At 5pm EST today, April 27th, the Rename Committee at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (“the Committee”) is hosting a historic public forum with legal scholars to discuss John Marshall’s legacy. The forum is the third and final forum, and includes notable legal scholars Paul Finkelman and Kevin Walsh.

How You Can Join (Zoom Conference)

The forum will be held tonight, April 27th, at 5pm EST, via Zoom. It is open to the public.

Find more information and the Zoom link here: https://www.law.csuohio.edu/meetcmlaw/namecommittee

Marshall Institutions Look Inward, Ask Hard Questions

Cleveland-Marshall (the “School”) is one of 18 schools across the nation named for Chief Justice John Marshall, and one of two law schools to form a Rename Committee. The other is John Marshall Law School at UIC in Chicago, whose renaming committee recently voted 6-1 recommending to remove “Marshall” from its name.

Marshall’s True Legacy Includes Being a Slave Master

 At his death in 1835, Marshall owned hundreds of slaves. For 27 years after England abolished slavery, Marshall increased his slave ownership and was 7-0 in denying freedom. At his death in 1835, he had 200+ slaves, a year after Canada abolished slavery. To say Marshall acted “consistent with the times”, or that he “should be judged by standards of his day”, as a way of minimizing his role in the slave tragedy, is misleading, because Marshall clearly didn’t act with the times.