“State task force addresses self-defense” (Nov. 14, 2012, The Alligator)

Jacobs commented in this article on Florida’s Stand Your Ground Task Force, which UF Law’s Criminal Justice Center participated in.

From the article:
“The Criminal Justice Center wanted the task force to study the data longer,” said Michelle Jacobs, a UF law professor. “They wanted them to do a more in-depth study so we could really understand what the numbers are saying.”

Jacobs said some of the data the panel reviewed isn’t a clear representation of what is happening across the state. For example, she said, different words are used by different police departments to convey the same meaning.

Diane Mazur
Professor of Law

“Adultery, an Ancient Crime That Remains on Many Books” (Nov. 14, 2012, The New York Times)

This article points out that while many saw the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus as an act of acknowledging inappropriate behavior, adultery is still on the books as a criminal act in 23 states and is against the military code of conduct. Mazur weighed in on the likelihood of criminal prosecution.

From the article:
Mr. Petraeus is a retired four-star general who collects a military pension and remains subject to military codes of conduct that prohibit adultery. But Diane H. Mazur, a professor of law at the University of Florida and a former Air Force officer, said that the chances of the Army’s calling Mr. Petraeus back to active service in order to court-martial him over adultery are zero, as are any chances of state criminal charges being brought.

“That would be reserved for the most unimaginably serious circumstances,” Professor Mazur said. Even within the military code, she added, adultery is charged as a criminal offense only when “the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces,” she read from the manual for courts-martial. That meant something larger than seemed at stake here.

“For The Military, A Possible Fall From Grace” (Nov. 13, 2012, NPR)

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus after admitting to adultery has raised multiple questions about the military’s reputation. Mazur addresses some of the issues, including accountability generally, and specifically regarding sexual misconduct.

From the article:
“Since Vietnam, we have come to a very dangerous bargain,” says Diane Mazur, author of A More Perfect Military. “You don’t ask me to serve in the military, and in return I will not ask questions or be difficult or demand accountability.”

That lack of accountability, Mazur says, extends to sexual misconduct.

“It’s ironic that what seems like the entire federal government has been mustered to address Gen. Petraeus’ affair, but we find it so difficult to focus in any effective way on the far more serious and long-standing problem of sexual assault,” Mazur says.

“It’s a buyer’s market for young legal talent” (Feb. 2, 2012, Florida Trend)

Bishop addressed the legal job market and current hiring process in the current economy.

From the article:
“They want the security of having a job at graduation, but the market is making them wait,” Bishop says. More often, only the top-ranked graduates are offered law jobs within the first six months of receiving their degree, and Bishop says more are looking at using their law degrees in alternate careers.

Paul R. Gugliuzza
Visiting Assistant Professor

Gugliuzza presented his paper “Rethinking Federal Circuit Jurisdiction” at the Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop in Miami.

Diane Mazur 
Professor of Law

The Fordham International Law Journal published an article reviewing Mazur’s book A More Perfect Military: How the Constitution Can Make Our Military Stronger. An excerpt is available here.

Daniel Sokol
Associate Professor of Law

Sokol presented his working paper on cartels and corporate monitors at a conference sponsored and hosted by NYU School of Law.

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

Wolf recently published “A Yellow Light for ‘Green Zoning’: Some Words of Caution About Incorporating Green Building Standards into Local Land Use Law” 43 URBAN LAWYER 949 (2011).

In the book, Belkin describes reaching out to Mazur who is also co-director of the Palm Center, a University of California research center on military issues headed by Belkin. He sought her legal expertise regarding the possibility of President Barack Obama issuing an executive order to end the policy.

“Within days, Mazur got back to me with good news. In 1983, Congress had passed a statute colloquially known as the ‘stop-loss’ law. (Formally, it’s 10 U.S.C. § 12305, Authority of the President to Suspend Certain Laws Relating to Promotion, Retirement, and Separation.) Under this law, the president has the right to modify or suspend any statute relating to military separations during times of national emergency…,” wrote Belkin.

Mazur said her research was controversial across the political spectrum. Opponents of repeal objected to presidential authority because they wanted to keep the policy in force, but even repeal supporters fought the executive order option. In How We Won, Belkin explained that gay advocacy groups feared alienating Obama and so backed his position that he had no legal authority to suspend the policy unilaterally.

Media sources picked up on Mazur’s research after its publication by the Palm Center. Coverage included television reports by Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” and CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Journalists questioned White House press secretary Robert Gibbs for weeks on why the president would not sign an executive order, Mazur said.

