Environmental program potluck reception
There will be a potluck reception for all students and faculty with an interest in environmental and land use law, at the home of Prof. Mary Jane Angelo on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 6 p.m. Bring your favorite dish and get to know some students and faculty who share your interests. Please RSVP to Lena Hinson at hinson@law.ufl.edu, and let her know if you need directions to Prof. Angelo’s home.

Resource counselor available in Student Affairs Stressed out? Overwhelmed? Feeling anxious? Simply want to talk with someone besides your friends and family? Our new resource counselor, Ron Del Moro, is now available for you, the UF Law community. Del Moro’s office is located in the Office of Student Affairs 164J, immediately on your right when you walk in. Del Moro is a nationally certified/licensed counselor who completed his graduate work at UF. He is open to working with individuals, couples and groups with any issues and/or concerns. Everything is confidential and free of charge. His office hours are Mondays 1-5 p.m. and Wednesdays 12-5 p.m. Please stop by anytime. Walk-ins are welcome or you can email him at rondel@ufl.edu to set up an appointment or ask questions.

Specialist can help your writing skills
Concerned about your writing skills? Our new legal writing specialist, Andrew Reynolds, is now available to help you. He graduated from UF this August with a Ph.D. in English, and he has worked as a writing instructor and tutor for several years. You are encouraged to visit Reynolds for assistance with any writing issues you might have, whether you need specific questions answered or want to learn general strategies for more effective communication. His office is located in HOL 372. He is available Mondays (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Tuesdays (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and Thursdays (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). E-mail him at areynold@law.ufl.edu to make an appointment. Walk-ins are also accepted. In addition, Reynolds will be conducting writing workshops on Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Oct. 7 and Oct. 14. All four workshops will take place in HOL 285C at 10 a.m. Additional information about the workshops will be provided closer to the scheduled times.

Atilla Andrade

ProfessorAndrade will be speaking to the members of the Home Builders Association of Florida on the new opportunities for Florida builders in his home country of Brazil.

Nancy Dowd

Professor; David H. Levin Chair in Family Law; Director, Center on Children & FamiliesDowd presented “Barriers to Redefining Fatherhood: Masculinities and Nurture,” as part of a panel on “Redefining Parenthood” at the National People of Color Conference at the Seton Hall University School of Law. The talk focused on how dominant social and cultural concepts of masculinities, as well as public policy founded on an economic definition of fatherhood, operate as barriers to redefining fatherhood around men nurturing their children.

Paul Gugliuzza

Legal Skills ProfessorGugliuzza co-authored and published “Ten Federal Circuit Cases From 2009 That Veterans Benefits Attorneys Should Know,” in American University Law Review, with Miguel F. Eaton and Sumon Dantiki.

Berta Esperanza Hernández-Truyol

Levin Mabie & Levin Professor of LawHernández-Truyol presented “On Post-Racial and Post-Other Isms: A Human Rights Approach to Justice” at the National People of Color Conference at the Seton Hall University School of Law.

Shani King

Associate Professor; Co-Director, Center on Children and FamiliesKing presented “The Family Law Canon in a (Post?) Racial Era” at the National People of Color Conference at the Seton Hall University School of Law. He argued that the canon of family law inaccurately describes a race-neutral or post-racial state for family law and that the canon should correct its colorblindness so that legal authorities can address the problems that structural racism creates for African-American families. The article was the first to engage the canon’s relationship to race, or more specifically, to African-Americans in an in-depth and sustained way.

JoAnn Klein

Development Director, Center for Governmental ResponsibilityTim McLendon and JoAnn Klein, both of CGR, have just completed and published a two-year study on “Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida, Update 2010.” This was a joint CGR project with the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University in New Jersey and also involved UF Emeritus Professor of Law Jim Nicholas. The study was funded by a grant from the Florida Dept. of State Division of Historical Resources.

Joseph Little

Professor Emeritus“Health reform amendment thrown off Florida ballot” (Sept. 13, 2010, American Medical News)

Little commented on the Florida Supreme Court’s decision not to include a challenge to the national health care reform bill on November’s ballot on the grounds that it was not worded to accurately represent the amendment’s impact.

From the article:
“The Florida Supreme Court has denied several proposed amendments because they were inaccurately worded, said Joseph W. Little, professor of law emeritus at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in Gainesville. Often the authors try to insert confusing wording to make the proposal sound like something more attractive than it is.” “‘My guess is the Legislature was attempting to create votes for this [amendment],’ Little said.”

