Editor's Corner: The Roots of Scholarly Inquiry

• Published date: 01 June 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ablj.12027
• Date: 01 June 2014
• Author: Marisa Anne Pagnattaro

Editor’s Corner: The Roots of Scholarly Inquiry

One evening, my daughter and I were talking about her latest assignment

for an elective literature class on genres. She was asked to write an essay

about her history as a reader. This conversation prompted me to think

about my own passion for literature and how it led to a career encompass-

ing both literature and the law. Reflecting on my personal career brought

to mind a sentiment familiar to us all: one of the most rewarding aspects

about being an academic is intellectual freedom. Consideration of the

fortune we share in intellectual and academic freedom compels an inter-

esting question as to the origins of research and thought behind the

articles that appear in each issue of our journal. Curious as to what our

authors would say in response, I asked each of them to describe why they

chose their topics.

The first article in this issue, “Race, Employment, and Crime: The

Shifting Landscape of Disparate Impact Discrimination Based on Criminal

Convictions,” evolved from an issue that perplexed and bothered Lucas

Loafman. When he teaches criminal law, Loafman asks students to differ-

entiate a felony from a misdemeanor.One of the main differences that they

discuss is the employment impact of a felony. For years he has used a short

article about the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s

(EEOC) position that a policy of not hiring felons could result in a dispa-

rate impact for African American and Hispanic men. Following Pepsi’s

2012 settlement of disparate impact claims stemming from its criminal

background check policy1and the EEOC’s subsequent Guidance (“EEOC

1See Press Release, EEOC, Pepsi to Pay $3.13 Million and Made Major Policy Changes to

Resolve EEOC Finding of Nationwide Discrimination Against African Americans ( Jan. 11,

2012) [hereinafter EEOC Pepsi Press Release], available at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/

newsroom/release/1-11-12a.cfm.

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