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Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections
Arthur J. Morris Law LibraryDan Cavanaugh, Archivist of the UVA Law School, last updated this finding aid in June, 2023.
Because of the nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the materials. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items. The university may grant permission to publish or reproduce intellectual property that it owns in the name of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.
The materials in this collection have no access restrictions.
The University of Virginia Law Library acquired the materials in this collection from various sources. Whenever possible, these sources are documented in other parts of this finding aid, and in accession records linked to this collection.
The University of Virginia School of Law established its State and Local Government Policy Clinic in the 2020-2021 academic year. The clinic provides UVa law students the opportunity to be directly involved in the practice of law and policymaking at the state and local levels of government. The founding director of the clinic is Professor Andrew Block.
This collection consists of materials that document the work of the State and Local Government Policy Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law. These materials include websites and publications. The collection also contains items documenting the clinic's participation in major projects including the Commission to Examine Racial and Economic Inequality in Virginia Law (2019-2022).
These materials have no access restrictions.
This file consists of digital content that the University of Virginia Law Library captured during crawls of the official State and Local Government Policy Clinic website. The website lists the clinic's faculty, describes its work, and provides links to related news and media coverage. Also the file includes .wacz archival files, .warc archival files, and various digital files that document the crawl process.
Because of the nature of this materials in this file, copyright status varies across the materials. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the file; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. The University of Virginia is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce content it does not own. However, the university may grant such permissions for intellectual property that it owns in the name of The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.
In March of 2023, Dan Cavanaugh, an archivist at the University of Virginia Law Library, created this item using the Browsertrix application. In that same month, Cavanaugh transferred the file to the Law Library's archive.
In October of 2023, Dan Cavanaugh, an archivist at the University of Virginia Law Library, created this file using the Browsertrix application. In that same month, Cavanaugh transferred the file to the Law Library's archive.
The University of Virginia Law Library acquired the materials in this series from various sources. Whenever possible, the sources of acquisition are documented in accession records linked to this collection and in other parts of this finding aid.
On June 4, 2019, Governor Ralph Northam signed Executive Order Number 32, establishing the Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law. Later that summer, Governor Northam appointed a number of lawyers, judges, and law professors to this Commission. Governor Northam's Executive Order directed the Commission to identify Virginia laws that "have the effect or could have the effect of enabling or promoting racial inequity or inequality," so that the Commission's findings and recommendations could be distributed to promote best practices in reducing racial inequity in the Commonwealth. The Commission was later renamed the "Commission to Examine Racial and Economic Inequality in Virginia Law".
The work of the Commission directly resulted in the repeal of segregationist laws, the affirmative passage of new legislation to address ongoing racial disparities across various areas of life, and specific budgetary actions and proposals by the Northam administration.
Students, faculty, and graduates of the University of Virginia Law School played a significant role in the work of the Commission. The initial membership of the Commission included law school graduates Michael Herring and Henry Chambers, as well as Andrew Block, associate Professor of Law and Director of the Law School's State and Local Government Policy Clinic. Block was also named the Commission's Vice-Chair.
Andrew Block and his clinic students and research assistants served as the research staff for the Commission. Students wrote legal and policy research memos, presented their findings and policy recommendations at Commission meetings, and were the primary drafters of the second and third Commission reports to the Governor. Meanwhile, Commissioners Herring and Chambers, drawing on their expertise in criminal justice, voting, and civil rights, helped refine and shape the policy recommendations that the Commission eventually submitted to Governor Northam.
This series consists of websites, reports, working files, agendas, meeting minutes, meeting recordings, and other materials documenting the Commission's work.
This folder consists of files downloaded from the Commission website, including meeting agendas, meeting minutes, video recordings, reports, legislative files, and other content.
Loren Moulds, a Digital Collections Librarian at the University of Virginia Law Library, collected these files from various sources in 2022 and transferred them to the University of Virginia Law Library.
This file includes digital copies of the following reports:
"From Virginia's Law Books: Interim Report from the Commission to Examine Racial Inequality in Virginia Law, November 15, 2019." "Identifying and Addressing the Vestiges of Inequity and Inequality in Virginia's Laws: Report from the Commission to Examine Racial Inequality in Virginia Law, November 15, 2020."The file also contains 3 print copies of "From Virginia's Law Books: Interim Report from the Commission to Examine Racial Inequality in Virginia Law, November 15, 2019."
Finally, there is a printed compilation of materials the Commission published between 2019 and 2022, titled, "Setting a Path for a More Equitable Commonwealth." The following items are in this compilation:
"From Virginia's Law Books: Interim Report from the Commission to Examine Racial Inequality in Virginia Law, November 15, 2019." "Identifying and Addressing the Vestiges of Inequity and Inequality in Virginia's Laws: Report from the Commission to Examine Racial Inequality in Virginia Law, November 15, 2020. "Commission's Letter on Policing, August 6, 2020." "Identifying Virginia's Racially Discriminatory Laws and Inequitable Economic Policies: Report from the Commission to Examine Racial and Economic Inequality in Virginia Law, January 6, 2022."This file consists of digital copies of executive orders and legislation related to the Commission.