I have it on good authority that:
The Cumberland Law Review is doggedly searching for articles, insights, and ideas that implicate a subject that we believe our journal is uniquely situated (and arguably obligated) to explore: a sort of retrospective of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Our host city, Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the more prominent characters in our national recollection of the Civil Rights era and the 20th century ills that necessitated legislation such as the VRA and the Civil Rights Act.
In light of the VRA’s 50th anniversary and recent SCOTUS decisions (from Shelby Co. to Ala. Legislative Black Caucus), we think it appropriate to devote enough space in one of our forthcoming editions to an articles symposium on point. As of now, though, the quantity and quality of articles we’ve received along this vein have been underwhelming, so we’re casting a wide net in soliciting contributions.
If you have the time or interest in submitting or pitching articles, or just touching base with thoughts and suggestions re: other people to reach out to, please reach out to either Walker Mason Beauchamp, Editor-in-Chief, Cumberland Law Review [email protected], 205-821-5800 or our Articles Editor, Stewart Alvis. Stewart J. Alvis, Acquisitions Editor, Cumberland Law Review [email protected]
The editors are also publishing work related to civil rights and legal history more broadly, including some never-before published papers of Judge Horton (who presided over the Scottsboro case) and also a short essay from me on graduation addresses at Howard College (a predecessor of Samford University) in Marion, Alabama, before the Civil War. This is a companion to longer articles I've published on graduation and literary addresses at the University of Alabama and at UNC. There are fewer addresses available for Howard College in this era, so I'm going to focus on the ways that the addresses linked economic progress, law, and slavery. I think this will allow us to see in a small compass some central tendencies of southern thought in the decade before Civil War.
While we're on the subject of voting, I strongly recommend a book "Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair" by William Poundstone. Also, what about the problem of gerry-mandering?
Posted by: Enrique Guerra-Pujol | May 31, 2015 at 12:05 AM