Pedro Malavet

ProfessorTV interview (Sept. 15, 2010, WCJB TV-20)
Malavet commented about UF Law being ranked no. 5 for Hispanic students by Hispanic Business magazine.

Tim McLendon

Staff Attorney, Center for Governmental ResponsibilityTim McLendon and JoAnn Klein, both of CGR, have just completed and published a two-year study on “Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida, Update 2010.” This was a joint CGR project with the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University in New Jersey and also involved UF Emeritus Professor of Law Jim Nicholas. The study was funded by a grant from the Florida Dept. of State Division of Historical Resources.

Don Peters

Professor; Trustee Research FellowDon Peters, along with his co-author Catherine Ross Dunham, professor and associate dean at Elon Law School has published “Civil Procedure: Skills and Values” in the new LexisNexis Skills and Values series.

Sharon Rush

Irving Cypen Professor of LawRush presented a paper at a conference in Athens, Greece in July that was sponsored by the Athens Institute on Education and Research. Her paper focused on what the U.S. and South Africa can learn from each other about fixing a problem we share: the existence and persistence of racially identifiable and unequal schools.

Michael Seigel

UF Research Foundation Professor“Granting of transfer requests ‘rare’” (Sept. 13, 2010, Ocala Star-Banner)

A federal judge recently denied Lee Farkas’ motion to have his case moved from Virginia to Florida. The former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. was indicted on fraud charges earlier this year.

From the article:
“‘To move a case because it presents an inconvenience to the defendant is…an extremely rare event,’ said Mike L. Seigel, a law professor specializing in criminal law and white collar crime at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. To actually succeed in moving a trial, moreover, a case must be ‘really, really high profile and very emotional, typically,’ Seigel added.”

Danny Sokol

Assistant ProfessorSokol presented his research at the Latin American Competition Forum in San Jose, Costa Rica. The event was organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, the Comisión para Promover la Competencia (COPROCOM) and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce of Costa Rica.

Sokol’s article “Antitrust, Institutions and Merger Control” was published in the George Mason Law Review.

Leah Edelman stands in front of the United Nations in New York City, where she externed this summer. During her externship, she saw the Queen of England. (Photo courtesy of Leah Adelman)

During the summer of 2010, Levin students worked in more externships than ever. At least 203 rising 2L and 3L students worked in externships, where they earned course credit in lieu of pay.

Externships, regulated by American Bar Association Standard 305, provide the opportunity for students to assist attorneys and judges with real legal issues and cases. Externs perform legal research, draft memoranda, motions and contracts, and attend client meetings, hearings and trials. Each student is mentored by a field supervisor (an attorney or judge at the externship site) and a Levin faculty member. The externship experience enables the student to apply first-hand principles learned in law school, and enhances the learning experience upon return to the classroom. Students meet new attorneys as well as work side-by-side with experienced attorneys and judges. In some cases, externships may lead to employment offers after graduation.

Of the more than 200 externship placements this past summer, 75 students worked for judges, including 35 in federal courts, nine in state district courts of appeal, and two at the Florida Supreme Court. (In addition, one student is working this fall as an extern for the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.)

Some of the externship sites included the EEOC, FCC, NOAA, World Intellectual Property Organization, Department of Homeland Security, ACLU, and the Florida Solicitor General. Seventeen students worked as externs for private corporations, including entities such as the Discovery Network, Elizabeth Arden, Office Depot and Sony Corporation.

Ten students worked in externships outside of Florida, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Irvine, Alexandria, Charlotte, Scranton, Atlanta, and Detroit. Two students worked in international externships in Cape Town, South Africa and in London, England.

Externships can provide exciting and high profile experiences. This summer, students worked on issues such as the Gulf oil spill and drywall litigation, and one student attended a meeting at which the Queen of England was present.

“I learned so much from my externship. Every day was a rush,” said 3L Natalie Shorrock about her externship in the Office of the State Attorney in Broward County. “I sat at counsel’s table during a first-degree murder trial, and the attorney read the arguments I made while taking notes during the trial word-for-word in her closing argument. It is an experience I strongly believe every student interested in criminal law should consider.”

Levin students perform externships in the fall and spring semesters as well as summers. Information regarding applications for spring 2011 will be provided to all students during the fall 2010 semester.

For more information regarding externships, visit www.law.ufl.edu/programs/externships or contact Prof. Leslie Knight, director of externship programs, knight@law.ufl.edu, or Julie Barnes, externship program coordinator, barnes@law.ufl.edu.

