30 p.m. EST
💻 Virtual presentation

The ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice will honor Mark I. Schickman with the 2027 Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service! Join us virtually following ABA CRSJ’s Midyear Meeting as we celebrate Mark’s extraordinary contributions to civil rights and social justice.

A dedicated advocate for equal access to justice, Mark has spent decades advancing pro bono service, combating domestic and sexual violence, challenging antisemitism, and championing civil liberties through his leadership and policy work within the American Bar Association.

💡 Learn more about Mark’s achievements and register: https://ow.ly/eEQk50ZZ5ZI

10/20/2026

🚀 A Conversation with Trailblazing Astronaut John Herrington and His Current Mission of Standing Up for Democracy

📅 Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026
🕰️ Time: 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET
📺 Format: Free non-CLE Webinar, available on-demand immediately after on YouTube
Sponsor: ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
Co-Sponsors: Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation and Task Force for American Democracy

Join us for a special pre-election and Native American Heritage Month program with astronaut John Herrington, an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, who became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to travel to space. Dr. Herrington will discuss his trailblazing career at NASA and his journey to becoming an astronaut. In July 2026, he became a member of the Steering Committee of a new organization, Astronauts for America, that works to strengthen public understanding of constitutional principles and civic responsibility. In a fireside chat, Dr. Herrington will discuss its mission and activities and how the legal profession can get involved.

📢 Speaker: Dr. John Herrington – Former Astronaut and Member, Steering Committee, Astronauts for America
✴️ Moderator: Mary Smith – President, Caroline and Ora Smith Foundation; CEO, Task Force for American Democracy

💡 Register HERE ➡️ https://ow.ly/8nUt50ZZ8h7

10/19/2026

⚖️ ABA Giving Day | Invest in Civil Rights & Social Justice!

This ABA Giving Day, support the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice and help advance our mission to protect human rights, defend civil liberties, uphold the rule of law, and promote justice for all.

Through education, advocacy, collaboration, and innovative programming, CRSJ brings together attorneys, law students, civil rights advocates, and community leaders to confront pressing legal and social challenges. Our initiatives provide critical resources, foster meaningful dialogue, strengthen access to justice, protect the independence of the judiciary, and safeguard our democracy.

Your generosity helps CRSJ continue this important work by supporting programs that educate and empower the legal community, advance civil rights and social justice, and equip advocates to respond to emerging challenges. Together, we can strengthen the legal profession’s commitment to fairness, equality, and the protection of fundamental rights.

Make your gift this ABA Giving Day and invest in a more just and equitable future!

🌟 Make your gift now or before October 29 ➡️ https://ow.ly/TOzZ50ZXJi5

10/19/2026

🌟Council Spotlight | Learn more about the ABA Section of Civil Rights & Social Justice's Council Leader Brett Posner-Ferdman!

Brett is a 2L at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, PA, and will be serving as the Law Student Division Member for the Civil Rights and Social Justice section.

Brett is a proud Canadian-American, moving from Toronto to Miami as a child. He pursued his undergraduate degrees at the University of Florida, where he was awarded the Outstanding Scholar Award for his First Amendment research work at the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information.

Brett is best known for his work in the journalism, government, and political spheres. In 2025, he and David Cuillier co-authored the study "Dark deserts: Newspaper decline and its relation to government non-compliance with public records laws", which demonstrated the correlation between states with a lower density of local newspapers and less government transparency and compliance with FOIA requests. He and Cuillier presented the paper at the Global Conference for Government Transparency in Brussels, Belgium. Brett has also worked at CNN, the U.S. Department of State, and the 2024 Biden/Harris for President Campaigns.

In law school, Brett is specializing in government, election, and international law. In 2026, he was appointed Penn State Dickinson Law's Chair of Academic Affairs, and elected as the school's ABA Representative. He was subsequently appointed to the ABA Judicial Division's inaugural Rising Leaders Committee. There he is serving as Chair of Communications and is the committee's liaison to the National Conference of Administrative Law Judges.

Since June 2026, Brett has served as the Civil Rights and Social Justice section's law clerk. There, he has been helping committee members create and draft policy resolutions to be submitted for consideration in the ABA House of Delegates.

In his free time, Brett is an avid reader and baker. He is excited to work with the section this coming year, and hopes to develop programs and initiatives that bridge the gap between the ABA and law students across the country.

10/17/2026

in 1992, the United Nations officially designated October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

This day calls attention to the struggles of indigent communities and amplifies their voices to governments and citizens across the globe. The first observance of the day took place in 1987, when 100,000 people gathered on the Human Rights and Liberties Plaza in Paris, France, to honor victims of poverty, hunger, violence, and fear. At this commemoration, Joseph Wresinski, the founder of the International Movement ATD Fourth World, unveiled a stone with the following quote engraved:

"Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty." — Joseph Wresinski

Learn more about International Day for the Eradication of Poverty here: bit.ly/33HRwFQ