FALL/WINTER 2017
The Next Generation More than a decade after Georgetown Law students helped make history with the The Labor of Loving Supreme Court case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Mary McCord (L’90) and Joshua Geltzer Professor Sheryll Cashin’s book Loving: are helping to shape the next wave of constitutional litigators Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy — published on the 50th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia — explores the hopes and challenges facing a nation GEORGETOWN LAW Fall/Winter 2017
ANN W. PARKS Editor
BRENT FUTRELL Director of Design
INES HILDE Associate Director of Design
MIMI KOUMANELIS Executive Director of Communications
TANYA WEINBERG Director of Media Relations and Deputy Director of Communications
RICHARD SIMON Director of Web Communications
JACLYN DIAZ Communications and Social Media Manager
BEN PURSE Senior Video Producer
JERRY COOPER Communications Associate
MATTHEW F. CALISE Director of Alumni Affairs
GENE FINN Assistant Dean of Development and Alumni Relations
JANE AIKEN Vice President for Strategic Development and External Affairs
WILLIAM M. TREANOR Dean of the Law Center Executive Vice President, Law Center Affairs
Cover photo: Brent Futrell
Contact:
Editor, Georgetown Law Georgetown University Law Center 600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 [email protected]
Address changes/additions/deletions: 202-687-1994 or e-mail [email protected]
Georgetown Law magazine is on the Law Center’s website at www.law.georgetown.edu
Copyright © 2017, Georgetown University Law Center. All rights reserved. Orientation 2017 Miranda Diaz (L’20) examines a piece of the Berlin Wall as she tours the Newseum with her new classmates and professors during Orientation Week 2017.
Photo Credit: Brent Futrell 2017 Fall/Winter 1 INSIDENEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
/ 11 / 14 Making a Difference Justice to Georgetown John Podesta (L’76) speaks to the 2017 Graduating Class. Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates joins Georgetown Law as a Distinguished Lecturer from Government during Fall 2017.
/ 16 / 24 Students of Originalism, Meet the Justices Keeping it Real Students of Originalism in Professor Randy Barnett’s Summer Seminar Distinguished Visitor from Practice Paul Smith argues a historic ask Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil gerrymandering case in the Supreme Court — while teaching Gorsuch about originalism, career advice and more. Constitutional Law I.
2 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
/ 26 / 36 ICAP: The Next Generation The Labor of Loving Georgetown Law’s new Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Fifty years after Loving v. Virginia, the Georgetown Law community Protection takes on unauthorized militias in its first semester. remains connected to the landmark case.
04/ Thoughts from the Dean
05/ News
26/ Feature: ICAP: The Next Generation
36/ Feature: The Labor of Loving
50/ Campus
56/ Commencement 2017
65/ New Faculty
69/ Alumni / 51 Chokehold: Policing Black Men Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler is in the spotlight with a new book.
2017 Fall/Winter 3 NEWS THOUGHTS / CONVINCING FROM EVIDENCE THE DEAN \
The Next Generation
We began the 2017-2018 school year in August with the events of Charlottesville, Virginia, in our minds and hearts — a sober reminder of the challenges our country is facing at this unprecedented time. By October, our new Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) was filing suit in Virginia state court on behalf of the City of Char- lottesville and others, seeking an order banning the groups that descended on that university town from returning to the state. ICAP, headed by Professor Neal Katyal; Mary McCord (L’90), former acting assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division; and Joshua Geltzer, former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, is a new initiative featured on page 26. With a focus on impact litigation in the national security and law enforcement arenas, ICAP will certainly cultivate the next generation of constitutional litigators at the Law Center. We look forward to seeing the work of its practicum students this spring. Our faculty continues to inspire, with Professor Paul Butler’s new book Chokehold: Policing Black Men recommended by the New York Times and Professor Sheryll Cashin’s book Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy published just in time for the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision last June (see page 36). One of our new faculty members, Professor Shon Hopwood, re- cently had his extraordinary story of redemption and success featured on “60 Minutes.” A staunch advocate for prison reform and a former fellow in Georgetown’s Appellate Litigation Clinic, Shon has become a valued member of our faculty. We also welcomed three more full-time faculty members: Professor Sheila Foster, who joins us from Fordham, will teach property and urban law and policy; Professor Brad Snyder from the Uni- versity of Wisconsin teaches Sports Law, Legal Justice and Constitutional Law II. Professor Urska Velikonja comes to Georgetown Law after visiting here full time from Emory University, teaching securities, contracts, and M&A. And Georgetown Law made headlines when we welcomed former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates as a Distinguished Lecturer from Gov- ernment for the fall 2017 semester. In these pages, we offer an exciting glimpse of the remarkable things that are happening at Georgetown Law, and I invite you to read more.
William M. Treanor Dean of the Law Center Executive Vice President, Law Center Affairs
4 Georgetown Law / NEWS
Professor Shon Hopwood Appearing on “60 Minutes” in October
Steve Kroft: You’re a professor at one of the finest law schools in the country. Is that something that you thought you would be able to do?
Professor Shon Hopwood: No. It makes me laugh hearing you say it out loud, because there are days where it doesn’t make sense to me, and I’ve lived it. So I can see why it doesn’t make sense to hardly anyone else. (Courtesy of “60 Minutes”)
For Shon’s story, see page 66.
Photo Credit: Brent Futrell 2017 Fall/Winter 5 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
Uniformed Injustice
The 2017 HRI Fact-Finding Project investigated institutional violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in El Salvador. The report, “Uniformed Injustice: State Violence Against LGBT People in El Salvador”, was released on May 21.
Sally Yates: From Acting Attorney General to Distinguished Lecturer
Sally Q. Yates began 2017 as Acting U.S. Attorney General, but fortunately for Georgetown Law, she’s finishing the year as one of our Distinguished Lecturers from Government. Yates — who enjoyed a distin- guished career at the Department of Justice for nearly three decades as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia and U.S. Deputy Attorney General before serving in the role that made her a hero to many — joined the Law Center for the fall semester. While not Federal Circuit at Georgetown Law teaching a formal class, she served as a resource for Georgetown Law students got the opportunity to witness the U.S. Court of Appeals students, participated in faculty workshops, delivered for the Federal Circuit in action — on Law Center turf. A three-judge panel sitting in the Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture and assisted with the Supreme Court Institute’s Moot Courtroom on March 6 heard four cases, the ma- Law Center programming, among other things. jority involving patents: Aylus Networks v. Apple, Williamson v. Citrix Online, MH “Georgetown has a long and distinguished history Systems v. Coldharbour Marine and Batson v. Snyder. The Institute for Technology of rigorous and thoughtful academic dialogue and a Law and Policy sponsored the event. commitment to social justice,” Yates said at the start The fact that Judge Kimberly A. Moore (L’94), Judge Richard Linn (L’69) and Judge of the year, noting that she looked forward “to being a Kara Farnandez Stoll (L’97) just happened to be Georgetown Law alumni was icing part of this dynamic environment and interacting with on the cake, as Dean William M. Treanor noted. At a Q & A session that followed, the outstanding students and faculty.” For a full interview, judges said that the morning was representative of what one might typically see at see page 14. the courthouse. “It was a hot bench today,” Stoll said, meaning that the judges were actively questioning the attorneys in the cases. “But there’s usually a hot bench.”
6 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
Girlhood Interrupted
A groundbreaking study released by Georgetown Girlhood Law’s Center on Poverty Interrupted: and Inequality in June finds The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood that adults view black girls as less innocent and more
REBECCA EPSTEIN JAMILIA J. BLAKE adult-like than their white THALIA GONZÁLEZ peers, especially in the age range of 5 to 14. The study, detailed in the new report, “Girlhood In- terrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood,” is the first of its kind to focus on girls, and builds on previous research on adult perceptions of black boys. “This new evidence of what we call the ‘adultifica- Students Wow Distinguished Judges at Beaudry Moot tion’ of black girls may help explain why black girls in Court Competition America are disciplined much more often and more severely than white girls — across our schools and in Not every law student going to a job interview is able to say that he or she once our juvenile justice system,” says Rebecca Epstein, ex- mooted a case in front of a former solicitor general, two federal judges, a talented ecutive director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality Supreme Court practitioner and the national legal director of the American Civil and the lead author of the report. Liberties Union — all at the same time. The authors call for further study into the adultifica- But Lauren Renaud (L’19), Elijah Staggers (S’16, L’20), Andrew Delaplane (L’19) tion of black girls and possible causal connections to and Kate Rheaume (L’19) can now claim that right, after participating in the 66th negative outcomes across public systems including Annual Robert J. Beaudry Moot Court Competition at Georgetown Law on April 5. education, juvenile justice and child welfare. They also Delaplane was named the final winner; Angell Darvalics (L’20) won best brief. recommend providing teachers and law enforcement The students wowed a panel that consisted of Georgetown Law Professor David officials with training on adultification to help counter- Cole, now on leave to serve as the ACLU’s legal director; Judge Pamela A. Harris of act the negative consequences of this bias. U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit; Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; Kirkland and Ellis Partner Erin E. Murphy (L’06) and former Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr.
2017 Dash Conference Highlights International Criminal Justice
What is the status of international criminal justice today? How might current U.S. leadership impact human rights? The 2017 Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights, “Global Criminal Justice: Accomplishments, Challenges, and Future Direc- tions” at Georgetown Law on April 3 examined the most critical questions. Professor Jane E. Stromseth — former deputy to the ambassador for the Office of Global Criminal Justice — led several former U.S. ambassadors-at-large for war crimes issues in a discussion on the U.S. role in advancing accountability for interna- tional atrocity crimes. Stromseth later appeared on a panel, moderated by Professor David Luban, assessing the impact of the International Criminal Court. Hassan Bubacar Jallow, Chief Justice of The Gambia, traveled from West Africa to speak of the successes and challenges of international criminal tribunals such as those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Jallow is the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former chief prosecutor of the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. 2017 Fall/Winter 7 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
MPD and Georgetown Law Unveil Police for Tomorrow
In June, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Georgetown Law and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s D.C. Government Certified Public Managers Program announced the Police for Tomorrow Fellowship program, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. The Program’s inaugural 19 fellows include sworn and civilian staff just begin- ning their careers with MPD. Fellows will pursue a two-year program that includes monthly workshops and participation in regular community activities. The development of the program’s curriculum is being led by Georgetown Law Professors Rosa Brooks, Paul Butler, Christy Lopez, Kristin Henning and Shon Hopwood, who have deep expertise in police reform, criminal justice and racial justice. Fellows will explore issues crucial to effectively and impartially serving the Washington, D.C., community — including the impact of race on policing and the criminalization of poverty. All Police for Tomorrow Fellows who complete the program will receive a Certificate from Georgetown Law’s Program on Innovative Policing to Photo credit, top: MPD officer walks the beat in D.C. Michel formally recognize their achievement. du Cille/Washington Post. Photo above: Professor Rosa Brooks with MPD Police for Tomorrow Fellows.
