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A small group of alumni who studied constitutional litigation together before graduating are reconnecting in an ad hoc ���ϲ����� Law book club inspired by their coursework.

In their first virtual gathering, Anna Kathryn Barnes L’19, Kelsey Brey L’19 and Brandon Ballard L’19 shared via Zoom reflections and observations about “The Torture Machine: Racism and Police Violence in Chicago” by civil rights attorney Flint Taylor.

They were joined in their April 29 discussion by Assistant Professor Patricia Perkins, whose expertise in prisoners’ rights shapes the constitutional litigation course she teaches. Everyone from the course had been invited through a group chat that remains active on WhatsApp.

“That class was a great opportunity for us to engage in difficult conversations around very challenging issues of law and we had a great group dynamic,” Barnes said. “Moving past graduation, it was important to this group to remain connected. This was a great way to connect intellectually but also more casually then we would have in a classroom environment.”

“The Torture Machine” was a familiar title for the group. Perkins’s class had visited a downtown Greensboro bookstore last year to hear Taylor speak about the book, his involvement in the federal civil rights case arising from the Greensboro Massacre in 1979, and a federal civil rights case filed by the estate of a Greensboro man who died in custody in 2018 of cardiac arrest brought about by drugs, alcohol, and the type of “prone restraint” officers had used.

Of course, as with any book discussion, the selection was only part of the conversation. The graduates and Perkins chuckled over inside jokes, grades – even the popcorn snacks for which Perkins is known to share with students.

“Their continued passion around the civil rights issues we studied and concern for the fair litigation of those issues is inspiring, as is their dedication to their holistic development as lawyers well-equipped to serve,” Perkins said.  It was wonderful to reconnect via WebEx and share both in both serious conversation and laughter, particularly during this challenging time.  Now if only we could figure out how to share the popcorn bowl!”

The trio also said their common reading provided a welcome relief during their wait for results from the February bar exam.

“Not only does it allow us to communicate and to bring up some old discussions, but it allows me to have a purpose again and to use my legal mind because that is something we haven’t been able to do in a while,” Brey said. “It’s nice to have this camaraderie and talk about topics that few other people understand outside the class.”