Lani Guinier
Encyclopedia
Lani Guinier is an American
lawyer, scholar and civil rights activist. The first African-American woman tenured professor at Harvard Law School
, Guinier's work includes professional responsibilities of public lawyers, the relationship between democracy and the law, the role of race and gender in the political process, equity in college admissions
, and affirmative action
.
, Guinier is the daughter of a Jewish mother, Eugenia Paprin, and the Jamaica
n-born scholar Ewart Guinier, who also served as Harvard professor (and chair) of the Afro-American Studies Department in 1969.
Guinier has said that she wanted to be a civil rights lawyer since she was twelve years old. After graduating from Radcliffe College
in 1971 and Yale Law School
in 1974, she clerked for Judge Damon Keith
then served as special assistant to then Assistant Attorney General
Drew S. Days
in the Civil Rights Division
in the Carter Administration. In 1981, after Ronald Reagan
took office, she joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
(LDF) as an assistant counsel, eventually becoming head of its Voting Rights project.
's nominee for Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights
in April 1993. A combination of political factors led to her nomination being withdrawn in June 1993. Guinier was attacked by Clint Bolick
of the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page as one of "Clinton's Quota Queens". (The title, some said reminiscent of the denigrating term "welfare queen
", was chosen not by author Bolick but by editors at the Wall Street Journal.)
Others described her views as "anti-constitutional" because of her views on using proportional representation
in local elections. In addition, Democratic Senators such as David Pryor
of Arkansas
and Ted Kennedy
of Massachusetts
informed President Clinton that her interviews with Senators were going poorly and urged him to withdraw the nomination.
According to Clinton's autobiography
, Democratic Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois
, the only African-American who was serving in the upper chamber at that time, also urged the President to withdraw Guinier's nomination.
President Clinton took the advice of these elected officials and withdrew her nomination, claiming he was unfamiliar with her writing and that he didn't realize that she advocated pure racial quotas as opposed to affirmative action, as opponents had charged. The charge was false; Guinier had many times explicitly rejected the use of racial quotas in her law review articles.
, or in states such as Alabama
, Republicans; she also states that she does not advocate any single procedural rule, but rather that all alternatives be considered in the context of litigation "after the court finds a legal violation."
Some of the ideas she considers are:
Because public and private institutions of higher learning are almost all to some extent publicly funded (i.e., federal student loans and research grants), Guinier has argued that the nation has a vested interest in seeing that all students have access to higher education and that these graduates "contribute as leaders in our democratic polity". By linking diversity to merit, Guinier thereby seeks to argue that preferential treatment of minority students "confirms the public character and democratic missions of higher-education institutions. Diversity becomes relevant not only to the college's admissions process but also to its students' educational experiences and to what its graduates actually contribute to American society."
for 10 years, before being hired by Harvard Law School
in 1998. She regularly lectures at various other law schools and universities including Yale
, Stanford, New York University
(NYU), UT Austin, Berkeley
, UCLA, Rice
, University of Chicago
, and others. In 2007 she was a visiting professor at Columbia Law School
. And in 2009 she was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
at Stanford University
.
Her books are:
; the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award
from the ABA
Commission on Women in the Profession; and the Rosa Parks
Award from the American Association of Affirmative Action
.
She has received ten honorary degrees from schools including Smith College
, Spelman College
, Swarthmore College
, and the University of the District of Columbia
. She has also been recognized for excellence in teaching by the 1994 Harvey Levin Teaching Award at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
and the 2002 Sacks-Freund
Award for Teaching Excellence from Harvard Law School
. In 2007 she delivered the Yale Law School
Fowler Harper Lecture entitled, "The Political Representative as Powerful Stranger: Challenges for Democracy."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer, scholar and civil rights activist. The first African-American woman tenured professor at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, Guinier's work includes professional responsibilities of public lawyers, the relationship between democracy and the law, the role of race and gender in the political process, equity in college admissions
College admissions
University admission or college admissions is the process through which students enter tertiary education at universities and colleges. Systems vary widely from country to country, and sometimes from institution to institution....
, and affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
.
Early life and career
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Guinier is the daughter of a Jewish mother, Eugenia Paprin, and the Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n-born scholar Ewart Guinier, who also served as Harvard professor (and chair) of the Afro-American Studies Department in 1969.
Guinier has said that she wanted to be a civil rights lawyer since she was twelve years old. After graduating from Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in 1971 and Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
in 1974, she clerked for Judge Damon Keith
Damon Keith
Damon Jerome Keith is a Senior Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.-Biography:Keith grew up in Detroit, where he graduated from Northwestern High School in 1939; Keith then moved on to West Virginia State College , Howard University School of Law , and Wayne State...
then served as special assistant to then Assistant Attorney General
United States Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an Assistant Attorney General.The President of the United States appoints individuals to the position of Assistant Attorney General with the advice and consent of the Senate...
Drew S. Days
Drew S. Days, III
Drew Saunders Days III an American lawyer, served as United States Solicitor General from 1993 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. He also served as the first African American Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the Carter Administration from 1977 to 1980.He is the Alfred M...
in the Civil Rights Division
United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The Division was established on December 9, 1957, by...
in the Carter Administration. In 1981, after Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
took office, she joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City....
(LDF) as an assistant counsel, eventually becoming head of its Voting Rights project.
