SSSP Law and Society Division 2025 Business Meeting Minutes Friday, August 15, 2025 3:00PM ET | Held Via Zoom Attendance: Michael Branch (Chair) Sino Esthappan (Vice Chair) Lloyd Klein Miltonette Craig Agenda: 1. Review of minutes from 2024 division business meeting 1. No changes made; no comments from members 2. Session ideas for the 2026 SSSP annual meeting program 1. Annual meeting will be held in New York City 1. Theme: Resisting Colonization of Lifeworlds 2. Discussed panel types and how many sessions a division can sponsor 3. Tentative ideas for division-sponsored sessions 1. Supreme Court as Social Problem 1. Concern around the session being too specific 2. Law in/as Crisis 1. Staple offering for our division 3. Critiquing Legal Power 1. Pushing back against suffering focus in criminological and law literature; looking at systems of power and official actors 4. Relational Rights 1. Rarely ever one person enacting law, but always through these relational connections and relationships 5. Law and Violence (Thematic) 1. Broader topic that could align with the theme of annual meeting; could comment on the militarization of the federal government 2. Suggestion for the panel to be federally focused; lacking distinction between what power exists at state and federal levels 3. Preference for this session, especially as it is thematic 6. Organized panel inviting local practitioners 1. Keep it open as a general or invited session to see who we could invite or solicit work from 2. Preference for this session 4. Tentative ideas for co-sponsored sessions 1. Crime and Justice will be reaching out to coordinate with our division 1. Larger meaning of treatment in terms of speciality courts 2. Two others; unsure of focus at the moment 2. Law and Immigration -> Paper presentations 1. Community, Research and Practice 2. Conflict, Social Action, and Change 3. Critical Race and Ethnic Study 4. Family, Aging and Youth 5. Global 6. Poverty, Class, and Inequality 3. Gender and Law - Relational Focus -> Critical Dialogue 1. Gender, Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities 2. Critical Race and Ethnic Study 3. Family, Aging and Youth 4. Resisting Legal Violence ( at Federal and State Level) -> Critical Dialogue 1. Conflict, Social Action, and Change 3. Ideas for special activities of the division 1. Division can host workshops before and/or after the meeting, but it is an extra cost to participants 2. Law and Society had not done one but is soliciting topic ideas 1. Workshop plans have to be submitted at least a year and sometimes two years in advance 2. ii. Challenge of getting people to come to the conference a day early or stay a day later given other costs and considerations 3. Suggestions 1. Divisions can coordinate with Social Problems to propose special issue 1. Generate visibility, especially for members who are not able to attend annual meeting, but have research/writing to share 2. Requirement for division membership to participate/submit 3. Need to reflect on theme and vision to see if it might make sense to partner with another division 4. Announcement of winners of awards sponsored by the division 1. Alfred R. Lindesmith Graduate Student Paper Award Winner: No winner 1. Only one nomination received, but the nominated paper was primarily written after the student had completed their PhD 2. Referenced discussion from Council meeting to review the “spirit” of the award and what kind of work should be solicited and nominated. The intent is to focus on student work and accomplishments, rather than being a “best paper” award 2. Edward H. Sutherland Book Award Winner: The Two Faces of Fear: Violence and Inequality in the Mexican Metropolis, Ana Villarreal, Oxford University Press, 2024 3. Edward H. Sutherland Book Award Honorable Mention: Distancing the Past: Racism as History in South African Schools, Chana Teeger, Columbia University Press, 2024 5. Division leadership 1. Sino Esthappan was elected as the Vice Chair of the division and will serve in the role through the 2027 annual meeting 6. 2026 Division Budget 1. Brief update on division’s budget and how money has been allocated 2. No volunteers for social media coordinator, paper awards may increase 3. Referenced discussion from Council meeting to share that newsletters may become optional 7. Any other business 1. Send emails to grad student programs to highlight our program in the fall and after the call for papers is published 1. May help to increase membership and solicit more submissions for the division’s student paper competition 2. Coordinate with NYC public schools to advertise panels and sessions to get local engagement from students 1. May need to coordinate with the administrative office to determine the best way to make this happen 3. Eastern State Penitentiary as a local organization that does on the ground work 1. Further from NYC, but some interest in inviting them or highlighting their work in some capacity 4. Division consolidation with Crime and Justice 1. Referenced meeting with Chairs of Crime and Justice to share context for consolidation, concerns around merging, etc. 1. Meeting took place on Thursday, August 14th at 3:00 ET via Zoom 2. Focus and interests of the divisions may not be well aligned or in step with each other 1. Concern that “law” would be understood as criminal in nature; sessions would prioritize that framework 3. Will distribute survey with members to get a sense of feelings around consolidating 1. Prepared by Chairs of Crime and Justice 4. Consolidating divisions does not seem to be an immediate concern, so our division may be able to wait on this 1. Discussed that this is a concern that will likely come up again in the future 2. Suggestion that the division makes an effort to sponsor sessions that are distinct in focus to highlight interests, approaches, frameworks that may be unique to our division 5. Create bullet points that outline benefits and drawbacks of merging divisions to help highlight this for members