March 2011 Archives

By Associate Professor Doug NeJaime

In anticipation of his presentation during a session on "The Constitutional Politics of Equality" during the upcoming conference at the University of Texas School of Law, The Constitution in 2020: The Future of Equality, Associate Professor NeJaime wrote the following blog post for Balkinization.

Popular accounts and media commentary on the federal suits challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8 focus largely on the inevitable march toward marriage equality. Implicit in such accounts is a claim about the impact of favorable court decisions on the LGBT rights agenda. After a district court victory in the Massachusetts DOMA case and the more recent announcement by Attorney General Holder that DOMA is unconstitutional under an appropriately heightened standard, the toppling of the federal ban seems imminent. After the district court's decisive blow to Prop. 8 in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger litigation and a Ninth Circuit oral argument before a generally receptive panel, commentators have focused on the impact of positive judicial intervention on same-sex couples in California.

Read the complete post at Balkinization.

Loyola Law School's Center for Restorative Justice hosted a talk on campus on Monday by Francisco "Franky" Carrillo, who last week was released from prison after 20 years of incarceration for a murder he did not commit. Carrillo will discuss his experience with the criminal justice system and his legal struggle to prove his innocence.

Carrillo was 16 years old when he stood trial for murder. Based primarily on eyewitness testimony, he was sentenced to two life sentences. Several witnesses recanted their identification of him as the killer in a 1991 drive-by shooting. Last Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Paul A. Bacigalupo ruled to have Carrillo released.

Clinical Professor Scott Wood, director of Loyola's Center for Restorative Justice, was instrumental in securing the release. Wood persuaded the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to review the case at the urging of Carrillo's lawyer, Ellen Eggers. Eggers, a state public defender, was honored with the St. Ignatius of Loyola Award at a ceremony at Loyola on Feb. 10 for her pro bono work on the case.

Dean Victor Gold published an op-ed on the Huffingon Post, "What's Really Behind U.S> News' Refusal to Consider Diversity?"

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles was ranked No. 54 out of 190 law schools in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools," rising two spots from its 2011 rank of No. 56 and achieving its highest mark since the current ranking format took effect in 2003. Over the last two years, Loyola has improved 17 spots in this national ranking. Loyola also ranked among the best in the nation in specialty areas: fifth for trial advocacy and 10th for tax law. Additionally, Loyola ranked ninth in the nation for the diversity of its student body. Learn more.

Stephanie M. Stern, associate professor of law and Norman and Edna Freehling Scholar, Chicago-Kent College of Law, presented "The Citizenship Virtues of Homeownership" during Loyola's Faculty Workshop Series.

Loyola Law School was chosen to host Saul Levmore, William B. Graham Distinguished Service Professor of Law and former Dean of the University of Chicago Law School, as the 2011 Order of the Coif Distinguished Visitor. Professor Levmore is one of the world's leading legal academics, with diverse interests in torts, corporations, non-profit organizations, comparative law, public choice, corporate tax, commercial law, insurance, and contracts and copyright law. He will be Loyola's campus on Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15.

The highlight of Professor Levmore's visit will be a campus-wide lecture on Tuesday, March 15 from 12-1 p.m. in Robinson Courtroom. The topic of the talk is Precedent and Convergence. The abstract is below:

Lawmakers often seem inconsistent when their views are aggregated through legislative votes or dueling judicial opinions. To different degrees they are bound by precedent, so that law is "path dependent." It is therefore puzzling that different legal systems so often end up with the same rules, as is true for comparative negligence, contract damages, and many other familiar doctrines. An exploration of this puzzle illuminates such things as the role of judges and even the ways in which associates are promoted within law firms. There emerges a new and improved understanding of the different tasks assigned courts and legislatures.

Shyamkrishna Balganesh, assistant professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, presented "'Wrongful Copying': Flexibility and Pluralism in Copyright Law" during Loyola's IP Theory Colloquium.

Loyola Law School's Center for the Study of Law and Genocide will host "Remnants of Genocide: Reclaiming Art and other Heirlooms Lost in Atrocities" from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Friday, March 11 on its downtown L.A. campus. Top international experts in art retrieval will discuss the recovery of art confiscated by Nazis during World War II and the reacquiring of cultural treasures taken during the Armenian Genocide, as well as art restitution in general. Examples of reclaimed art will be on display.

The lunchtime keynote address will be delivered by Mark J. Geragos, Esq., principal, Geragos & Geragos, Los Angeles; and Brian S. Kabateck, Esq., managing partner, Kabateck Brown Kellner LLP, Los Angeles. The two attorneys have been involved in the recovery of artifacts confiscated during the Armenian Genocide.

The first panel, "Nazi Looted Art Recover," will feature speakers Donald S. Burris. Esq., partner, Burris, Schoenberg & Walden, LLP, Los Angeles; Monica Dugot, Esq., senior vice president and international director of restitution, Christie's, New York; and Thomas R. Kline, Esq., partner, Andrews Kurth LLP, Washington D.C. Professor Stan Goldman, director of Loyola's Center for the Study of Law and Genocide, will moderate.

The second panel, "The Armenian Genocide and Recovery of Looted Cultural Objects," will feature Jason Felch, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times and co-author of Chasing Aphrodite: The Hunt for Looted Antiquities at the World's Richest Museum, which will be released in May by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; and Heghnar Watenpaugh, Ph.D., associate professor of art history, University of California, Davis. The panel will be moderated by Michael Bazyler, professor of law and "1939" Club Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies, Chapman University School of Law and Visiting Professor of Law, Loyola Law School.

The final panel will examine other issues in art restitution. It will feature speakers Sermid Al-Sarraf, Esq., executive director, International Institute for the Rule of Law, Baghdad, Iraq & Los Angeles, CA; Seth M. Gerber, Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Los Angeles; MaryKate Cleary, manager of historic claims and research, Art Loss Register, London, UK; and Lucille A. Roussin, J.D., Ph.D., adjunct professor and director, Holocaust Restitution Claims Practicum, Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law, New York.

The day will end with a reception at the Fine Arts Building, 685 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Co-sponsors of the event include the International Law Society, the Entertainment Law Review, the Jewish Law Students Association and the Armenian Law Students Association.

On Wednesday, March 9, Loyola hosted a debate about the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Affordable Care Act"). It featured two renowned constitutional law scholars: Adam Winkler, professor of law at UCLA, and Robert Pushaw, the James Wilson Endowed professor of law at Pepperdine Law School.

The debate focused on the question of whether the individual mandate is a constitutional exercise of Congress' Article I power to "regulate commerce among the several States" and to "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper" pursuant to this power. The individual mandate is the part of the Affordable Care Act that has drawn the most attention and controversy, legally and politically. Although challenges to the mandate have been raised on numerous legal grounds, the commerce clause issue seems to have the greatest legal traction so far. And Congress expressly relied on this power in enacting the law.

Lee Fennell, professor of law, University of Chicago Law School, presented "Property and Precaution" during Loyola's Faculty Workshop Series.