In September, the task force appointed by Gov. Rick Scott convened to hear the CJC’s findings. Acting Criminal Justice Center Director Monique Haughton-Worrell reported that the CJC research was inconclusive about whether there is a definite relationship between the homicide rate in Florida and 2005’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

“The data that we collected in response to the task force is insufficient to provide a conclusion on this issue. It’s a complex issue, requiring complex analysis,” Worrell said at the September meeting, according to the Tampa Bay Times. A more in-depth study would be necessary to make a correlation between Stand Your Ground and increasing crime rates, she said.

The task force released its final report in November, backing the framework of the law, while suggesting more specific guidelines about the roles of neighborhood watch volunteers and removing automatic immunity from criminal prosecution for those who claim Stand Your Ground as a defense.

Are there valid secular public policy arguments against the legalization of same-sex marriage? Is the failure to legalize same-sex marriage one example of our society’s discrimination against the LGBTQ community? Will the adoption of same-sex marriage weaken the government’s ability to facilitate and incentivize procreative relationships between heterosexual couples? The UF Federalist Society and OUTLaw present a civil discourse on same-sex marriage Wednesday at noon in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180, with Professor Richard Esenberg of Marquette University Law School and UF Law Professor Rachel Rebouché.

Come hear a discussion on secular arguments for and against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Free Publix subs and chicken tenders for attendees.

About the speakers:
Professor Richard Esenberg currently teaches at Marquette University Law School. For the past ten years, Professor Esenberg served as vice president and general counsel of Rite Hite Holding Corporation in Milwaukee. From 1981 to 1997, he was an associate and then partner at Foley & Lardner. Esenberg has overseen international acquisitions and business expansions throughout Europe, Latin America, and Canada. Esenberg holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a B.A., summa cum laude, in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He teaches Civil Procedure, Election Law, Wisconsin Supreme Court and Law and Theology.

Professor Rachel Rebouché is an assistant professor of law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School where she was the editor-in-chief for the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. She received her LL.M. from Queen’s University, Belfast, and her B.A. from Trinity University. Rebouché has worked as the associate director of Adolescent Health Programs, and was a law clerk to Justice Kate O’Regan of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She is currently associate director at the UF Law Center for Children & Families, an advisor for the Family Law Society, and an affiliated faculty for the Center for Women’s Studies & Gender Research. In 2012, Rebouché received 1 of only 10 campuswide UF Excellence Awards for assistant professors. She joined the UF law faculty in 2010.

Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations hosts open house

The CSRRR will host an open house Wednesday from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in the CSRRR meeting room, HOL 370D.

Glasser Barbecue slated for Oct. 9

The Levin College of Law is holding a free barbecue for all students, faculty and staff Tuesday, Oct. 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Marcia Whitney Schott Courtyard. The food is from Hill’s Bar-B-Que in Gainesville and the event is sponsored by the Gene K. and Elaine Glasser Endowment. The Glassers, who are both UF alumni, have sponsored the event for the past several years. They hope the annual event will foster a greater sense of community among 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. The event is a great chance for incoming students to get to know one another and feel like a part of the law school community. During the event, the Office of Communications will post photos on the UF Law Facebook page and we invite attendees to submit their comments on the photos to thank the Glassers for their contributions to the law school.

Join UF Oct. 12 to honor black leadership

• Leadership and Law: Diverse Perspectives on the Role of Race and Participation in Professional Legal Organizations (CLE Credit Anticipated), 12-2:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12, UF Law Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center. Welcome reception and luncheon noon-1 p.m.; panel presentation 1-2:30 p.m. with leaders from national, state, and local bar associations discussing how race has influenced the past, present, and future of their respective organizations in order to foster a dialogue on avenues for leadership and joint initiatives that transcend racial and other divides. Funded by The Florida Bar in cooperation with the 8th Judicial Circuit Bar Association, the Josiah T. Walls Bar Association and Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations. RSVP here.
• A celebration honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Graduation of the University of Florida and Levin College of Law’s First Black alumnus: W. George Allen, featuring presentations by W. George Allen and other honored guests, 3 to 4:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (180 HOL). Co-sponsored by the University of Florida Alumni Association and Association of Black Alumni, Levin College of Law & Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations. Read more.

Harvard law professor discusses same-sex marriage at Weyrauch Lecture Oct. 18

The Weyrauch Distinguished Lecture in Family Law will feature Harvard Law School Professor Janet Halley on “Traveling Marriage: Why the Campaign for Same Sex Marriage Gets Marriage Wrong,” Thursday, Oct. 18, at noon in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180. Hosted by the Center for Children and Families, this lecture was established in honor of Professor Walter O. Weyrauch, internationally known for his work in foreign and family law. Professor Weyrauch joined the UF Law faculty in 1957 as associate professor. He became professor in 1960, was Clarence J. TeSelle Professor 1989-94, and became Stephen C. O’Connell Chair in 1994 and distinguished professor in 1998. A reception will follow the lecture.

Halley is the Royall Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She teaches courses in family law, comparative family law and sexuality, and legal theory. Before teaching at Harvard, she was professor of law at Stanford Law School (1991-2000) and assistant professor of English at Hamilton College (1980-85). She has a Ph.D. in English from UCLA (1980) and a J.D. from Yale Law School (1988).

