Bennett Capers
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bennettcapers.bsky.social
Bennett Capers
@bennettcapers.bsky.social
Law Professor and Director of Center on Race, Law, and Justice at Fordham Law School, writing about criminal justice, race, sex, and anything else that interests me.
Interesting op-ed by Michael Banerjee in Inside Higher Ed about another way universities can defend themselves from attacks on academic freedom and autonomy. Check it out!
University Autonomy Stems From Corporate Rights (opinion)
To preserve institutional autonomy and defend academic freedom, universities should exercise their powerful claims to corporate rights, Michael Banerjee writes.
www.insidehighered.com
July 2, 2025 at 7:27 PM
So cool to see what my brilliant colleagues at Fordham Law (@fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social) have on their reading lists this summer, from Elias Canetti to Octavia Butler to Kazuo Ishiguro to @deborahnarcher.bsky.social. Check it out!
news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2025/06...
Fordham Law Faculty Share Their Summer Book Recommendations
From thought-provoking science fiction and razor-sharp satire to a deep exploration of Talmudic history, discover your next summer read with these recommendations from Fordham Law faculty, who shared ...
news.law.fordham.edu
June 18, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Such a great panel at Law & Society discussing pedagogy and chapters from the forthcoming book Critical Evidence! Thanks to organizer Anna Roberts and panelists Andrea Dennis, Daniel Harawa, Ngozi Okidegbe, and Rebecca Wexler, with a special shoutout to my co-editor Julia Simon-Kerr!
May 22, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Congrats to my @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social colleague Courtney Cox (@coxlaw.bsky.social) on being awarded the Distinguished Research Award for Interdisciplinary Studies for her recent article "The Uncertain Judge," 90 U. Chi. L. Rev. 739 (2023), and her current work on deception! Well-done!
April 28, 2025 at 6:39 PM
So cool to see my brilliant @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social colleague Ethan Leib featured here in JOTWELL for his article "Good Faith in U.S. Constitutional Law," which Paul Horwitz (U of Ala. Law) identifies as one of the best works relating to Constitutional Law. conlaw.jotwell.com/i-love-beati...
“I Love Beating George Washington” - Constitutional Law
Ethan J. Leib, Good Faith in U.S. Constitutional Law (Jan. 8, 2025), available at SSRN.Paul HorwitzEvery era gets the constitutional scholarship it needs—after the fact. The Burger Court era saw elabo...
conlaw.jotwell.com
April 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
Fordham Law’s queer student affinity group OUTLaws recently hosted its 12th annual symposium during Fordham’s 2025 Week of Abolition and discussed the consequences of federal, state, and local elections on LGBTQ+ rights.

Read more about this year’s event:
fordhamobserver.com/79891/recent...
March 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
It's live! Very proud of this piece I wrote with Jeffrey Bellin (@bellinj.bsky.social) for the Yale Law Journal. And thanks to Dave Pozen of Columbia Law School for writing such a provocative book for us to engage with!
www.yalelawjournal.org/review/race-...
Race, the Academy, and <i>The Constitution of the War on Drugs</i>
David Pozen’s new book chronicles the constitutional arguments that American litigants once deployed to protect a “right” to use drugs. This Review supplements and critiques Pozen’s important contribu...
www.yalelawjournal.org
March 31, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
The number of Emirati women in the legal profession is steadily rising, but leadership roles remain elusive, according to Fordham Law graduate Maha Bin Hendi, LL.M. '13.