8 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
IIEL Conference on WTO Law Draws Standing Room Only Crowds in Geneva
The Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) co-hosted the 2017 Annual G2 Conference on WTO Law in Geneva on June 9 and 10. With a focus on reforming trade law, sessions addressed globalization and the backlash to international trade, U.S. trade policy under President Trump and more. A roundtable on Brexit and the Legal Consequences for Global Trade Relations took place just a day after the UK elections. “John Jackson would be proud,” commented IIEL Faculty Director Chris Brummer, referring to the late Georgetown Law professor and IIEL founding director who was known internationally as the “father” of the WTO. “We had an extraordinarily suc- cessful WTO conference…it was standing room only, and we look forward to welcoming as many folks as possible next year.”
Columbia Law’s Richard Brooks Delivers 2017 Ryan Lecture
On March 8, Richard R.W. Brooks, the Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, presented the 2017 Thomas F. Ryan Lecture, “Address- ing Masters, Slaves and Servants in the Early Ameri- can Republic and Our Contemporary Speech Values.” Brooks examined how Americans have resisted the term of address “master” due to the historical connec- tions to slavery. He made an argument for politically correct speech by applying forms of address to contract law, in which forms and functions were traditionally “liberty enhanc- ing”: you didn’t act incautiously, you had evidence of your intentions and you were able to channel your intentions. Political correctness as a form, Brooks said, serves exactly these functions. “Political correctness… simply says, if you intend to insult someone, as an American, you have every right to do that,” he said. “But you should know, that with this form, your inten- tion is not to insult.”
2017 Fall/Winter 9 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
FACULTY Black Resistance: Law and the Forging of a Race Professor Paul Butler Installed as the Albert Brick Professor of Law
tively recent Supreme Court deci- sions have harmed black people by giving police superpowers. How to resist? Violence has sometimes been ective, though Butler discouragesٺe it on moral grounds. In the end, his vision includes prison abolition. “To many folks, prison abolition sounds reckless…but only 20 per- cent of people in prison are there for a homicide or a sex crime…” he says. “The idea is to come up with other ways of keeping communities safe, and holding people who cause harm responsible…abolition doesn’t mean opening all of the prison doors tomorrow.” Professor Abbe Smith played clips of Butler’s appearances in the national media, including a 2015 visit to “The Diane Rehm Show.” y name is Paul about race. His address, “Black Re- Butler is (When a caller implied that the act Butler and I rep- sistance: Law and the Forging of a influencing of displaying the Confederate Æag resent the United Race,” gave a tantalizing preview of American law “M — “as a brilliant honored her Southern ancestors, States — that’s how I used to start his new book Chokehold: Policing Black Butler famously responded, “I have my opening statements when I was Men (The New Press, July 2017). scholar, as an extraordinary no respect for your ancestors. As far a prosecutor,” Professor Paul Butler “A spirit of resistance is one of teacher, as a as your ancestors were concerned, said to the crowd gathered in Hart the deÅning characteristics of black remarkable I shouldn’t be a law professor at Auditorium on April 12. “I repre- people in the United States…” member of this Georgetown. I should be a slave.”) sented the government in criminal Butler said, asserting that a deÅning community… Dean William M. Treanor noted court in the District of Columbia, characteristic of being black in this and as a leading that Butler is inÆuencing American and I used that power to put black country is Åghting back. “It is black voice who law — “as a brilliant scholar, as an men in prison. And black women. culture that has allowed African inspires us and extraordinary teacher, as a remark- And poor people. And Latinos. Like Americans to survive in a hostile teaches us with able member of this community… a lot of prosecutors that was pretty land. Black resistance is an episte- his profound and as a leading voice who inspires much all I did.” mology of self-respect, against all commitment to us and teaches us with his profound No longer. Butler is now the odds.” justice.” commitment to justice.” inaugural Albert Brick Professor of Resistance is “resistance to law
Law at Georgetown — where he — not the concept of it, but the Photo Credit: Bill Petros uses his power to explore attitudes practice of the United States…” Butler said, noting that even rela-
10 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
eye… He pulled his glasses down and said, ‘What do you say we just call this a mistrial?’ I replied, ‘Whatever you think, your Honor — I’m kind of new at this.’” It would be Podesta’s last trial. “The truth is for me, regular law- yering was kind of lonely…I kind of craved the excitement and cama- raderie of politics and policy.” That craving would see Podesta to ٺthrough a stint as chief of sta one president and counselor to an- counsel to the ٺother, working as sta Senate Judiciary Committee and Sen. Patrick Leahy (L’64)(D-Vt.), founding the Center for American Progress think tank, teaching Con- gressional Investigations at George- town Law and more. “After more than 40 years of LEGAL PROFESSION being an active member of the bar, “Don’t Let the Russians Hack your E-mails” after teaching here for more than 20 years, after working on eight John Podesta (L’76) Delivers 2017 Graduating Class Lecture presidential campaigns and in the White House for two presidents, I concede that I do have one piece hen John Podesta rule of job satisfaction: how do “Lawyers of practical advice to impart to (L’76) graduated from you feel when you tell your friends have been you today: Don’t let the Russians Georgetown Law with what you are doing?” Podesta said saying no to W discrimination, hack your e-mails,” he said, to great an interest in politics and environ- to students at the 2017 Graduating applause. mental issues, he had no idea that Class Lecture on April 17. The no to special interest Now, lawyers are on the front his passion would lead him to serve lecture was hosted by Dean William giveaways, no lines to uphold American values, one future president (Bill Clinton) as M. Treanor, who joined Podesta to the reversal Podesta told the students. .advise another future onstage ,ٺchief of sta of the torture “From airports, to courthouses, president (Barack Obama) on cli- Trying cases was fun, Podesta ban, no to to the Pentagon, lawyers have been mate and chair the campaign of a told the students — until the day shredding the saying no to discrimination, no to 2016 presidential candidate (Hillary an appraiser dropped dead on the Constitution…. special interest giveaways, no to the Clinton). stand in the middle of his cross-ex- I invite you to reversal of the torture ban, no to Podesta’s Årst job, in fact, was amination. “I don’t know about join these early shredding the Constitution…,” he working as a land condemnation you, but none of my professors went advocates, said. “I invite you to join these early trial lawyer in the Honors Program over this scenario…” he said. “I and use your advocates, and use your training of the Department of Justice’s Land moved that the witness’s testimony training and ”.erenceٺand skills to make a di and Natural Resources Division. be struck, because I hadn’t Ånished skills to make a difference.” “It [made me] appreciate what my cross-examination. To this day, Photo Credit: Bill Petros I now regard as my number one I remember the look in the judge’s
2017 Fall/Winter 11 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
CENTER ON PRIVACY & TECHNOLOGY The Color of Surveillance Government Monitoring of American Immigrants Combines Lessons of History, Technology of Today
Laura Moy — deputy director of Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology — began a landmark conference at Georgetown Law on U.S. government surveillance of immigrants by reading from the Ninth Circuit’s decision striking down the revised travel ban. While immigrant surveillance in the United States is a timely topic, its history begins a century or more ago.
12 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
Moy told the story of her own great-grandfather, States, you are far more likely to be harmed or who arrived in Chicago from China in the 1870s. injured by a white supremacist than you are by a Not long afterwards, there was a law forbidding Muslim immigrant or refugee.” Chinese immigrants to the United States, which meant that Moy’s family was subjected to “lengthy Mistakes of the past and intrusive” investigations. Open Society Foundations’ Nkecki Taifa de- “Disproportionate, speciÅc surveillance became scribed how civil rights activist Marcus Garvey was a part of life…” she said. “The things we are hear- surveilled, convicted of mail fraud in the United -orts to exclude vast numbers of States, and deported back to his birthplace, Jamaiٺing today about e people from our shores…are echoes of what we’ve ca, in the 1920s. Visiting Professor Justin Hansford been hearing throughout history in the United “Disproportionate, (L’07) and others have argued for a posthumous States.” specific surveillance pardon. “Marcus Garvey was targeted because of Indian, Japanese and Mexican immigrants were became a part of life… his race, because of his political beliefs, he received similarly subjected to disproportionate monitoring The things we are an unfair trial, and he was unceremoniously de- hearing today about in our nation’s history. But if the racial and ethnic ported,” Taifa said. “It is time to exonerate [him].” efforts to exclude vast bias behind government surveillance is not new, the Georgetown Law Professor Paul Ohm led numbers of people from intensity following the attacks of 9-11, new technol- University of Wisconsin scholar Margot Ander- our shores…are echoes ogy and a new political landscape has changed the of what we’ve been son in a discussion of the roundup of more than nature of the story — as Alvaro Bedoya, executive hearing throughout 100,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps director of the Center on Privacy, pointed out. history in the United during World War II. “[It] looked all too similar “We did not get here overnight,” he said as he States.” to the programs of the fascist regimes the U.S. was cial U.S. warٻintroduced the day-long conference on June 22. Åghting…,” Anderson said. The o But it has been decades, he said, since we have propaganda logic was that “this was not forced seen open xenophobia combined with unchecked labor, this was not extermination, nor deportation. surveillance power. “At the heart of the technolog- The Achilles heel of the argument was that the au- ical transformation of immigration enforcement thorities recognized that not all Japanese Americans are biometrics, precise digitized measurements of were security threats.” immigrants’ bodies: their faces, their Ångers, their DNA…,” Bedoya said. “If we normalize scanning A better future? and tracking immigrants bodies…it is only a matter In a keynote address, Vanita Gupta, president and of time before everybody is scanned.” CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and former head of the Depart- Bad science ment of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, praised the JustiÅcations for surveillance have typically included role of Bedoya’s Center on Privacy & Technology erroneous notions that 1) immigrants are dangerous “We know that in engaging the civil rights community on the ap- technology is going .erent. propriate use of facial recognition technologiesٺand 2) that they are di to continue to Georgetown Law Professor Sherally Munshi “We know that technology is going to continue revolutionize our lives, described the 1923 Supreme Court case of U.S. v. but we need to make to revolutionize our lives, but we need to make sure Thind, which disYualiÅed people from naturaliza- sure that it does so that it does so without being used to target or harm tion on racial grounds. Adjunct Professor Arjun without being used to the most vulnerable among us…” Gupta said. “It is Sethi noted how even programs today are based on target or harm the most vitally important that new technologies be designed bad science. vulnerable among us…” and used in ways that respect the values of equal “In many cases, they don’t just lead to proÅling opportunity and equal justice…it is going to take of Muslim Americans in immigrant communities, all of us working together to ensure that we do not they lead to bullying in our schools…” Sethi said. repeat the mistakes of the past.” “They are entirely incommensurate with the threat posed…if you look at basic statistics in the United Photo Credit Left: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2016. Above: Brent Futrell; Bill Petros.
