Page 16 - Briefcase - University of Houston Law Center

STUDY BY PROFESSOR HAWKINS, 3L PENNER ANALYZES

ADVERTISING PRACTICES IN THE LENDING INDUSTRY

n article authored by UHLC Law Center Professor Jim Hawkins News articles citing Hawkins and Penner’s scholarship, examine how
Aand student Tiffany Penner that was published in the Emory Law loan lenders are maximizing their profits by requiring high interest
Journal in September indicates that the payday lending industry often rates during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people have been
targets Black and Latino communities in advertising their products, in difficult financial positions.
while the mainstream banking industry targets white consumers. Hawkins and Penner examined two important negative consequences
In “Advertising Injustices: Marketing Race and Credit in America,” that emerge from targeting African Americans and Latinos for payday
Hawkins and Penner present two empirical studies they conducted and title loans while pictorially excluding them from mainstream
on lenders in Houston, which verified these disparities in online banks. The first consequence is that the advertising works, and
advertising. African Americans and Latinos are more likely than white customers
The study found: to use high-cost credit. They also found that advertising forms
• While African Americans make up only 16% of auto title lending societal norms and expectations of where people “fit.” This in turn,
customers and 23% of payday lending customers, 35% of the according to the study, creates a “self-sorting” effect and contributes
photographs on these lenders’ websites depict African Americans. to racial disparity in credit access.
• 77% of the advertisements at physical locations of auto title and The goal of the study is to achieve a positive impact that will change
the way lenders advertise. Specifically, it is encouraged that financial
payday lenders in the study targeted racial minority groups. institutions to eliminate discriminatory marketing that omits certain
• 30% of mainstream bank lender websites featured no African racial groups. ^
American models and almost 75% featured no Latino models.
• In contrast, only 3%—a single bank’s website—did not feature a
white model.

UH LAW CENTER PANEL ANALYZED HOW CUSTOMS CAN SUPERSEDE

LEGAL METHODS IN PRESIDENTIAL TRANSFERS OF POWER

xperts from the University of Houston Law Center and a guest became president in 2008. For a lot of America, it felt really good to
Espeaker from the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs discussed the see an African-American man take a position of power. Nonetheless,
presidential transfer of power in a continuing legal education session I think at this point it’s undeniable that having that in some people’s
that was held virtually in February. minds was deeply distressing.
The opening speaker was Dr. Richard Murray, the Director of the The following speaker was Associate Professor Emily Berman, who
Center for Public Policy’s Survey Research Institute and Lanier teaches Constitutional law, foreign affairs law and national security
Chair in Public Policy at the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs. He law. Berman discussed a trend she referred to as “policy whiplash,”
provided a historical perspective of previous presidential transfers which results from the more frequent unilateral exercise of power by
of power. the executive branch to form policy.
“The emergence of traditions have been powerful since the 1890s,” Law Foundation Professor of Law Seth Chandler, who specializes in
Murray said. “What really improved the process was the loser Constitutional law and the application of mathematics and computer
conceded. In 1896, two days after a hard-fought election, William science to law, discussed several areas where he believes change is
Jennings Bryan telegrammed William McKinley congratulating him, needed from an election security and Constitutional standpoint.
wishing him the best and established a terrifically important tradition The final speaker, Cullen Professor of Law David R. Dow, discussed
in American politics. several episodes in Constitutional history that are germane to
The second speaker, Associate Professor of Law Daniel Morales, the impeachment trial of Trump which concluded on Feb. 13. He
discussed the racial implications of the fatal Jan. 6 storming of the addressed the 1876 impeachment trial of Secretary of War William
Capitol building in Washington D.C. that took place during a joint Belknap, an instance where Congress acted, and the resignation of
session of Congress to certify the presidential election’s electoral former President Richard Nixon, where Congress did not act. He also
votes. He reflected on what he thought were some of the deeper examined the 1992 impeachment trial of former U.S. District Judge
forces that caused the violence. Walter Nixon, who was convicted by the Senate and appealed his case
“We are in the midst of an incredible transition,” Morales, the George to the Supreme Court. ^
A. Butler Research Professor, said. “In recent history, Barack Obama

16 Briefcase 2021