Read more about her journey and the challenges women face in the profession, via @khaleejtimes.com:
Women's Day 2025: Meet first UAE female lawyer to win 'law firm leader of the year'
Discover how Emirati women are breaking barriers in the legal profession, with rising numbers but still facing challenges in leadership roles. Learn about Maha Bin Hendi's journey
www.khaleejtimes.com
March 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Some photos from the first ever Critical Evidence Colloquium at Fordham Law (@fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social). Thanks to UPenn Law and UConn Law for co-sponsoring!
March 28, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I couldn't resist weighing in on Trump's efforts to dismiss the criminal charges against Mayor Eric Adams. The title says it all.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
A Conservative Lawyer Was Asked to Fix the Eric Adams Mess. Instead, He Made It Worse.
The problem is, Clement’s recommendation is hardly adversarial at all.
slate.com
March 11, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
Fordham Law's Center on Race, Law and Justice (@fordhamracelaw.bsky.social), in partnership with the Peer Defense Project, has developed a new toolkit aimed at preventing future gun violence by giving people information and tools needed to understand their constitutional rights.
Fordham Law’s Center for Race, Law and Justice Launches Gun Law Reform Toolkit for Youth Activists
More than 2,526 American children died by firearms in 2022—an average of seven deaths every day, according to a report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. AtRead More
news.law.fordham.edu
February 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Jamelle Bouie writes smart stuff, and this op-ed on the Trump-Musk partnership is no exception. Nice to see my Fordham Law colleagues Andrew Kent, Ethan Leib and coauthor Jed Shugerman cited for their Harvard L. Rev. article "Faithful Execution and Article II"!
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...
Opinion | The Bewildering Irony Behind the Trump-Musk Partnership
The president is handing over the viability of his second term to a figure who is accountable to no one but himself.
www.nytimes.com
February 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
Fordham Law graduate Rochelle Swartz '14 returned to campus to discuss her ongoing pro bono work and involvement in "Nature of the Crime," a new HBO documentary that chronicles the journey of her longtime client as he repeatedly applies for and is denied parole.
Rochelle Swartz ’14 Takes on the Parole System in HBO Documentary
When a person commits an unspeakable crime, can they ever earn redemption? If so, how long should it take, and what must they do to achieve it? Nature of theRead More
news.law.fordham.edu
February 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Fordham Law rocks! And it’s a total honor to be on this list with Bruce Green and Ethan Leib, great colleagues and friends!
Congrats to Fordham Law Profs. Bennett Capers (@bennettcapers.bsky.social), Bruce Green, & Ethan J. Leib, who were named in the "Top 100 Legal Scholars of 2024" ranking by researchers @ @georgemasonu.bsky.social. Institutionally, Fordham Law tied for 5th for the number of faculty placed in the list.
February 25, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Wrote a little something for Slate on what should happen next. slate.com/news-and-pol...
One Judge Can Reject DOJ’s Eric Adams Dismissal Motion. He Has Every Reason to Do So.
Judge Ho will have a hearing on Wednesday to determine whether to accept the DOJ's motion to dismiss the case against the New York City mayor.
slate.com
February 18, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Sassoon's letter resigning from her post as Acting US Attorney rather than kowtowing to Trump and dropping the charges against Mayor Adams is a must read, and brilliantly lays out the case why the judge shouldn't dismiss the charges either.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Read Danielle Sassoon’s Letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Annotated
Danielle R. Sassoon, who resigned Thursday as Manhattan’s U.S. attorney, writes to Attorney General Pam Bondi to explain her refusal to drop a corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
Fordham’s Advocates for Trans* Law Students (ATLS) has assisted approximately 400 document change petitions at dozens of events since the student organization’s founding in 2022, according to ATLS President Alaina Greene ’27.

And the organization has no plans on stopping.
Law Students Aid Trans Doc Changes
Fordham’s Advocates for Trans Law Students host events providing legal assistance for name and gender marker changes.
fordhamobserver.com
February 7, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Honored to be a part of this!
Very excited to curate new and enduring research on topics of Arts + Justice: shc.stanford.edu/arcade/collo...
Check out the work by brilliant scholars incl. @bennettcapers.bsky.social, Jennifer Nash, Amber Musser, Nicole Fleetwood, Forrest Stuart, Mary Kathryn Nagle among others.
Arts + Justice | Stanford Humanities Center
shc.stanford.edu
February 1, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Oh, this is going to be good!
We are excited to be on bluesky AND to share our next event!

Screening and discussion of the HBO original film Nature of the Crime, Wednesday February 12 from 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
January 23, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
In this article for Total Food Service, Fordham Law graduate Benedetta Bortoluzzi '21 breaks down what New York employers need to know about paid prenatal leave in 2025.
What New York Employers Need to Know About Paid Prenatal Leave in 2025
Starting January 1, 2025, all private-sector employers in New York State, regardless of size, will be required to comply with an important new regulation: the Paid Prenatal Leave (“PPL”) law, introduc...
totalfood.com
January 22, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
See you next time, San Francisco! Fordham Law celebrated its award winners and introduced Dean Joseph Landau to legal scholars from across the country at a reception held at Persona Cocktail Bar, during the 2025 @theaals.bsky.social Annual Meeting. #AALS2025
January 12, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
On day three of programming @ the 2025 @theaals.bsky.social Annual Meeting, Fordham Law Professors Norrinda Brown, Deborah W. Denno, Aniket Kesari, and Adam Shlahet are discussing promotion & tenure, interdisciplinary scholarship, internet & computer law, and the latest ABA proposals, respectively.
January 10, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
Just to plug our casebook: Criminal Law: A Critical Approach by @bennettcapers.bsky.social, @rogerfairfax.bsky.social, and myself explicitly discusses municipal criminal law creation as a core source of crime legislation and uses multiple municipal ordinance violation cases.
January 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
Today @ day two of the 2025 @theaals.bsky.social Annual Meeting, Fordham Law Profs. Norrinda Brown, @bennettcapers.bsky.social, & Aniket Kesari are respectively discussing the “parenting professor penalty,” critical theory & epistemology, & the integration of technology in legal education. #AALS2025
January 9, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Bennett Capers
The criminal law casebook I coauthored with @bennettcapers.bsky.social & @rogerfairfax.bsky.social (the only one exclusively authored by Black men) briefly discusses child marriage as a response to rape in our chapter on consent. There is at least one congressman who married a 14 year-old girl
January 3, 2025 at 2:31 AM