• Honored as a Distinguished Alumnus by Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. Inman attended Carson-Newman College from 1986 to 1990 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management.

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

• Appointed to Advisory Commission to the World Justice Project, American Bar Association (2007-08), a multidisciplinary and multinational initiative to foster human well-being by advancing the rule of law. Launched last year by the ABA, the project is one of the primary initiatives of ABA President William H. Neukom, a Seattle lawyer, and has received $1.75 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal is to form a multidisciplinary movement in which leaders from law, business, journalism, education, conservation and the environment, medicine and public health, and religion work together to advance the rule of law. Co-sponsors include the International Bar Association, the Union Internationale des Avocats, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and the Inter-American Bar Association. Among the individuals who have given their endorsement and support are former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court and former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker and Warren Christopher.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Robert H. Jerry, II
Dean; Levin Mabie and Levin Professor

• WCJB-Channel 20, Oct. 7. Discussed Personal Injury Protection (PIP) auto insurance coverage in a live news segment. On Oct. 1, Florida became the only state in the country that does not require drivers to carry personal injury protection insurance when they drive. Before Oct. 1, the law said every driver had to carry at least $10,000 in personal injury protection, which paid for medical bills no matter who caused the crash. Opponents of personal injury protection said it caused insurance fraud and cut car insurance bills. Drivers, who may now be forced to sue the other driver to pay for medical bills, disagree with the law. On Oct. 3 the Florida Legislature began a special session, and two days later lawmakers sent legisaltion to Gov. Charlie Crist to re-enact PIP, also known as no-fault insurance.

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

• WRUF, Oct. 9. Interviewed on WRUF regarding the National Democratic Party’s stated intention to not count Florida’s votes in the primary due to their accelerated primary date. He said it was the Florida Legislature, not Florida Democrats, who were responsible for the date change, and that the national party was wrong in its actions.
• Florida Trend, July 2007. Recognized as one of Florida’s top lawyers in the magazine’s 2007 Legal Elite list. The special report, developed from voting by Florida lawyers who are members of The Florida Bar, lists 868 honorees, including attorneys in private practice as well as prosecutors, in-house counsel, public-service attorneys and law school professors. Attorneys were asked to name the attorneys that they hold in highest regard as professionals—lawyers with whom they have personally worked and would recommend to others.

Michael Seigel
Professor

• Criminal Law Reporter, Sept. 26. Quoted in article on a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation that would limit federal prosecutors’ ability to pressure cooperation from companies under investigation for corporate fraud. The legislation would bar prosecutors from weighing a company’s willingness to waive its right to confidential communication with its lawyers when deciding to bring charges. Seigel, one of two law professors to speak against the legislation at the hearing, warned that the bill would “shift the balance of power back to the corporation,” leading companies to stonewall requests for investigation. “Companies will say, ‘we’ve given you all our unprivileged information. Now you can’t charge us.’”
• The New York Times, Oct. 9. Quoted in an article about dismissing the case against a former federal prosecutor who was charged for having sex with a 5-year-old girl in Michigan after he committed suicide in his prison cell. “They have no choice,” said Seigel, adding that case dismissal is standard procedure when a defendant dies, even after conviction if the defendant has not exhausted his appeals. “We don’t charge people in absentia in this country. You can’t prosecute somebody who’s not, in effect, there to defend himself.”

Margaret Temple-Smith
Senior Legal Skills Professor

• The Washington Post, Oct. 5. Her political site, Buck Naked Politics, was mentioned on Joel Achenboch’s blog, Achenblog, on The Washington Post website at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/. Achenbach mentioned a note UF Law alum Deborah Cupples and Temple-Smith posted on a recent publication by the Government Accountability Office.

• Presented a talk titled “The Challenge of Protecting Trade Secret Information in a Digital World,” at a conference at the George Washington School of Law on Sept. 28.

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

• His article, “The Supreme Court’s Recent Criminal Mental Health Cases: Rulings of Questionable Competence” was the lead piece in the October issue of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Magazine.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Kenneth B. Nunn
Professor; Associate Director, Center on Children and Families

• ABCNews.com, Sept. 27. Quoted in article discussing the nationwide support and protests of the Jena Six students. Many experts were interviewed by ABC regarding the racial divide and punishments associated with both the white and black students. Regarding the level of bias in the system, Nunn said, “Do we have a criminal justice system that mistreats people on the basis of race? No. The principle is not the issue, but the practical application [of law] is where you see the problems.” The public at large basically thinks that these cases are aberrations, Nunn said, and that’s one reason why so much attention is paid to them. “It’s the idea that it’s the redneck sheriff doing this and not the way we sort of stack the odds against black criminal defendants. We can point to a few bad apples, say, ‘See, it’s them,’ and the rest of us feel great because we’re demonstrating how we disagree with racism.”

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

• St. Petersburg Times, Sept. 28. Quoted in a story on what the paper called the “swift but cautious” investigation of a city council member accused of sexualy abusing one of his adopted daughters, which included a phone call from the police chief to the mayor informing him of the allegations. Slobogin said it is unusual that the police chief informed the mayor of a criminal investigation, but if no details of the allegations were shared, he said it would do little harm. “The fact that this guy (Baker) was kind of his boss, muddies the waters a bit,” Slobogin said.

