University of Miami School of Law students Ronnie Graham and Jordan Rhodes speaking at a seminar today on racist police brutality and what lawyers can do about it.

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Philando Castile. Eric Garner. Michael Brown.

These were just a handful of the many names that underpinned a public discussion via Zoom on Tuesday about racist police brutality that the University of Miami School of Law said it hoped would be a springboard to action.

The online event was dubbed a "teach-in," and it opened with powerful statements from law student leaders Ronnie Graham and Jordan Rhodes.

"I make this statement as a son who loves to jog, a son with parents in Brunswick, Georgia, only miles from where Ahmaud Arbery was killed for jogging while black," said Graham, president of the Black Law Students Association. "I make this statement out of hope that one day all Americans will join the fight against the constant injustice faced by their fellow black Americans. We too are America."

Graham reflected on the time he was wrongly pulled over with his brother: "both educated, yet still dominated and disrespected by racist police, when all we wanted to do was go home."

While UM Student Bar President Rhodes spoke courageously about what it's like to be a black law student in America, sharing that after four years of experiencing microaggressions and explicit racism at the University of Florida, she was disappointed to find UM's diverse and inclusive student body contained "another iteration of the same."

"Nothing can prepare you for being a black law student, and having to read case opinions written by racist justices and hold them in high regard because it's the law. Nothing prepares you for what it feels like to be tested on laws that on their face seem neutral but were in fact written by privileged white men with the intent of protecting their privilege," Rhodes said. "Sometimes worse is hearing the way classmates speak as if racism is a history lesson, and not a condition of our daily lives."

Rhodes noted that she's heard from many black students who've said they feel overwhelmed by this, and called out instances where law professors have missed the mark when discussing race, including "trying to make a point" by showing videos of police violence against black people without any regard for how black students feel about watching them, and routinely looking to black students to be "the spokesperson for the race."

"I can tell you stories of torts professors that have used recent killings of black people by police officers as 'Stand Your Ground' hypos, asking the class to analyze the facts," Rhodes said. "I can tell you stories of insensitive things said in clinic classes by students that actually represent black and brown clients."

UM Law Dean Anthony Varona hosted the discussion, highlighting that "the virus of racist police brutality is, unlike COVID-19, not novel," and prompting discussions about why America has been plagued with the same problems for decades.

'Too many protections'

State Rep. Geraldine Thompson flagged Florida's sovereign immunity laws shielding police officers from repercussions as a major problem, arguing that accountability is key. Thompson said that should mean introducing civilian oversight committees that review police behavior and creating databases that track complaints against officers, triggering independent investigations.

Another route to accountability, Thompson said, is making individual officers responsible for paying at least part of a jury award, rather than their department or its insurer. Thompson pledged to make these issues, along with repealing Florida's "stand your ground" law, a priority when she returns to Tallahassee.

U.S. Representative Donna Shalala also called for a review into sovereign immunity and said she's working with the Congressional Black Caucus to draft legislation.

"The police in our country, in my judgment, have had too many protections," Shalala said. "The idea that someone can kill another person just by saying 'I feared for my life' is simply unacceptable."

But it's not just about the justice system, according to Shalala, who stressed the need to tackle inequities caused by racist policies in economic, healthcare and education systems.

"There are really two Americas," the way UM law professor Donald M. Jones sees it. He pointed to instances where the law is unequally applied and when police target black and brown communities.

UM law professor Charlton Copeland specializes in civil procedure, federal courts and administrative law, and said criminal prosecutions against police officers are crucial because of how "impotent" civil cases have become.

"The civil side has been neutered on the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. That is, individuals bringing equitable suits seeking to enjoin certain kinds of police misconduct were deemed not to have standing to bring those suits in almost all instances," Copeland said. "As good as 14141 [federal law enforcement misconduct statute] is when you have a justice department that might be sympathetic, it is nearly worthless when you do not."

UM law professor Osamudia James, who specializes in education and race and the law, was keen to address how the "command and control" culture of police training has operated in tandem with anti-black culture at home, school and elsewhere, then been reinforced by legislation, unions and courts.

"Those things all work together to create a system of policing that can be resistant even to changes in legislation, that can be resistant even to police cameras," James said.

Hold prosecutors accountable?

Prosecutors should also be held accountable, according to American University Washington College of Law professor and criminal law expert Angela J. Davis, who pointed the hypocritical ways they've approached charging police officers.

"The standard is probable cause. It's a really low standard, it means more probable than not. And they charge black and brown people on that standard every day very easily and very quickly on far less evidence than they've had in these cases, particularly the case of Mr. Floyd," Davis said. "I can't tell you the number of clients I had when I was a public defender charged with first-degree premeditated murder on much less evidence than I witnessed in that video."

For that reason, Davis stressed the importance of researching candidates in district attorney races.

'Stand up, step forward'

When non-black people ask what they can do to help, James' answer is: "What are you doing in your life to push back on anti-black culture?"

More than simply not being racist, the panelists called for allies to be "anti-racist" by calling out oppression when they see it and quizzing community leaders about what they're doing to promote diversity. That might mean, for example, questioning teachers about whitewashed curricula, or asking church leaders why there aren't any black people in the congregation.

Davis said she is among many black people who are exhausted and want others to speak up.

"It's hard for us to always be the ones calling it out, explaining it, trying to do things. We have to have white allies to stand up and step forward," Davis said. "We don't expect you to have all the answers. We don't have the answers. But being silent is really hurtful."

Chair of UM's board of trustees Hillary Bass said she was disturbed to hear the examples the panelists and students shared, remarking, "We really pride ourselves on our diversity numbers, and yet, if our diverse students do not feel like they're truly part of our community then that's something that is a high priority that we must address immediately."

Likewise, law professor Donna Coker acknowledged, "We need to think very hard, internally, about our structural impediments to inclusivity."

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