In a recent interview with Time magazine, Belkin cited the executive order proposal among the most important factors turning the tide toward repeal.

“Unlike some other issues that require 60 Senate votes, President Obama had the option to suspend DADT via an executive order. Once the public learned this, a lot of heat was directed his way, and this pressure helped rededicate the White House to a legislative solution,” Belkin said.

Mazur’s recent book, A More Perfect Military: How the Constitution Can Make Our Military Stronger, available from Amazon.com and Oxford University Press, offers a comprehensive look at the military, the Constitution and the health of the all-volunteer force.

Elizabeth Dale
Affiliated Associate Professor of Law
Dale presented a paper to the American Bar Foundation/Illinois Legal History Seminar Oct. 18. The paper is “Putting ‘Liberty’ in its Place: Discussions of ziyou, Slavery, and Sovereignty in Turn-of-the-Century China.”

Robert Jerry
Dean, UF Law and Levin Mabie & Levin Professor of Law “UF-sponsored health plan costs $300 more this year” (Oct. 15, 2010, The Independent Florida Alligator)

Because of a change in providers this fall, UF students saw an increase of almost $300 in the cost of their school-sponsored insurance plans, with a very similar plan to what was already in place. The director of the Student Health Care Center said they changed providers to avoid an even bigger increase in rates.

From the article:
Robert Jerry, dean of the Levin College of Law, said he is not surprised that student plans are increasingly expensive. The student population is healthier than most demographics, so student insurance is priced to make more profit than other insurance products, he said.

Jerry believes the new health care legislation passed by Congress may also have an effect on student health care plans. The new law states that full-time students can be covered by their parents’ insurance up until age 26.

There are ways to bring insurance costs down for students, but it’s not in the hands of the university, Jerry said. If the state and federal governments team up to regulate insurance and provide everyone with some degree of health care, costs would go down.

“We ought to have a system where everybody has some kind of access to basic health care,” he said.

Lyrissa Lidsky
Stephen C. O’Connell Chair, Professor of Law
“Wannabe warriors an ‘insult’ to their bravery” (Oct. 17, 2010, Pensacola News Journal)

The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 has been gaining some attention lately with two cases involving the act in federal appeals courts. The act made it a federal offense to wear a military medal or for a person to say he or she earned a military medal if the person did not in fact earn a medal. Opponents of the act say it violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutional, but admit the speech it would protect in this case is reprehensible.

From the article:
Lidsky said it is constitutional to punish people for making false statements in certain contexts — such as fraud, defamation, lying under oath or shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater — but the Stolen Valor Act is tricky because it doesn’t show clear damages to a victim.

“It’s making it a crime to tell a lie, but it’s making it a crime to tell a relatively harmless lie,” Lidsky The authors of the law contend that the lies erode the true value of military honors, but Lidsky asked, “Is there any evidence that that has had any effect on the morale of the troops?”

Joseph Little
Emeritus Professor
“Elect or appoint judges?” (Oct. 17, 2010, Orlando Sentinel)

Little commented on the benefits of having a system where voters can elect trial judges.

From the article:
Those who favor election, including Professor Joseph W. Little of the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida, say it protects the public by making judges more accountable.

Diane Mazur
Professor of Law
“How Does the Military Prove That Someone is Gay?” (Oct. 13, 2010, Slate)

Mazur is thanked as a source at the end of this article, which looks at the various methods the military has used to determine if a member of the military is gay. The determination and discharge proceedings usually focus on the actions of the person under scrutiny, rather than his or her actual sexual preferences.

“There is no legal reason to appeal DADT ruling” (Oct. 18, 2010, San Marcos Mercury)

The column looks at the recent ruling that found the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy unconstitutional and presents an argument about why there is no legal obligation to appeal the ruling. The article references a memorandum Mazur wrote on the topic.

From the article:
Diane Mazur, a professor of law at the University of Florida College of Law, has laid out in a legal memorandum the basics about executive discretion to decline to appeal laws held to be unconstitutional. Mazur’s primary areas of research include civil-military relations and military law generally. In her memorandum, she explains that the usual expectation is that the Justice department “will defend federal laws from constitutional challenge.” However, the usual practice is not mandatory: “There are well-recognized, standard exceptions that give the executive branch discretion in deciding whether or not to defend a law in some circumstances, and they would apply in deciding whether to appeal a court ruling finding that (DADT) is unconstitutional.”

