Public invited to free ‘Law in the Community’ lecture series

Rose Cuison-Villazor

The Northern Marianas Judiciary Historical Society announces that interim dean Rose Cuison-Villazor of the Rutgers Law School and associate professor Eun Hee Han of Georgetown Law School will be presenting in the Law in the Community Lecture Series on June 28, June 30, July 5, and July 7.

The professors will each give two public lectures about topical legal issues. The professors will take questions from the audience. The lectures will take place as follows:

• Today, June 28, at 12pm at the Guma’ Hustisia Assembly Hall in Susupe. Cuison-Villazor will present a lecture titled “Critical Race Theory, Pacific Islands, and Cultural Rights.” The lecture will outline critical race theory and examine how it applies to laws such as the CNMI’s Article XII, which restricts ownership of land to indigenous people.

• Thursday, June 30, at 6pm at the American Memorial Park Auditorium. Han will give a lecture called “Critical Race Stories.” The lecture will discuss a groundbreaking article by scholar Mari J. Matsuda that analyzes discrimination against people because of their accents.

• Tuesday, July 5, at 6pm at the American Memorial Park Auditorium. Cuison-Villazor will present a lecture called “The Insular Cases and Citizenship.” The Insular Cases are U.S. Supreme Court decisions from over 100 years ago that discuss the status of U.S. territories. The lecture will discuss those cases and more recent cases involving American Samoa in which the Insular Cases played a major role.
• Thursday July 7, at 12pm at the Guma’ Hustisia Assembly Hall in Susupe. Han will give a lecture titled “Cross-Cultural Competency and Law.” The lecture will discuss a new standard of the American Bar Association that requires law schools to educate their students on cross-cultural competency, bias, and racism.

The lectures are free and will be livestreamed on the Judiciary’s Facebook page. Members of the CNMI Bar Association can receive one CLE credit per lecture attended. The professors, who were both raised in the CNMI, will also be teaching introductory law classes as part of the Judiciary Summer Pre-Law Program.

The Law in the Community Lecture Series is made possible in part by a major grant from the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the lectures do not necessarily represent those of the Northern Marianas Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, NMI Judiciary, or Judiciary Historical Society. (PR)