Friday, May 01, 2009

Kimberle Crenshaw For the Supreme Court!

So, Justice Souter is retiring after the summer break. You've probably heard about this already. And there are interesting names floating about as to who should replace him. Mostly women, I've noticed, and two Latinas. That's awesome!

But I want to join Melissa Harris-Lacewell is advocating for a long shot candidate who I think is brilliant; Kimberle Crenshaw.

Kimberle Crenshaw is a field-defining critical race scholar who earned a law degree from Harvard. Her writings on race, gender, and the power of law dynamically altered the academic discourse in law schools throughout the world (Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color). Her work has been central to political movements here in the United States and to the development of emerging democracies globally. She is a prolific legal scholar and a respected public intellectual.

There is no one on the current court with the expansive, progressive, clarity of legal reasoning that Crenshaw has demonstrated for more than twenty years. As a justice Crenshaw would have the potential to substantially revise our understanding of American constitutional law by articulating elements of the American experience that have never before been integrated into our constitutional interpretation. She would open up the unique possibility of black feminist scholarship and practice challenging American jurisprudence from the inside out.


I mean, she is a brilliant legal mind, and she coined the absolutely vital idea of Intersectionality. I can't think of anyone I'd like to see on the Court more.