With thanks to Senior Fellow Seth Galanter, the Edley Center has published a third new white paper, the next in our series of democracy explainers. This white paper confirms the continued lawfulness of equity-focused activities from entities that receive federal funds, notwithstanding repeated recent erroneous federal claims that such activities are unlawful. 

Just today, Senior Fellow Seth Galanter submitted a public comment explaining that the Department of Education's failure to provide the proposed Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement survey and instructions violates the Paperwork Reduction Act and denies people a meaningful opportunity to comment. As the public comment makes clear, "when unelected officials seek to use the power of law to mandate the disclosure of information, the opportunity for meaningful public participation is paramount to establishing democratic accountability."

The Edley Center, cosponsored with the Goldman School of Public Policy, hosted our first event for this academic year, Tech Policy for a Just Future: AI, Racial Equity, and Democracy. The well attended event, with more than 170 people joining us, featured Professor Spencer Overton from George Washington Law and Larry Norden, who is a Lecturer at Berkeley Law and a Democracy Policy Fellow at the Goldman School in addition to his Vice Presidency of the Brennan Center for Justice, in conversation with Catherine Lhamon, the Edley Center Executive Director, about technology, racial justice, and democratic governance. If you missed the event but would like to hear the conversation, you can access it on the Edley Center's YouTube channel.

We hope you will join us for our next scheduled event, which is a screening of the documentary film American Agitators at the law school on October 23 at 4:00 pm. Following the film, we will be pleased to hear a discussion about the importance of organizing for legal and social justice advocacy, among Maria Echaveste, Special Advisor to Children Now; Giev Kashkooli, Senior Counsel to the President of the United Farm Workers of America; and Raymond Telles, lecturer in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley and also Director and Producer of the film. We are pleased to cosponsor this event with the Berkeley Law Center on Law and Work, UC Berkeley Labor Center, Chicanx Latinx Studies, and the Department of Ethnic Studies UC Berkeley.

Building on that work, the Edley Center welcomes two new Senior Fellows. Melissa Hooper is a former USAID Senior Advisor with expertise in governance, rule of law, human and civil rights protection, and countering anti-democratic measures. She founded the Rule of Law Action Network, organizing legal experts to produce action campaigns and reform proposals for accountability and to defend justice sector actors. Hooper brings more than 20 years of experience driving constitutional law reform and rights-focused public policy, including having worked internationally at the ABA helping lawyers develop strategies to protect democracy in closed environments such as Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. And Katy Joseph is an accomplished political and policy strategist based in Washington, DC., who has led national pro-democracy coalitions for public education, LGBTQI+ equality, the separation of religion and government, and nondiscrimination in federally funded programs. Joseph was a senior appointee in the U.S. Department of Education under President Biden, where she directed initiatives to foster inclusive learning environments and protect students’ civil and First Amendment rights. Hooper and Joseph will work with the Edley Center to publish further democracy explainers and produce information sessions to sustain democracy.

Onward!

Catherine E. Lhamon

Executive Director