2017 Fall/Winter 13 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
From Justice to Georgetown: Q&A with Sally Q. Yates Distinguished Lecturer from Government Sally Q. Yates
Sally Q. Yates, former Acting U.S. Attor- have something to add to their subject of the Årst women admitted to the Geor- ney General and U.S. Deputy Attorney matter. I also want to connect directly gia bar. She didn’t go to law school — she General, joined Georgetown Law for the with the students. Today, for example, I’m was able to “read” law with an attorney. Fall 2017 Semester as a Distinguished having lunch with the representatives of a She passed the bar exam, but she couldn’t Lecturer from Government. We sat down number of student organizations. And I’m really practice in the South back in those with her for an interview to talk about her looking forward to having a series of infor- days. Nobody was hiring a female lawyer. career, her life at Georgetown, and the mal lunches with students over the course So she was a secretary for my grandfather, importance of standing up for the rule of of the semester where I can hear from who was an attorney and then later a law. them, why they came to law school, what judge. My father and uncle were lawyers. they hope to do after they leave, where You left the Department of Justice in they see the intersection of law with social What did your grandmother say when January. How did you connect with justice in our world right now. I’m really you decided to go to law school? Georgetown Law? looking forward to those conversations. I think she was excited about it. Unfor- Through Professor Howard Shelanski tunately, she passed away before I had What do you hope to teach them, if [who previously served in the Obama an opportunity to engage with her in my you could teach them one thing? -erٺAdministration]. And Dean Treanor as practice, but she recognized what a di well — about giving the Hart Lecture in They’re going to leave Georgetown Law ent world it was that I would be going into November and also about the program with a unique opportunity. They’re going as an attorney. I would have been really that you have here for visitors from gov- to be attorneys and that means they’re go- frustrated had I been her. She was incredi- ernment. I felt really privileged to have an ing to have the ability to impact the world bly bright and she was relegated to the role opportunity to be part of the Georgetown and impact justice in ways that the average of being a legal assistant. She wasn’t bitter Law Center experience, and the fall was person does not. There are lots of ways to about that — she was more, that’s the way an ideal time for me to be able to come do that, and I’m not suggesting that every- it was, but isn’t it a great thing that it’s not here and to engage with students and fac- body has to go into public service. But this the way it is anymore? And you, Sally, will ulty at this institution that has such a long is a place where their degree comes with have opportunities that I didn’t have. and storied history of robust academic a responsibility — to Ånd some way to debate and discussion. The opportunity impact justice in the world for the better. You said you changed your mind to be with students in an environment in Hopefully, they’ll keep their options open. about your career. When you were which, it seems, we Ånd ourselves increas- I don’t think anybody should have to know in law school, what did you envision ingly polarized and sometimes cynical what they want to do for the rest of their yourself doing? — it’s really refreshing to be at a place career while they are still in law school. I I never thought I wanted to practice where the students are not yet cynical. certainly changed my mind, even after I criminal law. I didn’t take any criminal law They really are looking at how the law can was practicing. courses, which probably would concern change the world, and so it’s exciting to be some people given the jobs I ended up You went to the University of Georgia part of that. having! I thought that I wanted to do for your B.A. and J.D. Why did you commercial civil litigation. I went to a big What are your roles here? You’re not decide to become a lawyer? Årm in Atlanta, had a great experience, teaching a class, but you are serv- ce afterٻI’d like to say it was an original idea, but and went to the U.S. attorney’s o ing in an advisory capacity for the the fact of the matter is, I come from a I had been in the Årm for a few years — students? long line of lawyers on both sides of my thinking I would return to that same Årm. I have been visiting and speaking to classes family: My father, both of my grandfa- Twenty-seven years later, I was still at the here…if the professors feel like I might thers, and my grandmother, who was one Department of Justice.
14 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
I made the move for a variety of rea- sons — partly for a change, partly because I wanted work that felt like it was more impactful in the world. I was unprepared for just how taken I would be by the spe- cial role that you have as a member of the Department of Justice. I got to experience what it feels like to be on what you believe is the right side all the time. You have an opportunity to make communities safer but also to administer justice in a way that engenders the trust of the people that you’re serving. That’s an added responsi- bility as well; it doesn’t get any better than that if you are going to be a lawyer. I nev- er in a million years thought I was going to be a prosecutor, and then I got there and didn’t want to do anything but that.
What were your some of your career highlights? I was really fortunate during my time in as historically it has been during that tran- felt like would not be doing my job. It pro- ce to have a variety sition time. Because it’s tradition for the tected me, but it would have not protectedٻthe U.S. attorney’s o .erent positions deputy attorney general to serve as the act- the integrity of the Department of Justiceٺerent cases and diٺof di ce, so I never got bored. I ing attorney general between administra- I was the acting attorney general and Iٻwithin the o did a lot of public corruption work…all tions… I didn’t make the decision about needed to do my job. sorts of white collar work and the lead the travel ban just in that one moment. prosecutor on the Olympic bomber case… It was demanded based on the 27 years I Where do you think you got those ce was had spent at DOJ before that, and all of principles? In law school? From yourٻWhen I was U.S. attorney, our o focused on building safer communities. the work that I had done prior to that, and family? Getting out into the community so that the principles to which I tried to adhere I think we are all a combination of all of people knew us and came to trust us… and our department adheres. That’s what those experiences. I will tell you I have working on the prevention side in schools prepared me for that, but I certainly never tremendous respect for the career men and in communities…doing a [lot] in expected to need to be prepared for that and women at the Department of Justice; the prisoner reentry program as well. It moment. they make courageous decisions every day. cultٻreally takes all three prongs, prosecution, Sometimes it’s bringing a really di What would you tell students when prevention and reentry, to truly build safer case, sometimes it’s in declining to indict they’ve got a difficult decision and communities. That was exciting and that a case that the public may be clamoring have to stand up for what they be- ce. for, but it’s not the right thing to do. Thoseٻwas a new dimension for our o lieve in? folks are making courageous decisions The work that you just did in Wash- It wasn’t something that I was viewing every day. They may not make the head- ington — standing up for what you through the prism of “this takes courage.” lines like this does. But they are doing that believed in with respect to the rule of It was to do my job, this is what I need to every day. law and the travel ban — did you ever do, and I couldn’t imagine not doing that. see yourself in this role? There was a bit of a dilemma over wheth- Photo Credit: Sam Hollenshead. I certainly didn’t anticipate that…I er to resign or to direct, but resigning I thought it was going to an uneventful time,
2017 Fall/Winter 15 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
CENTER FOR THE CONSTITUTION Original Meaning in an Ever-Changing World Students of Originalism Meet Justices at Georgetown Law Summer Seminar
s an evening student taking Constitution- Ågure out original meanings… As new technolo- al Law with Professor Randy Barnett, gies are being developed, it’s hard to tell what kind ANoah McCullough (L’20) got a tantalizing of judicial doctrines and constructions will give ect in anٺglimpse of the doctrine of originalism and wanted the Constitution’s original meaning e to dive deeper. So he applied to Barnett’s unique ever-changing world.” Originalism Summer Seminar, a weeklong intensive session held May 22 to 26 at Georgetown Law. Strategic Decisionmaking “With the Justice Gorsuch nomination and Annika Boone, who just Ånished her 1L year at the conÅrmation process…I kept hearing conÆict- Harvard Law, applied to the program after hearing ing versions of what originalism actually was,” Barnett give a talk to the Federalist Society. She McCullough explained. “When I saw the lineup especially enjoyed a talk by Adjunct Professor Alan they had — the speakers, the academics, the judges, Gura (L’95), who successfully argued the Second every person who was going to talk to us — I felt Amendment cases of District of Columbia v. Heller like it would be a valuable experience.” and McDonald v. Chicago in the Supreme Court. Originalism is the view held by the late Justice “I was furiously scribbling notes the whole time Antonin Scalia, current Justice Neil Gorsuch and he was talking about Heller and how you go about others that “the meaning of the text of the Con- strategic litigation from an originalist perspective,” stitution must remain the same as when it was en- Boone said of Gura. acted, until it is properly changed by constitutional During the week, participants were treated to amendment,” says Barnett, who directs George- talks by former Attorney General Ed Meese, Janice town Law’s Center for the Constitution. And from Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Day One of the seminar, there was much to talk the District of Columbia Circuit, Justice Thomas about, from an overview of originalist theory by Lee of the Utah Supreme Court and Judge Diane Professor Larry Solum to rationales and critiques Sykes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh by Barnett and other leading scholars. Circuit, among others. The best part? “It’s hard to top meeting with And for those not already working as a lawyer, Supreme Court justices,” McCullough said. By Fri- the Originalism Summer Seminar was a great day morning, participants — 37 students represent- place to get career advice. McCullough, who ce for Johnٻing 18 law schools including Georgetown, George works in the Senate Majority Whip o Washington, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Michigan, Cornyn (R-Texas) during the day, did not pass up Duke, University of California Berkeley, University the opportunity to ask Gorsuch. “His advice, along of Arizona and UVA — had twice visited the Court with that of almost every speaker we asked, was to to meet with Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch take risks — don’t have any set plans,” McCullough and Clarence Thomas. All three lent their time and said. “The greatest opportunities are sometimes the their thoughts for the beneÅt of the students. ones that you’re not expecting.” What did the newest justice tell the group? “He [was glad] that there is a program like this where Photo Credit: Architect of the Capitol of the United States. people are able to learn about originalism, its theory and its applications,” McCullough said of Gorsuch. “He also gave us the charge, if you will, to do academic work and get involved in trying to
16 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
SOCIAL JUSTICE The Promise of In re Gault, Half a Century Later Juvenile Justice Initiative Hosts “The Right to Remain Children: Race and Juvenile Justice 50 Years After Gault”
hen Devontae Sanford was just 14 years But a half century later, the promise of In re old, he was arrested for murdering four Gault remains unfulÅlled for youth of color — who Wdrug dealers in Detroit. He confessed are more likely than their white peers to be crimi- to the crime, entered a plea on the advice of his nalized and treated as adults, sometimes for simply former lawyer and served nearly nine years in jail. hanging out with friends or talking on a cell phone But a hitman confessed to the murders just after in class. Devontae’s sentencing — and the boy’s confes- Professor Kristin Henning dedicated the sym- sion did not match the crime. The confession was posium, sponsored by Georgetown Law’s Juvenile coerced by police, and Devontae Sanford was Justice Initiative and the National Juvenile Defender innocent. Center, to youth of color who are overrepresented How did race impact this tragic story? “It in the criminal justice system and to those who died “As stakeholders on the played a big role,” said Sanford, who was exoner- front line, [we] cannot far too young. ated and released from prison in 2016. “I told my stand by and watch. “Today, 50 years after Gault, youth of color attorney at the time I wanted a jury trial. He said, All of us must stand continue to be disproportionately suspended and ‘You’re a poor black kid from the ghetto. These up and fight against expelled, arrested, processed in the courts rather white people will come in from the suburbs and Ånd the criminalization than diverted, detained in secure facilities and you guilty…I was forced into taking a bench trial, of normal adolescent transferred to adult court for prosecution,” Hen- something I didn’t even want to do.’” behavior in ning said. “As stakeholders on the front line, [we] Sanford spoke in Hart Auditorium May 16 at communities of color.” cannot stand by and watch. All of us must stand “The Right to Remain Children: Race and Juvenile up and Åght against the criminalization of normal Justice 50 Years After Gault.” As Dean William M. adolescent behavior in communities of color.” Treanor noted at the outset, the 1967 Supreme .rmed the right to due process, includ- Photo Credit: Bill Petros; Ines HildeٻCourt case a ing the constitutional right to defense counsel, for juveniles in delinquency proceedings.
