Patricia J. Williams

Columnist

@madlawprofessor

Patricia J. Williams is University Professor of Law and Philosophy, and director of Law, Technology and Ethics at Northeastern University.

Did Mitt Romney Just Endorse Affirmative Action? Did Mitt Romney Just Endorse Affirmative Action?

Romney’s now-infamous “binders full of women” show how little the Republican candidate knows about overcoming structural inequality. 

Oct 19, 2012 / Patricia J. Williams

Our Lizard-Brain Politics Our Lizard-Brain Politics

We dismiss the anti-intellectualism of the right at our own peril.

Oct 11, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

The Real Risks of Fake Outrage The Real Risks of Fake Outrage

A manufactured controversy aimed at Elizabeth Warren shows the damaging ways we exploit trivial kerfuffles and pass them off as political stories.

Sep 12, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

Guns and Mental Illness: Tragedies in Waiting

Guns and Mental Illness: Tragedies in Waiting Guns and Mental Illness: Tragedies in Waiting

There is a certain kind of madness in peddling guns to Americans while dismantling our mental health system.

Aug 8, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

How Our Genetic Maps Are Being Sold to the Highest Bidder How Our Genetic Maps Are Being Sold to the Highest Bidder

People who give DNA samples—and big bucks—to companies in exchange for information on their potential medical risks are handing over more than saliva.

Jun 6, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

Anti-Intellectualism From Arizona to Michigan

Anti-Intellectualism From Arizona to Michigan Anti-Intellectualism From Arizona to Michigan

From the ethnic studies ban to firings over Travyon Martin, a strange hostility toward progressive education is emerging.

May 16, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

The Real Injustice at the Heart of the Trayvon Martin Case

The Real Injustice at the Heart of the Trayvon Martin Case The Real Injustice at the Heart of the Trayvon Martin Case

What makes this case exceptional is neither race nor the politics of self-defense alone but the total failure to investigate it for so long.

Apr 18, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

Eggs Are People Too! Eggs Are People Too!

Today's “right to life” rhetoric is a bizarre cross between the theological imperative to be fruitful and multiply and the fetishism of microbiological cellular promise...

Mar 21, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

The Ugly Truth Behind Michigan’s Budget Surplus The Ugly Truth Behind Michigan’s Budget Surplus

Gov. Rick Snyder’s ruthless austerity measures have made the state a bleak place to live, work  and go to school.

Feb 15, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

Our Dangerous Devotion to Eyewitness Testimony

Our Dangerous Devotion to Eyewitness Testimony Our Dangerous Devotion to Eyewitness Testimony

From Sacco and Vanzetti to Troy Davis, witnesses to crime scenes get it wrong too often. So why did the Supreme Court just make it harder to challenge such evidence in court?

Jan 18, 2012 / Column / Patricia J. Williams

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