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Law School News
11/10/2008
Dean Emeritus Lefstein Quoted in New York Times on Public Defender Workloads
Professor Norman Lefstein, an expert on criminal justice issues, was quoted in the New York Times in an ariticle entitled, "Citing Workload, Public Lawyers Reject New Cases" by Erik Eckhom (November 9, 2008, pg. 1). Lefstein is Dean Emeritus of the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.
10/29/2008
Professor Karen Bravo Speaks on Global Social Contract at Oxford University
The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society at the University of Oxford, in association with Oxford’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, has invited a select group of 16 international scholars to a workshop on October 29-31, 2008, to discuss an issue of pressing significance – the social contract and the modern welfare state. The workshop, entitled Work, Employment and Industrial Relations in the New Social Contract brings together scholars from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Israel, and the Netherlands. Associate Professor Karen Bravo of the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis was selected to participate based on her research on globalization, human trafficking and the transnational labor market. She will present and discuss her paper "Transborder Labor Liberalization: A Path to Enforcement of the Global Social Contract for Labor?"
Oxford’s Foundation for Law, Justice and Society has three principal objectives: to study and reflect on the role of law in international, regional, and national affairs; to identify issues of contemporary interest and importance for detailed study; and to inform policy by making the work of researchers and scholars more accessible to practitioners, whether in government, business, or the law.
Further information on this workshop is available at http://www.fljs.org/section.aspx?id=14.
10/23/2008
Professor Roisman to Speak at Fair Housing Conference
Professor Florence Wagman Roisman will speak at the "New Strategies in Fair Housing Conference" organized by the Housing Research & Advocacy Center in Cleveland, Ohio on November 14th. Professor Roisman will participate in a panel discussion on "Exploring Legal and Enforcement Strategies."
Professor Roisman is the William F. Harvey Professor of Law and an expert on housing discrimination issues. She also spoke at the 40th Anniversary of the National Housing Law Project in Oakland, California on October 3rd.
Roisman was also re-elected to the ACLU-Indiana Board. She has been elected to the local board three times and has served by appointment from 2007-2008. She is also a member of the ACLU's national board.
10/23/2008
Professor Dannenmaier to give Keynote at North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation workshop in Mexico City
Professor Eric Dannenmaier will give the keynote address at the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation workshop in Mexico City. His address on “Citizen Enforcement under NAFTA” will open the workshop, which is designed to advance public interest advocacy on environmental matters among the three NAFTA countries. The North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was created by the United States, Canada, and Mexico as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to help address environmental concerns associated with the trade pact. Professor Dannenmaier has been engaged with the CEC for many years as an advocate, advisor, and researcher - working to ensure that environmental issues associated with trade are addressed and that the citizen access mechanisms of NAFTA are effective. He was the lead attorney in the first Citizen Submission to the CEC after its creation (in re Silva Reservoir) and has since advised the Commission on its public participation procedures and authored a study on the CEC’s Public Advisory Committees as part of a ten-year review of the trade deal. Dannenmaier’s participation in the Mexico City workshop represents his latest effort to keep the public engaged in addressing the environmental impacts of international trade. The November 12 workshop, entitled “Environmental Law Education: A Clinical Approach,” is designed to advance the “citizen submissions on enforcement matters” process under the NAFTA Environmental Side Agreement and to raise awareness of the opportunities for developing environmental law clinics within Mexican universities that might engage in environmental advocacy before the Commission. Further details at http://www.cec.org/calendar/details/index.cfm?varlan=english&ID=2115
10/17/2008
Professor Karen Bravo to Speak at Conference Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the Prohibition of Importation of Slaves into U.S.
On October 25, 2008, Associate Professor Karen E. Bravo will join an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars in commemorating the 1808 federal law banning the importation of slaves into the United States. Hosted by the University of Toledo College of Law, the conference is entitled "Commemorating 1808: Fighting for the Right to Dream."
The conference will include discussion of developments that testify to the significance of 1808, including the founding of Liberia in 1847, the US Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow, as well as the life of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, and the first African American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prof. Bravo will discuss her work on exploring the analogy between modern trafficking in humans and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The conference is free and open to the public and will start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. at the University of Toledo College of Law.