Michael Seigel
Professor of Law
“Should authorities need a warrant to put a GPS tracking device on your car?” (Oct. 17, 2010, St. Petersburg Times)

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that law enforcement can use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track suspected criminals – without obtaining a warrant. The court also indicated that police could also go onto private property in order to install a GPS device. Seigel commented on Florida’s laws pertaining to the use of GPS.

From the article:
To use GPS tracking, they simply must convince a judge that it’s “relevant” to their investigation, said University of Florida law professor Michael L. Seigel.

“It’s a much lower standard,” he said. “It’s not requiring them to show any suspicion about an individual’s guilt.”

There’s also an easy way around state law. Local agencies could just ask the federal government for help. Federal agents don’t need a warrant to use GPS tracking devices in Florida, Seigel said.

Nancy Dowd
David H. Levin Chair in Family Law and Director, Center on Children & Families “Rick Scott dodges answers by invoking Fifth Amendment, Democrats claim in ad” (Oct. 12, 2010, PolitiFact Florida)

A new ad from Alex Sink’s gubernatorial campaign points out that GOP candidate Rick Scott invoked his Fifth Amendment right 75 times in a deposition regarding fraud allegations aimed at his hospital chain, Columbia/HCA.

From the article:
“The Fifth Amendment is not a shield against fishing expeditions,” said Nancy Dowd, a UF Levin College of Law professor. “If you want to cloak yourself in the protection of the Fifth Amendment, it has to be for the reason that your answer could result in criminal liability.”

Teresa Drake
Director, Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Clinic (IPVAC)
TV interview – “Family Spotlight” on IPVAC Clinic (Oct. 7, 2010, WCJB-TV 20)

Drake discussed intimate partner violence crimes as well as the new Intimate Partner Violence Asisstance Clinic – of which she is the director – in this TV 20 spotlight.

Thomas Hurst
Professor Emeritus and Sam T. Dell Research ScholarHurst presented a paper entitled “The Use of Clawbacks to Recoup Excessive Executive Compensation After the Worldwide Financial Crisis” at the Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College, Cambridge University in September.

Clifford Jones
Associate In Law and Lecturer “Ambler’s suit to knock Norman off ballot goes to trial Tuesday” (Oct. 11, 2010, The Tampa Tribune)

State Rep. Kevin Ambler filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman for running for state senate and remove him from the November ballot. The lawsuit claims Norman failed to report a house in Arkansas owned by his wife, mostly paid for by a former friend and political supporter.

From the article:
State law says disqualification is an appropriate penalty if a candidate deliberately fails to list assets on state financial disclosure forms, said Clifford Alan Jones, a professor at the University of Florida law school.

“But it is not clear to me if a court would order (disqualification) prior to completion of an Ethics Commission hearing,” Jones said.

Diane Mazur
Professor “Congress, not courts, may have final word on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’” (Oct. 11, 2010, Law.com)

Mazur commented on the recent federal court rulings regarding the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the previous court cases they cited in their decisions.

From the article:
“Although these Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell cases are not criminal prosecutions, not sodomy prosecutions, the courts in both Witt and Log Cabin said, ‘We’re still talking about the same constitutional liberty,’ ” said Diane Mazur, a professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and legal co-director of the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which focuses on military issues including Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Judge orders ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ injunction” (Oct. 12, 2010, Associated Press)

Last week a federal judge issued an injunction to stop the enforcement of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, to be effective immediately. Mazur commented on the president’s position on the issue.

From the article:
“The president has taken a very consistent position here, and that is: ‘Look, I will not use my discretion in any way that will step on Congress’ ability to be the sole decider about this policy here,’ ” said Diane H. Mazur, legal co-director of the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara that supports a repeal.

The article ran in a number of media outlets, including The New York Times.

Mazur was quoted in AP’s “Quotations of the day.” ”The whole thing has become a giant game of hot potato. There isn’t anyone who wants to be responsible, it seems, for actually ending this policy. The potato has been passed around so many times that I think the grown-up in the room is going to be the federal courts.” – Diane H. Mazur, a legal expert at a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara in comments after a federal judge ordered the military to immediately stop enforcing its ban on openly gay troops.