Barbara Bennett Woodhouse
David H. Levin Chair in Family Law; Professor; Director, Center on Children and Families and Family Law Certificate Program; Co-Director, Institute for Child and Adolescent Research and Evaluation (ICARE)

• Miami Herald, Sept. 28. Quoted in an article discussing a custody battle over a five-year-old Cuban girl and the recent ruling . Woodhouse said that a ruling in favor of the Cubas family could help propel Florida closer to other states that emphasize children’s interests over birth parents’ rights. “When there is a serious detriment to the child, that should be taken into account,” Woodhouse said. “You can’t treat a child like a piece of property. . . . Let’s not just look at blood. Let’s look at actions, conduct.”

Hobbs, who practices in the areas of criminal trial law, appeals, personal injury and wrongful death, was the lead defense attorney behind Florida’s first hazing trial, which was televised last fall on Court TV. Hobbs represented four of five members of the Alpha Xi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity on trial for allegedly participating in the hazing of a pledge at Florida A&M University.

Three fraternity brothers accused in the case avoided prison by pleading no contest in March to a lesser charge in the beating of a prospective member. Each received probation, including 30 days in a sheriff’s work camp, after entering the pleas to misdemeanor hazing. Prosecutors offered the plea deal only after two mistrials on felony hazing charges. The second jury convicted two other fraternity brothers who were subsequently sentenced to two years in prison. Their cases are currently on appeal.

The Kappa Hazing case is not Hobbs’ first time garnering national media attention. In 2003 Hobbs represented Florida State University’s former star quarterback and now pro-football player Adrian McPherson in his Court TV-televised trial for gambling violations. Hobbs and co-counsel Grady Irvin’s tactics left the jury in that case deadlocked and a mistrial was declared.

But in the midst of flashing cameras, Hobbs says he strives to be a voice for the voiceless, a goal he attributes to the skills he learned at the Levin College of Law and to the professors he learned those skills from.

“Law school helped to sharpen my analytical reasoning ability and oral advocacy skills,” Hobbs said. “I had the pleasure of studying under the late Professor Gerald Bennett, who was widely considered one of the preeminent experts in trial advocacy in the state of Florida. I also had the privilege of studying criminal law under Professor Kenneth Nunn. Professor Nunn also heightened my awareness of the law as a means of social justice through his Race and Race Relations seminar.”

Hobbs started his legal career as an assistant state attorney and worked for several firms, including the Law Offices of Frank Sheffield and Knowles & Randolph. Hobbs has also served as an adjunct professor at Florida A&M University and is a freelance writer whose columns appear in several statewide newspapers. During his tenure in Gainesville Hobbs was an editorial writer for the Independent Florida Alligator.

According to Professor Nunn, Hobbs was a dedicated student who worked hard in and out of the classroom.

“Chuck always had opinions and would speak his mind when he had the opportunity,” Nunn said. “Chuck was very instrumental in the Street Law Program I ran at the time to provide legal information to middle school-aged students in low-income areas of Gainesville. He was very popular with them, and he was very committed to giving back to his community.”

UF Law alumni played a role in his aspirations as well.

“A number of UF law black alumni, including U.S. District Court Judge Stephan P. Mickle (JD 70) and noted trial lawyer W. George Allen (JD 62), inspire me because they have broken barriers,” Hobbs said.

The impact these alumni have had on Hobbs has allowed him to reach for even higher heights in the legal community—so high, in fact, that he may make Florida history again.

“I eventually hope to become the first black elected state attorney in Florida,” Hobbs said. “I am strongly considering running for the same in the 2nd Judicial Circuit upon the retirement of my first boss, the Hon. William Meggs, in 2012.”

Hobbs’ experience with Professor Nunn’s Street Law Program, which led Hobbs to a chance meeting with his wife, Brooke, planted a seed in him that has now grown into a desire to begin his own mentoring program with other young African-American professionals in North Florida’s communities. The program will focus on nurturing, educating, empowering and inspiring young men.

“What I do is not unique,” said Hobbs. “I am just a small component in ensuring the voiceless have a voice.”

THE CASE ON APPEAL:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

MATTHEW MAZZARELLA, Petitioner,

vs.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent.

Petitioner Matthew Mazzarella was convicted of three counts relating to the trafficking of OxyContin. Mazzarella discussed with an undercover agent his interest in buying a gun. The agent offered to exchange a gun for drugs. Mazzarella exchanged a quantity of OxyContin pills for the gun. The agent arrested Mazzarrella for drug trafficking and use of a firearm during a drug transaction. Subsequent to Mazzarella’s arrest, Mazzarella’s babysitter Erin McFann came forward with a video tape from a nanny cam device. The tape of a recent babysitting session included footage of Ms. McFann with Mazzarella’s daughter and her friend playing a game of Truth or Dare. During the game, Mazzarella’s daughter revealed that Mazzarella took drugs from work. Based on the video tape and because Mazzarella worked in another state, Mazzarella was charged with transporting stolen drugs across state lines.

Mazzarella was convicted on all three counts. Mazzarella appealed his convictions for use of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense and for transporting stolen drugs across state lines. The 13th District Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction holding that 1) Mazzarella’s actions constituted use of a firearm during a drug transaction and 2) that admitting the statements made by Mazzarella’s daughter did not violate Mazzarella’s 6th Amendment right to confront his accuser.

The Supreme Court of the United States of America has scheduled oral argument for the appeal of the 13th District Court’s decision on Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, at 9:30 a.m.