American Bar Foundation

A recent ABF Fellows CLE program sought to explore the Supreme Court’s complicated position as both a provoker of controversy and a protector of democracy, and to consider where this moment fits into the Court’s history. Read More:

Empirical Animal Law: Testing the Assumptions of a Movement "challenges long-held assumptions about what animal law reforms help or harm animals." In a new book, ABF Research Prof. Janice Nadler writes alongside authors Justin Marceau and David A. Dana. 🔗 : www.cambridge.org/core/books/e...

Former Visiting Scholar Rahim Kurwa talks his new book Indefensible Spaces: Policing and the Struggle for Housing with New Books Network host Lilyanna D'Amato. 🔗: newbooksnetwork.com/indefensible...

"A new term of the Supreme Court begins this week, and threats to LGBTQ+ people are already on the calendar." Former ABF Visiting Scholar Hila Keren discusses a series of cases that will soon reach the Supreme Court that could threaten the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. 🔗: slate.com/news-and-pol...

In this new edition of How to Save a Constitutional Democracy, constitutional law experts Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Z. Huq offer a powerful analysis of today’s challenges while arguing that the time has come for meaningful, actionable change. 🔗: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Today, 10/15, ABF Research Professor Natacha Nsabimana and filmmaker Christian Nyampeta will be in conversation after the showing of two short films: Sometimes It Was Beautiful by Nyampeta, and Fragments for Venus by Alice Diop. RSVP Here: events.humanitix.com/the-african-...

Applications for the ABF/University of Chicago Doc. Fellowship in Law & Social Science for the 2027-28 academic year are now open. The ABF and the UChicago are committed to developing the next generation of scholars in law and social science. Learn More: abf.bamboohr.com/careers/25

Applications are now open for the 2027 William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law. This is a year-long visiting position awarded to an outstanding scholar with a distinguished record of scholarship in law and the social sciences. Learn More: abf.bamboohr.com/careers/26

Applications for the ABF/Northwestern Doc. Fellowship in Law & Social Science for the 2027-28 academic year are now open. The ABF and Northwestern University are committed to developing the next generation of scholars in law and social science. Learn More: abf.bamboohr.com/careers/24

The American Bar Foundation is now accepting applications for our 2027-28 Visiting Scholars program. ABF Visitorships are open to scholars in all social science disciplines, law, and the social science adjacent humanities. Learn More: abf.bamboohr.com/careers/27

Laura Beth Nielsen ’96, Ph.D. ’99 leads the @abfresearch.bsky.social's push to serve the public good through high-quality empirical research of legal institutions, legal education, and the legal profession: https://bit.ly/4hVYxcd #BerkeleyLaw

Tomorrow, 9/22, University of Wisconsin Madison Political Science Prof. Genevieve Bates will lead the ABF Speaker Series on "Racial Justice as Transitional Justice: Human Rights and Public Support for Police Reform in the United States." Learn More: www.americanbarfoundation.org/event/speake...

"Jails often can’t provide comprehensive medical screenings, space for confidential legal consultations or even outdoor access." ABF Affil. Scholar Emily Ryo in @propublica.org's article on the Pinellas County Jail's high rate of immigrant rebookings. Read More: www.propublica.org/article/immi...

"The end of affirmative action does not mean institutions have to discontinue efforts to support students of color and others from marginalized backgrounds,” says ABF Affil. Scholar @meeradeo.bsky.social “There are myriad ways to support students, faculty and staff from all backgrounds.” Read More:

"A just society punishes only the blameworthy. Our approach to insanity in these cases makes it harder, not easier, to do justice," says former ABF Visiting Scholar Michelle Oberman. Oberman discusses the case surrounding Lindsay Clancy, and the history of the U.S. insanity defense, in a new op-ed.

Research Handbook on Global Legal Education Edited by @swethaa.bsky.social, @ucirvinelaw.bsky.social and Bryant G. Garth, @abfresearch.bsky.social 🆓 Chapter | A kaleidoscopic invitation to consider global legal education: doi.org/10.4337/9781... More information: www.e-elgar.com/shop/isbn/97...

The ABF Fellows CLE Program, held July 31 during the 2026 ABA Annual Conference, explored the consequences of mass incarceration. ABF Research Prof. Reuben J. Miller and Calvin Duncan, an Innocence Project exoneree, discussed how incarceration affects communities long after release. Read More:

We are thrilled to share that former LSA President and 2026 Ronald Pipkin Service Awardee @lbthatsme.bsky.social (Northwestern University) has been appointed to serve as the new @abfresearch.bsky.social Executive Director!

The ABF is pleased to welcome six visiting scholars to our research community. The scholars of the 2026–27 cohort are: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Kathryn Birks Harvey, Jennifer Carlson, Sharese King, Stephen Engel, and Nick Cheesman. Learn More: www.americanbarfoundation.org/the-abf-anno...

The ABF has awarded doctoral fellowships to three exceptional scholars! These scholars were chosen for their impressive empirical and interdisciplinary research proposals in law and social science and will begin their roles on September 1. Learn More: www.americanbarfoundation.org/the-american...

11 years since the "709 Crackdown" on China's human rights lawyers. Tune in for the 10th China Human Rights Lawyers Day global webinar, with closing remarks from ABF's Terry Halliday. 📅 July 9, 2026 | 9:00am ET 🔗 www.youtube.com/live/EV1lV1t...