10/15/2008
Professor Page's Article Cited by Texas Supreme Court
Professor Antony Page's article, "Batson's Blind Spot: Unconscious Stereotyping and the Perempotry Challenge," was quoted by the Texas Supreme Court for the proposition that attorneys may make race-based or sex-based peremptory challenges unconsciously. Davis v. Fisk Elec. Co., --- S.W.3d ----2008 WL 4370670 (Tex., Sep 26, 2008). Page says, "This decision is particularly important because the conservative court assumed that the striking lawyer was 'pure of heart' and that that there was no suggestion of 'personal racial animosity,' but was still able to conclude that there had been impermissible race-based discrimination. I believe this is the first top court to order a retrial in this situation without also concluding that the striking attorney lied."
10/14/2008
Professor Katz Quoted in the New York Times on 'The Great Schlep'
Professor Robert A. Katz was quoted in the New York Times on October 14 regarding a web-based campaign pitch for Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama involving comedian Sarah Silverman called The Great Schlep. The organizers' intention is to exhort Jewish grandchildren to visit their grandparents in Florida in order to persuade them to vote for Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor. To date, only one hundred or so young Jews have answered the call. From the NYT “The Great Schlep isn’t really about changing Jewish votes,” said Robert A. Katz, 43, a law professor in Indianapolis and one of the roughly 20,000 people who have signed up as Great Schlep fans on Facebook. “Rather, it’s a humorous and self-deprecatory way for younger and more progressive Jews to signal to African-Americans that they’re ashamed of the outrageous rumors and slanders [about Obama] being circulated and swallowed in some Jewish circles.” Link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/us/politics/14schlep.html?ref=politics .
Katz has written a chapter exploring the American Jewish community’s relations with other groups and society in general. His chapter, “’PAGING DR. SHYLOCK...': Jewish Hospitals and the Prudent Re-investment of Jewish Philanthropy," will appear in Giving: For the Love of God (David Smith, ed., Indiana University Press, 2009). Katz argues that Jewish communities built non-sectarian hospitals in part to combat anti-Semitic stereotypes that Jews only took care of “their own.”
10/01/2008
Two IU Law-Indianapolis Professors Testify at Immigration Hearings
Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis professors Linda Kelly-Hill and John Hill testified on September 8 before a committee of the Indiana legislature on the matter of undocumented workers in Indiana. In 2007 the Indiana legislature was not able to agree on a bill to target the employers of undocumented workers.
Kelly Hill and Hill presented differing opinions on the topic and both were quoted in the media. Hill was quoted in The Indianapolis Star and and both were quoted in the Chicago Tribune and the Indianapolis Business Journal (link to IBJ article).
09/29/2008
Professor Orentlicher Quoted in Article on Assumed Consent and Organ Donation
Professor David Orentlicher was quoted as an expert on assumed consent for organ donation in a recent article in The San Diego Union-Tribune. A nationally recognized expert on bioethics issues, Orentlicher is co-director of the Hall Center for Law and Health as well as Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law.
09/26/2008
Law School's Numbers and Ranking Jump
The incoming class of J.D. students at Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis is the highest credentialed class to date. The incoming class is made up of 78% Indiana residents and has a median LSAT score for full-time students that increased two points from the previous year’s score to 158. The median grade point average held at 3.56. Dean Gary R. Roberts says, “The law school, which jumped 17 places to 68th in the U.S. News and World Report rankings for 2009, should go even higher next spring due to this superior first-year class. This is good news for our students, our alumni and the state of Indiana since our school produces over half of the lawyers and judges and much of the leadership for the state.”
Students in the incoming J.D. class attended a “Call to the Profession” on Saturday, August 23 at Lawrence W. Inlow Hall, the home of the IU School of Law – Indianapolis. Doug Church, President of the Indiana State Bar Association and a member of the Class of 1970, administered the “Oath of Professionalism” to the new students who pledged “to uphold the high honor, ideals and integrity of the legal profession” and to conduct themselves “with dignity, civility, and professionalism.”
With a total enrollment of over 1,000 students, the IU School of Law – Indianapolis is the largest law school in the state of Indiana and the only law school in the state to offer a part-time evening program in addition to a full-time day program. Inlow Hall, the school’s technologically advanced, contemporary building, is located in the urban environment of downtown Indianapolis, thereby affording students opportunities to interact with business, government, science, medicine, sports and the arts.
