Race, Racism & American Law.

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This website is designed as a companion to both the undergraduate and law school course Race, Racism, & the Law at West Virginia University, taught by Professor Judith Scully. This website is also designed to aide the public, scholars, and other students in finding resources for information, theories, and discussions of many issues involving Race, Racism, & American Law including: the social construction of race, white privilege, slavery, reconstruction, jim crow, the civil rights era, Brown v. Board of Education, criminal justice, the war on drugs, and health care.

Professor Judith A.M. Scully joined the West Virginia University College of Law in 1996. In addition to Race, Racism and American Law, Professor Scully teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, a seminar on International Human Rights focusing on South African Apartheid and Its Aftermath, and Trial Advocacy. Prior to joining the faculty at West Virginia University, Professor Scully worked in private practice in Chicago primarily representing defendants in criminal and plaintiffs in race and sex discrimination cases. She was a very active member of various social justice organizations that opposed police brutality in the City of Chicago.

Professor Scully has served as an Arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program and as an Administrative Law Judge for the Cook County Commission on Human Rights. From 1986 to 1988 she had the honor of serving the late Mayor Harold Washington, first as a Legislative Assistant for the Chicago City Council and then as the Deputy Director of the Board of Ethics.

In addition to her work on race and racism in the U.S. and abroad, Professor Scully has been a staunch supporter for Women’s reproductive rights. She has written countless articles denouncing the abuse of women in the form of forced sterilization initiatives and other programs of population control. She has organized workshops at various international forums including the International Women’s Health and Human Rights Meeting in New Delhi, India (September 2005), the 8th International Women’s Health Conference in Brazil (March, 1997), and the United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing (July 1995). Professor Scully has also served as a full time legal consultant to Advocates for Safe Parenthood in Trinidad and Tobago (January – June 2003).

As a member of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, Professor Scully presented a paper at a conference sponsored by the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADL), which advocated the need for constitutional protection of a woman’s right to reproductive choice. Her suggestions for the protection of women’s reproductive rights served as the basis of South Africa’s constitutional provisions guaranteeing a woman’s right to reproductive choice.