An Expert on Timely Race and Gender Issues, Including Supreme Court Decision -- UCI Law Chancellor’s Professor of Law Michele Goodwin Available for Media Inquiries
IRVINE, Calif. (June 17, 2020) — Michele Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) is available for media requests and interviews on timely race and gender issues sweeping the nation, including the forthcoming Supreme Court of the United States decision on June Medical Services LLC v. Russo.
In the June Medical Services LLC v. Russo (June Medical v. Russo) case, the Supreme Court will decide on “whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s decision upholding Louisiana’s law requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital conflicts with the Supreme Court’s binding precedent in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.”
Professor Goodwin, an expert in reproductive rights, race relations, racial disparities, and much more, recently authored the book “Policing the Womb: Indivisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood,” (Cambridge University Press, 2020). The book, and Goodwin’s expertise, relate to the case in the following ways:
“June Medical v. Russo, a pivotal abortion rights case comes at a time of national reckoning on criminal justice and policing of Black Americans that cannot be ignored. ‘Policing the Womb’ takes up both issues, critically examining the ways in which the criminal justice system has strategically used pregnancy as a means of surveilling and punishing Black women, including to their deaths.”
“June Medical v. Russo will be the most pivotal abortion decision since Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Roe v. Wade. What's really at stake in this case, is whether abortion remains a substantive legal right for poor women or simply a legal fiction. ‘Policing The Womb,’ which centers the concerns of poor women and women of color, offers a critical analysis for understanding this moment.”
“The death of George Floyd has caused a national reckoning on race, racial discrimination, and police abuses of power. In ‘Policing the Womb,’ I explore the history of policing and criminal punishment of Black women and women of color in the United States. From being shackled during childbirth, giving birth in prison toilets, or dragged out of maternity wards in bloodied gowns, the book provides an up close look at the ways in which the criminal punishment of Black women has been rendered invisible both by women's movements and in the criminal justice realm – and offers pathways forward that are critical in these times.”
Media: If you are interested in speaking to Michele Goodwin about these topics, please contact Mojgan Sherkat, Media Relations Specialist at UCI Law at msherkat@law.uci.edu.
About the University of California, Irvine School of Law
The University of California, Irvine School of Law is a visionary law school and provides an innovative and comprehensive curriculum, prioritizes public service, and demonstrates a commitment to diversity within the legal profession. UCI Law students have completed more than 100,000 hours of pro bono work in the past decade. Forty-five percent of UCI Law’s graduates are students of color. The collaborative and interdisciplinary community at UCI Law includes extraordinary students, world-renowned faculty, engaged alumni, and enthusiastic supporters. More information on UCI Law is available here. Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ucilaw and SnapChat: ucilaw.
Media Contact:
UCI Law
Mojgan Sherkat
949-824-7937
msherkat@law.uci.edu