2026 Haywood Burns Award Ceremony, Networking Reception and Symposium

Symposium & Haywood Burns Memorial Award Ceremony

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Location
The City University of New York School of Law
2 Court Square
Long Island City, NY

Schedule

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Symposium Panel Discussion
The Metes and Bounds of the First Amendment

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Networking Reception

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
2026 Haywood Burns Memorial Award Ceremony & Reception

Honoring Rachel Chazin Halperin, Esq.

Panel Discussion

The Metes and Bounds of the First Amendment

1.0 CLE Credit in Areas of Professional Practice

Few constitutional provisions inspire more litigation, scholarship, and public controversy than the First Amendment. Yet its contours remain fiercely contested: Who does it protect? Against whom? In what settings? And how do we reconcile free expression with other compelling governmental and societal interests?

Panel Faculty

• Hanna Madbak – Co-Chair, NYSBA Committee on Civil Rights (Moderator)

• Maria LaHood – Deputy Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

• Zal Shroff – Assistant Professor of Law and Director, Equality and Justice Clinic, CUNY School of Law

• Michael Diederich – Former Co-Chair, NYSBA Committee on Civil Rights

• Tahanie Aboushi – Civil rights attorney and partner, The Aboushi Law Firm

Registration

This program is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Networking Reception

Please join us immediately following the symposium for a networking reception.

This program is sponsored by the Committee on Civil Rights of the New York State Bar Association