2017 Fall/Winter 17 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
Georgetown Law Fights Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), revolution” — meaning the shift in for Legal Services who is a lawyer, noted that some power from outside counsel to those Corporation Funding do not understand the important on the inside. Heineman, the author work of LSC, which helps to fund of a recent book on the subject, more than 130 nonproÅt legal aid outlined some “integrity-Årst” programs. “This is not a partisan ideals for corporate counsel living issue, this is an American issue…” this revolution: Be an accountable he said. “We are already on the leader. Create a culture of integrity. same side.” Be a partner to the CEO, but also a Panels looked at the importance guardian of the company. of access to justice to the judiciary “The dilemma is pretty stark: and the legal needs of low-income we have to avoid being an inveterate veterans. The day concluded with naysayer and being excluded from At a time when funding for the Le- remarks by Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy meetings, or [always saying yes] and gal Services Corporation (LSC) has III (D-Mass.) and American Bar being indicted…” Heineman said. come under attack, the organization Association President Linda Klein. A Supreme Court update needed a new forum in which to “For those of us who carry the with current and former solicitors hold a meeting. So they came to letters ‘J.’ and ‘D.’ after our name, general has long been a highlight Georgetown Law. this must be our Åght,” Kennedy of CCI during its 21-year run. On April 25, the Law Center said. “Because we are pledged to Now-former SG Donald B. Verrilli, community welcomed LSC to Hart serve justice built not just on law, Jr., and former SG Paul D. Clement Auditorium. The independent non- but on a promise that we made to (F’88) returned once again to Hart proÅt was established by Congress each other: that we will be treated Auditorium as Professor Steven in 1974 to provide Ånancial support fairly whether we are strong or H. Goldblatt led a discussion of for civil legal aid to low income weak, good or bad, rich or poor, the conÅrmation hearings of Neil Americans. wrong or right… Inspired by all of Gorsuch and a host of securities “LSC resonates with what the you here today, I promise to echo and patent matters. Law Center is all about,” Dean Wil- your calls throughout the halls The Institute, hosted by George- liam M. Treanor said. Treanor, in of Congress until we reach a day town Law’s Continuing Legal fact, not only signed the March 23 where increasing federal funding for Education, turned up the political letter to Congress (along with 165 LSC is not just defending its very Todd, Verrilli, heat as NBC News Political Direc- other law deans) urging congres- existence.” Clement, tor Chuck Todd shared his thoughts sional leaders to maintain funding Heineman on today’s landscape. Our politics for LSC but also delivered it to the are broken, Todd said, when not right people in Washington. CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION governing becomes a useful political “We all have a moral obligation Clement, Verrilli, strategy. to protect those in our society who Heineman and Todd Regarding the “obstruction-only are the most poor and vulnerable Headline 2017 Corporate strategy that Republicans went on and marginalized, and that’s what Counsel Institute for the last six years…” Todd said, legal services are about,” the dean “if Democrats win control of the added. “I am sorry to see you here, What does it mean to be a great House in [2018] doing the same but I am delighted to see you here.” lawyer working in house? Ask Ben- thing, reinforcing that this is the LSC Chairman John G. Levi jamin W. Heineman, former gener- easiest way back into power, then said that “merely surviving elim- al counsel at General Electric, who we are going to be in this never Georgetown Law’s 2017 ending loop… We’ve got to get out ٺination” would not be a victory. kicked o “Robust funding must continue, and Corporate Counsel Institute (CCI) of this loop. At some point I think increased funding is what we seek.” with a look at the “inside counsel the voters will revolt on this.”
18 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
Students Crush Moot Court Competitions
Georgetown Law students Kyle Crawford ebach (L’17) ÅnishedٺL’17) and Anna De) ahead of teams from 15 other law schools at the annual Andrews Kurth Kenyon Moot Court National Championship, hosted by the University of Houston Law Center. Georgetown Law is the Årst three- time winner of the National Champion- ship, having won the trophy in 2013 and 2015 as well. The Ånal round in January 2017 between Georgetown and Chicago-Kent College of Law was decided by current and former Texas Supreme Court justices as well as federal appellate court judges. The team was coached by Peter Baumann (L’17). Raisa D’Oyley (L’17) and Nicholas Hall (L’17) won the ELSA Maynooth Competition, an international negotiation competition run by Maynooth University in Ireland in March. Carlton Tarpley (L’18) and Shan- aye Williams (L’18) won the Irving R. still Ånding that the work of the Institute Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Supreme Court Institute Hosts is [helping] to prepare counsel to argue Court Competition at Fordham University Justices John Roberts, Elena before the Court. We are the direct and in New York City in April. Williams also Kagan ,ortsٺimmediate beneÅciaries of your e won second for Best Oral Advocate. At the end-of-term reception on April 27, and we very much appreciate it.” Amarto Bhattacharyya (L’17) was the Supreme Court Institute (SCI) hon- Guests included Justice Elena Kagan named Best Oral Advocate in the 2017 rey P. Minear, the Counselor to and Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitorٺored Je American College of Trial Lawyers’ the Chief Justice of the United States — General of the United States. For the National Trial Competition in March. along with everyone who participated in second time in the program’s history, SCI The Georgetown Law team was named the Institute’s moot courts during October mooted counsel in every case that went runner up. Term 2016. So it was Åtting that the Chief before the Supreme Court during 2016- Georgetown Law was ranked Åfth in Justice himself would come to the Law 2017. the nation for moot court by National Jurist. er words of praise about his “This program is such a source ofٺCenter to o colleague. Roberts also praised SCI’s Moot pride for us,” said Georgetown Law Dean Court Program, which prepares lawyers William M. Treanor, noting that students about to argue before the Supreme Court. beneÅt by watching the nation’s best “I was the beneÅciary of the Institute advocates hone their Supreme Court oral on pretty much every one of my cases, arguments. “It’s something that’s unri- when I was arguing the cases before the valed, and I want to thank all of you for Court, and found the experience to be making that possible.” valuable,” the Chief Justice said. “I’m
2017 Fall/Winter 19 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION Their Day in Court Appellate Litigation Clinic Students argue before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
his paces as much as they did for the experienced DOJ attorney arguing the other side. Is there a criminal justice interest in a waiver? Why shouldn’t someone be able to waive FOIA rights? How often do these waivers appear in plea deals anyway? Not bad for students who had, at that point, not even taken a bar exam. “I wanted the chance to argue, and I volunteered,” said Barokh, who along with Thalhofer worked on the case as part of Professor Steve Goldblatt and Erica Hashimoto’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. Goldblatt was appointed to the case by the court; Clinic Fellow and new Georgetown Law Professor Shon Hopwood served as supervising attorney. One week earlier, Donna Farag (L’17) had also argued before the D.C. Circuit. And in March, Barr Benyamin (L’17) and Justin Greer (L’17) had argued in the Fourth Circuit in Richmond and the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, respectively. “I really like when students get to argue — they do a terriÅc job, and it’s great training experience for them,” Hashimoto said. The clinic worked on seven cases during 2016-2017 and four were argued by students. While other students were Ånishing Ånal exams, Barokh and Thalhofer were mooting the case more than a dozen times, the students said. They also polished the brief through quite a few drafts. “Professor Goldblatt is a pretty exacting guy, so just trying to meet his standards of quality was the challenging thing,” Thal- few minutes before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 10 — a hofer said. “But we’re better for it.” time when other 3L students might have been cramming How many times did he throw the brief back for revisions? A for one more exam, checking the last page of footnotes “Many — always in animated fashion,” Thalhofer said. .er — Ben Barokh (L’17) “And always at 5:30 a.m.,” Barokh contributedٺon a Ånal paper or anticipating a job o was arguing before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Such exacting standards will no doubt serve the students well Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. in their future careers; Barokh goes to Sidley Austin and will clerk Just 12 days shy of graduating, Barokh was trying to convince on the Ninth Circuit. Thalhofer goes to Cleary Gottlieb and will the judges that a criminal defendant should not be able to waive clerk on the Third Circuit. the right to request information under the Freedom of Infor- In the meantime, they had to put the case aside temporarily Thalhofer (L’17), also student as they studied for the bar. The end result? In August, the court’s ٺmation Act in a guilty plea. Je counsel in Price v. Department of Justice, watched intently from the decision came down: Barokh and Thalhofer had won their case. courtroom. “We’re so grateful to Shon for his patience and his guidance,” If they knew they were questioning a law student, Judge said Thalhofer, joined by Barokh. “We couldn’t be happier that Janice Rogers Brown, Judge David S. Tatel (H’10) and Judge he’ll be staying on at Georgetown as a professor, now that he’s ”.th weren’t letting on. They put Barokh through Ånished his clinic fellowshipٻThomas B. Gri
20 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
JOURNALS Friendships at Two, Three, Four in the Morning Georgetown Law Journal Hosts Fifth Annual Banquet
he Georgetown Law Journal ume 90 (L’02), Matt Berns (L’09) of Vol- was working to build on the journal’s is not just something we ume 97, Lala Qadir (L’13) from Volume commitment to community and diversity. “Tproduce,” explained Volume 101, Shauna Kramer (L’14) of Volume “Engaging with diverse perspectives, ideas 105 Editor in Chief Peter Baumann (L’17) 102 and Noah Gimbel (F’10, L’16) from and people is the key to strengthening as he introduced Professor Sherman Cohn Volume 104. our own convictions,” Ong said. “[When (F’54, L’57, L’60) at the GLJ’s Fifth Annu- Cohn provided a historical perspec- we] exchange ideas and discuss topics al Banquet. “It’s a community we join.” tive, from Quay’s tenure at the helm of with people who disagree with our own No one exempliÅes that ethos, he said, the GLJ in 1911 to his own experience opinion, it helps make our arguments better than Cohn, who — as the man- at midcentury. “The Journal had a single better…these discussions ultimately lead aging editor of Volume 45 in the 1950s room…and a group of standard, upright us to grow[.]” and later as a Georgetown Law professor typewriters — with ribbons — that needed After dinner, Baumann led Distin- — has mingled with the late Volume 1 to be changed,” Cohn recalled. “Every guished Lecturer Paul Clement (F’88), the Editor-in-Chief Eugene Quay (L’1913), document had to be typed and proofread 43rd U.S. Solicitor General, in a conversa- nobody else. And when tion about his career, the Supreme Court — ٺcurrent Volume 106 Editor-in-Chief by the sta Jennifer Ong (L’18) and everyone in rewritten, the document had to be retyped bar, brief writing, representing clients Life and more. Advice for students wishing to …ٺbetween. Indeed, Cohn, Ong, Baumann and again proofread, by the sta erent! [But] that’s where I pursue a similarly impressive appellateٺand the rest of the GLJ community got to was quite di catch up with no less than eight former developed many of my friendships, at two, career? “Figure out how you are going to editors-in-chief at the March 25 dinner: three, four in the morning.” actually get to do it,” Clement said, “and Don Burris (L’69) of Volume 57, Ken Jost Ong spoke of her vision for Volume then pursue those opportunities.” had already scanned 1200 ٺL’81) of Volume 69, Thomas Van Wazer 106; the sta) (L’88) of Volume 76, Josh Liston of Vol- article submissions in seven weeks and Photo Credit: Bill Petros.