Jon Mills
Dean Emeritus Director, Center for Governmental Responsibility
Animal activists mount protests of UF researcher” (Oct. 8, 2010, Gainesville Sun)

A UF researcher has been the target of animal rights activists because of a connection to research done relating to experimentation on primates. A website has been created with the researcher’s address and a picture of his home on it and protests have been planned in Gainesville and in the researcher’s neighborhood in the future. The approach indicates a shift in animal rights activists’ tactics, focusing on individuals involved or related to research rather than the larger entities who sponsor it. Currently the situation appears to be a protest rather than a threat, according to UF police.

From the article:
The courts typically have given wide latitude to free-speech rights in such cases, said UF law professor Jon Mills, who wrote a recent book on privacy. But he said a civil case is possible if someone is being slandered with false information, and other legal action also could be taken in the case of a threat. “People can say a lot of things online if it falls short of actual slander, but one thing that the courts get nervous about is if they say or imply actual threats,” he said.

“Summary of 6 statewide constitutional amendments and one nonbinding referendum” (Oct. 12, 2010, Gainesville Sun)

With six proposed changes in the Florida Constitution on the November ballot, Mills addressed the issue of Florida Supreme Court’s language standards that can sometimes make the wording of amendments confusing to some voters.

From the article:
“The language has to be less than 75 words and explanatory of everything (the amendment) does and be approved by the Supreme Court,” said Jon Mills, a University of Florida law professor. If it’s not in the title, “it would be considered deceptive. The Supreme Court has taken several initiatives off the ballot for being misleading,” he said. Nonetheless, initiatives and constitutional amendments are one of the people’s rights and one that should be taken seriously, Mills said. “They are there permanently,” Mills said. “Putting something in the constitution is hard, and getting it out is even harder.”

Attila Andrade Jr.

Visiting ProfessorAndrade has conceived a new formula according to which moral damages and abstract pain can be calculated in law suit cases. His formula is explained in volume II of his book “Comments on Brazil’s New Civil Code” published by Companhia Editora Forense in 2003. His purpose is to avoid judge’s uncertainties and ambiguities in issuing money judgments for these kinds of law suits.

Bob Dekle

Legal Skills Professor“Robbery suspects face life” (Sept. 29, 2010, The News-Press)

Two men connected with the robbery of a McDonald’s restaurant in Fort Myers could face life in prison. The ordeal resulted in the death of one police dog and one robbery suspect. The charges will not be in connection with the dog’s death, however, because the dog’s shooter was already shot and killed by the police.

From the article:
“University of Florida law professor Bob Dekle said even though prosecutors haven’t charged Amaya and Fermin with Rosco’s death, it wasn’t a foreseeable crime and one that was furthered of the armed robbery.”

“‘It is an area of the law where reasonable people can disagree about what is foreseeable,’ Dekle said.”

Teresa Drake

Director, Intimate Partner Violence Assistance Clinic (IPVAC)
Drake lectured at the Advanced Institute for the Prosecution of Domestic Violence, sponsored and produced by the Office of Violence Against Women, Aequitas and The Battered Women’s Justice Project in August in Washington, D.C. Her topic was interviewing victims of domestic violence.

Drake spoke at The Battered Women’s Justice Project conference “Addressing the Impact of Domestic Violence on Children” in Providence, R.I., last month. Her topic was interviewing and preparing children to testify.

Joseph Jackson

Legal Skills ProfessorTV interview (Sept. 24, 2010, WCJB TV-20), link not available at this time

Jackson commented on the recent 3rd District Court of Appeal ruling, which overturned Florida’s ban on gay adoptions. Jackson was the primary author of an amicus brief submitted to the court regarding the case.

Martin J. McMahon Jr.

Stephen C. O’Connell Professor of LawMcMahon presented “Recent Developments in Federal Income Taxation” with University of Houston Law Center Professor Ira Shepard at the 45th annual Southern Federal Tax Institute last month in Atlanta.

McMahon presented “Litigating The Application Of Anti-Tax Avoidance Statutes: Learning From The Canada Experience” with the Honorable Patrick Boyle, Richard Sapinski, Nathalie Goyette, and Henry Schneiderman at the Court Procedure and Practice Committee Program, American Bar Association, Tax Section, Fall Meeting, in Toronto last month.

McMahon also presented “How Canada’s Experience with the General Anti-Abuse Rule Might Inform US How to Live with the Codified Economic Substance Doctrine” with the Honorable Donald Bowman, former Chief Judge of the Tax Court of Canada at the Joint Meeting of Partnerships & LLCs and Real Estate Committees, American Bar Association, Tax Section, Fall Meeting in Toronto last month.

