Events

Are Parental Rights Always in the Best Interest of Children? Race, Gender, Sexuality, and the Conflict over Parental Rights.

This symposium will explore the complex issues surrounding the role of parental rights in advancing progressive goals while at the same time examine how parental rights are being used to undermine racial, gender, and LGBTQ equality. These conflicts have come to a head recently in the areas of education, gender-affirming care, and family regulation. The discussion will also include how children’s interests can and should be represented, and whether that is best accomplished through their parents. A keynote address will be given following lunch by Melissa Murray, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU School of Law.

The symposium will feature three panels:


1. Panel #1: Parental Rights and Debates over School Curriculum
* LaToya Baldwin Clark, Assistant Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law
* Derek Black, Professor of Law & Ernest F. Hollings Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law
* Michael Gregory, Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School
* Cailin Millat, Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School


2. Panel #2: Parental Rights and the Policing of Gender-Affirming Care
* Alexander Chen, Lecturer of Law and Founding Director of the LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic
* at Harvard Law School
* Patience "Polly" Crozier, Senior Staff Attorney at GLAD
* Greta LaFleur, Associate Professor of American Studies and Director of Graduate Studies American Studies at Yale University


3. Panel #3: Race, Family Regulation and Parental Rights
* Jessica Dixon Weaver, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Law at SMU Dedman School of Law
* Clare Huntington, Joseph M. McLaughlin Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law
* Catherine Smith, Professor and Chauncey G. Wilson Memorial Research Chair at Sturm College of Law
* Shanta Trivedi, Assistant Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Sayra and Neil Meyerhoff Center for Families, Children and the Courts at the University of Baltimore School of Law


The event schedule is as follows:


* Registration and breakfast 8:30-9:00

* Opening Remarks & Dean’s Welcome: 9:00-9:30

* Panel 1: 9:30-11:00

* Panel 2: 11:15-12:45

* Lunch and Keynote 12:45-2:15

* Panel 3: 2:15-3:45

* Closing Remarks: 3:45-4:00


Registration is free for students, faculty, staff and the general public. There is a $30 registration fee for attorneys seeking CLE credit.

RSVP by March 24 at http://law.uconn.edu/parentalrights


If you require a reasonable accommodation for a disability, please contact the Law School at 860-570-5079 or via email at law.access@uconn.edu at least two weeks in advance.