Annual Meeting Breakout Sessions Back To School with UNM Law Professors

The Legal Status of Racial Diversity and Equity Initiatives (60 Minutes – 1.0 EIJ) 

Recently, there have been many setbacks for initiatives to increase racial diversity and equity in education and employment. The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) abrogated race-conscious admissions policies at universities. In the aftermath of that ruling, there have been many new challenges to other programs that promoted diversity and equity.  And now, the administration has marshaled the full force of the federal government to dismantle such initiatives. This presentation will consider the legal status of racial diversity and equity initiatives in light of these developments. 

Vinay Harpalani is Professor of Law and the Don L. and Mabel F. Dickason Endowed Chair in Law at the University of  New Mexico School of Law, where he teaches courses in constitutional law, civil procedure, employment  discrimination, and race and law. He is also Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Africana Studies and a member of the Community Advisory Board for the Asian American Pacific Islander Resource Center at the University of New Mexico. Professor Harpalani received the 2017 Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award from the Association of American Law Schools Section on Minority Groups and the 2016 Junior Teaching Faculty Award from the Society of American Law Teachers. In 2021, the American Constitution Society recommended him to the Biden-Harris White House as a potential judicial nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Professor Harpalani’s scholarship examines racial identity, diversity, and equity from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating law with social sciences and ethnic studies. He has worked with NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and other civil rights organizations to defend racial diversity and equity initiatives. Seven of his law review articles were cited in 15 separate U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs defending affirmative action in Fisher v. University of Texas and SFFA v. Harvard/UNC. His 2012 article, Diversity Within Racial Groups and the Constitutionality of Race-Conscious Admissions, was quoted (critically, with citation omitted) in Justice Samuel Alito’s dissent in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin II. Professor Harpalani has also been quoted in various national media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Time. Besides affirmative action, his other work has examined Asian and South Asian American racial identity, skin color discrimination law, and racial identity development among Black children. He received his bachelors’ degrees from the University of Delaware, his masters’ degrees and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. Professor Harpalani grew up in New Castle County, Delaware, where his experiences with school desegregation led to his interest in race and law. 

Fixing Shelter Animal Overpopulation: Legislation and Litigation Concerning Funding for Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Programs in New Mexico (60 minutes – 1.0 G) 

In 2020, the New Mexico Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, Senate Bill 57, often referred to as the affordable spay/neuter bill. The legislation established a new funding mechanism, established as the best option in a senate-requested study, that increases the fee that pet food manufacturers must pay to register and sell their products in state. This source of spay/neuter funding has proven to dramatically reduce shelter animal euthanasia in other states. However, it is the subject of ongoing litigation in New Mexico, based in part on arguments by the Pet Food Institute and other plaintiffs that it violates the Equal Protection and Commerce Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. This presentation will explore the legislation and the arguments presented in the litigation. 

Christy DeSanctis is a law professor at UNM School of Law, where she focuses primarily on teaching legal research and writing, advocacy and persuasion, and skills to which 1Ls are not typically exposed, such as client interviewing and negotiation. She served for two years on NM's Animal Sheltering Committee, which is charged with deploying the mandates of the spay/neuter bill. She co-authored the regulations implementing that bill, and she continues to do animal rescue work with shelters and sanctuaries throughout the state. Prior to joining the faculty at UNMSOL, Professor DeSanctis was for almost two decades the Director of the Legal Research and Writing and Fundamentals of Lawyering Programs at GW Law School in Washington, D.C. 

Environmental Justice:  Past, Present, and Near Future (60 minutes – 1.0 EIJ) 

Following decades of concern for the imbalance of environmental protection in the United States, environmental justice formed a top priority for federal agencies under the Biden Administration. As the new Trump administration proceeds with its agenda of federal deregulation and deconstruction, this session will explore how advocates for environmental justice may continue to pursue progress toward environmental justice, through means including constitutional law, federal statutes, state legislation, tribal authorities and community engagement.   

Cliff Villa, UNM School of Law Professor, teaches, writes, and practices in the areas of constitutional rights and  environmental law, with particular expertise in environmental justice and disaster response. On leave from UNM, Prof. Villa served in the Biden administration as political leadership for the U.S. EPA Office of Land and Emergency  Management. In that role, based in Washington, D.C., he provided policy direction for national programs including  Superfund cleanup, Brownfields revitalization, and emergency response. Previously, Villa served more than 20 years  as an EPA attorney in Washington, D.C.; Denver, Colorado; and Seattle, Washington. Within academia, in addition to UNM, Villa has taught at Columbia Law School and Seattle University. Among other publications, Villa is the lead  author of Environmental Justice: Law, Policy & Regulation (3rd ed. 2020), and author of legal scholarship including Law and Lawyers in the Incident Command System (2013), Remaking Environmental Justice (2002); Don’t Blame the  Flint River (2022), and Environmental Justice Beyond 2 ̊ (2024). Villa was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with local roots tracing back to the Atrisco Land Grant of 1692.   

Manliness and the Constitution (60 minutes – 1.0 G) 

There is much talk by public officials, including the President, about what it means to be masculine or manly these days. Such talk, alas, tends to shed more heat than light. But the relationship between the Constitution and manliness along with its correlates is one that was of deep concern to the framers of the Constitution. They designed the Constitution with the expectation that men will behave in a certain manner (and refrain from behaving in other ways). My presentation will explain the substance and motivations for this design and the ways in which it has come under pressure in our present times.  

John M. Kang is Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico. He teaches constitutional law, and he writes about that, along with the communitarianism, manliness, public discourse, and other topics related to freedom and authority.