W&L Law’s Hasbrouck Publishes Article in NYU Law Review Professor Brandon Hasbrouck Published "Movement Judges."

By Peter Jetton
June 1, 2022

Washington and Lee law professor Brandon Hasbrouck has published an article in the New York University Law Review. The article, “Movement Judges,” argues for the value that movement judges bring to the bench to realize the abolitionist and democracy-affirming potential of the Constitution.

“Judges romanticize their own impartiality, but apathy in the face of systems of oppression favors the status quo and clears the way for conservative agendas to take root. The lifetime appointments of federal judges, the deliberate weaponization of the bench by reactionary opponents of the New Deal and progressive social movements, and the sheer inertia of judicial self-restraint have led to the conservative capture of the courts. By contrast, empathy for the oppressed and downtrodden renders substantive justice possible and leaves room for unsuccessful litigants to accept unfavorable outcomes. But some judges—movement judges—bring more to the bench than just empathy, raging against systemic injustice with an understanding of its burdens on real human lives,” writes Hasbrouck.

The article is available online at the NYU Law Review website.

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