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Faculty Scholarship & Activities

• Associated Press (National coverage), Oct. 16, 2008
  Quoted in an article on the Casey Anthony case in Orlando discussing murder investigations and convictions despite the lack of a body. "An inventive defense attorney can make just about anything an obstacle to the prosecution," said Dekle.
• Orlando Sentinel, Oct. 16, 2008
  Quoted in an article discussing whether the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating in the investigation of Casey Anthony in Orlando. "It's like doing math without numbers," explained Dekle.

• Participated in the roundtable, "Gender, Cultural Identity, and International Law," Thirteenth Annual LatCrit Conference, Critical Interrogation of Electoral Systems and the Exercise of the Franchise, Seattle University School of Law, October 3-4, 2008

• The Orlando Sentinel, Oct. 17, 2008
  Quoted in an article on the language of Amendment 2. Joe Jackson, a professor at the University of Florida who teaches constitutional law, said the wording of the amendment is open to interpretation. "The ultimate interpretation of the ballot language will be up to the courts, and the courts will not be bound by any representations made by either the proponents or the opponents of the ballot initiative," Jackson said.

• Gainesville Sun, Oct. 16, 2008
  The article discusses campaign contributions for the race for Alachua County judge between Diane Ferrero and Lorraine Sherman. Professor Joe Little said the Supreme Court has considered several times the question of whether campaign contributions from an attorney is cause for judges to recuse themselves from a trial. “Most of the contributions in judicial elections tend to come from lawyers, and lawyers tend to support either everybody who's running or they support (candidates) that they consider to be good judges — fair and impartial,” Little said. “The Supreme Court accepts that argument.” Most states have judges who are popularly elected, although the issue is not without debate when it comes to a branch of government that is rooted in autonomous oversight. “It would be against human nature to think that personal contacts, long acquaintances and even modest amounts of financial support are things that don't go through a judge's mind,” Little said. “My guess is they do. I think that most judges, at least people who want to be judges, are able to put those aside.”

• Gainesville Sun, Oct. 8, 2008
  Quoted in an article dealing with UF removing student identification numbers from a directory on its Web site. Professor Jon Mills said universities have large amounts of private information on students from e-mail to disciplinary records. Mills, author of the new book Privacy: The Lost Right, said universities must abide by legal requirements restricting information from being released. "Universities have both more authority and more responsibility," he said.

• Florida Times-Union, Oct. 13, 2008
  Quoted in an article on constitutional law, specifically Amendment 2. He briefly discussed a few antiquated laws on the books. The amendment would strike an antiquated passage originally aimed at preventing real property ownership by Japanese immigrants, said Perea. Numerous states passed similar provisions during the so-called "yellow peril" of the early 1900s, but only Florida and New Mexico still have them on the books, Perea said. “You don't have to be a citizen or a resident alien to own land,” Perea said.
• Presented the keynote address at Environmental Protection Agency, Commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Research Triangle, North Carolina (Sept. 23, 2008)
• Presented a faculty colloquium at the University of Georgia Law School (Sept. 29, 2008)

• Palm Beach Post, Oct. 11, 2008
  Quoted as a source discussing the legality and effectiveness of Tasers used by university police. “We did a lot of research and found that if Tasers are used appropriately they are a definite positive in the arsenal of a police force,” said Seigel, who served on the task force that studied the stun gun incident there. “We decided we did not want to take the Taser away from the police because it would lead to people getting more hurt.” In six years, UF police used their stun guns 20 times, including twice to stop someone from committing suicide. “When we heard that, to us, the Taser literally saved a life,” Seigel said.

• Gainesville Sun, Oct. 16, 2008
  Governor Charlie Crist recently appointed Steven J. Willis to the Eight Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission.