2022-03-28_presentation_juliahernandez_en

Movement Lawyering in the Caring Society Case

Professor Julia Hernandez presents preliminary research findings on the impact of movement lawyering in Caring Society v. Canada and what U.S.-based movements challenging the family regulation system might learn from it. In both the U.S. and Canada, broad critiques of the disparate involvement of indigenous families and other families of color have percolated to the forefront of national conversations around social and racial justice. The Caring Society case resulted in a landmark ruling that Canada discriminated against First Nations children and their families by under-funding children’s services.

The case is unique in that it was led by non-lawyers and involved a strong grassroots campaign featuring children. Through the lens of movement lawyering, Professor Hernandez examines the case to answer the following questions: Who has led contemporary movements for child welfare reform in Canada? What have been the challenges, successes and failures? How have lawyers supported grassroots organizing and what were the successful and unsuccessful aspects of those collaborations? How has the trajectory of movement lawyering differed from and/or been similar to parallel efforts in the U.S.?

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Date and time
Mar 28, 2022
All day
Format and location
ONLINE | ZOOM Webinar
Language
Event in English
Audience

About Julia Hernandez

Julia Hernandez is Associate Professor of Law at the CUNY School of Law and serves as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice at the HRREC this Winter 2022. She practices in and writes about the family regulation system in its various iterations: at the border and beyond targeting migrant families, in Native communities and in state-based systems in communities across the U.S. She also researches and writes about pedagogy in legal education and movement lawyering. Prior to joining CUNY’s faculty, Julia was an attorney with Brooklyn Defender Services’ Family Defense Practice where she represented parents in child neglect and abuse proceedings. Julia also worked with non-citizens fighting deportation with Catholic Migration Services. Julia's publications have appeared in Clinical Law Review and Law & Political Economy.

The Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) is celebrating its 40th anniversary during the academic year 2021-2022! This event is part of a diverse and rich programme developed to highlight this major milestone. #CREDP40HRREC