“What has happened? A lot. What needs to happen? A lot.”

This was UF Law Professor Alyson Flournoy’s response to the federal government’s actions since the BP oil disaster April 20. UF Law students and faculty discussed legal and policy issues from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil spill before an audience Sept. 16 in the Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center.

Law students Austin Moretz, Alyssa Cameron, Jesse Reiblich, James Davies, Carli Koshal and Fay Pappas presented their research on various aspects of the catastrophe including a comparative analysis from state and federal perspectives of the legal foundations governing spills, responses to the oil spill, recovery and restoration issues and social impacts of the disaster. UF Law faculty Tim McLendon, Alyson Flournoy, Mary Jane Angelo, Richard Hamann, Joan Flocks and Brian Mayer commented on the issues presented by the students, and Jon Mills served as moderator.

The role of policy is to minimize other disasters and see what we can do to compensate those who have been harmed, said Mills, dean emeritus, professor of law, director of the Center for Governmental Responsibility, and member of the University of Florida Oil Spill Task Force. The commentators noted the challenges in determining natural resource damages, especially among affected entities that have never been known, like species of never-before-seen squid.

Hamann highlighted the difficulties of “how to value things people have never seen before, especially things they have no economic use for.” He also proposed creative uses of the restoration money to improve the Gulf of Mexico’s environment – such as protecting sea turtle nesting beaches in the Caribbean, which was seriously degraded even before the spill.

“Will we step back and learn the broader lesson?” Flournoy asked, pointing out that the U.S. needs to respond to the challenge of dealing with low-probability catastrophic events.

The UF Law Oil Spill Working Group, the Center for Governmental Responsibility, and the UF Law Environmental and Land Use Law Program sponsored the informational symposium.

Students, faculty and community members discuss race relations and Michelle Alexander's new book. (Photo by Joey Springer)

Students, faculty and community members came together for a book discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 15, in anticipation of legal scholar and Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Professor Michelle Alexander’s upcoming visit.

The discussion focused on Alexander’s new book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” which is the topic of Alexander’s lecture Wednesday, Sept. 22, at noon in the UF Law’s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom.

The book examines the current state of race and racial justice in the United States, stating that the racial caste system that existed during the pre-civil rights era is still in place, it has just been redesigned.

Alexander points out that even though the U.S. has elected its first black president, many young black men remain disadvantaged in major U.S. cities because they are labeled as felons or are already behind bars. The criminal justice system – while maintaining an outward stance of colorblindness – serves as a modern means of racial control, according to the book.

Katheryn Russell-Brown, Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations, and Nancy Dowd, Director of the Center on Children and Families, organized the event with the goal of having “informed conversations about these important topics,” Brown said.

“We, as faculty, are no more knowledgeable or insightful than you, as students,” Dowd said. “We are all trying to find our way together in examining these important issues. It was a profound experience to read this book.”

At the book discussion, Adessa Barker, 3L, noted the differences between the new and old Jim Crow. “It’s subtle. Once you get the stamp of ‘convict,’ it affects your whole life, and puts your family into a downward spiral.”

The New Jim Crow calls for a reevaluation of the current system and seeks to bring the issue of mass incarceration to the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in the U.S.

The discussion is sponsored by the Center on Children and Families and the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations. The event is free and open to the public.

About Michelle Alexander:
Alexander joined the OSU faculty in 2005 where she holds a joint appointment with the Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Prior to joining the OSU faculty, she was a member of the Stanford Law School faculty, where she served as Director of the Civil Rights Clinic. Alexander has significant experience in the field of civil rights advocacy and litigation. She has litigated civil rights cases in private practice, as well as engaged in innovative litigation and advocacy efforts in the non-profit sector. For several years, Alexander served as the director of the Racial Justice Project for the ACLU of Northern California, which spearheaded a national campaign against racial profiling by law enforcement. While an associate at Saperstein, Goldstein, Demchak & Baller, she specialized in plaintiff-side class action suits alleging race and gender discrimination. Alexander is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Vanderbilt University. Following law school, she clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun on the United States Supreme Court and for Chief Judge Abner Mikva on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Students, faculty and staff enjoy the annual Glasser Barbecue sponsored by the Gene K. and Elaine Glasser Endowment. (Photo by Joey Springer)

On Tuesday, the Marcia Whitney Schott Courtyard saw its largest crowd of students and faculty since Supreme Court Justice Thomas visited last spring.

The occasion? Free barbecue.

