UM Law Professor D. Marvin Jones penned a chapter in the newly-released book, Hurricane Katrina:  America’s Unatural Disaster.

The book, published by the University of Nebraska Press, is a collection of essays that explores the extent to which African Americans and others were, and are, disproportionately affected by the natural and manmade forces that caused Hurricane Katrina. Professor Jones’ chapter – “Been in the Storm So Long:  Katrina, Reparations, and the Original Understanding of Equal Protection” – focuses on the extent to which the disparate impact of the Katrina disaster was socially constructed. “The disaster was real, but blacks were disadvantaged because their natural situation was framed by race, not by their status as victims of a storm,” said Professor Jones. Former UM Law visiting professor Mitchell F. Crusto also contributed to the book, along with a slew of other notable academics from around the country.

In further news, on March 20, 2009, Professor Jones spoke at Pace University School of Law in New York, where he presented a paper entitled “Narratives of the Fall: Bubbles, Bail-Outs and the Social Construction of Economic Crisis.” His presentation was part of a symposium titled “Real Property, Mortgages, and the Economy: A Call for Ethics and Reforms” that was co-sponsored by Pace University’s LL.M. Program in Real Estate Law and the Pace Law Review. The event featured several noteworthy scholars and practitioners, and offered a dialogue on the existing philosophies underlying the regulation of the economy and the mortgage financing industry.

posted 26-March-2009