Diane Mazur

Professor
“Gay activists look to the courts to end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’” (Sept. 22, 2010, The Washington Post)

While the debate over the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy continued to unfold in Federal courts, Mazur discussed arguments in favor of repealing the law.

From the article:
“Gay rights groups said the government has no obligation to appeal. Diane H. Mazur, legal co-director of the Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara that is devoted to repealing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ cited a 2003 Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas sodomy law because it restricted a person’s right to sexual privacy.”

“‘Judge Phillips recognized that “don’t ask, don’t tell” can no longer be justified under current constitutional doctrine, and President Obama is not required to argue otherwise,’ Mazur said. ‘He need not defend laws that are based on old, discredited constitutional assumptions.’”

“Witt decision offers preview of post-’don’t’ ask, don’t tell’ world” (Sept. 27, 2010, San Diego Gay and Lesbian News)

Mazur commented on the recent U.S. District Court ruling in Washington in favor of Air Force Major Margaret Witt regarding the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

From the article:
“Diane Mazur, Palm Center legal co-director and University of Florida law professor, also responded to Judge Leighton’s written opinion in Witt.”

“‘Witt and Log Cabin were the first challenges requiring the government to produce evidence that “don’t ask, don’t tell” improved military readiness, and in both cases the government was unable to do so,’ Mazur said. ‘The government pointed to an earlier case upholding the policy, Cook v. Gates, but there the court barred the plaintiffs from introducing evidence that “don’t ask, don’t tell” harms the military and excused the government from producing any evidence at all. Once the policy is put to a test of fact, it fails.’”

Kenneth Nunn

Professor“Panel hears from the wrongly convicted” (Oct. 1, 2010, The Florida Bar News)”

As a member of the new Innocence Commission in Florida – which examines the causes behind wrongful convictions to avoid future wrongful convictions – Nunn weighed in on a debate over the wording of the commission’s mission statement. The phrase in question was: “exoneration cases in Florida based on DNA testing.” The sentence was eventually removed altogether.

From the article:
“University of Florida College of Law Professor Kenneth Nunn added: ‘We are not saying these are individuals who are angels of the Lord, shall we say. But we are saying they are entitled to rely on the presumption of innocence that all American citizens are entitled to,’ because they have not been proven guilty. Exoneration, Nunn said, ‘is the correct legal term for the status of affairs we are talking about.’”

“Professor Nunn offered a friendly amendment to replace ‘exoneration’ with ‘cases in Florida where convictions have been reversed based on DNA testing.’”

Elizabeth Rowe

Associate ProfessorRowe’s article “Contributory Negligence, Technology, and Trade Secrets,” originally published in the George Mason Law Review in 2009, has been republished in the Defense Law Journal.

“UF takes on high schools to protect logo” (Sept. 21, 2010, The Gainesville Sun)

In an effort to protect its logo and identity, the University of Florida and the licensing company that represents the school is cracking down on several schools around the country who are using similar logos as the Gators.

From the article:
“Under trademark law, universities essentially have a legal obligation to police the use of their marks, said Elizabeth Rowe, associate professor of law and director of the program in intellectual property law at UF. Failing to do so could mean giving up the right to stop unauthorized uses, she said.”

“The issue is becoming more significant as college football becomes increasingly lucrative, she said. But she said the issue is somewhat different when dealing with high schools that might send students to the universities.”

“‘With sports you have the argument, “We’re using the mark to support you,”‘ she said.”

Michael Seigel

ProfessorUpon invitation by Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy, Seigel testified as an expert witness last week in Washington, D.C. regarding honest services mail and wire fraud in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Skilling v. United States.

Seigel presented a lecture titled, “Ethical Lessons Learned from the Duke Lacrosse (Non)Rape Case,” to the faculty of the Saint Louis University School of Law on Sept. 16.

Michael Allan Wolf

Richard E. Nelson Chair in Local Government Law“Florida voters enter battle on growth” (Sept. 27, 2010, The New York Times)

Wolf commented on the debate in Florida surrounding Amendment 4 on the November ballot, which would allow citizens to vote on state-mandated plans regarding land development and growth in counties and municipalities.

From the article:
“‘Most planning advocates would love to have the structure we have in Florida, but most Floridians know that the structure doesn’t work,’ said Michael Allan Wolf, a University of Florida law professor. ‘Amendment 4 suggests that, on the ground, this system is really broken.’”

