Cedric M. Powell

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Professor of Law

Cedric M. Powell's picture

Cedric Merlin Powell received his B.A. with Honors in Government from Oberlin College in 1984 and his J.D. in 1987 from New York University School of Law, where he served as Managing Editor of The N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change. Prior work experiences include a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Julia Cooper Mack of the D.C. Court of Appeals from 1987-88, a one-year term as Karpatkin Fellow in the national office of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York from 1988-89, and as a litigation associate with the New York law firm of Skadden, Arps from 1989-93, Slate, Megher & Flom, the third largest law firm in the United States. He is a member of the Ohio and New York state bars, and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, and the federal courts of the Second and Sixth Circuits, and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Professor Powell has written over a broad range of topics including affirmative action and Critical Race Theory, the First Amendment and hate speech, and the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. His current research focuses on developing an analytical framework for critiquing constitutional neutrality under the Fourteenth Amendment (color-blindness) and the First Amendment 's Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses.

Professor Powell was awarded the Ferreri & Fogle Fellowship for teaching in 1998, 2000-2001 and again in 2007. He was the recipient of the Ann Oldfather fellowship in 2006, and he won the University Multicultural Teaching Award in 2000.

Courses Taught

Evidence

Criminal Law

Professional Responsibility

Constitutional Law I

Constitutional Law II

Race and the Law

Publications

Inevitability and the First Amendment: Grutter, Parents Involved, and the
Failure of the Colorblind Equal Protection Clause. (work in progress)

The Rhetoric of Colorblind Constitutionalism: Individualism, Race and Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky (co-author with Professor Enid Trucios-Haynes), symposium, __112 Penn State L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2008)

TANENHAUS, et al. eds., ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES (Macmillan Reference USA, forthcoming 2008) (entry contributor, New York Times v. United States)

Rhetorical Neutrality: Colorblindness, Frederick Douglass, and Inverted Critical Race Theory, 56 Cleve. State L. Rev. __(forthcoming 2008)

The Future of Integration in America: A Symposium Summary, 46 U. Louisville L. Rev. (forthcoming 2008)

TANENHAUS, et. al. eds., ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES (Macmillan Reference USA, forthcoming 2008) (entry contributor, Missouri v. Jenkins)

The Scope of National Power and the Centrality of Religion, 38 Brandeis L. J. 643 (2000)

Hopwood: Bakke II and Skeptical Scrutiny, 9 Seton Hall Const. L. J. 811 (1999)

Speaking Truth to Power: The Jurisprudence of Julia Cooper Mack, 40 Howard L. J. 399 (1997) (written Symposium with Derrick Bell, J. Clay Smith, Nancy Polikoff, Walter Walsh, et. al.)

Blinded By Color: The New Equal Protection, The Second Deconstruction, and Affirmative Inaction, 51 U. Miami L. Rev. 191 (1997)

The Mythological Marketplace of Ideas: R.A.V., Mitchell, and Beyond, 12 Harv. BlackLetter L. J. 1 (1995)

Presentations

Panelist, Equal Protection or Just 'Separate but Equal'? The Future of School Integration, Rutgers Race and the Law Review, Newark, (N.J., March 29, 2008)

Panelist, LBA CLE on Diversity (February 28, 2008)

Speaker, Justice McAnulty Memorial (February 27, 2008)

Panelist, First Amendment & Hate Speech (February 18, 2008)

Moderator, University of Louisville Law Review Symposium: The Future of School Integration in America-Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (January 18, 2008)

Opening Housing, Discrimination, and Transportation, Central High School, November 27, 2007

Jena 6, Third Monday Dialogue, Beyond Jena 6, Braden Center, November 19, 2007

Jena 6, Criminal Justice and Race Panel, Peace and Justice Week, University of Louisville, Chao Auditorium, October 23, 2007

Meredith and Rhetorical Neutrality, University of Louisville Faculty Workshop, October 19, 2007

Constitution Day: "Bong Hits for Jesus and the First Amendment," University of Louisville, September 17, 2007

State of Affairs, WFPL, Meredith decision (panel discussion with professors Russell Weaver and Gary Orfield) July 3, 2007.

Op-ed, "A Narrow Crack in the Schoolhouse Door," LEO, July 4, 2007.

