UH selects constitutional law, reproductive rights expert as Inouye chair

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Sarah L Hendrix, (808) 260-3565
Comm Spec, External Affairs and University Relations
Posted: Oct 6, 2022

Melissa Murray
Melissa Murray

Leading expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice, Melissa Murray has been selected as the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for fall 2022. Murray will headline a presentation titled “Unpacking the Court: What Does a Conservative Super-majority Mean for the Court and America?” on October 19 at noon HST via Zoom.

The event is open to the public. Register online.

Murray will be in residency at UH Mānoa March 20–24, 2023. During that time, she will participate in faculty workshops, class visits, and other forums for students and community leaders. The chair is hosted in the UH Mānoa Department of American Studies in the College of Arts, Languages & Letters and the UH law school. The role was created to bring significant public figures to Hawaiʻi to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. 

“Melissa Murray is a trailblazer who is transforming both the legal and public discourse on the structures and systems that shape our intimate lives. Her path-forging work at the intersection of gender, race and law exposes how legal institutions can imperil—as well as bolster—our most cherished rights,” said UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law Dean Camille Nelson, who will moderate Murray’s presentation.

Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes professor of law and faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at New York University (NYU) School of Law. Her award-winning research focuses on the legal regulation of intimate life and encompasses such topics as the regulation of sex and sexuality, marriage and its alternatives, the marriage equality debate, the legal recognition of caregiving, and reproductive rights and justice. She is an author of Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice, the first casebook to cover the field of reproductive rights and justice.

Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Murray was the Alexander F. and May T. Morrison professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught for 12 years and served as faculty director of the Berkeley Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice and as the interim dean of the law school. 

Murray is the co-host of Strict Scrutiny, a popular podcast about the U.S. Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Along with co-hosts Leah Litman and Kate Shaw, Murray is slated to record an episode of Strict Scrutiny in Hawaiʻi in spring 2023. She has written for publications such as New York Times, Washington PostNewsweek and The Nation, and has offered commentary for numerous media outlets, including NPR, CNN, ABC, MSNBC and PBS. 

Former Inouye chairs include Angela Davis, Ai-jen Poo, Helen Zia, David Cole and others. Established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents, the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals honors U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye and his wife, Maggie, for their lifetime of public service.