Professor Tabatha Abu El-Haj will join a panel of speakers at the Left Forum, the largest annual conference of left and progressive intellectuals and academics, on March 17, in New York City.  Abu El-Haj and fellow panelists will discuss the constitutional implications of the Occupy movement on the right of assembly and constitutional time, place and manner restrictions.

Abu El-Haj has published numerous works on the constitutional right of assembly including  "The Neglected Right of Assembly," in the UCLA Law Review.  She received her doctorate in Law and Society from New York University. Her dissertation, "Changing the People: Transformations in American Democracy (1880-1930)," documents the rise of municipal ordinances requiring permits for public assemblies and argues that American democracy was transformed in the 20th century as the nature of state regulation of democratic politics changed.