Meredith decision, WAVE3 News, June 28, 2007

Meredith decision, Fpx News, June 29, 2007

Meredith decision, WLKY, June 29, 2007

Keynote Address, 7th Annual BLSA Convocation, May 11, 2007

Moderator, 2006 Judicial Candidates Forum (Junior League; LBA; Women Lawyers Association; Black Lawyers Association; National Council of Jewish Women) (November 2, 2006)

Moderator, Jefferson County Schools Go to Washington: The Supreme Court and the Future of School Desegregation (Diversity Program, Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, October 17, 2006)

Inaugural LBA Leadership Academy: Ethics, Law, and Social Change (CLE ) (September, 2006)

Study Skills Workshop, BLSA (September 22, 2006)

Mock Class, Family and Friends Law School Orientation (August 26, 2006)

Mock Class, Central High School at Brandeis School of Law (March 6, 2006)

Panelist-Presenter, Mid-Atlantic People of Color Scholarship Conference, American University-Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., January 27, 2006

Introduction of Keynote Speaker Professor Charles Ogletree (Harvard Law School), 10th Annual Louisville Metro Human Rights Commission Conference, January 11, 2006

Moderator, Police Community Relations Panel (Rev. Louis Coleman, Laura Douglas, David James, Christopher 2X, Anne Braden, and Chief Robert White), Yearlings Club, November 13, 2005

Presenter, Panel: The ACLU Freedom Files: The Supreme Court (Linda Earls), Louisville Free Public Library, October 27, 2005

Moderator, Jefferson County Judicial Candidates Forum, October 21, 2004

Brown at 50, Bellarmine University, September 16, 2004

Kentucky Bar Association Annual Convention (Panelist with Professors Linda Greene (Wisconsin) and Roberta Harding (University of Kentucky), June 23, 2004

Debate on Affirmative Action, Amicus Club (ACLU), June 17, 2004

Keynote Address, 47th Annual Law Day Celebration, Warren County-Bowling Green Bar Association, May, 2004

University Day of Dialogue: Hate in America (A Rationale for Regulation of Hate Speech), March 31, 2004

University of Kentucky President's Commission on Diversity: Brown, March 26, 2004

Hate Speech and the Klan, Tavis Smiley Show, (NPR, WFPL Louisville affiliate), March 25, 2004

Brown at 50: Process, Results and the Unfulfilled Promise of Diversity, University of Idaho School of Law, February 25, 2004

Mid-Atlantic People of Color Scholarship Conference, University of Baltimore School of Law (Presenter, January 31, 2004)

Louisville Metro Commission on Human Rights: Affirmative Action (Panelist), January 29, 2004

Brown and Affirmative Action, University of Louisville School of Medicine,

January 29, 2004

Oberlin College Inaugural Conference on Law and the Liberal Arts (Panelist), November 14-16, 2003)

Panelist, Governor's Conference on PostSecondary Education Trusteeship, September 21, 2003 (Affirmative Action after Grutter)

Hate Speech: Should the Government have the Power to Censor Offensive Speech ?, McConnell Center Forum, September 10, 2003 (Russell Weaver, Brandeis School of Law; Dieter Dorr, Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany; Paul Salamanca, University of Kentucky; and Eric Sales, Montpellier, France)

Louisville Forum, Affirmative Action: the University of Michigan Supreme Court Case, April 9, 2003 (J. Michael Brown, counsel for duPont; Eric Jaffe, former Law Clerk, United States Supreme Court Justice Thomas; and Bill Stone, Former Chairman, Jefferson County Republican Party)

State of Affairs, WFPL 89.3 (National Public Radio Affiliate), Affirmative Action, March 2003 (Ward Connerly participated via phone as a panelist; Russell Weaver, Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville and Paul Webber, University of Louisville)

Panelist, Stranger With A Camera, Appalachian Film Festival, Cincinnati Museum Center, Reakirt Auditorium, April 22, 2001

State of Affairs with Cameron Lawrence, WFPL 89.3 (National Public Radio Affiliate), Faith-Based Organizations, January 31, 2001

Whiteness As Property, February 15, 2000, Multicultural Center. Panel Discussion and Presentation on Race and Entitlement

Warns Labor Law Institute, June, 1998. Presentation on professional responsibility aspects of negotiation, arbitration, and mediation

Hopwood: Bakke II and Skeptical Scrutiny: Presented as a work-in-progress at the 1996 Social Theory Commonwealth Conference at the University of Kentucky on November 1, 1996

Warns Labor Law Institute, June 6, 1996. Presentation on Title VII and the issue of race in downsizing

Blinded By Color: The New Equal Protection, The Second Deconstruction, and Affirmative Inaction: Presented as a work-in-progress at the Second Annual Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference at Howard University Law School, Washington, D.C., February 15-17, 1996

University and Community Service

Community Service

Ad Hoc Committee for Affirmative Action

Leadership Louisville (2003)

Appointed to Transit Authority of River City ("TARC") Board (2003-) by Louisville Mayor Abramson. Elected chair of the board in June 2008.

Center for Women and Families Board (2003-06)

University Service

Member, President's Leadership Team, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools ("SACS") Accreditation (Fall 2005-)

Commissioner, Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality ("CODRE") (1998-04)

Law School Service:

Student Development/Academic Support Committee

Faculty Advisor, ATLA Mock Trial Competition

Faculty Advisor, Kentucky Intrastate Mock Trial Competition

Admissions Committee (1995-2004; 2005-)

Reinstatement and Probation Committee (2007)

Member, Harlan Scholars Selection Committee

Faculty Advisor to BLSA

Planning Committee of Third Annual Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference (February 1997)