On March 23, after a nearly five month long delay, the St. Joe’s Pre-Law Program hosted the seventh annual Hon. Joseph N. Nardi Symposium on Law and Justice in the Mandeville Hall Teletorium. 

Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Ph.D., J.D., dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and professor of Constitutional Law and History, was this year’s keynote speaker

Brown-Nagin’s speech was originally planned to take place Nov. 2, 2022, but had to be moved due to the Phillies playing in the World Series at the same time.

On Jan. 25, 2022, Brown-Nagin published “Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality,” a biography of Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to become a federal judge.

Paul Patterson, Ph.D., associate professor of English and pre-law advisor, suggested bringing Brown-Nagin to campus after hearing her interview on the “Fresh Air” podcast.

“I think it’s really important for students to get access to these kinds of stories, stories that they may not hear outside of lectures like this, but also access to people like Professor Tomiko Brown-Nagin, who can bring perspectives, bring resources and bring ideas that students here may not always have access to,” Patterson said.

At the symposium, Brown-Nagin primarily focused on telling Baker Motley’s story, from her achievement of being the first Black woman to argue before the Supreme Court, to her lengthy judicial nomination process, to the many challenges she faced as a federal judge.

As a lawyer, Baker Motley worked extensively with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and worked with Thurgood Marshall on Brown v. Board of Education.

This work earned Baker Motley praise from Martin Luther King Jr. and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who nominated her for a position as a
federal judge.

Caren Teague ’23, is in the Pre-Law program and attended because of her passion for civil rights.

“To see that people changemakers in the past have been very effective in their leadership and their ability to change the law in a positive way, I think it’s really inspiring to see,” Teague said.

Teague is currently taking Inside Out, a course that allows college students and adults who are incarcerated to meet for class together inside of a prison once a week to discuss topics that involve restorative justice. So for her, seeing Brown-Nagin’s description of Baker Motley’s work on a case involving a prisoner being forced into solitary confinement because of his race was especially poignant.

“So the moment that the speaker talked about the man who was incarcerated and his time in solitary confinement, I thought that was particularly interesting because I get the chance to talk to people who experience these things,” Teague said.

The event concluded with a Q&A where participants asked her about her opinion on the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and other
current events.

Keri Clapp, J.D., Law Endowment Program Coordinator and assistant professor of practice in the department of marketing, made both the opening and closing remarks of the symposium.

In response to written questions from The Hawk, Clapp said she hoped students would recognize how Baker Motley was responsible for many of the rights we have today.

“I also hope that attendees are inspired to learn more about the legal system and how it impacts justice in our society,” Clapp said.