Melissa Murray, a professor at New York University School of Law, completed a weeklong residency at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at Mānoa as the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals March 20–24, 2023. She is a leading expert in constitutional law, family law, and reproductive rights and justice.
Murray¡¯s weeklong residency featured a presentation on her co-authored article, Dobbs and Democracy, visits to classes at the UH law school and UH Mānoa¡¯s American Studies department, a talk with students at an event co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society, and a lunch with faculty and students of , where Murray offered advice about pursuing social justice in a legal environment dominated by a conservative Supreme Court supermajority.
At the culmination of the week, Murray and her co-hosts Professors Leah Litman (Michigan Law School) and Kate Shaw (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law) recorded of the award-winning “” podcast before a live audience at UH Mānoa. The episode, and on major streaming platforms, included a segment with special guest U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono. It also featured the Â鶹´«Ã½ Supreme Court¡¯s recent application of “the right to a life-sustaining climate system” in the Hu Honua case, and highlighted the UH law school¡¯s Ka Huli Ao Center¡¯s “pathbreaking work at the intersection of Native Hawaiian rights and environmental law.”
Murray began her residence virtually in October 2022 with a keynote presentation moderated by UH law school Dean Camille Nelson titled “Unpacking the Court: What Does a Conservative Super-majority Mean for the Court and America?”
More information about the appointment is available at the website.