Harvard’s Reply Brief

On May 30, President Bacow told some Harvard affiliates, “In the midst of this incomprehensible loss, our nation has once again been shocked by the senseless killing of yet another black person—George Floyd—at the hands of those charged with protecting us.” Yet, under President Bacow’s leadership, Harvard defends its practice of profiting from and investing in the exact systems which perpetuate the murder of Black people.

In its Reply brief, Harvard insists that labeling prisons as institutions of slavery is a “heartfelt opinion,” not a fact: “In short, Plaintiffs’ false advertising claim rests on their opinions on the nature of prisons . [sic] These views, no matter how heartfelt, are “labels and conclusions,” which Iannacchino distinguishes from “[f]actual allegations” that are necessary to suggest an entitlement to relief. 451 Mass. at 636.”