Hi there! 👋
It’s hard to believe that we’ll soon be entering year three of IfRFA, but we couldn’t be more excited. We’re officially accepting applications for *drumroll* summer 2022! We’ve had a blast getting to know our fellows and look forward to having a new cohort join us!
What’s happening now:
Our fellowship application is officially open for summer 2022! We can’t wait to award $10,000 in summer funding to current 1Ls or 2Ls who want to learn more about the First Amendment! If you think you fit this description, please apply! (And, even if you don’t, please be sure to share information about our program far and wide!)
Note: our team will not be reviewing applications until after the submission window has closed on January 10, 2022. Therefore, we encourage prospective applicants to take their time in perusing the
fellowship application questions before submitting their materials
here.
What’s up next:
As you may know, we’ve hosted multiple
virtual events to promote scholarship and potential career opportunities for folks of underrepresented backgrounds in First Amendment law. We’re thrilled to announce that our next event,
IfRFA Presents: First Amendment Careers, will showcase the work of several friends of IfRFA who currently work on a range of freedom of expression issues. Panelists will discuss how they came into their current roles, provide tips to law students interested in First Amendment work, and offer their vision of where they see the field headed in the future. Our speakers for this event include Meenu Krishnan, Nora Benavidez, Sommer Ingram Dean, and Alyssa Morones (IfRFA 2020 cohort member!).
We’d love it if you’d join us for this exciting event on Tuesday, December 7th at 12pm ET! We’re recording this event so, if you’re unable to attend the event live, don’t fret! Visit
here to register and stay updated.
What’s on our minds:
We’ve been reading and reflecting on Alan K. Chen’s recent piece in the American Constitutional Society’s Supreme Court Review, “
The First Amendment Adrift.” Professor Chen summarizes
Mahanoy and
Americans for Prosperity, the two major SCOTUS First Amendment cases from last term. He then argues that the cross-ideological amicus support in the two major Supreme Court cases this term complicates claims of the ideological valences of modern First Amendment doctrine, including those of critics like Amanda Shanor in her influential piece,
The New Lochner, as well as more recent work like Luke Boso’s
Anti-LGBT Free Speech and Group Subordination.
And of course, we’re always thinking about protest and the First Amendment, specifically this
fantastic review of Karen Pita Loor’s
The Expressive Fourth Amendment by Aya Gruber at Jotwell. Professor Loor (a clinician!) uses historical analysis and her background in criminal practice to argue that Fourth Amendment use of force analysis should be taken into account First Amendment activity.
It’s fantastic to see such amazing scholarship taking up some of the core questions that IfRFA is concerned with, and we hope to have the opportunity to engage with Professor Chen and Professor Loor in the coming months (maybe with our next cohort)?
Before we go, we’ll leave you with a quote of what folks at UC Berkeley had to say about one of our fellows:
“We are most grateful for the opportunity to host a summer IfRFA fellow last year and for their generous contributions to our work! We count ourselves very lucky to have had someone who brought their intelligence, energy, and passion for social justice to bear on our issues. Their work provided invaluable support and assistance to our advocacy.”
We hope that all of you will spread the word about our
summer 2022 application to folks who you think might be good candidates for our fellowship program!
And, as always, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @
IfRFA.
Farewell for now!
Kendra, Sybil, and Jasjot