University News

School of Law to Host a Program on Racial Profiling

Published: October 19, 2016 | Categories: Arts and Sciences, Engineering, All News, Business, Law

“The recent controversy over policing is often traced to racial bias, but it may stem in equal part from gender.”

Frank Cooper

The Western New England University School of Law Clason Speaker Series will host a presentation by Law Professor Frank Rudy Cooper on Monday, October 31, at 12 noon in the Blake Law Center Common.

Black Lives Matter bannerThe Western New England University School of Law Clason Speaker Series will host a presentation by Law Professor Frank Rudy Cooper on Monday, October 31, at 12 noon in the Blake Law Center Common. The talk is titled, “Trumped Up Racial Profiling?: Enforcing Civil Rights and the Policing of Black Men in the Era of Black Lives Matters.” The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

“As the epidemic of police shootings of African American men continues, the protests and message of the Black Lives Matter movement is becoming more widely heard and discussed,” Cooper explained. Within that context, Professor Cooper will discuss his research, which addresses the intersection of race and masculinity. Professor Cooper will also explore why and how racial stereotypes of masculinity impact policing and exacerbate racial profiling in the United States.

Frank Rudy Cooper is a professor at Suffolk University School of Law where he teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure, and civil rights law. He is a graduate of Duke University Law School and recently coedited the book Masculinities and the Law: A Multidimensional Approach.

The Clason Speaker Series presents expert lectures to the School of Law. The series is named after Charles R. Clason, a prominent local attorney and member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who held the position of Dean of the School of Law from 1954 to 1970. Today, the purpose of the Charles and Emma Clason Endowment Fund is to host speakers who will enhance the academic environment of the School of Law at the University.