Her books include After Sex? On Writing Since Queer Theory, co-edited with Andrew Parker (Duke University Press 2011); Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism (Princeton University Press 2006); Left Legalism/Left Critique, co-edited with Wendy Brown (Duke University Press, 2002); Don’t: A Reader’s Guide to the Military’s Anti-Gay Policy (Duke Univ. Press, 1999); and Seeking the Woman in Late Medieval and Renaissance Literature: Essays in Feminist Contextual Criticism, co-edited with Sheila Fisher (University of Tennessee Press, 1989). Her current projects include a handbook, What’s Not to Like about Sexual Harassment Law; a paper comparing family law systems entitled “Travelling Marriage;” and a critique of the rules about sexual violence in war established by the ad hoc courts convened to adjudicate war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Criminal Justice Center, Criminal Law Association hosts criminal video-advocacy competition

The Criminal Justice Center and the Criminal Law Association is pleased to host its inaugural criminal video-advocacy competition this fall. The competition solicits submissions by student teams of an original, creative and educational video portrayal of Fourth Amendment issues geared toward a college-student audience

• Cash prizes will be awarded for first through third places.
• All law students enrolled at the Levin College of Law are eligible to enter.
• Deadline for submissions is Oct. 22. Winners will be announced on Nov. 10.
• The submissions will be evaluated by members of a judging panel; criteria include clarity of thought, well-structured argumentation, creative use of videography and liveliness of expression.

Decisions of the judging panel will be final. Complete rules of the competition are available at the CJC website (www.law.ufl.edu/academics/centers/cjc) or can be obtained from Eva Achero in Room 100, Bruton-Geer Hall.

Applications open for 2013 Evan Yegelwel Summer Fellowship

The Evan Yegelwel Summer Fellowship award permits one UF Law student to participate in a paid Summer Fellowship Program at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Florida Regional Office in Boca Raton. The Yegelwel Summer Fellowship award is $4,000. The ADL is a premier national civil rights organization that fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry in the U.S. and abroad, combats international terrorism, probes the roots of hatred, comes to the aid of victims of bigotry, develops educational programs, and serves as a public resource for government, media, law enforcement, all toward the goal of countering and reducing hatred. A generous gift from Evan Yegelwel (JD 80) has made this fellowship possible. Yegelwel is a partner in the Jacksonville law firm of Terrell Hogan Ellis Yegelwel, P.A. Click here for more fellowship and application information.

Mary Adkins has been promoted to director of the Legal Writing and Appellate Advocacy Program.

ELULP taking applications for moot court team

The Environmental and Land Use Law Program is now taking applications for participants on the Environmental Moot Court Team for 2012-2013. Environmental Moot Court team tryouts are scheduled for Sept. 7 and Sept. 10. The deadline for applying is Thursday at noon. The dates for the tryouts are: Friday from 8:30 to 9 a.m. and from 11:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday, Sept. 10, from 3:45 to 5 p.m.; The tryouts are scheduled in 15-minute intervals. Contact Lenny Kennedy at lkennedy@law.ufl.edu for details.

The University of Florida sends teams to the National Environmental Moot Court Competition and the International Environmental Moot Court Competition. Students selected to participate in the UF teams have the chance to brief and argue a case, and to compete against teams from around the country in the annual competition.

Throughout the year, ELULP students can participate in summer externships, the Conservation Clinic, the Public Interest Environmental Conference, the Richard E. Nelson Symposium, the Environmental Capstone Colloquium, and the Costa Rica Study Abroad Program.

Criminal Justice Center, Criminal Law Association hosts criminal video-advocacy competition

The Criminal Justice Center and the Criminal Law Association is pleased to host its inaugural criminal video-advocacy competition this fall. The competition solicits submissions by student teams of an original, creative and educational video portrayal of Fourth Amendment issues geared toward a college-student audiences

• Cash prizes will be awarded for first through third places.
• All law students enrolled at the Levin College of Law are eligible to enter.
• Deadline for submissions is Oct. 22. Winners will be announced on Nov. 10.
• The submissions will be evaluated by members of a judging panel; criteria include clarity of thought, well-structured argumentation, creative use of videography and liveliness of expression.

Decisions of the judging panel will be final. Complete rules of the competition are available at the CJC website (www.law.ufl.edu/academics/centers/cjc) or can be obtained from Eva Achero in Room 100, Bruton-Geer Hall.

Restoration of Civil Rights training Sept. 6

The Restoration of Civil Rights (RCR) Project is having a training session on Thursday, Sept. 6, at 5 p.m. in HOL 285D. The Restoration of Civil Rights Project is a volunteer group based out of the law school that helps members of the community with felony convictions apply to have their civil rights, including the right to vote, restored. The RCR group provides application assistance at workshops held once a month. RCR is a low-commitment way for law students to make a difference in the community. If you plan to attend the training session, add the Restoration of Civil Right project to your TWEN page and sign up for the training session or contact Brandon Campbell at bcampbell@ufl.edu.

‘Women, Work, and Family in the 2012 Presidential Campaign’ roundtable Sept. 19 at UF Law

The Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research and the League of Women Voters of Alachua County will present Sept. 19 a roundtable to discuss “Women, Work and Family in the 2012 Presidential Campaign” at 6:30 p.m. in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180.

This discussion and community event will feature Lynn Leverty, UF Department of Political Science; UF Law Professor Shani King; state Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston; state Sen. Evelynn Lynn, R-Daytona; with moderator Pegeen Hanrahan, former mayor of Gainesville. The panelists will focus on representations of gender and sexuality during this electoral season.

The event is presented with support from the Levin College of Law, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service and Association for Academic Women.

Panel guests include Professor Kenneth Nunn, Professor George Dekle, Legal Skills Professor Seth E. Miller, Esq. – Innocence Project of Florida, and Executive Director Professor Seigel.

It will be moderated by Rachel Inman, associate dean for student affairs.

It is presented by the Criminal Justice Center, Criminal Law Association, John Marshall Bar Association, Association for Public Interest Law, American Constitution for Law and Policy, Caribbean Law Students Association and the Center for Career Development.

Light refreshments to follow.