Speaker: Brad Snyder

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a 1954 landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. The Court's decision in Brown paved the way for integration, was a major victory of the civil rights movement, and a model for many future impact litigation cases. Brad Snyder’s book, Democratic Justice: Felix Frankfurter, the Supreme Court, and the Making of the Liberal Establishment, is the first comprehensive biography of the Harvard Law School professor, New Deal power broker, and Supreme Court justice. Brad will share with us the story of Frankfurter’s life and how his deep commitment to democracy and his belief in objective truth informed his democratic convictions and led to the court’s decision.

Professor Snyder teaches constitutional law, sports law, and twentieth century American legal history. A Guggenheim fellow, Snyder has published law review articles about constitutional history and is the author of The House of Truth: A Washington Political Salon and the Foundations of American Liberalism. Prior to law teaching, he worked as an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP and wrote two critically acclaimed books about baseball including A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports. A graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School, he clerked for the Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For more information about Professor Snyder’s work, go to bradsnyderauthor.com and follow him on twitter/X at @bradsnyderprof.

Northwest Neighbors Village is a local non-profit dedicated to building a supportive community where older adults are valued and age with dignity. We are delighted to offer these programs for free to our neighbors, and keep you engaged and learning. To learn more about us or to support our efforts to enable older adults to thrive in Northwest, DC, please visit our homepage.

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