AuthorLRIRE

Abstract The COVID-19 death toll is staggering and has impacted the funeral industry more than any other event in recent memory. Funeral service providers have been on the frontlines of this pandemic doing the work of the dead—transporting, storing, and disposing our dead. They have performed a critical service during uncertain times. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the funeral industry was...

Abstract From Uber to Home Depot to Starbucks, companies are increasingly asking customers to rate workers. Gathering data from these ratings, many firms utilize algorithms to make employment decisions. The proliferation of customer ratings raises the possibility that some customers may review workers negatively for racist, sexist, or other illegal reasons. Absent a legal framework to address...

Abstract The proliferation and use of technology by law enforcement is rooted in the hope that technological tools can improve policing. Improvement, however, is relative. Quantitative data and qualitative experience have proven the criminal legal system a site of racial injustice and rank brutality. Police are one of the principal instruments of those harms. For the communities who bear the...

Abstract The police killing of George Floyd added fuel to the simmering flames of racial injustice in America following a string of similarly violent executions during a global pandemic that disproportionately ravaged the health and economic security of Black families and communities. The confluence of these painful realities exposed deep vulnerabilities and renewed a reckoning with the long...

A Mother's Crown I wear my heart on my sleeve Being tugged by little hands So my heart may fall And be caught by the tiniest fingers I wear my crown proudly ButI never forget to adjust theirs Which sits upon their curly, soft hair Upholding their sovereign royalty When the days are darkest And the tears are falling freely Their voice brings me smiles and relief They don’t know they keep me strong...

Freedom Song Freedom is worth fighting for Dignity is worth dying for Hope is worth hunting for Your Soul is worth sacrificing for What’s right is worth rising up for Lighting up the night sky is the Moon’s favorite chore After half the world’s ignored her for too long She can’t wait to throw open the Sky’s door Poke her face out over the ocean Searching for someone to adore One Sun’s rise away...

WELCOME FROM THE UCLA LAW REVIEW Alanna Kane, Editor-in-Chief and Hope Bentley, Symposium Editor “What does it look like to build a city, state, or nation invested in communities thriving ratherthan their death and destruction? To ask this question is the first act of an abolitionist.” - Patrisse Cullors[1] We are honored to welcome you to our 2022 annual Symposium: Toward an Abolitionist Future...