• The Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 21. Quoted in an online article written about the recent questions of bias in U.S. justice regarding the “Jena 6″ case in Louisiana. “The public at large basically thinks that these cases are aberrations, and that’s one reason why so much attention is paid to them,” Nunn said. “It’s the idea that it’s the redneck sheriff doing this and not the way we sort of stack the odds against black criminal defendants. We can point to a few bad apples, say, ‘See, it’s them,’ and the rest of us feel great because we’re demonstrating how we disagree with racism.” The article concluded with Nunn verbalizing his underlying belief with the criminal justice system, “The problem in the criminal justice system is the problem generally with the law. You always have great leaps forward and tiny steps backward.”

Christopher Slobogin
Stephen C. O’Connell Chair; Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry; Adjunct Professor, University of South Florida Mental Health Institute; Associate Director, Center for Children and Families

• The Gainesville Sun, Sept. 20. Quoted in an article discussing his recent presentation about the Constitution and surveillance by the U.S. government. Slobogin discussed his three classifications of surveillance, the impact 9/11 has had on our privacy and how the government is eroding the 4th Amendment. “The Fourth Amendment, I think, requires the government to act reasonable,” he said. “(Ultimately), if the government wants to prosecute someone, it probably can.”
• The Independent Florida Alligator, Sept. 20. Quoted in an article discussing the presentation he delivered on government surveillance. Slobogin said, “The government should have to provide a justification for surveillance that’s proportionate to the intrusion involved. As far as the constitution is concerned, there is virtually no limit on what the government can do outside of intercepting domestic communication.”

Faculty Scholarship & Activities

Lars Noah
Professor

• Published his article “Too High a Price for Some Drugs?: The FDA Burdens Reproductive Choice,” 44 San Diego L. Rev. 231 (2007).

Leonard L. Riskin
Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law

• Published his article, “Decision-Making in Mediation: The New Old Grid and the New New Grid System,” 79 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1-53 (2003), which has been translated into Portuguese and published as Tomada de decisa em mediacao: o novo “grafico antigo” e o sistema do “novo grafico novo,” 4 Estudoa Em Arbitragem, Mediacao E Negociacao. 129-70 (2007). (Published by the University of Brasilia Faculty of Law).

Christopher Slobogin
Stephen C. O’Connell Chair; Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry; Adjunct Professor, University of South Florida Mental Health Institute; Associate Director, Center for Children and Families

• Published the third edition of Psychological Evaluations for the Courts: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers (with Gary Melton and four others). The book has been referred to as the “Bible” of forensic mental health law.
• Presented talk Sept. 19 to commemorate Constitution Day on “The Constitution and Surveillance by the Government.” In his presentation in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, part of UF’s Constitution Day activities, Slobogin said that instead of a celebration, much more apt would be a funeral service for the Fourth Amendment, the provision in the Bill of Rights that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires that warrants for searches and seizures be based on probable cause and describe what is being searched. Slobogin illustrated why he’s gloomy about the future of this part of the Constitution by talking “about the Fourth Amendment’s application—or more accurately under current law—its non-application to surveillance by the government.”

 Richard Collier, professor of Law and social theory at Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, UK, will be the inaugural lecturer for the series on Oct. 24 at noon. The author of several books on law and fathers, fathers’ rights and legal reform, and law and masculinities, Professor Collier (pictured right) will be speaking on the fathers’ rights movement from a comparative perspective.

Angela Mae Kupenda, professor of law at Mississippi College School of Law School, will be the second lecturer on Feb. 19, 2008. Professor Kupenda’s talk is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations. A scholar of family law issues and critical race theory, Professor Kupenda (pictured left) will be speaking on the relationship between family law and communities of color, using as her framework the analysis of relationships of abuse developed by domestic violence scholars.

Stephanie Coontz, professor, Evergreen State College and director of research and education of the Council on Contemporary Families, will be the second annual Walter Weyrauch Lecturer on March 26, 2008. Professor Coontz (pictured right), a social historian who is an expert on the history of families and marriage, is perhaps best known for her book The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. She most recently published Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. She will be speaking on marriage.

Gary Melton, professor and director, Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life, Clemson University, will be the final speaker, on a date to be announced during the spring semester. Professor Melton (pictured left), a psychologist, has been at the forefront of international and national research relating to children’s rights, including in particular issues of child abuse. He has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to scholarship and public policy multiple times by the American Psychological Association as well as other national and international organizations. He will be speaking about child abuse.

The subject for this year’s competition is race-based hate speech. The hypothetical that students will research and debate is based upon an actual incident involving racial conflict between white and black high school students in a South Carolina town. White students wore T-shirts emblazoned with the confederate flag and “100 percent cotton and you picked it.” Black students responded by having T-shirts printed with the confederate flag in red, black, and green—the colors of African liberation.

Participants in the competition are asked to address the local school board and provide guidance as to how it should handle the situation with the students. The scenario raises a range of legal issues. As well, students are encouraged to look to social science research to frame policy responses.

This is a team competition. Teams of two or three students may sign up for the contest. Each team will select one member to give the oral presentation. Students who are enrolled at UF Law during the spring 2008 semester are eligible to compete. Awards will be given to the top three teams. First place, $2,500; Second place, $1,500, and; Third place $1,000. Award monies will be divided equally among team members. A panel of judges, including UF professors and Gainesville community representatives, will hear the teams compete.

The competition will take place in February 2008 and will be open to the public. To encourage participation and assist students in their preparation, CSRRR will hold an orientation and three brown bag sessions.

Competition materials may be picked up from Pat Hancock (340 Holland Hall) or Melissa Bamba, CSRRR assistant director (370A Holland Hall). For additional information, please contact CSRRR at 352-273-0614 or csrrr@law.ufl.edu.

Hinds, who practices eminent domain and condemnation law in Tampa, originally wanted to be a criminology professor while he was an undergrad at UF. He said he decided to go to law school to get a better view of the law.

“I had fantastic professors in the criminology department, and a couple had law degrees,” he said. “I wanted to get that unique perspective of the law and the ability to practice would make me better at doing that.”

The small firm atmosphere and the attitude there of practicing the law ethically gave Hinds the motivation to practice law with the smaller firms, he said.

“In the first firm I worked at, everyone practiced law on a handshake and encouraged me to do the same,” Hinds said. “It was not a cutthroat practice like you might see in the movies.”

Hinds got his start in practicing eminent domain law, a field he was not very familiar with, when he went to work for the Florida Department of Transportation.

“My wife and I wanted to start a family, and while I enjoyed the opportunities of a small firm, I decided to seek a position that would give me more stability, and a more predictable work schedule,” Hinds said. “After I began working with eminent domain at the department, I realized how much I love it.”

Practicing a small field of law like eminent domain has its advantages, such as having relationships with other attorneys around the state.

“I feel I know the majority of people who practice eminent domain in Florida, and when it comes down to it, cases are puzzles that need to be solved,” he said. “It really helps to have relationships because then attorneys are more likely to approach a case as a problem to be solved, instead of a conquest to be won.”

Hinds now runs his own firm, and is of counsel to another. He says putting in work every step of the way is something special.

“The truth is working for myself is the hardest I’ve worked in my life,” he said. “But they’re my cases, my clients, and I get to practice law how I choose, which is very rewarding.”

Small firms are not for everyone, but if the ups and downs can be handled, Hinds recommends it.

“If students can understand that small firms have high highs and low lows, and their personal situation can accommodate that, then I encourage them to work for a small firm,” he said.