His lecture, "Ferguson 2.0: Violence, Race and Law," will address the mass incarceration and race
disparities that exist with regard to incarceration for
violent offenses. Butler asks, does the criminal
justice system sufficiently capture and punish violence by white Americans,
especially violence directed against people of color? Why do African-American
men commit more of some kinds of violent crime, and how should the law respond?
Is comparing “black on black” crime to police killing of blacks a “false
equivalence”?
Professor Butler researches and teaches in the areas of
criminal law, race relations law, and critical theory. His scholarship has been
published in many leading scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal,
the Harvard Law Review (two articles), the Stanford Law Review and the UCLA Law
Review (three articles). He is the author of the widely reviewed “Let’s Get
Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice,” which received the Harry Chapin Media Award.
Professor Butler is one of the nation’s most frequently
consulted scholars on issues of race and criminal justice. His scholarship has
been the subject of much attention in the academic and popular media. His work
has been profiled on 60 Minutes, Nightline, and the ABC, CBS and NBC evening
news, among other places. Professor Butler has written a column for The Legal
Times and has published numerous op-ed articles and book reviews, including in
the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Daily Beast. He
lectures regularly for the American Bar Association and the NAACP, and at
universities and community organizations. Professor Butler has been awarded the
Soros Justice Fellowship. He was elected to the American Law Institute in 2003.
Full Bio and Recent Scholarship
The Enlund Lecture is approved for one hour of Illinois MCLE credit. For lecture details and to register, visit the Eventbrite page.
About the Enlund Scholar-in-Residence Program
Established in 1988, thanks to a gift from the late E. Stanley Enlund (’42), the endowed Enlund Scholar-in-Residence Program deepens our understanding of the law and its role in society. The College of Law selects the scholars, jurists and lawyers who serve as Enlund Scholars based on the meaningful contributions they have made to the development of law and legal institutions through their research, advocacy and practice. Attracting the nation’s foremost legal minds, Enlund scholars provide the College of Law community of students, faculty, alumni and friends with differing perspectives on law, lawyers and social justice. They do so by participating in classes, meeting socially with students and faculty, and sharing their ideas through formal presentations.