iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

What if legal scholarship were built with—not just about—the people most affected by legal injustice? Apply to join legal scholars & experiential co-authors at the 2027 Participatory Law Scholarship Convening, March 12 in Philadelphia. Due Dec. 4: forms.gle/2Fpv25Ryvg9v...

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Packing my bags this morning to fly to Raleigh! Thank you to my wonderful hosts at UNC Law for inviting me to present my latest PLS article Restoring Justice co-authored with Kempis Songster and Meredith Elizalde at their faculty workshop. Paper is up @ssrn too: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Am feeling the Temple love today after checking my mail and finding all of these kind notes from students and fellow faculty in my inbox! 🥰🥰🥰

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

The future is here and it looks surprisingly a lot like I thought it would in the 90s.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Working on Restoring Justice kept me grounded this past year, so I share it w/ excitement & some nervousness. Written w/ Meredith Elizalde, whose son Nick was killed in a shooting at his high school, we argue for a right to restorative justice. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

On the streets of Philadelphia

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Thought my 40s would look much different than my 20s but here I am again at a Built to Spill show on a Thursday. 🫤

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Took a late night flight back from Guatemala to make it back in time to see my longtime co-author Terrell graduate from Drexel with a master’s in creative writing. Hard to believe that only three years ago he was serving a life sentence. What a joy to be a part of his journey and this moment!

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

The Guatemalan human rights defenders remarked on how much it meant to them too, giving them a chance to reflect on how far they've come & how to better strategize for the future. So much gratitude to Temple for funding this & to my co-author Geoff Dancy for his partnership in this research.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Today I had the immense privilege of presenting decades worth of research on Guatemalan transitional justice to the human rights and indigenous rights advocates who pushed for accountability on the ground. It reminded me of why I do this work & how important it is to bring research back to its home.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

The best conference so far this year! Congratulations to @ninareiners.bsky.social & @debremaria.bsky.social on fostering such a rich interdisciplinary discussion on this timely topic! Not to mention an incredible opening event at the historic Norwegian Nobel Institute!

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

In this time of polarization and democratic decay, how might legal educators cultivate more citizen lawyers like Kneedler? My latest *now published* in the Minn. L. Rev. argues that we need to better equip our students to facilitate dialogue & contest the law. minnesotalawreview.org/article/crit...

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

So proud of my friend and sister in law Professor Wendy Greene @wendy who is giving the keynote at Duane Morris’s George Boyer Vashon Lecture! Always a treat to grow from her wisdom!

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

To vote without registering, just hit "skip for now" Here's the abstract:

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Our findings reveal a paradox. While prosecutions of state officials are associated with some pro-democracy outcomes, like increased civil society activism and pro-democratic mobilization, they are also associated with greater political polarization and anti-system backlash.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

These cases are not just relics of the past. In The Paradox of Punishing for a Democratic Future, we show how these cases continue to impact democratic institutions and behaviors in Guatemala today, both increasing political engagement, but galvanizing anti-democratic backlash.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

As of this morning (see live action shot), The Guatemala Atrocity Trials Archive is now up Princeton University Library: dpul.princeton.edu/guatemala_at... It is comprised of court records from the ground-breaking atrocity trials in Guatemala’s domestic courts that I collected starting in 2016.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

I’m taking this as NOLA preparing for a Bird’s win! Fly Eagles Fly!

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Posting for no other reason than this makes me smile… finding joy in the small places.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Nothing better than a birthday care package from home! 🥰🥰🥰

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

One of the articles I'm most proud of is now out in the world as the lead article in the latest volume of the Minnesota Law Review thanks to its wonderful editors. Co-authoring it w/ Rell Carter fundamentally altered how I think about the production of knowledge. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

To illustrate this, Songster explains how the legal frameworks that he and others serving what they term "death by incarceration" sentences (& documented in our PLS piece Redeeming Justice) have been adopted by United Nations human rights bodies. For example:

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

It situates PLS within the framework of “demosprudence”—a concept developed by Lani Guinier and co-author Torres that examines how ordinary people, often acting collectively, participate in making legal meaning by shifting societal narratives that inform the law.

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

What a treat to be able to spend two hours discussing my latest paper on the Paradox of Punishing for a Democratic Future @ the Global Justice Workshop at Harvard Law! It was a such rich discussion on critical topics of the day with students from around the world!

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Rachel Lopez @rlopez.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Participatory Law Scholarship! Columbia Law Review is hosting an Author Talk to highlight our two forthcoming PLS pieces, including my piece describing this emerging movement: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... If you're in NYC, hope you will join us!

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