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.

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.

• Speaking on AG McCollum’s lawsuit challenging the recently passed Patient Protection and Care Affordability Act (April 7, 2010, WOKV Radio)
  McCollum’s suite argues Congress has overstepped it’s authority in mandating states to pay for costs involved with reform and states the tax on individual’s who don’t purchase health coverage is unconstitutional, and are in violation of the 10th amendment and the commerce clause. University of Florida law professor Joe Little said these are questions that need to be asked. “I think it is possible that there could be some portions of it that might be held to be beyond Congress’s power,” Little said that is because the law is so broad. He thinks that most will be ruled within their power. He wouldn’t predict which way the court would rule on McCollum’s specific lawsuit, only predicting is that some suit will end up in Supreme Court.
• “UF experts describe Stevens as centrist, defender of rights” (April 10, 2010, Gainesville Sun)
  UF law professors discuss how Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will be remembered after his retirement. Joe Little, professor emeritus and constitutional law expert at UF’s Levin College of Law, said Stevens’ retirement will inevitably alter the composition of the nation’s highest court. It’s too early to predict exactly how, in Little’s view. By liberal, I mean people who care about the rights of the individual and who try to defend the individual against the state,” Little said. Even though Stevens was appointed by a Republican president, Little added, “he was what we would now call a moderate Republican … something that’s pretty much gone out of existence.” In Little’s view, Stevens’ legacy will be one of “turning away from the extreme lurch to the right on the court during the latter part of his term.” “I think President Obama will be very careful to pick someone who will not slide over into the other camp,” Little said. “It will probably be someone whose views are left of center, but not too far.” Little added, “Whoever he selects, he will want to get the appointment through.”

• “Experts differ on merits, political impact of McCollum’s health care lawsuit” (March 26, Tampa Tribune)
  Baldwin commented on Florida AG Bill McCollum’s suit challenging the constitutionality of the new Health Care Act. “As far as I can tell the commerce clause has been treated as providing a very, very wide range of powers,” he said. Court rulings have given Congress ability to regulate even such seemingly private matters as how much grain farmers grow on their own land for their own personal use, he noted. “I think the suit is really nothing more than a political ploy to keep the argument alive and convince people … that their rights are being trampled,” Baldwin said.

• “Can health care suit make headway?” (March 23, Florida News Network)
  Baldwin told the Florida News Network that the proposed lawsuit by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is on shaky ground when it comes to the commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution. “The only issue that the court would look at (would be to) see if the Congress has the constitutional authority to enact this legislation,” he said. “And all they would have to look at is Article I, Section 8.”

• “Toyota, Tiger – Here’s how to apologize” (March 3, TheStreet.com)
  Cohen explained what makes an effective apology in the world of corporate business. “Apologizing is a humbling step that gives the people you’ve offended some power over you,” says Jonathan Cohen, a law professor at University of Florida who studies the legal aspects of apologies. “There’s a particular drama that comes when it’s very powerful people who are taking that step in the public eye.” “The biggest mistake people typically make is waiting too long to apologize, meaning they do it reactively once the issue has broken out, almost like a type of damage control,” Cohen says. “The best way when corporations discover a problem is to proactively accept responsibility for the problem.”

• “Student Government is taken seriously by both UF, students’ (Feb. 24, 2010, Gainesville Sun)
  Little told the Gainesville Sun that the claim that students are participating in a mock government might have carried more weight decades ago, before the voting age was dropped to 18 from 21. UF law professor emeritus Joe Little, an attorney for the online voting group, argued that university student governments were created under state law. In addition, the Florida Constitution created university boards of trustees and the Florida Board of Governors to oversee state universities. Both bodies include former student government presidents as members. Little said the claim that students are participating in a mock government might have carried more weight decades ago, before the voting age was dropped to 18 from 21. Now, students come to the UF campus officially as legal adults, so he said the argument is outdated. “It’s just inconsistent with today’s world,” Little said.

• Spoke to the Orlando Chapter of The Federal Bar Association on Feb. 18. The topic was “Grand Jury Screening & Indictment Challenges.”

• “An attempt to revive the lost art of apology” (Jan. 30, 2010, New York Times)
  Cohen explained that an accident involving a senator’s daughter was the impetus for legislation that allows people to say they are “sorry” without worry of law suits for admission of guilt. In fact, it was a traffic accident in the 1970s that led politicians to try to resolve some of these problems. According to Jonathan R. Cohen, a law professor at the University of Florida, a Massachusetts state senator’s daughter was killed while riding her bicycle, and the driver who hit her never apologized. The father couldn’t believe that the driver had never expressed contrition, Professor Cohen said, and was told that the driver had dared not risk even saying “I’m sorry,” because it could have been seen as an admission in the litigation surrounding the girl’s death. When the state senator retired, he worked with his successor to introduce and win passage of legislation that allowed a “safe harbor” for people to offer “benevolent gestures expressing sympathy or a general sense of benevolence,” said Professor Cohen, who has written extensively on the intersection of law and apologies Now, a majority of states have enacted “I’m sorry” laws — some that address just medical malpractice, while others apply to all civil cases.

• Dale was appointed to another five year term on the editorial board of Law and History Review.