2017 Fall/Winter 21 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
NATIONAL SECURITY What Exactly is the Rule of Law?
n May 4, Georgetown Law hosted “Rule Forces who chairs the ABA Standing Committee on of Law Approaches to Countering Law and National Security, moderated a discussion OViolent Extremism,” a conference of the on extremism in the 21st century. American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative “Most of the kids who join ISIS are 14, 15, (ROLI). And with expertise in so many relevant 16, 17 years old…” NPR Correspondent Dina areas — national security, criminal justice, interna- Temple-Raston noted. “If all you did was click… tional law — members of the Law Center commu- on websites, does that make you as dangerous as nity contributed far more than the venue. someone who goes to an Al-Qaeda camp?”
Judge Margaret McKeown (L’75, H’05) of the “If all you did was What exactly is the rule of law? “The way I U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who click…on websites, think of rule of law is as a restriction on the arbi- chairs ROLI, moderated a session with Associate does that make you as trary exercise of power of government, by basi- Dean Rosa Brooks on the relationship between the dangerous as someone cally subordinating it to some sort of well deÅned rule of law and violent extremism. who goes to an Al- and established laws,” Professor Laura Donohue “The causes of violent extremism often turn Qaeda camp?” commented in a wrap-up session moderated by the out to be multiple, complex and highly localized,” — NPR Correspondent ABA’s Linda Bashai (L’91). Brooks said, citing a ROLI issue paper. Mental Dina Temple-Raston Donohue, along with Professors David Koplow, health issues that are a factor in one country, she Marty Lederman, David Luban and Visiting Pro- Photo Top: Al Shabaab noted, may play no role in others; poverty and attack in Mogadishu, Soma- fessor Stephen Rapp, participated on panels exam- ,ective criminal justice responses to violenceٺreligion are not predictors. lia, Spetember 2013; Credit: ining e Yet the rule of law has been found to reduce the AU-UN IST PHOTO / Stuart expanding personal freedoms and opportunity, and likelihood of terrorist events, Brooks said. Addi- Price. building community resilience. tional studies have found a correlation between the “We are very lucky to be here [at] my alma degree to which a state curtails civil and political mater,” McKeown said at the outset. “Putting this rights and the likelihood that terrorism will occur. together in collaboration with Georgetown has Visiting Professor James Baker, the retired chief been a real joy.” judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed
22 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
Tech for Justice 2017 Iron Tech Lawyer, Privacy Practicum Competitions
n app that helps D.C. parents and students ectively when a student facesٺadvocate e Asuspension and expulsion. Another app that helps pro bono lawyers and intake personnel in British Columbia to determine quickly and ciently the types of issues that a potential clientٻe is facing. A third that helps LGBTQ New Yorkers 1 victimized by violence get help. Presented in a week that focused on increasing access to justice — with a meeting of the Legal Ser- vices Corporation held at Georgetown Law the day before — these apps and others may one day make an important contribution. They were developed as part of Professor Tanina Rostain’s “Technology, Innovation, and Access to the Civil Justice System” 2 class, which Rostain co-teaches with Adjunct Pro- fessors Mark O’Brien and Kevin Mulcahy. During Spring 2017, 23 students — in collabo- ration with service organizations — built eight apps to assist underrepresented groups in learning their rights and getting help. The students presented those apps at the 8th Iron Tech Lawyer competition on April 26. 3 Meanwhile, on April 27, Georgetown Law and Massachusetts Institute of Technology students, The award for “Best Iron The Social Media Award Best Proposal Indepen- working together as part of a Privacy Legislation in Tech Lawyer” went to went to Ethan Plail (L’18), dent of Political Consid- Practice: Law and Technology course, showcased Marissa Moshell (L’17), Raffi Isanians (L’18) and erations: Best Practices draft legislation to address issues surrounding facial Annick Banoun (L’17) and Joseph Simpson (L’18) for and Guidelines for Fake recognition technology, in-home listening devices, B.J. Altwater (L’18) for their Job Defender app, News Mitigation — Lind- police geolocation and more. their Resource and Intake developed for Good Jobs sey Barrett (L’17), Shanna Adjunct Professor Alvaro Bedoya, executive Application developed for Nation, Inc. (3) Holako (L’17), Yonadav G. the New York City Gay Shavit (MIT), Benjamin director of Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Lesbian Anti-Violence Proposal Most Likely to Goh (MIT/Harvard). & Technology, teaches the class along with George- Project. (1) Succeed in Congress or town Law Professor David Vladeck and MIT in- a State Legislature: The Wildcard Award: The structors Hal Abelson, Illaria Liccardi and Daniel The Excellence in Geolocation Information Always-On Device Data J. Weitzner. Design Award went to Privacy Protection Act Protection Privacy Act of “If we are going to address our access to justice Mohammad Akhavannik (GIPPA) Act — Sara 2017 — Allison Bohm problems in the United States,” Dean William M. (L’18), David Schifrin (L’17) Ainsworth (F’14, L’17), (L’17), Edward George Treanor said at the start of Iron Tech, “technology and Tim Tanner (L’17) Speare Hodges (L’17), (L’17), Bennett Cyphers is the key.” for their British Colum- Sunoo Park (MIT), Mary (MIT), Juye Lu (MIT). bia Justice Navigator, DuBard (MIT/Wellesley). Photo Credit: Melissa Ryan. developed for Access Pro Bono Society of British Columbia. (2)
2017 Fall/Winter 23 NEWS / CONVINCING EVIDENCE
Keeping it Real: Q&A with Paul Smith Distinguished Visitor from Practice Paul Smith Argues a Historic Gerrymandering Case in the Supreme Court — While Teaching Constitutional Law I
is unconstitutional; on the other hand, I feel uncomfortable about how we would handle it, how we would draw lines, how we would measure it. I’m not willing to say, these cases should never be heard. But I’m not willing, at this point, to say you’ve come up with enough to win the case. So we lost 5 to 4 with that very unusual opinion. The social science has now been geared to try to give him some comfort level, that there is a way to measure gerrymandering and to rank gerryman- ders from really bad to just a little bit of partisanship. This way, they can feel more comfortable that they’re a) not trying to completely eradicate partisanship from the hen the Supreme Court Gill v. Whitford is the first partisan process, but b) not enforcing things that agreed to hear Gill v. Whitford, gerrymandering case to be heard by are really, really severe — that for 10 years the Wisconsin gerryman- the Supreme Court since 2004 — and W they are going to guarantee that one party dering case, Distinguished Visitor from you argued that case for a 5-4 loss? Practice Paul M. Smith found himself in wins no matter what the people vote. I did argue that case (Vieth v. Jubelirer, the unique position of having to argue 2004). There was a case years later called They’re saying this is a blockbuster a Supreme Court case while planning LULAC v. Perry (2006) that also had a par- case. Why? his Constitutional Law I class for the fall tisan gerrymandering claim in it, involving semester. It’s all in a day’s work for Smith, Because this is the last big shot to have the the Texas Congressional District. We lost who for decades was in Jenner & Block’s Supreme Court recognize that discrim- that case too. It’s been over a decade, it’s appellate practice — arguing 19 Supreme inating against people based on their certainly fair to say, since the court has liation oughtٻCourt cases involving matters ranging political views or partisan a looked at the issue. from free speech and civil rights to civil to be unconstitutional. They have, mul- tiple times, not been willing to go there, procedure. Notable wins include Lawrence Why is this case so big? Why will it be and people feel like it is worse than ever. v. Texas, the landmark gay rights case; in different? Spring 2018, Smith will teach an LGBT The gerrymandering, in fact, is worse than Civil Rights Seminar with Distinguished It is important to understand what hap- ever. The statistics show it, with these new .ciency gapٻVisitor from Practice Evan Wolfson, archi- pened in Vieth. In that case, four justices social science measures, the e s, which was us, You can tell that it’s actually worse than itٺtect of the movement that won marriage said that the plainti equality in the United States in 2015. should win, that the map was a gerryman- was 10 and 20 years ago. We sat down with Smith — now the vice der. [And] four justices, in an opinion writ- And I think there’s a sense that polar- president for litigation and strategy at the ten by Justice Scalia, said that they didn’t ization in our politics is in part caused by Campaign Legal Center — to glean his think the issue ought to be in court at all, the division of a lot of the districts into thoughts regarding this important case. that it’s a political matter. As they say in either red or blue districts, and no compet- the law, nonjusticiable. And there was a itive districts. People who are concerned middling opinion from Justice Kennedy, about that, and the fact that there is no which was unusual in that he said, I do cooperation across the aisle, partly blame is bad, that gerrymandering gerrymandering, and would like to see our ٺthink this stu 24 Georgetown Law CONVINCING EVIDENCE \ NEWS
politics work better. I think those are all extremely active in questioning. When I Årm to consult with after they had lost all reasons why it’s viewed as a big blockbust- was a law clerk there in 1980, [a lawyer] their appeals in the state courts of Texas. er. It’s basically the last chance. If we can’t could talk for ten minutes [before getting] These guys were prosecuted for sodomy. orts are going to the Årst question. Now you’re lucky if you We counseled them on whether it wasٺwin this time, reform e erent direction. get a sentence out. They’re often very ag- a good idea to go back to the Supremeٺhave to go in a di gressive questions, because the justices are Court and try to get Bowers v. Hardwick What’s the efficiency gap? in many ways using the questioning and overruled. We told them in the end we Basically, it’s a formula that tries to the answers to speak to each other, to try thought it was a good idea to go back, measure how many of each party’s votes to bring out the weaknesses in a position… the court had changed, the country had are wasted. It says if votes are wasted, if It can be a very daunting experience for changed… So we Åled the cert petition in districts where you lose because you which you really want to be prepared. and we got it granted, which was really only have 45 percent of votes, that all There’s a reason why there has been quite a stunning moment because all of your votes are wasted, because they’re not developed this specialized Supreme Court a sudden everybody said, this is going getting you any representation. And votes bar — those who have experience doing to change everything. It’s really hard to are wasted in districts where you win, but this feel comfortable doing it, the justices understand now how terrible the divide you have way too many voters, so for 90 feel comfortable with them. was between the gay community and the percent, 40 percent of those votes are rest of the country — after Bowers said you Did you always want to be a lawyer? wasted. You’re measuring the places where basically have no rights at all. your votes are either packed or cracked I wanted to be in Washington, D.C., in- So we worked on the merits brief and — meaning you don’t have quite enough volved in making policy. I came down here it turned