IU Law – Indianapolis has over 9,500 alumni located in every state in the nation and several countries around the world. The school’s professors are nationally recognized experts from both the public and private sectors. They collectively hold J.D., LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees from more than 50 different schools.
Located on the campus of IUPUI, the school has enjoyed great success for more than 100 years in preparing students for legal careers. The success of the school is evidenced by the prominent positions graduates have obtained in the judiciary and other branches of government, business, positions of civic leadership and law practice.
09/12/2008
IU to Present Judge G. Michael Witte with its Distinguished Asian Pacific American Alumni Award
Judge G. Michael Witte, '82 will be the 2008 recipient of the Indiana University Asian Alumni Association's Distinguished Asian Pacific American Alumni Award. This award recognizes outstanding professional achievements and community service of Asian/Pacific American Alumni of IU.
A lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association, Witte received his bachelor's degree in forensic studies in 1979 and his law degree in 1982, both from IU. Witte, who serves as judge for the Dearborn Superior Court No. 1, was the first Asian American trial judge to be elected in the state of Indiana.
A nationally recognized expert on highway traffic safety legal issues and known for his commitment to improving the public trust in the judicial branch of government and improving the performance of America's judges, Witte has been a faculty member with the National Judicial College of the University of Nevada since 1994.
Nominated to the Indiana Court of Appeals in 2008, Witte is the vice-chair of the judicial division of the American Bar Association and will become its chairman in 2011, another Asian American first. In addition, Witte belongs to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Indiana State Bar Association, American Judges Association, Indiana Judges Association and was appointed to the Indiana Commission on Courts.
In August, Witte received the Franklin N. Flaschner Award from the American Bar Association National Conference of Specialized Court Judges. The award is given to the outstanding judge in the nation who presides in a court of limited jurisdiction.
An involved alumnus, Witte is the president for the IU School of Law - Indianapolis Alumni Association, has been president of the Dearborn County Chapter of the IUAA and served as the coordinator of the Dearborn County IU Varsity Club. Active in his community, Witte is recognized as a leader for diversity and has been instrumental in reaching out to Asian and other minority youth in programs across the nation. The Hoosier Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America named him a Distinguished Citizen in 1996, just one of many honors he has received.
Witte is the third recipient of the Distinguished Asian Pacific American Alumni Award, an honor established in 2006 by the IU Asian Alumni Association in conjunction with the IU Asian Culture Center. Witte, who was born in Batesville, Ind., lives with his wife, Dawn, in Lawrenceburg, Ind. They have a daughter, Christy.
The award will be presented to Witte during a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of the IU Asian Culture Center starting at 7 p.m., Oct. 3, in Alumni Hall in the IU Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St. on the IU Bloomington campus. The event is open to the public, but requires advance tickets, which may be purchased online at: http://www.iub.edu/~acc/anniversary/reservation.html.
The IU Asian Alumni Association, http://alumni.indiana.edu/asianaa/, is an affiliate group of the IU Alumni Association. The IUAA is dedicated to serving the university and its diverse alumni, students and friends. As one of the nation's largest alumni organizations, serving more than 500,000 graduates worldwide, the IUAA provides many programs and services to its members, nonmember alumni and the university. For more information, visit http://www.alumni.indiana.edu or call 800-824-3044.
09/11/2008
Professor Jennifer Drobac Cited as Expert on Juvenile Law
Professor Jennifer Drobac, an expert on juvenile law, was recently quoted on the legal rights of teenagers and young adults in an article entitled "Turning 18: What it really means for your child and you legally, medically and educationally" which appeared in the August 2008 issue of Indianapolis Woman (pp. 106-107, by Leslie Fuller Knox). Drobac's scholarly work has been published in a variety of law reviews and journals. In 2005, she finished her first textbook, Sexual Harassment Law: History, Cases and Theory. Additionally, Professor Drobac serves on the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Board of Trustees.
09/09/2008
Elizabeth Monroe '02 Receives Award for Scholarship on SCOTUS History
Elizabeth Brand Monroe, '02, Associate Professor of History at IUPUI, has been honored by the Journal of Supreme Court History Board of Editors for her 2007 article "The Influence of the Dartmouth College Case on the American Law of Educational Charities." It was chosen as the best article for the year and was published in the March issue of the journal.
