Jim Crow Project

Professor Chin has worked on a number of efforts to repeal race-based laws on the books rooted in Jim Crow.

Fourteenth Amendment Ratification

After the Civil War, the State of Ohio first ratified and then unratified the Fourteenth Amendment before it became effective.  To right this historical wrong, in 2003, Professor Chin, Adjunct Professor and Cincinnati City Councilor John Cranley, and students Robert Baker, Daniel Dodd, Michael Haas, Rebecca Klein, Peder Nestingen, Jack Simms, Jesika Thompson. Undertook to persuade the Ohio legislature to ratify the amendment.  They produced this document: Report to the General Assembly of the State of Ohio Recommending Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Feb. 11, 2003), reprinted in  28 Western New England Law Review 197 (2006).  The recommendation became law on March 12, 2003, when the House passed Senate Joint Resolution 2, which had already passed the Senate.

C-SPAN covered a ceremony celebrating the ratification.   With Ohio's ratification, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments had been ratified by every state in the Union at the time the amendments became effective.

Alien Land Laws

In the early 20^th Century, many states passed laws making it illegal for “aliens ineligible to citizenship” to own real property.  These laws were aimed at Asian Americans, who were prohibited from naturalizing under federal law.   In the early 21^st century, several of these laws were still on the books, including in Florida, Kansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming.  Professor Chin with groups of students urged repeal of these laws.  Only Florida decided to keep its statute.

Report to the Governor, Senate, and  House of Representatives of the State of Kansas Recommending Repeal of the Racially Discriminatory Alien Land Provision of Kansas Law (June 2001) (co-author).  The recommendation became law on May 17, 2002, when the governor of Kansas signed SB 400, 2002 Kansas Session Laws No. 135, § 6.    

Report to the Governor, Senate, and  House of Representatives of the State of Florida Recommending Repeal of the Racially Discriminatory Alien Land Provision of the Florida Constitution (Dec. 2000) (co-author), reprinted in 22 Immigration and Nationality Law Review 749 (2001). Repeal was on the ballot in Florida in 2008, and rejected by the voters.

Report to the Governor, Senate, and  House of Representatives of the State of New Mexico  Recommending Repeal of the Racially Discriminatory Alien Land Provision of the New Mexico Constitution (Nov. 2000) (co-author).  The recommendation passed the New Mexico legislature (Senate Joint Resolution 22, 45^th Legislature, 1^st Sess. (2001), and was rejected by the electors in November, 2002; it was reintroduced and passed in November 2006.

Report to the Governor, Senate, and House of Representatives of the State of Wyoming Recommending Repeal of the Racially Discriminatory Alien Land Provision of the Wyoming Statutes (Nov. 2000) (co-author).  The recommendation became law on February 22, 2001, 2001 Session Laws of Wyoming Chapter No. 0093.

Jim Crow Laws

In honor of the 50^th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Professor Chin and a group of students decided to seek repeal of Jim Crow laws still on the books in several states.  The project led to this report:  Still on the Books: Jim Crow and Segregation Laws Fifty Years after Brown v. Board of Education, A Report on Laws Remaining in the Codes of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia (2004) (co-author), reprinted in 2006 Michigan State Law Review 457.  This report led to legislation in Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri and West Virginia.