out I was the only person on the to win… If you add up all the wasted during the summer of ’74 from college… team who had ever argued a Supreme votes, the excess votes in the 90 percent Watergate was a big part of my college Court case. It turned out to be a complete- districts and all the votes in the 45 percent experience. It was all about the press and ly life changing experience for me…I was districts and you compare that with the the lawyers; those were the two categories just kind of lucky that I was in the right same number for the other party, you can of things people wanted to be. I majored place at the right time. calculate a percentage. You get a single in political science, political theory. You’re teaching with Evan Wolfson in number to say how much disparity there is the spring. Do want to talk about that in wasted votes between the two parties… You clerked for Justice Lewis Powell. class? So you end up with a way to actually come Do you have a Lewis Powell story? up with a score. Justice Powell was the world’s nicest man. It is going to be a combination of law and He was totally beloved by his clerks, who how civil rights movements operate, how You are teaching con law while the worked as hard as they could to always the strategy works to try to change the law case is going on? try to please him. He was very centrist. I in terms of the fundamental civil rights. I really enjoy the teaching. I can talk about didn’t agree with him on everything, but Evan has a lot of experience in moving the process, the Supreme Court, how that I always knew that if he was running the public opinion…we’re going to talk about works. I think it is interesting as an expe- world, we would be Åne. He believed fun- how you actually organize a civil rights rience for the students to hear. That this damentally in the values of civil liberties movement, and at the same time, talk is happening right now — to have your and civil rights. He was a Southerner and about the doctrinal developments. My professor be in the limelight for a while. he told me that the most important man guess is there will be new doctrinal devel- in America in the twentieth century was opments happening next spring… We’re This will be your 20th case argued in Thurgood Marshall. Who was down the not in the post-LGBT rights era yet by any the Court. For law students who have hall at the time… means. never had the experience, what is it like to argue a Supreme Court case? How did you get involved in Lawrence Photo Credit: Brent Futrell. v. Texas? It’s very intense and surprisingly short. You only get a half hour a side, and That case came to the Årm because Lamb- the Court in recent years has become da Legal was looking for a Supreme Court
2017 Fall/Winter 25 ICAP The Next Generation
26 Georgetown Law With the Launch of a new Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP), national security experts Mary McCord (L’90), Joshua Geltzer and Professor Neal Katyal are cultivating the next generation of constitutional litigators
When Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal was arguing his first case before the Supreme Court — Hamdan v. Rumsfeld — in 2006, he had the support and assistance of approximately 70 Georgetown Law students: seven semester’s worth. After Katyal’s successful challenge to the George W. Bush-era military commissions set up to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in Hamdan, he launched Georgetown Law’s bipartisan Center on National Security and the Law, now headed by Professor Laura Donohue, in 2008 to tackle the legal questions stem- ming from the War on Terror. “You had the top scholars, the top practitioners in national security law, the top litigators in national security law, all coming together and talking about the challenges we face,” he said at the time. And stu- dents watching had a front-row seat.
2017 Fall/Winter 27 Feature / ICAP: The Next generation
“The opportunity to be in an academic environment, do some teaching and do constitutional advocacy was like a dream job.”
In 2017, Katyal and two other prominent Katyal, of course, now sports the titles money bail, while releasing others who ord to pay. The case began with aٺexperts in national security are taking a of former acting U.S. solicitor general, can a -who was jailed on charges of driv ٺerent tack — spearheading George- Hogan Lovells partner and the Paul and plaintiٺdi town Law’s new Institute for Constitu- Patricia Saunders Professor of National ing without a license when she could not .ord bailٺtional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP). Security Law at Georgetown Law. Since a Along with ICAP Executive Director Hamdan, he’s argued before the Supreme “They assign you a bail amount, and Josh Geltzer, former senior director for Court more than 30 times. if you can’t pay it, you pretty much sit counterterrorism at the National Security In addition to pursuing impact there until you can get another hearing, Council, and ICAP Senior Litigator from litigation, ICAP’s leadership will teach which might be in a few days, it might be Practice Mary McCord (L’90), former a related course in Spring 2018. “We’ll in two weeks or it might not be until you er a practicum in which students will get to trial,” McCord says. “Many peopleٺacting assistant attorney general at the o Department of Justice’s National Security learn a bit each week about the nature of plead guilty as a way to go home faster, Division, Katyal will be tackling the new- constitutional impact litigation, which is it- hoping for a sentence of time served. The est constitutional challenges and inspiring self an interesting art form,” Geltzer says. District Court held that the practice likely a new generation of students, who might “How you choose your cases, how you violated the Equal Protection and Due have been in grade school when Hamdan argue those cases, and how you explain Process clauses.” was playing out. to the public why you’ve chosen those ICAP also made policy arguments that “Constitutional dialogue in the courts cases…we’ll also see from the students the practice undermines the legitimacy — and also in the Court of Public Opin- contributions to our litigation work.” of the criminal justice system. “A better ion — has become increasingly polar- How do they choose their own cases? system that we advocate for is individual- ized,” Katyal says. “I wanted a place that “The ICAP team will generally look ized assessments of risk and then release could draw on the scholarship of the Law for cases in which they can utilize the on conditions that are tailored to that Center and its faculty, could integrate stu- distinctive experience of ICAP’s leader- risk — whether that means phone calls to dents into constitutional impact litigation ship working on national security and law remind you of your court appearances, and could present centrist, scholarly views enforcement issues within the executive drug treatment, mental health treatment, of what the Constitution means.” branch,” he notes. This experience, whatever it may be,” she asserts. “That’s ective at getting people to appearٺhe believes, provides “an unparalleled more e A team of experts perspective and credibility in articulating in court than a money bail system.” the limits of proper executive authority… Just months earlier, Geltzer was entering we also look for cases in which the novelty his third year on loan to the White House Texas SB4 of the constitutional issues at stake call ering Another early project challenges the Texasٺfrom the Department of Justice, o for creative thinking about how to apply continuity on counterterrorism issues after law SB 4 [see page 34], which aims to established constitutional doctrine to new the 2016 election. McCord — a George- prevent localities within the state from be- laws, facts, or other developments.” town Law alum — was then overseeing coming “sanctuary cities” with respect to the DOJ Russia investigation as well as enforcement of federal immigration law. numerous counterterrorism prosecutions. O’Donnell v. Harris County “It creates liability on the part of local — a mayor ,ٺcials — a county sheriٻBoth were ready for a change. “The On August 9, the Institute Åled an amicus o opportunity to be in an academic environ- brief in the Fifth Circuit case of O’Donnell personal liability for endorsing a policy of ment, do some teaching and do constitu- v. Harris County, supporting a lower court nonenforcement of federal immigration tional advocacy,” McCord says, “was like injunction against the county for a prac- law, and one of the things that can be a dream job.” tice of detaining misdemeanor defendants evidence of such endorsement is actually before trial solely because they cannot pay
28 Georgetown Law ICAP: THE NEXT GENERATION \ FEATURE
-cial,” Geltzer “Under the Supreme Court’s precٻpublic statements of that o says. “That strikes us as raising some novel edents, President Trump’s @realDon- constitutional concerns.” A federal judge aldTrump Twitter feed qualiÅes as a in Texas has agreed, blocking that part of public forum — a public space owned ect as sched- or controlled by the government thatٺthe law from going into e uled. has been opened to the general public to ICAP also envisions tackling whis- engage in expressive activity — in which tleblower protection and possibly torture the government is forbidden to engage and detention issues should the country in viewpoint discrimination…,” the brief see a return to those days. “We are evolv- asserts. ing as we see where the gaps are,” Geltzer “When the government creates a says. “Some areas haven’t heated up.” space for public discussion and debate, whether in a physical or virtual setting, it Virginia militias, twitter creates a public forum,” Geltzer explains. “The Constitution then bars the govern- They didn’t have long to wait. As the Årst ment from silencing those who question it ICAP projects were shaping up in early and giving voice only to those who praise August, the Unite the Right rally exploded it.” in Charlottesville on August 12 — with As far as learning opportunities for unauthorized militias and paramilitary students go, they will always have Hamdan groups transforming the idyllic college v. Rumsfeld as a model. “Neal talks about town into a virtual combat zone. Exactly the roughly seven seminars of students two months later, ICAP Åled a com- who contributed to the Hamdan case; there plaint in Virginia state court, seeking an are 70 students who did something pretty injunction under state law to prevent the amazing. They contributed to bin Laden’s self-professed militias and other groups bodyguard and driver in Guantanamo from returning to the state and engaging Bay getting his case all the way to the in paramilitary activity [see page 31]. Supreme Court of the United States and “The First Amendment protects the right along the way getting a policy change Professor Neal Katyal, the Paul and to say hateful things, and they can wear of the Geneva Conventions applying to Patricia Saunders Professor of Nation- matching T-shirts while they do so, but detainees,” Geltzer says. “Whatever those al Security Law, is the faculty chair of it doesn’t protect violent or paramilitary 70 students do now, they were a part of Georgetown Law’s new Institute for conduct,” McCord says. that…we want to cultivate another gener- Constitutional Advocacy and Protec- The ICAP team is also applying ation of constitutional litigators, whatever tion (ICAP). Executive Director Joshua established First Amendment principles to they go on to do.” A. Geltzer and Senior Litigator from social media. The group Åled an amicus Practice Mary B. McCord (L’90) are brief on November 6 in support of a Photo credit previous page: Charlottesville, also spearheading the ICAP team. lawsuit brought by Columbia University’s Washington Post/Getty. Photo credit this page Knight Institute, challenging President above: Sam Hollenshead; below: Brent Futrell. Donald Trump’s practice of blocking crit- ics from his @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed.
