Professor Katz will discuss President Johnson’s decision to endorse federal voting rights legislation in the wake of protests in Selma, Alabama in 1965.  She will focus on the substantive provisions Congress enacted that summer, their immediate and longer term effects, as well as more contemporary disputes arising under the Voting Rights Act.

Katz writes and teaches about election law, civil rights and remedies, and equal protection.  Her scholarship addresses questions of minority representation, political equality, and the role of institutions in crafting and implementing anti-discrimination laws. Prior to joining the Michigan faculty, Professor Katz practiced as an attorney with the appellate sections of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division and its Environment and Natural Resources Division.

http://www.olli-umich.org/programs_activities/lectures/5th_Lecture_Series.pdf