Lyrissa Lidsky
Professor; UF Research Foundation Professor

• Participated in a panel at the University of Florda, “When Free Speech & Tasers Meet,” which discussed free speech, use of force, and the advantages and disadvantages of Tasers.

Diane H. Mazur
Professor

• Spoke on the subject of military law as portrayed in film and television at the Law and Popular Culture Symposium held at Marquette University Law School on November 1, 2007. The symposium celebrated the publication of the new LexisNexis casebook, Law and Popular Culture: Text, Notes, and Questions. Professor Mazur is one of the casebook’s co-authors.

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

• Presented his paper, “Dangerousness as an Aggravating Circumstance in Death Penalty Cases,” at Notre Dame Law School on Friday, Nov. 9.

UF Law Faculty in the News

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

• Florida Today, Nov. 5. Quoted in an article about state Rep. Bob Allen being tried on a single charge of solicitation for prostitution. The article discusses the impact of the publicity on the jury selection and outcome of the case. Slobogin said Allen’s title shouldn’t matter in trying the case. “Ideally, the prosecution shouldn’t treat this case any differently than any other in bringing forward charges and how to prosecute,” he said. When discussing the difficulties in jury selection for this high-profile case, Slobogin said, “It makes it more difficult to pick an unbiased jury. Also, it’s conceivable that there’s a greater likelihood for the public to be biased against the defendant.”
• Epoch Times (Dublin, Ireland), Nov. 5. Quoted in an article discussing the ABA’s recent call for a moratorium on executions and the way states are handling death penalty cases. Specifically, Slobogin was quoted about the execution of mentally retarded individuals. Between 2 and 5 percent charged with a capital crime suffer from serious mental illness such as schizophrenia or psychosis, or mental retardation, Slobogin said. Even though mentally ill persons are often very suggestive and vulnerable, police tend to treat them no differently in their interrogations than other offenders, which can lead to false confessions. He goes on to say, “Juries often erroneously equate mental retardation with dangerousness, and then perceive the mental condition as an aggravating factor rather than as a mitigating factor.”

Michael Allan Wolf
Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law; Professor

• Orlando Sentinel, Nov. 4. Quoted in a column by John Kennedy on the legal questions surrounding Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to create Save Our Homes portability could hold up in court. Two groups from Palm Beach County and Alabama have already tried to challenge Save Our Homes in court as an affront to the federal constitutional rights to travel and commerce. Last spring, noted tax lawyer Walter Hellerstein concluded portability could add fuel to the legal case against Save Our Homes and convince a federal judge that the “locked in” disparity between new and longtime homeowners was unconstitutional. Other lawyers think the whole system is ripe for a challenge. Kennedy wrote that Wolf says Florida stands to lose one of the arguments courts have recognized in upholding SOH so far—that it promotes stability in communities. Portability promotes mobility, he says.

Thomas T. Ankersen
Legal Skills Professor

• The Office of the Provost announced Ankersen will be the Faculty Fellow in Sustainability beginning in the Spring 2008 semester. As the fellowship awardee, Ankersen will pursue a one to two year project to develop an interdisciplinary certificate/minor in sustainability and will be responsible for the following: Researching best practices at universities for integrating sustainability into academics, which may include the existing frameworks for certificates and minor and major courses of study; collaborating with UF faculty on incorporation of sustainability into academics at UF and promoting such incorporation; working with the Sustainability Committee to develop the best model (including structure and format) for academic offerings in sustainability at UF; developing an implementation plan for adaptation of the best model.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Diane H. Mazur
Professor

• Gulf Defender Tyndall AFB, Panama City, FL), Oct. 26. Quoted on the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act. The USFSPA affects the treatment of military retirement pay in divorce settlements and is an emotional issue for career military families. Because they are unlikely to be long-term homeowners, this pension may be the only asset of significant financial value.

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

• Miami Herald, Oct. 30. A televised American Bar Association panel, on which UF Law Professor Chris Slobogin participated, discussed why the nation’s death penalty system “falls short” in providing defendants with “fair and accurate” treatment. Slobogin, who chaired the team that assessed Florida’s system, told the Miami Herald that a “significant majority” of the group voted for a moratorium. The panel’s presentation appeared on C-Span, and excerpts appeared in other media outlets.
• WCSH6.com (Portland, Oregon), Oct. 29. Quoted in an article discussing the American Bar Association’s recent call for a nationwide moratorium on executions. The move comes after a study by the lawyer’s group found significant problems in death penalty prosecutions in eight states including Florida. Slobogin stated that there had been over 20 exonerations of peopleon Florida’s death row in recent years. He said he was concerned both about “people who are factually innocent, who are nonetheless convicted and sentenced to death [and] people who may have committed the crime but should not have been sentenced to death because they’re not the worst or the worst.”

Lee-ford Tritt
Assistant Professor; Director of Center for Estate and Elder Law Planning and Estates and Trusts Practice Certificate Program; Associate Director, Center on Children and Families

• Orlando Sentinel, Oct. 31. Interviewed for an article discussing a murder case presented to a court that says it does not exist in Sarasota. Steve Esdale, the son of Murray Cohen, began a four-day effort to convince a probate judge that Maria Cohen killed her husband. Under Florida’s “slayer statute,” that would forbid her from serving as Cohen’s executor or receiving anything from his estate. “I’ve never heard of this before,” Tritt said. “This is fascinating.”