Petition of UMN Law Student Ray McCoy ('83) to the United Nations (1983).

In 1983, Law School student and BALSA member Arthur “Ray” McCoy (’83) petitioned the United Nations for aid in addressing police brutality against the American Black community, taken as human rights violations. Stimulated by Law School Professor David Weissbrodt, two communications to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights review recent cases of police killings of Black Americans and request UN investigations in response to consistent patterns of human rights abuses. Minnesota Law School graduates and students continue to contribute in important ways to social justice issues locally, nationally, and internationally.

The Law Library kindly thanks Ray McCoy ('83) for permission to include his documents in the exhibit, with thanks to the Law School's Human Rights Center for facilitating their use.

BALSA Petition 1983 Full Text PDF