Judge Mikva Introduces ACS

The U of C ACS Chapter is fortunate to have Judge Abner Mikva introduce the organization as an annual tradition. During an introductory meeting on October 4, Judge Mikva introduced the ACS by explaining the important role of this "concerned organization, national in scope, that cares about issues" and fielded questions about the role of student members. In addition to perceiving a commitment to the rule of law and important constitutional issues as an integral part of any legal career, Judge Mikva encouraged members to do their part to promote thoughtful discussion and give traction to important issues in the upcoming presidential campaign. Popularizing issues such as the status of habeas corpus, US policies on torture and interrogation, and membership in the world criminal court is a good starting point for making a difference.

Follow-Up to Jan Crawford-Greenburg talk

Ms. Crawford-Greenburg recommended that we take a firsthand look at the papers of Justice Blackmun at the Library of Congress.

For those who are interested, here is the relevant website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/blackmun/

More to come...

Lunch with Hinton Moot Court Judges, 5/2

On Wednesday, May 2, ACS teamed up with the Federalist Society for a special lunchtime event. In honor of the finals of the Hinton Moot Court competition, Justice Eid of the Colorado Supreme Court and Judge Pallmeyer of the Northern District of Illinois, both alumnae, joined us for an informal discussion entitled, “Misconceptions of Life on the Bench: What we would have liked to learn in lawschool, and what we could have done without.” Professor Strahilevitz moderated the discussion, which was guided primarily by student questions. Both speakers extolled their experiences here at the Law school, but emphasized that there is a great deal about the legal profession that is not taught in law school. For instance, Justice Eid spoke at length about the importance of “court cultures,” where norms about collegiality and expressing disagreement vary among courts. She added that it is helpful to have a panel of judges with diverse backgrounds, and that more discourse among these judges tends to yield better opinions. The speakers themselves illustrated this point; Justice Eid discussed the great responsibility of holding the highest Colorado state court position, while Judge Pallmeyer reminded the audience that the district courts “don’t make law,” but rather “just apply it as it’s been determined by higher courts.” Likewise, many issues arise in state court but not federal court (and vice versa), i.e. domestic disputes.

Judge Pallmeyer also noted that law school instruction does not pay enough attention to the “pure stress of the profession” and the inevitable challenges associated with performing “new lawyer” duties. Correspondingly, Pallmeyer lamented an “overly narrow understanding of our [career] options,” with momentum guiding so many law students toward large law firms. Audience members expressed that they enjoyed the unique access to such distinguished judges and alumnae- rarely are we afforded exposure to distinguished alumnae and judges in such a friendly and frank environment.

Thanks to the audience for their thoughtful questions and to the Federalist Society for their excellent collaboration.

Washington shields journalists

I realise that blogs are commonly characterised by criticism, but I just thought I'd give a little praise to Washington State for getting out a shield law for journalists. Not every state gives journalists the ability to keep sources confidential and avoid going to jail, and I am glad to see another state do so.

Save the Bees and Mind Your Own Dam Business by Investing in Research

Single environmental issues seem to create serious problems when it comes to obtaining real legislation, but I have to wonder if there is an even bigger impediment to environmental legislation than apathy, or political disagreement, or even Bush's policy on Kyoto. The problem may be sheer complexity of environmental issues that make a single comprehensive climate change bill impossible. The result may be not just one up-hill battle for the environment, but thousands. And much of the action being taken right now we don't really have great answers for.

For example, we have no idea what to do about the bees disappearing. I'm not making this up, please see the NY Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/science/24bees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Like many environmental issues, we know the bees are disappearing, we have a laundry list of causes, but the situation is complex. How do you save the bees when you don't know what to save them from? It may seem like a silly issue, but the potential environmental impact and economic impact is absolutely enormous. Perhaps I need a bumper sticker from Bee Watch.

On the other hand, sometimes we know the science involved but the situation is complex enough that it is difficult to tell course to take to minimize harm. A great example involves current fights over Dams in Oregon used for hydroelectric power. Do we like the dams for their (relatively) clean hydroelectric power, or do we hate the dams because they kill all the delicious (Read: ecologically vital) salmon?

What is the point? The point is that as much as we need lobbyists and all of the political pressure on reducing emissions and such, many of the real environmental problems out there
need funding for research before we can even begin to make informed choices. Saving the planet with your vote needs to be accompanied with saving the planet with your wallet.

The deadissue of gun control

I am reluctant to turn the horrible tradgedy at Virginia Tech into a political issue. My heart goes out to both those who lost loved ones and those who did not. I lived in Blacksburg as a child, and I can only imagine what it has been like for our family friends still living there.

At the same time, I have been surprised by the political reaction to this recent tradgedy. After Columbine, politicians were up in arms (pun intended) about gun control and President Clinton went after hand guns. Today the favored political response seems to be altering the laws and rules governing University responsibility for getting help for the mentally ill. Gun control has received little attention even from the myriad presidential hopefuls.

In fact, nearly the only gun-control related comment Fox News made was to interview members of the Virginia Tech Gun Club who hinted that they could have avoided the tradgedy if they were allowed to come onto campus armed and that their guns would have made them feel less helpless. It's Fox News, but come on!

i guess I knew gun control was a dead issue, but now I really know.

Follow-Up to Gary Feinerman, Solicitor General of Illinois

Our roundtable lunch with Gary Feinerman, Solicitor General of Illinois provided an in-depth look at the operations of the Solicitor General's office as well as a testimonial about how Feinerman fulfills the duties of the position while still honoring his own convictions. After prepared remarks by Mr. Feinerman, students had the opportunity to pose questions about cases that he cited, his own career trajectory, and his views about the judicial system.

I thought I'd offer links to opinions from the cases we discussed, in case anyone is interested:
Illinois v. Caballes
Hosty v. Carter
Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett

Please feel free to post lingering questions or comments about this event!
- Karen