Mary Jane Angelo

• Published “Stumbling Toward Success: A Story of Adaptive Law and Ecological Resilience” in the Nebraska Law Review

George “Bob” Dekle
Legal Skills Professor

• August 23, 2009, Ft. Myers News Press
  Dekle provides insight into how some cases are perused and others are not in the case of child negligence. “Ft Myers parents’ substance abuse can be deadly to infants; Simple negligence is not enough to support a criminal charge,” said Bob Dekle, a University of Florida legal skills professor who worked as an assistant state attorney for three decades.
• August 22, 2009, Daytona News Journal
  Dekle provided insight into prosecuting an officer for any crime. “Prosecuting police officers is not an activity which tends to endear you to other police officers,” Dekle wrote. “You have to be very diplomatic so as not to erode the good will of uncharged officers.”
• August 18, 2009, Daily Business Review
  Dekle shed light on a judge’s decision to keep illegally recorded tapes sealed. “The public good has very little to do with the exclusionary rules,” said Bob Dekle. “Everybody in the entire country could know the circumstance of the conversation, and it still isn’t admissible in court against the aggrieved party.”

Mark Fenster
Associate Dean for Faculty Development

• July 14, 2009,New York Times
  Fenster commented on conspiracy theories, the people that believe those in power can’t be trusted and how internet communications has enable those who think alike to come together.
• July 29, 2009,WBUR Boston
  Fenster was interviewed as an expert in conspiracy theories. “The story that these folks tell is based on the idea that Obama is an illegitimate president,” says Mark Fenster, author of Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in the American Culture. “Any evidence of legitimacy would spoil the narrative, and that would end the pleasure of spinning out the narrative,” says Fenster, an associate dean at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.

Alyson Flournoy
Professor; Director of Environmental and Land Use Law Program; UF Research Foundation Professor

• Published “Protecting a Natural Resource Legacy While Promoting Resilience: Can It Be Done?” in the Nebraska Law Review.

Diane Mazur
Professor

• July 6, 2009, 40 Business Journals, Forbes, Sun Herald, Examiner, and Breitbart News etc.
  The Palm Center released a memo in response to an announcement by Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, last week saying he had directed his general cousel to study the flexibility contained in the law and to find “a more humane way to apply the law” while awaiting legislative appeal. The legal memo also makes clear that any steps which “fall short of ceasing all discharges under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ will have a negligible operational effect on gay and lesbian troops, and therefore on our national security.”

Jon Mills
Director of Center for Governmental Responsibility; Dean Emeritus; Professor

• August 11, 2009,Sun Sentinel
  Mills weighed in on the appropriateness of Brogan’s pitch for a private development. Jon Mills said he sees no problem if Brogan is not being paid, and if there’s a public interest aspect to the project, such as environmentally friendly development. “Presidents don’t lose their free speech rights,” he said.
• Delivered the paper “The New Global Press and Privacy Intrusions: The Two Edged Sword” at the Privacy Law Scholars Conference, hosted by the Berkeley Law School.

Katheryn Russell-Brown
Chesterfield Smith Professor; Director of Center for Study of Race and Race Relations

• July 24, 2009, USA Today and Miami Herald
  The Gates story has captured the nation because it has a “perfect storm” of ingredients, said Katheryn Russell-Brown. The ongoing question of whether the U.S. has moved past racism combined with the fact that Gates actually studies African-American issues — all taking place on the hallowed confines of Harvard — provided for this explosion of interest, Russell-Brown said. “Many people want to believe that now that we have an African American in the White House, that now we can get past all this race stuff,” said Russell-Brown, who wrote The Color of Crime, a book about race, crime and justice.

Michael Siebecker
Associate Professor

• Recently completed his Ph.D in Political Science at Columbia University. His article “Building a ‘New Institutional’ Approach to Corporate Speech,” which was published last year in the Alabama Law Review, was reprinted in the 2009 edition of the First Amendment Handbook, which Dean Rodney Smolla edited.

Barbara Bennett Woodhouse
David H. Levin Chair in Family Law; Professor; Director, Center on Children and Families and Family Law Certificate Program;

• “Hidden in Plain Sight: the Tragedy of Children’s Rights from Ben Franklin to Lionel Tate” was selected for the annual prize of the Human Rights section of the American Political Science Association.

Danaya Wright
UF Research Foundation and Clarence J. TeSelle Professor

• July 8, 2009, Wright gave testimony regarding the railbanking statute before the Surface Transportation Board (the successor to the Interstate Commerce Commission) in Washington, D.C.