Monroe’s article examines the 1819 Supreme Court case "Dartmouth College vs. Woodward" where the New Hampshire legislature attempted to revise the university’s charter to allow the reinstatement of the former Dartmouth president. The Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Dartmouth College allowed the school to remain a private institution without state interference.
Monroe attended the Supreme Court Historical Society annual dinner in Washington, D.C. on June 2nd at the Supreme Court, where she was presented the Hughes-Gossett Award by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
09/05/2008
Professor Roisman Speaks at Conference on Integration and Housing Law
Professor Florence Wagman Roisman spoke on Friday, September 5 at the Integration Debate: Competing Futures for American Cities at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL. Her presentation was entitled, “Constitutional and Statutory Mandates for Residential Racial Integration and The Validity of Race-Conscious, Affirmative Action to Achieve It.”
08/29/2008
Center for Law and Health Welcomes Faculty Fellow from Turkey
The Hall Center for Law and Health at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis is hosting Professor Halit Yilmaz from the law faculty at Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey . Professor Yilmaz will be a visiting fellow at the Hall Center during the 2008-09 academic year.
His main areas of interest are administrative law, mass communication law, urban planning and general theory of law. Professor Yilmaz is planning to work on articles on the international human right to health and the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry.
Professor Yilmaz says, "The topic of health care in Turkey, with relation to a right to health and from an administrative law perspective, requires immediate attention of scholars and thorough study, particularly because of the ongoing transformation of the health care system…There is an urgent need for studies of the topic in details and different dimensions. I believe that linking the general principles of administration and regulation with the requisites of protecting the right to health is of particular importance. At this point, studying the general principles of the right to health, and the comparable experiences under other modern legal systems will be essential for my book project."
08/29/2008
Professor Adams makes presentation at the Istanbul Legal Skills Conference
Professor Adams makes presentation at the Istanbul Legal Skills Conference Professor Adams participated in the Istanbul Legal Skills Conference held on August 4-7 at Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey. The conference, co-sponsored by Bahcesehir University and the Legal Writing Institute, was attended by Turkish lawyers, law faculty, and law students. Professor Adams spoke on negotiating and drafting alternative dispute resolution provisions in international commercial contracts. Professor Adams has written on drafting international contracts, published in The International Lawyer's Guide to Legal Analysis and Communicated in the United States, a book co-authored with Professor McGregor and published by Aspen Publishers in July 2008.
08/21/2008
Chinese Environmental Law Scholar in Residence at IU Law-Indianapolis
IU School of Law-Indianapolis' Environmental Law Forum hosted visiting Chinese Lawyer, Wang Xiaohui, this summer while she conducted comparative research on U.S. environmental law through a fellowship provided by Probe International. Xiaohui works with one of the most prominent Chinese Environmental Law organizations, the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) in Beijing. She is both a practicing lawyer and a Ph.D. candidate at China University of Political Science and Law, where her dissertation topic relates to environmental law in China.
Xiaohui was in Indianapolis during July and August. While here she had an opportunity to interact with members of the faculty who teach environmental law, Professors Dan Cole and Eric Dannenmaier, and to meet with Professors Tom Wilson and Gerard Magliocca, who co-direct IU-Indy’s China Summer Program. Xiaohui also had the opportunity to meet with practicing lawyers, public interest advocates, and government officials. At the close of her visit, Xiaohui gave a presentation to the faculty on Environment and Health Management in China - discussing the challenges of protecting human health and the environment in the face of enormous development pressures in the world’s largest developing country.
08/19/2008
Professor Edwards hosts International Colloquium on Multi Regional Approaches to Human Rights Problems
On 15 August 2008, Professor George E. Edwards hosted representatives of Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East for discussions about solving human rights problems globally, and in the participants' specific regions. In a colloquium discussion with law students, faculty, staff, and members of the Indiana community, Professor Edwards focused on commonalities among the human rights problems faced in different countries, rather than differences. He noted that everyone would benefit from learning about the strategies employed in different regions to curb human rights violations. “We can all learn from each other about tackling human rights problems.” He said that “we all benefit from exchanging ideas about our backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and using what we learn to combat violations.” The colloquium was held at the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis.