2017 Fall/Winter 29 Feature / ICAP: The Next generation
ICAP Takes on Militias — in Court
30 Georgetown Law TAKING ON MILITIAS \ FEATURE
ollowing the violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in August, Visiting Professor Mary FMcCord (L’90), senior litigator from practice at Georgetown Law’s new Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) was penning an article for Lawfare arguing that U.S. federal crim- inal law should treat domestic terrorism as the moral equivalent of international terrorism. “As we saw in Charlottesville on August 12, the vehicle was the most lethal weapon deployed by the white suprema- cists, neo-Nazis, and Ku Klux Klansmen who descended on this southern but progressive university town,” she wrote. “A federal crime of domestic terrorism would put crimes such as those allegedly com- mitted by James Fields on the same moral plane as those committed by the attackers culling through reams of chats and social Virginia organized as military units and in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain, media posts of those organizing the alt- engaging in paramilitary activity,” the just as they deserve to be.” right rally. complaint states. “Without such relief, Compelling words — but as McCord’s What they found, they allege, were Charlottesville will be forced to relive article was being polished, she noticed scenes of chillingly organized militia the frightful spectacle of August 12: an something else on Lawfare: a piece written groups, each with its own purported chain invasion of roving paramilitary bands and by lawyer and University of Virginia of command, some even dressed like the unaccountable vigilante peacekeepers.” history professor Philip Zelikow, urging National Guard and toting AR-15 assault Perhaps the best part? Dozens of other lawyers to make use of state law that pro- riÆes. Others came dressed as medieval states apparently have similar statutory hibits unauthorized military groups — as warriors with helmets, shields, bats, or constitutional provisions, which could he did in the 1980s and 1990s to Åght the batons, Æags, insignia — creating Åghting be used to prevent rallies elsewhere from Ku Klux Klan’s military wing. lines to ram protesters. “The people of turning into combat zones. Indeed, ICAP “Individuals may have a right to bear Charlottesville felt that they had been has already reached out to several cities arms for self-defense, but they do not invaded by hostile forces,” McCord says. where alt-right rallies are planned to share have a right to organize and train as a On October 12, ICAP Åled a com- its legal research and enormous evidence private military group,” Zelikow wrote. plaint in Virginia state court on behalf of collection. “The language of Virginia’s Constitution the City of Charlottesville, businesses and “Some in our country seem to think is clear. While ‘a well regulated militia’ is neighborhood organizations, seeking an the First Amendment covers more than valued…the Constitution stresses that in order banning the groups that descended it really does…the freedom of speech all cases the military should be under strict on Charlottesville from returning to the has never protected violent behavior,” subordination to, and governed by, the state as unauthorized military units engag- McCord says. “The Second Amendment civil power.” ing in paramilitary activities. includes an individual right to bear arms s — the civilian govern- for one’s self defense, but there’s nothingٺMcCord, ICAP Executive Director “Plainti Joshua Geltzer, and the rest of the ICAP ments whose authority to protect public that allows you to organize a militia your- team knew what they had to do next. “We safety was undercut by unauthorized self. The law has something to say about to the private armies on August 12, the Charlot- this, and the courts can be used. It’s time ٺtalked to Zelikow, and we were o races,” says McCord. tesville residents who were terrorized that that we used them.” They would subsequently spend hours day, and the local businesses that have lost traveling back and forth between D.C. and signiÅcant revenues in the ensuing weeks Photo credit opposite page: Charlottesville, Washington Post/Getty. Photo above: Jaclyn — seek declaratory and injunctive relief Charlottesville, pouring over video footage Diaz. and photos of that terrible weekend, and to prevent Defendants from returning to
2017 Fall/Winter 31 Feature / ICAP: The Next generation
Mary B. McCord (L’90): ICAP’s Newest Warrior Fights for Justice
ary B. McCord (L’90) returns to Any advice for students and young I would encourage people who think Georgetown Law as a senior litiga- alumni, particularly young women they want to go into national security to tor from practice at the new Insti- attorneys, looking to go into the na- read a lot more broadly than law. Read Mtute for Constitutional Advocacy tional security field? foreign policy, check out some of the blogs and Protection. After graduating from the or some of the think tanks that put out There are such great opportunities here University of Missouri in the 1980s, Mc- good foreign policy papers. Because one at Georgetown: get involved in those, Cord worked for the Missouri House of thing that I learned really quickly when I take a look at summer opportunities in Representatives — which inspired her to came over to NSD, all of my experience erent government agencies. Forٺmany di go to Georgetown Law. Clerking for Judge had been in law as a prosecutor. I didn’t women, don’t let it bother you if you go Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court really have a good grounding in policy. into a room and you’re the only woman of the District of Columbia, McCord set there. You’ve got to start somewhere. her sights on being an assistant U.S. attor- You were a journalism major? Why The former administration at the senior ney — but knew that getting hired straight law school? Why Georgetown? leadership level at the National Security out of a clerkship wasn’t going to be easy. Council was very heavily women, Susan I graduated from the University of Mis- She thus opted for the honors program Rice and Lisa Monaco and Avril Haines souri; I was from St. Louis, and it was also of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (L’01)… it takes time to catch up. a really good journalism school. I worked for a short time before moving to the U.S. When I went to law school there were for the Missouri House of Representa- ce, where she worked forٻAttorney’s O no national security classes. There were tives for two years and it was while I was nearly 20 years. She served as a deputy International Law I and International working there that I got interested in law. I chief in the Appellate Division, overseeing Law II. Now there are more than 40 don’t have any lawyers in the family, never and arguing cases in the U.S. and District national security law courses. Pick and really knew many people who were law- of Columbia Courts of Appeals, and later choose some that are of interest, but don’t yers, growing up. That’s where I met my became the criminal division chief. pigeonhole yourself in just national secu- husband, who was a lawyer working for McCord was appointed principal rity. Maybe because I was a journalism the Missouri House of Representatives. deputy assistant attorney general of the major, which required coursework across He was interested in international trade, Department of Justice’s National Security many disciplines, I believe that having a so we thought Washington, D.C., would Division in 2014 and served as acting broad legal education founded in constitu- be a good place to be. I decided to start by assistant attorney general from October tional principles, researching and writing, applying to Georgetown, and if I didn’t 2016 to May 2017. serves you well no matter what you end up get in there, I’d start ticking down the list. doing with it. 32 Georgetown Law MARY MCCORD \ FEATURE
Criminal Division Chief at the U.S. attor- -ce. I was over at NSD as prinٻney’s o cipal deputy where we were up all night anxiously waiting for word on whether the capture was successful, with no Americans injured, because that was of course our biggest concern. And then as head of NSD, I continued to be in a supervisory capacity.
What do you remember most about your role as a prosecutor? One of the things that I always remem- ber and talk about was the Årst child sex ense case that I tried. A 13-year-old andٺo her 11-year-old sister were abused by their foster father. I was terriÅed that I would fail. When the little sister testiÅed about being awake but feigning sleep when their foster dad came in and abused her sister, that’s when I took a look at the jury and I thought, I think we’ve got this. And they convicted them. To see the eldest one who’d been abused go to college was really meaningful. When you got to law school, did you interested in bail reform. Gerry Spann — Almost as meaningful — one of my envision this type of career? I think we’d all have a day in the semes- Årst bigger drug cases was against three ter where we would dress like Professor No — I Årst got interested in law because co-defendants and one of these young Spann. I’d been in the legislative process in a state men decided to plead guilty. He went and government. I’m not sure I had a partic- Highlights of your career in the U.S. served his time, and years later I was at ular preconceived notion, but that’s what Attorney’s Office or DOJ? Union Station and I heard, “Ms. McCord, brought me to law school. I just loved Ms. McCord.” Sure enough, it was him. ,ce when He said, “I just wanted to let you knowٻlaw school. I went to every class. People I I was at the U.S. Attorney’s O knew who were skipping class would ask we built a case against Ahmed Abu Khat- while I was in prison, I got my GED and to photocopy my notes before exams. I tala for his role in the attacks on the U.S. I’m now enrolled in college.” I just said, said, well, sure, but they’re not going to be mission in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted “Congratulations, I’m so happy to see you that meaningful to you. I can remember in the death of sitting Ambassador Chris use your business acumen to do something that actual lecture. I really found it inter- Stevens and three other Americans. At- legal and productive.” esting because of the analytical aspect; I torney General Eric Holder had assigned was a professional question asker anyway us that case the day it happened and we Photo Credit: Brent Futrell. as a journalism major. I knew pretty early worked really hard with the F.B.I. to build on I wanted to do a clerkship. a case. And then seeing over the years the development of a capture operation using Any favorite professor stories? the U.S. special forces, and his successful capture in Libya. Being brought here to Peter Edelman was my Civil Procedure now face trial. I started that case as the teacher, and we’re actually starting to work with him in ICAP because he’s very
2017 Fall/Winter 33 Feature / ICAP: The Next generation
Texas’s SB 4: Squelching Free Speech in an Effort to Crack Down on Sanctuary Cities
34 Georgetown Law SANCTUARY CITIES \ FEATURE
The squelching ince January 20, the federal government has were largely ignored in favor of the views of fewer taken a series of harsh actions to discourage than a dozen who supported it. Law enforcement cials overwhelmingly testiÅed that public safetyٻof speech is and even coerce so-called “sanctuary cities” o particularly Sfrom continuing their policies of limiting local would be threatened by passage of SB 4. Although ,ect on September 1, 2017ٺlaw enforcement’s participation in federal immigra- scheduled to go into e pernicious because tion enforcement. These cities have, for example, SB 4 was enjoined in part by a federal judge those who face directed police not to ask every individual whom after Texas cities including Dallas, Houston, San they encounter to prove his or her lawful immigra- Antonio, Austin, El Paso and El Cenizo — as well draconian penalties tion status. A wide range of local jurisdictions have as several civil rights organizations — sought a for violating the adopted such policies to enhance public safety by preliminary injunction. The injunction is now on fostering communication between immigrants and appeal to the Fifth Circuit, and our Institute for “endorsement” law enforcement. Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at ban are the very Contending, however, that he knew better Georgetown Law is proud to be participating as which policies undermine rather than enhance co-counsel to defend the district court’s ruling that NQECNQHæEKCNU public safety, President Trump on his Åfth full day the “endorsement” provision likely violates the First .ce issued an executive order directing the Amendmentٻin o responsible for withholding of all federal grants and funding from The district court held — rightly, we think s are likely to succeed onٺmaintaining public sanctuary cities. This order was swiftly blocked as — that the plainti likely unconstitutional by a federal judge. Next, their challenge to the prohibition on “endorsing” Sessions conditioned awards non-enforcement of federal immigration laws as ٺsafety. Attorney General Je of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants unconstitutionally overbroad, vague, and discrim- Photo credit opposite page: for local law enforcement on promises to permit inatory among viewpoints. As the district court cials access to local jails to investigate noted, the “endorsement” provision could prohibitٻNew York City, Pacific Press/ federal o Getty. statements, oral or written, made at public or -ٻenses and to notify federal oٺimmigration o cials in advance about the scheduled release of private meetings, to a newspaper, to constituents or undocumented individuals from custody, so those during a campaign, and might even prohibit stand- -cials could obtain immigration detainers. These ing in support of an immigration rights organizaٻo conditions, too, were quickly enjoined by a federal tion making a public statement against SB 4 or in judge as likely beyond the authority conferred on support of the type of local policies it bans. Perhaps the attorney general by Congress when it created even more troubling, SB 4 prohibits speech on one the grant program. side of the policy debate while allowing speech on But it’s not just the federal government that the other. has cracked down on sanctuary cities. At least one The squelching of speech is particularly perni- state — Texas — has gone farther than the federal cious because those who face draconian penalties government in seeking not only to prohibit cities for violating the “endorsement” ban are the very lo- -cials responsible for maintaining public safeٻfrom adopting sanctuary city policies but also to cal o ,s, prosecutorsٺcers, sheriٻcials from even “endors[ing]” a policy ty. They are the police oٻgag local o cials who must buildٻof non-enforcement or limited enforcement of and other law enforcement o federal immigration laws. The penalty for violating trust with the communities they serve to ensure that this gag order? A Åne of at least 1,000 for the Årst victims and witnesses will report crimes, seek re- violation and 25,000 for each subsequent viola- course in the legal system and testify in court. That ce. The proof of a trust is eroded, and the civilian population is madeٻtion, as well as removal from o violation? Among other things, statements made by less safe, if members of immigrant communities cial. fear deportation and separation from their familiesٻthe public o Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) was passed by the Texas any time they engage with law enforcement. legislature on May 7, 2017, after a hurried set of hearings during which the views of more than a By Mary B. McCord (L‘90) and thousand Texans who registered their opposition Joshua A. Geltzer
2017 Fall/Winter 35 FEATURE / THE LABOR OF LOVING
By Jessica Kraft THE LABOR
36 Georgetown Law THE LABOR OF LOVING \ FEATURE
of LOVING
Fifty years after Loving v. Virginia legalized interracial marriage in 1967, the Georgetown Law community remains connected to the landmark case.