UF Law students, faculty and staff enjoyed the spread, which included chicken, pulled pork, veggie burgers, baked beans, cole slaw, rolls and beverages for nearly 1,200 people. During the lunch-rush, the line stretched past the student organization fair booths of the courtyard and into the parking lot. Students perched on every available surface, chatting and dining with one another.

Vegetarian Carli Koshal, 3L, was happy that the barbecue included veggie burgers that were “pretty delicious.”

The Glasser Barbecue is an annual event sponsored by the Gene K. and Elaine Glasser Endowment. The Glassers, who are both UF alumni, hope the event fosters a greater sense of community amongst people at the law school. “The law school education I received at the University of Florida has greatly influenced my professional and personal life, creating lasting memories with my friends,” said Gene Glasser, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who received his Juris Doctor degree from UF Law in 1972.

“It was a great opportunity to see all of the ways to get involved, get some advice for the first year – and the free food never hurts,” said Hans Tanzler, 1L.

The Hays-Hood House, built in 1910, was restored by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation as its new headquarters in 2004 in Tallahassee. (Photo courtesy of State Library and Archives of Florida).

Historic preservation activities in Florida contribute more than $6 billion annually to the state’s economy, accounting for more than 110,000 jobs, according to a two-year study by the Center for Governmental Responsibility (CGR) at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

UF researchers, partnering with the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University, examined activities that included rehabilitation of historic buildings, heritage tourism, state historic preservation grants, operations of history museums and Florida Main Street Programs. The study was funded by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources in the Florida Department of State. It updated a similar study completed in 2002.

“Despite negative events of significance to the international economy since our earlier study, we found that historic preservation activities continue to make a significant positive contribution during these tough economic times,” said Timothy McLendon, CGR staff attorney and lead researcher on the project. He cited such events as the impacts of the World Trade Center bombings on travel, tourism and the international economy; the economic meltdown of world banking and financial markets, affecting housing, real estate and construction; the international recession; economic struggles of state and local governments; and unemployment trends.

Using a formula developed by Rutgers economists David Listokin and Michael Lahr, the study found that in-state benefits from investment in historic preservation included: 111,509 jobs; $2.9 billion in income; $4.2 billion in gross state product; $1.38 billion in taxes; and $3.77 billion in in-state wealth.

The overall findings of the study were:

1. Historic preservation creates jobs in Florida and in the United States. Of the more than 110,000 jobs created in Florida, nearly half were in the retail sector and a quarter were in the services sector. Another 20,000 jobs were created in the U.S., outside of Florida.

2. Historic preservation contributes to state, local and federal tax collections.

3. Historic preservation creates in-state wealth, and $2.9 billion in income to Florida residents.

4. Rehabilitation of historic properties in Florida is a multi-billion-dollar business. More than $2 billion was spent rehabilitating existing residential and non-residential historic Florida property in 2007-08.

5. Florida visitors spend billions visiting historic sites. Heritage tourists in Florida spent an estimated $4.13 billion in 2007-08.

6. Investments through the Florida Main Street Program are revitalizing historic downtowns and original commercial corridors, thus bringing citizens, visitors and dollars back to the heart of communities throughout the state. Florida Main Street investment output was roughly $409.6 million in construction and retail job benefits in 2007-08.

7. History museums attract millions of tourists visiting Florida. Approximately 13 million people (Floridians and out-of-state tourists) visited a history museum in the state.

8. Florida’s Historic Preservation Grants program supports rehabilitation and tourism, thus enriching the state’s economy. Researchers visited sites throughout Florida that were among the recipients of a total of more than $193.8 million in state grant funds between 1996 and 2008.

9. Historic designation does not depress property values and may help maintain value. Researchers, working with UF’s Geoplan Center, examined more than 20,000 parcels of single family residential property in communities throughout Florida, including Gainesville, Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth and Tallahassee from 2001-09. The study found that in 12 of 18 cases studied for 2001-09, historic district properties showed greater increases in property values than comparable property in non-historic neighborhoods. For the period from 2006-09, historic districts tended to maintain their values better than the non-historic neighborhoods.

