Levin College of Law
The University of Florida and the University of Havana took the lead in opening academic relations between their two countries with a historic two-day interdisciplinary conference held May 9-10, 2016 in Cuba. The Conference on Law and Policy in the Americas, held at the University of Havana brought together students, judges, lawyers and academics with an eye to fostering long-term research collaboration. UF and UH co-sponsored the event.
The conference gave rise to a special issue of the Florida Journal of International Law dedicated to scholarly articles on the United States and Cuba. The articles explore food security during the time of a changing global climate, US-Cuba trade relations, gender, culture, agriculture, race equality, capitalism, Cuban family law legislation, environmental governance, foreign investment in Cuba, rural development and International Law in Cuba.
English Title: Preface
Spanish Title: Prefacio
Author(s): Dra. Teresa Delgado Vergara, Presidenta Comisión Nacional de Derecho, Profesora Titular, Universidad de La Habana
English Title: Introduction
Spanish Title: Introducción
Author(s): Dr. Daimar Cánovas González, Profesor Titular, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de La Habana y Vicedirector Científico, Instituto de Geografía Tropical
English Title: Food Security, Industrialized Agriculture, and a Changing Global Climate: Perspectives on the United States and Cuba
Spanish Title: La seguridad alimentaria, la agricultura industrializada y un cambio climático mundial: Perspectivas en Estados Unidos y Cuba
Author(s): Mary Jane Angelo, University Term Professor and Director, Environmental and Land Use Law Program, University of Florida Levin College of Law
English Title: US-Cuba Trade and the Challenge of Diversifying a Sugar Economy, 1902-1962
Spanish Title: Comercio entre Cuba y los EE.UU. y el desafío de diversificar una economía azucarera, 1902-1962
Author(s): Dr. Carmen Diana Deere, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Latin American Studies and Food & Resource Economics, University of Florida
English Title: The Culture of Gender/The Gender of Culture: Cuban Women, Culture, and Change—The Island and the Diaspora
Spanish Title: La Cultura del Género/El Género de la Cultura: Cubanas, Cultura y Cambio – La Isla y La Diáspora
Author(s): Berta Esperanza Hernández-Truyol, Levin, Mabie & Levin Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
English Title: Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Civil Code, and the Problem of Transculturation
Spanish Title: Cuba, Puerto Rico, el Código Civil y el problema de la transculturación
Author(s): Pedro A. Malavet, Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law
English Title: State Capitalism in Cuba: The Lessons of the Literature on State Owned Enterprises and Market Liberalization
Spanish Title: Capitalismo de Estado en Cuba: Las lecciones de la literatura sobre las empresas estatales y la liberalización del mercado
Author(s): D. Daniel Sokol, Professor of Law and University of Florida Research Foundation Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law
English Title: Cuba’s External Sector: Conditions, Challenges, and Opportunities
Spanish Title: El sector externo de Cuba: Condiciones, retos y oportunidades
Author(s): Dr. Paolo Spadoni, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Augusta University
English Title: Exploring Cuba’s New Role in the World Economy: Paths and Perils
Spanish Title: Explorando el nuevo papel de Cuba en la economía mundial: Caminos y peligros
Author(s): Wentong Zheng, Professor of Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law
English Title: The Meaning of “Equal”: Evolution of Racial Equality in the United States
Spanish Title: El Significado de “Igualdad”: La Evolución de la Igualdad Racial en los Estados Unidos
Author(s): Jon L. Mills, Dean Emeritus, Professor of Law, and Director, Center for Governmental Responsibility, University of Florida Levin College of Law
English Title: Seizing the “Organic” Moment: Cuba’s Agricultural Crossroads and Certified Organic Export Potential
Spanish Title: Aprovechar el Momento “Orgánico”: la Encrucijada Agrícola de Cuba y el Potencial de sus Exportaciones Orgánicas Certificadas
Author(s):
English Title: Safeguards in the Cuban Legal System for The Promotion and Protection of Foreign Investment
Spanish Title: Garantías del sistema jurídico cubano para la promoción y protección de la inversión extranjera
Author: Dra. Marta Moreno Cruz, Decana de la Facultad de Derecho,.Profesora titular, Universidad de La Habana
English Title: Teaching Law in Cuba
Spanish Title: La enseñanza del Derecho en Cuba
Author(s): Dra. Teresa Delgado Vergara, Presidenta Comisión Nacional de Derecho, Profesora Titular, Universidad de La Habana
English Title: General Overview of Cuban Family Law Legislation
Spanish Title: Visión general de la legislación cubana en materia de Derecho de Familia
Author: Dra. Ana María Álvarez-Tabío Albo, Profesora Titular, Universidad de La Habana
English Title: Environmental Legislation and Institutional Framework in Cuba
Spanish Title: Legislación y marco institucional ambiental en Cuba
Author: Dr. Daimar Cánovas González, Profesor Titular, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de La Habana y Vicedirector Científico, Instituto de Geografía Tropical