The International Visitors came from Bangladesh, Nigeria, Honduras, Panama, Namibia, Malaysia, and the West Bank. Participants at the colloquium, including Master of Laws students, also represented many nations and territories, including Cameroon, Southern Cameroon, India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Bosnia.
The visitors work on a wide range of human rights issues in their home countries, including rights of and related to women, children, indigenous peoples, minorities, development, the environment, and general civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Professor Edwards congratulated the Delegation, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State International Visitors Program for visits to Indianapolis and to other cities around the country. He noted that everyone present was involved in “citizen diplomacy.” He said that “Condoleeza Rice is in the Republic of Georgia this week involved in official diplomacy. You—private citizens from around the world—are here on a citizen diplomacy mission. You are here to share your cultures, experiences, and other insights with us, as we are to share our cultures, experiences and other insights with you.” Professor Edwards continued, “When you return to your respective homes around the world, you will be able to tell your friends, families and colleagues about what you learned in the United States. And when those of us who live in Indiana leave this room, we will be able to speak about what we learned from our new friends from around the world. International barriers are breaking down. Mutual understanding is being enhanced. Our communities are closer together. We are all citizen diplomats.”
Professor Edwards’ presentation was entitled “Multi-Regional Approaches to Solving International Human Rights Problems.”
Professor Edwards is the Carl M. Gray Professor of Law and the Founding Director of the Law School’s Program in International Human Rights Law. He recently returned from a trip to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia where he met with government officials and others about human rights law issues. He also held discussions about American Legal Education, as the law school is enhancing its Master of Laws (LL.M.) program, most students of whom are from overseas. Furthermore, he engaged in discussions about placing human rights law interns in Kuwait, Bahrain, Laos, Thailand, Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
- Ms. Habiba Akter, Executive Director, Ashar Alo Society (Bangladesh);
- Mr. Jimmy Walter Andino Mejia, Executive Director, Guaruma Organization (Honduras);
- Ms. Wai Ling Ho, Honorable Secretary, All Women's Action Society, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia);
- Mr. Don Muroua, Program Manager, Rural People's Institute for Social Empowerment in Namibia (RISE): Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) (Namibia);
- Ms. Safiya Tahir Abdullahi, Coordinator, Adolescent Girls Initiative (Nigeria);
- and Ms. Mawakib S. A. Massad, Administrative Director, Health Development Information and Policy Institute (HDIP) (West Bank).
- Mr. Leonides Quiroz, Coordinator, Negotiation Commission for the Wounaan Land, Wounaan Tribe Congress (Panama).
One of the International Visitors, Mr. Leonides Quiroz, Coordinator, Negotiation Commission for the Wounaan Land, Wounaan Tribe Congress (Panama), worked with the Program in International Human Rights Law and the International Human Rights Law Society in preparing and submitting a United Nations Shadow Report on Panama's indigenous people, which includes the Wounaan tribe. In March 2008, the law students presented the UN Shadow Report to UN Human Rights Committee experts at UN Headquarters in New York. The experts called the Panamanian government's attention to the human rights concerns bedeviling Panama's indigenous people.
Participants in the International Visitor Colloquium included Mr. William Hotham of the College of Law, United Kingdom, who is also a representative of Bridges Across Borders, an NGO based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, involved in a wide range of community activities. IU-Indianapolis law students Heidi Reed and Jeff Collins worked at Bridges Across Borders during the 2007 summer. Mr. Hotham is a Visiting Fellow at the law school’s Program in International Human Rights Law.
Also participating was Professor Halit Yilmaz, from the Law Faculty at Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey. Professor Yilmaz is a Visiting Scholar at the law school’s Center on Health and Bioethics.
Professor Edwards asked participants how the Program in International Human Rights law might be able to assist their organizations. Several participants expressed an interest in collaborating with the Program on projects (including United Nations Shadow Reports), and receiving IU-Indianapolis international human rights law interns.
Professor Edwards spoke about his recent trip to Saudi Arabia, and how the Saudi government was keen on accepting an IU-Indianapolis intern to intern for the Saudi Arabia Human Rights Commission.
At least one participant— Mr. Leonides Quiroz, Coordinator, Negotiation Commission for the Wounaan Land, Wounaan Tribe Congress (Panama)—also expressed an interest in joining the Master of Laws program at IU School of Law – Indianapolis.
