Deborah Hellman
@hellmandeborah.bsky.social
810 followers 66 following 22 posts
Professor @ UVA Law School, writing about discrimination law and theory, bribery and corruption.
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hellmandeborah.bsky.social
I wrote an entry for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Algorithmic Fairness. It is here: plato.stanford.edu/entries/algo...
I found this a challenging but facinating project. Comments welcome.
Algorithmic Fairness (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
plato.stanford.edu
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Thank you Larry for writing such a lovely tribute. Dick was also a mentor, teacher and dear friend to me and I will miss him greatly. A great mind, a deep scholar, a charitable critic and a supportive and encouraging colleague.
lsolum.bsky.social
Richard Fallon, In Memoriam, buff.ly/6WxLugJ - A tribute to the great scholar and dear friend.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
To me, Dick Fallon was an important mentor, a trusted critic and a dear friend. I will miss him tremendously.
maureenebrady.com
A heartbreaking day. In the middle of my *job interview*, I half jokingly told Dick I didn’t know where any of the HLS buildings were, and he promptly put on a fishing hat and gave me a tour. I had to pinch myself. The definition of professional humility.
williambaude.bsky.social
RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Key take away is that the Trump admin adopts a disparate impact theory in this finding while rejecting it elsewhere.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Terrific op-ed by @beidelson.bsky.social in @bostonglobe.com on the recent Trump ruling on antisemitism, which draws on our recent essay "Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism and Title VI" in the Harvard Law Review Forum: harvardlawreview.org/forum/vol-13....
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
My essay with @beidelson.bsky.social in Harvard Law Review Forum went live on June 20 but today seems like an apt time to post it given reports that "Trump Administration Finds Harvard Violated Civil Rights Law" in NYT. Our take-away: campus anti-Zionist activity is unlikely to violate Title VI.
beidelson.bsky.social
"Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Title VI: A Guide for the Perplexed" is now out: tinyurl.com/3wpvbnzu

Thanks to HLR editors for fast & diligent editing and to the many who've engaged with us since we posted the draft. And of course to @hellmandeborah.bsky.social for another great collaboration.
Reposted by Deborah Hellman
beidelson.bsky.social
"Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Title VI: A Guide for the Perplexed" is now out: tinyurl.com/3wpvbnzu

Thanks to HLR editors for fast & diligent editing and to the many who've engaged with us since we posted the draft. And of course to @hellmandeborah.bsky.social for another great collaboration.
Reposted by Deborah Hellman
beidelson.bsky.social
Trump's renunciation of disparate impact is ironic: As @hellmandeborah.bsky.social and I explain in new paper, the disparate impact regulation is likely essential to any plausible Title VI theory re: campus antisemitism. Reporters should ask if they're making an exception!

ssrn.com/abstract=527...
Discrimination cases unravel as Trump scraps core civil rights tenet
The administration is dismissing cases and unwinding settlements built on "disparate impact," which holds that even neutral policies can lead to biased outcomes.
www.washingtonpost.com
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
I agree! Well said.
daniellecitron.bsky.social
UVA’s President Jim Ryan is an exemplary leader and educator and I’m so proud to work here. Please sign on to show your support and combat the absurd disinformation that UVA is in decline. The opposite under President Ryan’s leadership is true. We are thriving. form.jotform.com/251478017358...
UVA Sign-On Letter
Please click the link to complete this form.
form.jotform.com
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Thanks Joey.
fishkin.bsky.social
I appreciate what @beidelson.bsky.social & @hellmandeborah.bsky.social have accomplished here: a concise and thoughtful guide to the reach of Title VI when it comes to antisemitism and speech about Israel.

The Trump Administration's attacks on universities, supposedly regarding antisemitism, are...
beidelson.bsky.social
New paper: "Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Title VI: A Guide for the Perplexed" — with @hellmandeborah.bsky.social.

Forthcoming in Harv L Rev Forum (ssrn.com/abstract=5271044)

This is one of the first systematic analyses of the wave of Title VI claims over campus antisemitism. A quick summary 🧵:
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Great summary in thread.
beidelson.bsky.social
New paper: "Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Title VI: A Guide for the Perplexed" — with @hellmandeborah.bsky.social.

Forthcoming in Harv L Rev Forum (ssrn.com/abstract=5271044)

This is one of the first systematic analyses of the wave of Title VI claims over campus antisemitism. A quick summary 🧵:
ANTISEMITISM, ANTI-ZIONISM, AND TITLE VI:

A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

Benjamin Eidelson & Deborah Hellman

ABSTRACT

Universities are facing an unprecedented wave of claims that they have violated their obligations to Jewish students under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. These charges center on an equally unprecedented wave of anti-Israel activity on college campuses, much of which is alleged to cross the line into antisemitism. This essay, forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review Forum, provides one of the first systematic analyses of these exceptionally high-stakes claims about Title VI.

Our analysis reveals that the Title VI claims face formidable hurdles, including some that have received surprisingly little attention thus far. Most fundamentally, Title VI’s omission of “religion” as a protected characteristic means that Jewishness is protected under the statute only insofar as it constitutes a “race” or (less likely) a “national origin.” Under existing law, however, discrimination based on the cultural practices or viewpoints that may be associated with such an immutable characteristic—as Zionism might be associated with Jewishnessis ordinarily not cognizable as discrimination based on the protected characteristic itself. Moreover, if “hostile environment” liability can be founded on offensive conduct that does not constitute covered disparate treatment in its own right, this is likely possible only pursuant to a disparate impact theory that the Trump Administration has denounced and that the Supreme Court has rejected for private suits. Any notion of harassment based on conduct’s “objective offensiveness” would also need to account for distinctive features of the university setting that likely preclude liability for much of the protest activity that has loomed large in recent public discussions of Jewish students’ experiences on campus.

Although specific facts matter and not all of the issues are clear-cut, we thus conclude that appeals to Title VI in
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Yes, thanks to all those listed below and also to @richschragger.bsky.social, Kim Forde-Mazrui, and David Plunkett. And especially to @beidelson.bsky.social - always learn so much from our discussions.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Finally, we examine whether a university itself might be engaging in disparate treatment by being more solicitous of hostility directed at some groups than others. This claim is also likely weak as universities have good reason to tolerate political speech that offends.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Even if an environment is hostile to students of Jewish ancestry, a university would not be in violation of Title VI unless it were "deliberately indifferent" to this fact. Given the importance of debate to a university's mission, such a standard will be tough to meet.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
Another way to frame a hostile environment claim is by focusing on whether the environment is experienced as hostile. However, this claim has a disparate impact quality and so will be difficult to make out -- especially given the adminstration's recent rejection of disparate impact.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
2. While Title VI would prohibit a university being "deliberatiely indifferent" to a hostile environment for students of Jewish ancestry, that hostile environment most likely must arise from students treating other students different because they are Jews, not because they are Zionists.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
A claim that a university has violated Title VI by tolerating anti-Zionist activities would face several significant hurdles.

1. Title VI doesn't cover religion and so antisemitism is covered only to the extent that anti-Jewish activities target people of Jewish ancestry (Jewishness as a race).
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
New to Bluesky, and posting a new paper: "Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Title VI: A Guide for the Perplexed" -- with @beidelson.bsky.social.

Forthcoming in Harv. L. Rev. Forum in June. (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....).

A thread follows.
hellmandeborah.bsky.social
I've just joined BlueSky and need help from friends to gather followers. So @uvalaw.bsky.social, and other faculty and students, please share/follow. I write about discrimination law and its philosophical foundations and about bribery and corruption. Am interested in all things law and philosophy.