What if the U.S. Constitution were written today? ABF Research Professor @tomginsburg.bsky.social examines modern constitutional ideas from Supreme Court term limits, expanded rights, and institutions to protect democracy— ensuring accountability. @ms.now op-ed: www.ms.now/opinion/amer...

What do today’s Supreme Court decisions mean for birthright citizenship and trans athletes? Northwestern Univ. professors, including former visiting scholar, Kate Masur, break down the legal stakes—pointing to major impacts for civil rights, constitutional law, and more. Read More:

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com The Supreme Court's ruling to uphold birthright citizenship "is a reminder of what a principled, Constitution-bound court should look like,” the editorial board writes.

Congrats to Laura Nelson, winner of LSI’s 2026 Graduate Student Paper Competition! Her article shows how Pennsylvania’s 1780 Gradual Abolition Act made emancipation a struggle over records, legibility, and everyday claims to freedom. Read more here: bit.ly/3SAhXcu

The ABF is delighted to announce that Laura Nelson, a PhD candidate in the Dept. of History at @princeton.edu, has won the 2026 Graduate Student Paper Competition from Law & Social Inquiry (LSI) for her article, “Registries, Records, and the Making of Emancipation in Pennsylvania.” Learn More:

Former ABF Neukom Chair Devon Carbado led a presentation on "Undocumented Criminal Procedure: Immigration Enforcement & the Fourth Amendment," discussing recent Supreme Court case Noem v. Perdomo. Watch Here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csxk...

In a new @chicago.suntimes.com article, ABF Affiliated Scholar James Thuo Gathii writes, "The Trump administration’s playbook for Cuba is clear: intensify the hardship and suffering to such an extreme degree of economic collapse and crisis that there will be an uprising." Read More:

Welcome to the 2026 ABF Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows! The ABF has selected five outstanding undergraduate students from across the nation to take part in the 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program. Learn More: www.americanbarfoundation.org/welcoming-th...

ABF Affiliated Scholar @hollyfoster.bsky.social's new book, We All Do the Time, examines how incarcerated women maintain family and community ties, and why those connections matter for well-being, belonging, and rehabilitation. Published by @nyupress.bsky.social 🔗: nyupress.org/978147981588...

The @polar-journal.bsky.social's Annual Student Paper Prize Competition is taking submissions! The deadline is July 31, 2026, and the prize is open to current students in degree-granting grad programs (MA, PhD, JD, etc.) Learn More: politicalandlegalanthro.org/awards/stude...

In a recent Bar and Bench article, ABF Research Prof. @tomginsburg.bsky.social, discusses democratic backsliding, judicial independence, AI, and more. 🔗: www.barandbench.com/interviews/u...

At the American Identity Summit 2026, a recent panel by the Chicago Thinker, ABF Research Prof. @tomginsburg.bsky.social discusses the health of American democracy, the state of constitutional order, and what renewal looks like at 250 years. Watch Here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6C_...

Congrats to @lbthatsme.bsky.social of Northwestern University and @abfresearch.bsky.social for winning LSA’s 2026 Ronald Pipkin Service Award! View all winners here: bit.ly/LSAAwards2026

The Pennsylvania Gazette discusses former LSS Doctoral Fellow Shaun Ossei-Owusu's Law on Trial: An Unlikely Insider Reckons with Our Legal System. Highlighting Ossei-Owusu's journey, time at the ABF, and collaboration with Research Prof. @lbthatsme.bsky.social. 🔗: thepenngazette.com/witness-and-...

This Wed., 5/13, Chicago-Kent College of Law Prof. Cary Martin Shelby will lead the ABF Speaker Series on "Markets for Black Pain: Law and Marginalization as a Commodity." Shelby will discuss her upcoming book, and touch on for-profit companies commodifying black pain, and its cycles of harm. 🔗:

Tomorrow, the ABF hosts a New York City reception honoring the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—featuring remarks from Judge Arun Subramanian (Ginsburg's former clerk) and visual artist Josh Montgomery. Supporting the RBG Fund for Civil Rights and Gender Equality Research.

ABF Research Professor @tomginsburg.bsky.social and Gita Wirjawan discuss what sustains constitutional democracy, and what erodes it from within, on the Endgame podcast. Watch Here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE8h...

This Wed., 5/6, Boston College Law Prof. Aziz Rana will lead the ABF Speaker Series on "The Breakdown of the American Constitutional Compact." Rana will examine the contours of today’s U.S. constitutional crisis, tracing its roots over three decades, the 1930s through the 1960s. Learn More:

Global Perspectives on People-Centered Justice: Exploring the Evidence, edited by ABF’s Matthew Burnett and Rebecca Sandefur, spans issues from international development, poverty, and democratic participation to legal technology. Learn More: www.americanbarfoundation.org/global-persp...

This Wed., 4/22, legal anthropologist and associate professor of law at Emory University Deepa Das Acevedo will lead the ABF Speaker Series on "The War on Tenure." Acevedo examines tenure-stream academia to reveal hidden dynamics and obstacles. 🔗: www.americanbarfoundation.org/event/speake...

Nearly a century of accumulated civil procedural rules—however well-intentioned—has produced mounting costs, delays, and complexity. ABF Research Prof. and Deputy Dean of the University of Chicago Law School, William Hubbard calls this the "paradox of procedure." Watch the new ABF video:

This Wed., 4/1, Assistant. Prof. of Anthropology Soledad Álvarez Velasco, of The University of Illinois Chicago will lead ABF Speaker Series on "Inhabiting Transit: Migrant Struggles from Global South America to the U.S. and Back Again." 🔗: www.americanbarfoundation.org/event/speake...