Nomination for Assistant Attorney General
Guinier is probably most well known as President Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's nominee for Assistant Attorney General
United States Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an Assistant Attorney General.The President of the United States appoints individuals to the position of Assistant Attorney General with the advice and consent of the Senate...
for Civil Rights
United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The Division was established on December 9, 1957, by...
in April 1993. A combination of political factors led to her nomination being withdrawn in June 1993. Guinier was attacked by Clint Bolick
Clint Bolick
Clint Bolick , is an American attorney and the director of the Goldwater Institute's Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation in Phoenix, Arizona....
of the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page as one of "Clinton's Quota Queens". (The title, some said reminiscent of the denigrating term "welfare queen
Welfare queen
A welfare queen is a pejorative phrase used in the United States to describe people who are accused of collecting excessive welfare payments through fraud or manipulation. Reporting on welfare fraud began during the early 1960s, appearing in general interest magazines such as Readers Digest...
", was chosen not by author Bolick but by editors at the Wall Street Journal.)
Others described her views as "anti-constitutional" because of her views on using proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
in local elections. In addition, Democratic Senators such as David Pryor
David Pryor
David Hampton Pryor is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 and was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966...
of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
informed President Clinton that her interviews with Senators were going poorly and urged him to withdraw the nomination.
According to Clinton's autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Democratic Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, the only African-American who was serving in the upper chamber at that time, also urged the President to withdraw Guinier's nomination.
President Clinton took the advice of these elected officials and withdrew her nomination, claiming he was unfamiliar with her writing and that he didn't realize that she advocated pure racial quotas as opposed to affirmative action, as opponents had charged. The charge was false; Guinier had many times explicitly rejected the use of racial quotas in her law review articles.
Alternative Voting Systems
Guinier's theories were first presented in law-school publications. They were also aired in part with her 1994 publication, The Tyranny of the Majority. In this work and others, Guinier suggests various ideas to strengthen minority groups' voting power, and rectify what is, according to her, an unfair voting system. She claims that she is referring not only to racial minorities, but any numerical minority group, such as fundamentalist Christians, the AmishAmish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
, or in states such as Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Republicans; she also states that she does not advocate any single procedural rule, but rather that all alternatives be considered in the context of litigation "after the court finds a legal violation."
Some of the ideas she considers are:
- cumulative votingCumulative votingCumulative voting is a multiple-winner voting system intended to promote more proportional representation than winner-take-all elections.- History :...
, a system in which each voter has "the same number of votes as there are seats or options to vote for, and they can then distribute their votes in any combination to reflect their preferences"--a system often used on corporate boards in 30 states, as well as by school boards and county commissions. - Multi-member "superdistricts" is another strategy which "modifies winner-take-all majority rule to require that something more than a bare majority of voters must approve or concur before action is taken."
Revising Affirmative Action
Since 2001, Guinier has been active in civil rights in higher education, coining the term "confirmative action" to reconceptualize issues of diversity, fairness, and affirmative action. The process of confirmative action, she says, "ties diversity to the admissions criteria for all students, whatever their race, gender, or ethnic background—including people of color, working-class whites, and even children of privilege".Because public and private institutions of higher learning are almost all to some extent publicly funded (i.e., federal student loans and research grants), Guinier has argued that the nation has a vested interest in seeing that all students have access to higher education and that these graduates "contribute as leaders in our democratic polity". By linking diversity to merit, Guinier thereby seeks to argue that preferential treatment of minority students "confirms the public character and democratic missions of higher-education institutions. Diversity becomes relevant not only to the college's admissions process but also to its students' educational experiences and to what its graduates actually contribute to American society."
Teaching
Guinier was Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law SchoolUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Law School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Ivy League, it is among the oldest and most selective law schools in the nation. It is currently ranked 7th overall by U.S. News & World Report,...
for 10 years, before being hired by Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1998. She regularly lectures at various other law schools and universities including Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, Stanford, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU), UT Austin, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, UCLA, Rice
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, and others. In 2007 she was a visiting professor at Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
. And in 2009 she was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences is an American interdisciplinary research body in Stanford, California focusing on the social sciences and humanities . Fellows are elected in a closed process, to spend a period of residence at the Center, released from other duties...
at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Writing
Guinier's publications include six books, 29 law review and journal articles. She has also written many newspaper editorials.Her books are:
- The Miner's Canary: Rethinking Race and Power (2002)
- Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil RightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice (Simon and Schuster: 1998) - The Tyranny of the Majority (Free Press: 1994)
- Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law Schools and Institutional Change, 1995).
Honors
She has been honored with various awards, including the Champion of Democracy Award from the National Women's Political CaucusNational Women's Political Caucus
The National Women's Political Caucus is a national bipartisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices....
; the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award
Margaret Brent
Margaret Brent , an English immigrant to the Colony of Maryland, was the first woman in the English North American colonies to appear before a court of the Common Law. She was a significant founding settler in the early histories of the colonies of Maryland and Virginia...
from the ABA
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
Commission on Women in the Profession; and the Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
Award from the American Association of Affirmative Action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
.
She has received ten honorary degrees from schools including Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, Spelman College
Spelman College
Spelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
, Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
, and the University of the District of Columbia
University of the District of Columbia
The University of the District of Columbia is a historically black, public university located in Washington, D.C. UDC is one of only a few urban land-grant universities in the country and a member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
. She has also been recognized for excellence in teaching by the 1994 Harvey Levin Teaching Award at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Law School, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Ivy League, it is among the oldest and most selective law schools in the nation. It is currently ranked 7th overall by U.S. News & World Report,...
and the 2002 Sacks-Freund
Freund
Freund is a surname and may refer to:- Family names :* August Freund, an Austrian chemist** Freund reaction, discovered in 1881 by August Freund* Bernhard II...
Award for Teaching Excellence from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. In 2007 she delivered the Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
Fowler Harper Lecture entitled, "The Political Representative as Powerful Stranger: Challenges for Democracy."