Buchanan v. Warley Symposium

On Nov. 5, 1917, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisville’s race-based zoning ordinance in a landmark case, Buchanan v. Warley.

The Brandeis School of Law will mark the centennial of this decision with a national symposium on Racial Justice in Zoning: 100 Years after Buchanan. 

The symposium will explore current racial injustices in land use, housing and environmental conditions, as well as the history of race and zoning in the U.S. and Louisville.

It will feature presentations from eight nationally renowned scholars, four from the University of Louisville and four from other universities, as well as a presentation on redlining in Louisville. 

Sponsored by the Brandeis School of Law, with support from the Caudill-Little Speakers Fund, and co-sponsored by the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research at the University of Louisville.

Schedule: 

8:30 am: Light continental breakfast

8:40 am: Dean's Welcome: Lars Smith, Interim Dean

8:50 am: Organizers' Welcome: Tony Arnold, Symposium Chair

Session I: The History of Race, Zoning, and Buchanan Case

9:00 am: Cate Fosl, The Buchanan Case and the Long Movement for Civil Rights in Louisville

9:20 am: Laura Rothstein, What Would Louis Do?  The “Brandeis Brief” on Zoning and Its Present Impact on Racial Segregation

9:40 am: Michael Wolf, Caudill-Little Distinguished Presenter, There’s Something Happening Here: Affordable Housing as a Nonstarter in the U.S. Supreme Court

10:20 am: Q&A for Session I

10:30 am: Break

Session II: Contemporary Perspectives on the Persistence of Racial Inequality in Land Use

10:40 am: Cedric Merlin Powell, Race Displaced: Buchanan v. Warley and the Neutral Rhetoric of Due Process

11:00 am: Michael Lens, Caudill-Little Distinguished Presenter, Why Segregation Matters: The Inequality of Opportunity

11:40 am: Audrey McFarlane, Caudill-Little Distinguished Presenter, The Properties of Integration: Managing Discrimination Through Mixed Income Housing

12:20 pm: Tony Arnold, From Zoning Injustice to Environmental Injustice to Resilience Injustice

12:40 pm: Q&A for Session II

12:50 pm: Break

Session III: Luncheon Keynote

1 pm: Lunch

1:10 pm: Keynote by Sheryll Cashin, Caudill-Little Distinguished, Integration as a Means of Restoring Democracy and Opportunity

1:50 pm: Q&A for Keynote

Session IV: Bringing It Home

2 pm: Jeana Dunlap, Redlining Louisville: The History of Race, Class and Real Estate

2:15 pm: Final Remarks by Organizers and Conclusion

2:30 pm: Symposium Ends; Book-Signing by Sheryll Cashin

Speakers:

Craig Anthony (Tony) Arnold, J.D., is the Boehl Chair in Property and Land Use at the University of Louisville, where he teaches in the Brandeis School of Law and the Department of Urban and Public Affairs and directs the interdisciplinary Center for Land Use and Environmental Responsibility.

Sheryll Cashin*, M.A., J.D., is Professor of Law at Georgetown University and an active member of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council.

Jeana E. Dunlap, M.P.A., M.S., is the Director of Redevelopment Strategies, Louisville Forward.

Catherine Fosl, Ph.D., is Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Louisville, where she also teaches in the History Department and directs the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research.

Michael Lens*, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, where he is the Associate Faculty Director of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.

Audrey McFarlane*, J.D., is the Dean Julius Isaacson Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore.

Cedric Merlin Powell, J.D., is Professor of Law at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, where he is the Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Laura Rothstein, J.D., is a Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Law at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law.

Michael Allan Wolf*, J.D., Ph.D., is the Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law and Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

* denotes Caudill-Little Distinguished Presenter