English Title: Pillars of the Postgraduate Formation of the Jurist in Cuba
Spanish Title: Pilares de la formación postgraduada del jurista en Cuba
Author(s):
English Title: Agricultural Policy and Rural Development in Cuba, the Public Agriculture Section
Spanish Title: Política agraria y desarrollo rural en cuba, el sector público de la agricultura
Author: Dra. Maritza de la Caridad McCormack Bequer, Profesora Titular, Universidad de La Habana
English Title: Notes on the Categories of Foreign Investment in Cuba
Spanish Title: Apuntes en torno a las modalidades de la inversión extranjera en Cuba
Author: Dra. Natacha Teresa Mesa Tejeda, Profesora Titular, Universidad de la Habana
English Title: The Resolution of Conflicts of Law. A View from Private International Law in Cuba
Spanish Title: La solución de conflictos privados internacionales. Una mirada desde el Derecho internacional privado en Cuba
Author: Dra. Taydit Peña Lorenzo, Profesora Titular, Universidad de La Habana
English Title: Instruments of Environmental Governance: A Guarantee of Sustainability in Cuba
Spanish Title: Los instrumentos de la gestión ambiental. Garantía de la sustentabilidad en Cuba
Author: Dra. Dagniselys Toledano Cordero, Dra. Profesora Titular, Universidad de La Habana
University of Florida Levin College of Law
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Text-Only Version
Justice Overton, who earned his B.S. in 1951 and his Juris Doctor in 1952 from the University of Florida, was the first merit appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Throughout his career he was active in legal education and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Levin College of Law through December 2012, the month of his death. Although he resided at Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, a continuing care retirement community developed in cooperation with UF, he also considered the Florida Supreme Court “home.” Among the high points of his later years was hosting Justices of the Florida Supreme Court in Gainesville and taking his class to Tallahassee to hear oral arguments at the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller, who earned her B.S. cum laude from New York University in 1974 and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1977, served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City’s business regulatory agency, before she retired to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida. Having accompanied Justice Overton on his excursions to Tallahassee and joined him in welcoming guests to Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, she created the endowment in memory of Justice Overton to ensure that the Levin College of Law continues to have the funding necessary to continue and enhance the interaction between its students and the Florida Supreme Court.
Judge Miller remembered the event that motivated the endowment.
Prior to a dinner at the home of Dean Robert Jerry and Lisa Jerry shortly after Justice Overton’s death, Justice Barbara Pariente and I were discussing a suitable memorial. Justice Pariente, who had been Justice Overton’s colleague on the Florida Supreme Court and who understood the importance to him of the interaction between his students and the Court, suggested the outline of what has become the Overton lectures. Dean Jerry, who has since retired, as has Dean Emeritus Jon Mills, who assumed responsibility for implementing the Overton lectures, were very supportive from the beginning. Since Dean Mills’ retirement, Professor Timothy McClendon, who assisted both Justice Overton and Dean Mills teaching Florida Constitutional Law and who co-authored the recent Florida Constitutional Law casebook, has continued the Overton lectures with the support of Interim Dean Merritt McAlister and CGR director, Professor Danaya Wright.
Justice Overton was a devoted jurist, educator, and ethical leader of the Florida legal profession. The Overton Lecture Series brings Florida Supreme Court Justices to the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, and serves to introduce students to the inner workings of the Court. CGR and the students of the College of Law extend our deepest gratitude to Judge Karen Miller for making the Overton Lectures possible in perpetuity.
You can watch an interview for the Florida Historical Society by Mary Adkins, professor emeritus of the UF Levin College of Law, with Justice Overton here.
Justice Overton was also interviewed for the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project and a transcript of his interview is available at the Smathers Library, and here.
Justice Overton sat on the Constitution Revision Commission of 1977-78 that proposed a right to privacy in the Florida Constitution. Although it failed as part of the Constitution Revision Commission recommendations, it passed in 1980 when proposed by the legislature. The bill was co-sponsored by our very own Jon Mills. The privacy provision prevailed by greater than 60%. Justice Overton then wrote a concurrence in a critical reproductive rights case in 1989 affirming that the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution included the right to obtain an abortion. That decision was overruled in Planned Parenthood of SW and Central Florida v. Florida. You can read about the role of Justice Overton, Jon Mills – director emeritus of CGR, and the history of the 1989 case here.
