January 7, 2008 | Vol. XI, Issue 16

Faculty Scholarship & Activities

Fenster Mark Fenster
Professor

Gave a gave talk in October entitled, “The Dilemmas of Local Transparency” at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
Gave a talk in October entitled, “Thurman Arnold and Legal Theory” at the American Studies Association Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

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

Agreed to serve as the Reporter for a NCCUSL project to draft either a freestanding model act or an amendment to the Uniform Probate Code involving insurable interest and trust and estate law.

Klein Christine A. Klein
Professor; Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Published “The New Nuisance: An Antidote to Wetland Loss, Sprawl, and Global Warming,” 48 Boston College Law Review 1155 (2007), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=967992.

Lokken Lawrence Lokken
Hugh F. Culverhouse Eminent Scholar in Taxation; Professor

Presented a paper titled "Income Effectively Connected with U.S. Trade or Business: A Survey and Appraisal" at the Sixtieth Annual Federal Tax Conference, held in November and sponsored by the University of Chicago Law School.

Page William H. Page
Marshall M. Criser Eminent Scholar in Electronic Communications and Administrative Law; Professor

Presented "Mandatory Contracting Remedies in the American and European Microsoft Cases" at a November conference on "The End of the Microsoft Case?" at Northwestern in Chicago.
Participated as a commentator in a panel on recent Supreme Court antitrust decisions at the annual meeting of the Southern Economic Association in New Orleans.

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

Participated in a two-day workshop on the subject of privacy and surveillance sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C. Dec. 17-18.
Published the fifth edition of his treatise with Charles Whitebread, Criminal Procedure: An Analysis of Cases and Concepts (with Westgroup) and the fourth edition of his casebook, Criminal Procedure: Regulation of the Police—Legal, Historical, Comparative and Empirical Materials, with LexisNexis.

UF Law Faculty in the News

Fenster Mark Fenster
Professor

Hot Air Blog, Nov 24. Quoted in blog discussing the growth of Trutherism on our country indicated from a poll which stated two-thirds of Americans subscribe to some form of Trutherism, a huge increase from a similar poll conducted last year. Fenster was cited stating, “You wouldn’t have gotten these numbers a year or two after the attacks themselves,” Fenster said. “You’ve got an increasingly disaffected public that is unhappy with the administration.” Available at http://hotair.com/archives/2007/11/24/poll-rise-of-the-truthers/.
The Gainesville Sun, Dec 9. Quoted in an article discussing a Gainesville couple who rent out their houses and have sued the city, claiming regulations on rental property—particularly rules aimed at holding landlords accountable for the actions of their tenants—are unconstitutional. Fenster said the ordinances appear well-founded stating that "None of the things that Gainesville's trying to do are especially radical. They're all attempting to get at nuisance-like behavior from houses that are overstuffed with students, which is a problem in college towns all over." Fenster noted that had the couple had one of their licenses suspended, they might have an easier time making their case if they could demonstrate the law had been unfairly applied. But even a loss in the case could have positive benefits for landlords. "In some ways, even if the landlord loses here, the landlords of Gainesville have shown that they're going to be watching and the city knows that they're being watched and hopefully that means the ordinance will be enforced in a fair and reasonable manner," Fenster said.
The Boston Globe, Nov 25. Quoted in an article titled, “The Amero Conspiracy,” which discusses the social anxiety, unrest and problems that may arise if implementing the North American Union would even occur. The belief in an imminent North American Union, says Mark Fenster, author of a 2001 book on conspiracy theories, "reflects the particular ways in which Americans feel besieged economically, powerless politically, and alienated socially." In a deeper sense, the apprehension and anger that sustain the NAU rumors are quite real. For all their talk about national threats, national sovereignty, and national strength, conspiracy theories are usually more about individual powerlessness, Fenster said.
Scripps Howard News Service, Nov 23. Quoted in an article on the belief that Americans still believe in conspiracies and how the high percentage is a manifestation, some say, of an American public that increasingly distrusts the federal government. "You wouldn't have gotten these numbers a year or two after the attacks themselves," said Fenster. "You've got an increasingly disaffected public that is unhappy with the administration." Fenster, author of the book "Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture," attributed the high percentage in part to the findings of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (also called the 9/11 Commission), which concluded federal officials failed to prevent the attacks, but did not have specific knowledge of the date of the attacks.

Klein Christine A. Klein
Professor; Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Orlando Sentinel, Dec. 16. Published an op-ed, “Florida to Georgia: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves,” which discusses the exceptional drought the Southeast is facing and problems Georgia has caused when their quick-fix answer to the water shortage. To see more about Klein’s suggestions for what the states can learn from the current crisis, click here.

Orlando Sentinel, Nov 25. Quoted in an article discussing the retrial for a then 21-year-old woman who had sex with a five-year-old boy which was captured on video tapes. Due to the crime happening so long ago, the issue of the victim remembering has caused some significant issues, one of which caused the judge to order a retrial. Slobogin has said the damage to the child is irrelevant. The defendant either committed the crime or she didn't. The Florida Legislature meant to be very tough on those who commit this type of crime, he said. What the case points out, Slobogin said, is the weakness of mandatory sentences. "Mandatory sentencing is a bad idea because it removes judicial discretion," he said. "And judicial discretion is the only way to ensure just sentences."

Willis Steven J. Willis
Professor; Associate Director, Center on Children and Families

The Gainesville Sun, Dec. 12. Mentioned in the story timeline on Nov. 27 which discussed the free-speech issues facing the University of Florida when student organizations sponsored a documentary "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" which was promoted with fliers that read "Radical Islam Wants You Dead.". The timeline said, “Steven Willis, faculty adviser for the Law School Republicans who helped sponsor the film screening, sends a letter to Telles-Irvin accusing her of stifling free speech. A similar complaint follows from state Rep. Adam Hasner, the majority leader of the Republican Party from Delray Beach.”
The Tampa Tribune, Dec. 13. Quoted in an article discussing the recent actions taken by University of Florida officials over the controversial film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West." Willis, the faculty advisor for the Law School Republicans who sponsored the film, clarified student affairs vice president Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin in her lapse of judgment. "Your arguments about 'diversity' and 'responsibility' and 'divisiveness' are irrelevant to that fundamental issue: The actions are protected speech and you have no right - in your "official" capacity - to censure them, either before or after the fact. Indeed, you have the obligation not to do so," he said.

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

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 25. Quoted in an article discussing the court battle that may be faced if the Legislature’s property tax fix is passed by Florida voters in January. Wolf said courts have upheld the constitutionality of Save Our Homes because it promotes stability in communities; homeowners tend to stay in place because of the tax savings they have. But the portability provision in the proposed constitutional amendment is designed specifically to allow homeowners to sell and take their Save Our Homes protection and big tax discounts with them. Wolf, who specializes in local government, said the state could luck out in the end because the U.S. Supreme Court — a lawsuit’s likely final stop — takes so few cases to hear each year. “The chances that the Supreme Court would hear the case and ultimately decide it’s unconstitutional are not great,” he said. “But there still is the risk, and someone has to pick up the legal tab.”

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