Ekow N. Yankah
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Columbia University
University of Oxford
Academic work
InstitutionsBenjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Ekow Nyansah Yankah is an American jurist who is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. His research considers criminal law, election law and police brutality.

Early life and education

Yankah, Born to Ghanaian parent, earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan. He obtained his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2000.[1] Yankah was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, earning a Bachelor of Civil Law at Lincoln College. He held visiting positions at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.[2] His first faculty position was at the University of Illinois College of Law.[1]

Research and career

His research considers the intersection of law and society. In particular, Yankah focusses on election reform, criminal justice and policing. He believes that the American legal system fails Black communities, with a particular focus on opioid addiction,[3] mass incarceration and police brutality.[4][5][6]

Yankah has investigated voting rights and election law. He is co-chair of the New York Democratic Lawyers Council (NYDLC), a coalition of attorneys who look to protect a citizen's right to vote.[7] The NYDLC are involved with election monitoring, pro-voting advocacy and educational empowerment.[8] In 2021, state leaders in New York appointed Yankah chair of the state’s newly established Public Campaign Finance Board.[9]

He is committed to criminal justice reform, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Innocence Project.[10] In 2017 Yankah was awarded the Innocence Project Advocate of Justice award.[11] In particular, he believes that the vague language of the Constitution of the United States leaves too much scope for dangerous interpretation; systematically supporting police brutality.[12] Yankah has studied the legal landscape of accountability for police officers.[13] During the Ferguson unrest Yankah attended a rally at Columbia University. He said, "If I hear one more commentator on public TV say, 'Let's start a conversation about race,' I will lose my mind ... We've been having a conversation for 80 years,".[14] In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Yankah said, “We can no longer have an America where white problems are social problems and black problems are policing problems,”.[15]

In 2019 Yankah taught a course on Black Lives Matter, race and policing at the Georgetown University Law Center.[16]

Controversial works

In 2017, Yankah penned an opinion editorial for the New York Times questioning whether he could allow his children to befriend white people in the era of Donald Trump's presidency.[17] The article was criticized by many political commentators.[18]

Selected publications

  • Yankah, E.N (2008). "The Force of Law: The Role of Coercion in Legal Norms". University of Richmond Law Review. 42 (5): 1195–1256. ISSN 0566-2389. OCLC 231769698.
  • Yankah, E. N (2004). "Good Guys and Bad Guys: Punishing Character, Equality and the Irrelevance of Moral Character to Criminal Punishment". Cardozo Law Review. 25: 1019–1068. ISSN 0270-5192. OCLC 109541509.
  • Yankah E.N (2011). "A paradox in overcriminalization". New Criminal Law Review. 14 (1): 1–34. doi:10.1525/nclr.2011.14.1.1. ISSN 1933-4192. OCLC 714858140.

References

  1. 1 2 "CLS Alumni and Associates Entering Teaching". www.law.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  2. ↑ "Ekow N. Yankah". cardozo.yu.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  3. ↑ PBS NewsHour | No wave of compassion when addicts were hooked on crack | Season 2016, retrieved 2020-06-20
  4. ↑ Dorfman, Brandon A. (2019-10-11). "Drug Deaths in Black Communities and Our Collective Denial". The Fix. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  5. ↑ "Professor Ekow Yankah Speaks on the Effects of Mass Incarceration | JDtoBe, The Official Blog of BYU Law School". Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  6. ↑ Tom Hays and Colleen Long (4 December 2014). "Protests erupt after decision in chokehold death". Enidnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  7. ↑ "Leadership". New York Democratic Lawyers Council. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  8. ↑ "About NYDLC". New York Democratic Lawyers Council. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  9. ↑ "Michigan Law". Michigan Law.
  10. ↑ "Board of Directors Archives". Innocence Project. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  11. ↑ "Constitution Cafe: The Constitutional Limits of the Police Use of Force". International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  12. ↑ "Cafe Take: Constitutional Interpretations Pave Way For Brutality | New Haven Independent". www.newhavenindependent.org. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  13. ↑ "Rethinking Police Accountability: A Call To Change Police Protections". WBEZ Chicago. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  14. ↑ "Students, locals join forces to bring Ferguson discussion to Columbia". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  15. ↑ "Public Health On Call: 094 - Racism, the Criminal Justice System, and the Legitimacy of the Police". johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  16. ↑ "Ekow N. Yankah". Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  17. ↑ Yankah, Ekow N. (11 November 2017). "Opinion | Can My Children be Friends with White People?". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ "Hey, NYT, friendships are built on something deeper than race". 16 November 2017.
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