Colorado Law Professor Suzette Malveaux delivers opening remarks. Also pictured: Sarah Parady, Colorado Women's Bar Association; Reva Siegel, Yale Law School; and Dean S. James Anaya, Colorado Law.
Scholars and legal practitioners from across the country gathered virtually on April 3, 2020, for the University of Colorado Law School鈥檚 28th annual Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference. This year鈥檚 conference marked the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment and considered the continuing fight to secure voting rights, political representation for all, and women鈥檚 empowerment.
The Rothgerber Conference was hosted by Colorado Law鈥檚 Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law in partnership with the Colorado Women鈥檚 Bar Association (CWBA). Suzette Malveaux, Colorado Law Provost Professor of Civil Rights Law and director of the White Center, organized and spearheaded the conference and delivered opening remarks. Also opening the day with remarks were Colorado Law鈥檚 Dean Jim Anaya and CWBA President Sarah Parady.
Reva Siegel, Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor at Yale Law School, delivered the keynote address, which contemplated the Nineteenth Amendment and the democratization of the family. Siegel pointed out that underlying the fight for women鈥檚 suffrage is the idea that virtual representation of a family unit through the vote of the patriarch was not effective representation at all.
Three panels organized by Colorado Law professors Carolyn Ramsey, Ming Hsu Chen, and Scott Skinner-Thompson followed the keynote address. The first, "Historic Perspectives on the 19th Amendment: Looking Back, Looking Forward," was organized by Ramsey and welcomed historians and legal scholars for a discussion about the 19th Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion rights, and criminal justice reform.
Chen organized the second panel, "Barriers to Political Representation." Panelists had a rich discussion considering campaign finance and women鈥檚 representation in government, as well as challenges involving representation of immigrants and the need for more intersectional representation.
The final panel of the day, "Lived Equality: Beyond Formal Political Rights" was organized by Skinner-Thompson. Panelists pressed on current struggles for equal rights, including the criminal prosecution of prostitution, the political power of Black women, and transgender rights.
Colorado Law students and University of Colorado Law Review members Angela Boettcher (鈥�21), Quentin Morse (鈥�21), and Jane Waterman (鈥�21) moderated the panels. Biographies of all panel participants can be found here.
A celebration, and acknowledgment of work yet to be done
An overarching theme among many of the speakers was the attempt to strike a balance between celebrating the successes of the Nineteenth Amendment while remaining clear-eyed about its failure to challenge existing racial and socioeconomic hierarchies and acknowledging the ways these shortcomings continue to play out in American politics.
"Although our conference was anchored in a historical anniversary, the topic of women鈥檚 empowerment and the threat to voting rights is certainly salient today鈥攁nd perhaps more so, in the midst of a public health crisis that has revealed so many disparities," Malveaux said. "There remains much work to be done in this area."
This critique was prominent throughout the conference. While considering the strategic use of maps by women鈥檚 suffrage advocates, Susan Schulten, a history professor at the University of Denver, pointed out the ubiquitous use of images of white women in maps advocating for women鈥檚 suffrage and acknowledged the irony that, just as women鈥檚 suffrage was making great strides, the voting rights of Black men were being dramatically curtailed.
Chinyere Ezie, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, brought this thread into the present day. Her presentation considered the political prowess and powerlessness of Black women voters, questioning the political weight that Black women voters provide to candidates that rarely represent their interests effectively. Professor Dara Z. Strolovitch of Princeton University also considered limitations and barriers to effective representation of intersectionally marginalized women.
The largest Rothgerber audience in history
The Rothgerber Conference was originally slated to happen in person but had to be quickly switched to a virtual format after the 精品SM在线影片 moved to remote operations in response to COVID-19 on March 12, 2020. "When I decided to take the conference into the virtual space three weeks ago, I admit having a steep learning curve to climb, but it is something that gave me鈥攁nd many of our participants鈥攋oy, purpose, and a welcome distraction from the grim pandemic news," Malveaux reflected. "I'm so proud that we pulled it off and that all involved were willing to forge ahead despite the many challenges they faced."
In the end, the switch to a virtual format dramatically expanded the reach of the conference. "We had over 600 attendees鈥攕ix times more than we would have been able to accommodate physically in our original, in-person venue," Malveaux said. Indeed, the virtual format was an asset for the conference, which was the largest in its history and welcomed international participants from as far as Chile and the United Kingdom.
"On a day requiring us to 'shelter in place,' it was great to be engaged in such a thought-provoking topic."
"I would not have attended this conference [if it was in-person] since I am not in Colorado," commented one attendee. "I am thankful that I was able to participate [in the virtual conference]." Said another attendee: "On a day requiring us to 'shelter in place,' it was great to be engaged in such a thought-provoking topic."
A full recording of the Rothgerber Conference can be found on .
Selected remarks and articles from the conference will be published in the upcoming Rothgerber Symposium issue of the University of Colorado Law Review鈥檚 92nd Volume, to be published in March 2021.
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- (Law Week Colorado)