I have just learned of the U.S. publication this month of Claudia Haupt’s book, Religion–State Relations in the United States and Germany. Claudia is currently teaching a seminar on ‘Comparative Freedom of Speech & Religion.’ She has also taught courses at GW Law in Jurisprudence, Professional Responsibility & Ethics, and Legal Research and Writing for international students.
In its January 23 decision in United States v. Jones, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that when the government installs a GPS surveillance device on a car, it is a Fourth Amendment search. Professor Orin Kerr was cited in both the majority opinion and in a concurring opinion for his article, The Fourth Amendment and New Technologies: Constitutional Myths and the Case for Caution, 102 Mich. L. Rev. 801 (2004). The majority opinion relies heavily on Orin’s theory of the Fourth Amendment and property as set forth in the first part of the article.
Orin is also quoted extensively in NPR’s analysis of the case.
Update: Orin clarified a misconception about the case on the blog, the Volokh Conspiracy
“A lot of the early press reports on United States v. Jones report that the Supreme Court held that the government needs a warrant to install a GPS device. But that’s not correct, actually. The Court merely held that the installation of the GPS was a Fourth Amendment “search.” The Court declined to reach when the installation of the device is reasonable or unreasonable. As the opinion explains on page 12 of the slip opinion[.]“
One of our student bloggers, 1L Paul Waters, has posted about his experience volunteering as an intern over winter break with the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana as part of GW Law’s Gulf Recovery Network (GRN). If you would like more information on GRN you can read my October 2010 post about this groundbreaking student initiative.
Podcast of Prof. Thomas Schoenbaum’s Lecture on “Liability for Damages in Oil Spill Accidents”
Last December, Professor Thomas Schoenbaum gave the 2011 Oxford Journal of Environmental Law Lecture on the subject of “Liability for Damages in Oil Spill Accidents: Evaluating the United States and International Law Regimes.” I wanted to draw your attention to the podcast of the lecture, which is now available on the Journal’s website.
Professors Donald Braman and David Fontana are co-authors of the article “Supreme Anxiety: Do controversial court decisions really inspire the backlash liberals fear?” in the February 2nd issue of The New Republic. Don and David conducted a survey “to discover whether the American people react differently to a Supreme Court decision on a controversial issue, as opposed to an act of Congress,” in order to test the assumption that the public responds with a “fiercer and more lasting backlash” to the former. Don and David discuss changing public perceptions of the Court’s role over the decades as well as their findings. It’s a fascinating look at public attitudes to Supreme Court decision making, one that challenges much conventional wisdom about the Court. The New Republic article also serves as a preview of a longer scholarly article on the same subject that will appear soon in the Columbia Law Review.
Supreme Court Decides Case in Favor of Greg Garre, JD ’91; Garre Mooted His Argument at GW
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday decided Maples v. Thomas, ruling in favor of the Petitioner, represented by Greg Garre (JD ‘91). By a vote of 7-2n the justices ruled that the pro bono lawyers for death row inmate Cory Maple had abandoned their client and that therefore their omissions in the appeals process could not be attributed to the client. The opinion was written by Justice Ginsburg.
Greg is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Latham & Watkins and Global Chair of the firm’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group. In 2008–2009, he served as the 44th Solicitor General of the United States.
Professors Bob Brauneis, Orin Kerr, and Greg Maggs helped Greg prepare his argument. Greg says that “Getting ready for a Supreme Court argument is one of the greatest challenges a lawyer can face. The moot court that GW hosted for the Maples case was extremely helpful, and I was fortunate to have three moot court judges with significant Supreme Court experience.”
On behalf of the entire Law School community I congratulate Greg on this achievement and invite others preparing for Supreme Court arguments to contact us to arrange similar events in the future.
…………………………….
As a follow-up, I note that GW Law Professor Jonathan Turley has published on his blog a post criticizing the position of the two dissenting justices in the *Maples* case.
Summer Judicial Intern Credits Legal Research & Writing Program Experience For Her Success
I wanted to share the following note, which was sent by one of our students to the adjunct faculty/dean’s fellow team of Alessandro Terenzoni and Josh Oyster concerning her experience in our Legal Research and Writing Program.
“I wanted to thank you for your guidance and support last semester. I just accepted an offer to intern with an administrative judge at the Department of Labor over the summer. I was told that the judge offered me the position because he was really impressed with my writing sample. I think this is a great demonstration of the strength of the writing program at GW.”
I could not agree more with the student’s assessment of our LRW Program. Alessandro and Josh, as well as the Program’s full-time administrative and academic staff and the rest of our first-rate teams of adjunct faculty members and 3L dean’s fellows, are to be commended for their excellent work.
In Memoriam: Paul Henry (JD ‘89), former Aide to Harry Reid and Nevada Democratic Party Leader
I have just learned that our alumnus Paul Henry (JD ‘89) died on December 14, 2011, after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 48 years old. It is clear from his obituary in the Las Vegas Sun that Paul will be missed by many; in fact, every statement I have seen memorializing Paul emphasizes his enormous gift for friendship. Paul had a successful career in politics and consulting, and had dreamed of one day running for political office. Senator Harry Reid (JD ‘64), for whom he served as an aide both in Washington and Las Vegas, said in a statement that Paul “was a wonderful man and made many contributions to Nevada.”
On behalf of the Law School community, I would like to extend our most sincere condolences to Paul’s family and also to his many friends.
According to this article in the San Antonio News-Express, GW Law alumnus Alonso S. Perales’s life and work will be the subject of a conference, “In Defense of My People: Alonso S. Perales and the Development of Mexican-American Public Intellectuals,” today at the University of Houston. Perales, a World War I veteran, graduated from the Law School in 1926, and according to the article was one of the earliest Mexican-American attorneys to practice law in Texas. Mario T. García, Professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California at Santa Barbara, describes Perales as “one of the great political leaders in Mexican-American Chicano history.”
Perales’s daughter Martha Perales Carrizales says “The burning desire that drove my dad was to help his people make educational progress, economic progress, political progress and social progress.” I urge you to read more about the life and work of this fascinating and influential GW Law graduate.
I wanted to share this article in the Danbury, CT News-Times about our alumna Sharmese Hodge, JD ’04. Sharmese serves as an Assistant State’s Attorney, and the article calls her a “rising star in the state’s legal galaxy.” The article focuses on her prosecution of a high-profile manslaughter case in Connecticut State Superior Court, as well as her many accomplishments since graduating from GW Law.