Florida sites featured in the study are: South Beach in Miami Beach; El Jardin Mansion at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Miami; Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid; Historic Masonic Lodge #36 A.F. & A.M., Daytona Beach; Old City Hall, Chipley; Ximenez-Fatio House Museum, St. Augustine; Tarpon Springs; Ponce Inlet Lighthouse & Museum; Crooked River Lighthouse, Carrabelle; Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, Baker County; Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park, Leon County; Ray Charles Boyhood Home, Greenville; Okeechobee Main Street; Lincoln Park Main Street, Fort Pierce; Main Street Punta Gorda; Main Street Wauchula; Dade City Main Street; Panama City Main Street; Main Street Starke; Newberry Main Street; Pensacola Historical Society & Museum, Historic Pensacola Village; Historical Society of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach; The Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida, Naples; Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch; Charlotte County History Center, Punta Gorda; Mandarin Museum and Historical Society; Old Firehouse No. 3, Key West; Bing Rooming House, Plant City; Historic Derby Street Chapel, Cocoa; Vietnam War Patrol Torpedo Fast Boat, PTF3, DeLand; and Flagler College Art Building, St. Augustine.

The research findings are included in a 52-page executive summary and detailed in an extensive technical document that accompanies the summary. Both will be available soon at CGR’s web site at: http://www.law.ufl.edu/cgr/publications.shtml.

Prof. Lyrissa Lidsky, Prof. Jon Mills and Prof. Sandra Chance discuss the tricky relationship between social media and government. (Photo by Andres Farfan)

During his campaign for the presidency, President Barack Obama captured the attention of Americans through his savvy use of social media in a way no presidential candidate had done before. As a result, many government agencies have jumped on the social media bandwagon, and are using Facebook and other social media websites to communicate with their constituents. Yet, they may be unaware that exercising editorial control over the content on their websites could open them up to potential liability for lawsuits or other legal actions.

Can a government actor, such as a law school administrator, remove or edit “undesirable” comments on a website without becoming the subject of litigation charging a First Amendment violation? According to Stephen C. O’Connell Chair and University of Florida Professor of Law Lyrissa Lidsky, it depends on whether a court labels it government speech or a public forum.

In her presentation entitled “All the President’s Tweets: The First Amendment and the Online Public Forum,” given as part of the UF 2010 Constitution Day program on September 17, Lidsky examined the complex relationship between social media and the government. She suggested that the law governing public forums should be adapted to foster government use of interactive media. Specifically, she suggested that public forum doctrine must grant government actors greater leeway in eliminating abusive speech so to allow them to fulfill their role in configuring communication spaces and maximize public discourse.

The presentation—hosted by the Levin College of Law in the Chesterfield Ceremonial Classroom—included commentary by UF Law Dean Emeritus and Director for the Center for Governmental Responsibility Jon Mills; and Executive Director for the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information and McClatchy Professor in Freedom of Information Sandra Chance. The panel discussion was moderated by UF Law Dean Robert Jerry.

Government actors and citizens have myriad incentives for participating in social media, but the state of the law is very muddled in this area and has not fostered optimal social media policy by the government, Lidsky said.

One such area that poses significant challenges for government agencies involves their obligation to comply with open records laws.

Chance, who researches issues on access to government meetings and records to media organizations, said government agencies are required to maintain records of their use of social media. This requires the organization to print and maintain for public record a daily copy of social media sites, which could be difficult for retention purposes.

“It’s important to remember that the technology can overtake the principles very quickly,” she said.

Mills, expert and author of a book on privacy, “Privacy: The Lost Right,” said that online speech enables individuals to make abusive or threatening comments that they might not have made if they occur in a public place.

“There are things we do in public that are very different when transformed to electronic spaces,” Mills said. “I’m not sure that even the greatest free speech advocate would want this to be a complete public forum.”

As a result, some actors might refrain from taking part in public discourse altogether, which is a detriment to its citizens, Lidsky said.

“The point of social media is interactivity,” she said. “As citizens, we want interactive social media where we can express our views, and we can have an open discourse and open debate with other citizens and with government actors whose actions affect our lives.”

Although the government speech doctrine would most likely protect “all the President’s Tweets,” it is most likely that this type of speech would fall into a gray category, such as the limited public forum category, Lidsky said.

Under a limited public forum, a moderator could presumably limit the speech to certain categories of speakers, such as law students, or to certain categories of topics.

So, what steps can a government actor take to moderate citizen commentary?

A moderator may be able to remove comments that are unrelated to the topic of the forum if she has posted a content filtering policy, Lidsky said. The law also provides that some content, such as profanity, can be removed if it is viewpoint neutral. But that may still be up to the court to decide.

“Government use of social media is something that we ought to pursue and look at, but we ought to look at it carefully,” Mills said.

Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. Each year, the University of Florida – along with other public funded universities – celebrate the day with special programs and activities.

Click on the link to watch the archived webcast.