2017 Fall/Winter 37 FEATURE / THE LABOR OF LOVING
Arguing in the Supreme Court on April 10, 1967, Cohen argued, “Marriage is a fundamental right or liberty” — and the justices agreed. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws banning interracial marriage, which was prohibited in 16 states.
hen Philip Hirschkop (L’64) met his Constitutional Law Professor Chester Antieau as a 1L in the ear- Wly 1960s, he never expected that their genial re- lationship would lead him to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court before the decade was out. And he certainly could not have imagined that by 2017, he’d become a key character in an Oscar-nominated film based on the Court’s landmark decision. “As I started thinking about Loving and that Hirschkop vividly recalls the moment that launched his whole history, I learned that the fear of races career as a civil rights trailblazer. It was a hot July day in 1964, mixing — particularly the fear of black men and Hirschkop and Antieau had settled into two leather chairs having sex with white women — was the cen- in Georgetown Law’s faculty lounge in the red brick building tral animating ideology and propaganda under- on Fifth and E. The two kindred spirits enjoyed the breadth of each other’s interests and sometimes got lost in fanciful girding the Jim Crow system,” Cashin says. conversations. “He was really from a different age,” Hirschkop says of Antieau, a widely published expert on constitutional law. “We’d sometimes say that we really should have been troubadours wandering around Italy in the 16th century, riding mules to Padua.” On this day, they were chatting about one of Hirschkop’s civil rights cases when a secretary slipped Antieau a note from another one of his former students. Bernard Cohen (L’61), a lawyer in Alexandria, Virginia, was waiting outside to speak to Photo Credits: Page 36-38, Estate of Grey Villet; Page 39, AP him about a case involving an interracial couple in Virginia. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of the National Capital Area had asked Cohen to investigate the case of Mildred and Richard Loving — who had been banished from Virginia for 25 years due to the state’s anti-miscegenation law. After Antieau summoned Cohen into the lounge, the three chatted for about 20 minutes before Antieau recommended that Cohen partner with Hirschkop, who had experience in civil
38 Georgetown Law THE LABOR OF LOVING \ FEATURE
rights litigation. “Professor Antieau said to [Cohen] that I was one of his brightest students, which wasn’t true,” Hirschkop said, laughing. “I was deeply involved in civil rights in those days, and he thought maybe I could be of help.” Antieau’s instincts were sound. Loving v. Virginia eventually reached the Supreme Court, resulting in a major civil rights victory that helped lay the groundwork for marriage equality. Georgetown Law alumni were at the forefront of this historic case, with students providing research and support at the time. Several decades later, the Lovings’ case continues to motivate alumni and faculty to produce books, movies, docu- mentaries and lectures that highlight the civil rights movement and race relations in the United States. “Today, the Loving decision has a fan base…[it] has been chronicled in films, and the decision has its own annual worldwide celebration, Loving Day, on June 12,” Georgetown Law Professor Sheryll Cashin notes in her book — entitled Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy — published by Beacon Press on Loving Day 2017 (see excerpt on the following pages). “Loving was also a progenitor of the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which constitutionalized same-sex marriage.” THE LEGAL BATTLE INTENSIFIES LIVING AND LOVING IN EXILE Kennedy was not able to help Mildred, but he recommended When the Lovings traveled to Washington, D.C., in 1958 that she contact the ACLU. The ACLU contacted its affiliate in to marry and returned to Virginia as newlyweds, they were D.C., which reached out to Cohen. In November 1963, Cohen unaware that they were committing a crime. As Cashin writes filed a petition with the Circuit Court of Caroline County to va- in her book, the Lovings grew up in a part of Caroline County cate the judgment against the Lovings. The court did not issue that “had a history of both mixing and a color line. One prac- a ruling, and the case faded into the background. tice enabled the couple to meet, and the other rendered the By the summer of 1964, the Lovings had returned to Virgin- love that would emerge between them forbidden.” A month ia in violation of their sentences. On July 2, Congress passed after their marriage, the Lovings awoke in the middle of the the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a landmark civil rights law that night to see all three of Caroline County’s law enforcement outlawed discrimination based on race, color, sex or national officers standing over them as the sheriff, Garnett Brooks, origin. A few days later, Mildred wrote to Cohen seeking an shone a flashlight in their faces. When Richard pointed to their update on their case. It was this letter that brought Cohen framed marriage license hanging on the wall, Brooks told him, to Georgetown Law to talk the matter over with Professor “That’s no good here.” Antieau, launching the collaboration between Cohen and Hirsc- The Lovings pleaded guilty to cohabiting as spouses and hkop. The case would be a turning point in Hirschkop’s career were sentenced to one year in prison. The trial judge, Leon M. as a civil rights activist. Bazile, suspended the sentence under the condition that they A year before joining Cohen’s firm to work on the Loving leave Virginia for 25 years. The couple consequently moved case, Hirschkop had met several civil rights attorneys who to Washington, D.C., but as the years passed, they couldn’t inspired him and three other students from different schools adapt to city life. Mildred’s cousin suggested that she write to found a Law Students Civil Rights Research Council (Hirsc- to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. It was 1963, and that hkop would also organize a Georgetown chapter). Among the revolutionary summer culminated in the March on Washing- organization’s activities was mobilizing voters’ rights efforts ton — when more than 200,000 people marched for the civil in the South, a project Hirschkop coordinated. Shortly after rights of African-Americans and witnessed Martin Luther passing the bar exam in May 1964, he filed a case on behalf King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. But Mildred and of teachers’ rights to engage in social justice activities. This Richard did not view their relationship as a political statement. background — and lifelong passion for social justice — helped They were a young couple in love whose main concern was prepare him for Loving. returning home.
2017 Fall/Winter 39 FEATURE / THE LABOR OF LOVING
Earl Warren wrote for a unanimous Court. “These statutes also deprive the Lovings of liberty without due process of law in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amend- ment. The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”
THE LEGACY OF LOVING Well into the 21st century, the Loving case continues to inspire Georgetown Law faculty and alumni. Cashin, who has written about race relations and implicit bias for years, discovered in her research that whites who have more contact with nonwhites exhibit less bias. Her editor at Beacon Press encouraged her to write a book using the Loving case to study this phenomenon. Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy was published just in time for the 50th anniversary of the landmark decision. “As I started thinking about Loving and that whole history, I learned that the fear of races mixing — particularly the fear of black men having sex with white women — was the central animating ideology and propaganda undergirding the Jim Crow system,” Cashin says. Antieau continued to assist Hirschkop and Cohen as a Anti-miscegenation laws upheld white supremacy, which mentor. The Georgetown chapter of the Law Students Civil was established to make slavery possible in America. Prior to Rights Research Council would prove invaluable, researching slavery, capitalists relied on white indentured servants who laws in different states as the attorneys began their work on wanted to become citizens and buy land after completing the case. “The students in that chapter were very helpful in their seven years of servitude, she says. Slave owners thus the research for the Loving case,” Hirschkop says. “To this day, fostered the concept of white supremacy, which granted I feel very close to Georgetown.” privileges to the white lower class and pitted them against the black slaves. THE CASE FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS “The thing that was most potentially dangerous to the In October 1964, Hirschkop and Cohen filed a federal lawsuit system of black slavery was the possibility of oppressed white on behalf of the Lovings that challenged the constitutionality people cooperating with oppressed black people,” Cashin of Virginia’s anti-miscegenation laws. The following January, says. “The very first comprehensive slave codes included bans just days before the lawyers were set to argue their case, against interracial marriage.” county court judge Bazile finally responded to Cohen’s 1963 Cashin says that after reading the Loving decision, students petition, refusing to vacate the Lovings’ conviction. in her Spring 2017 Race and American Law class engaged in On January 27, 1965, Hirschkop argued the case before a conversation about their own biases. “We had probably the the federal district court in Richmond. The court ultimately de- most stimulating class we’ve had all semester in talking about clined to rule on the case, sending it back to the state courts. the market for romantic partners,” Cashin said. In March 1966, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the lower The case has also inspired many outside the legal acade- court’s ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately agreed my. Elisabeth Haviland James (F’99), who produced and edited to hear the case. the 2011 HBO documentary The Loving Story, was inspired Arguing in the Supreme Court on April 10, 1967, Cohen after she saw the powerful 1960s footage shot by filmmaker argued, “Marriage is a fundamental right or liberty” — and the Hope Ryden. “To have the opportunity to craft a story from justices agreed. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court unani- intimate, beautiful archival material that had never before been mously struck down laws banning interracial marriage, which seen was a real treat,” James says. was prohibited in 16 states. James added that she is attracted to stories that show the “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to “long road to equality” that began in the past and continues marry solely because of racial classifications violates the today. “My Georgetown education, and the values of justice, central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause,” Chief Justice equality and liberty that it supported, has definitely played a role in the projects that I tackle,” she said.
40 Georgetown Law THE LABOR OF LOVING \ FEATURE
Hirschkop believes that the most significant im- pact of the case is that it established the sanctity of marriage in the eyes of the law. “It’s not just social experience. It’s so important it’s protected by the Constitution. And the government doesn’t have the right to come past the front door of your house or into your bedroom and tell you who your partner can be,” he said.
After the Loving case, Cohen went on to join the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served for 15 years. In the 2016 film, he was played by none other than Georgetown graduate Nick Kroll (C’01), son of Jules Kroll (L’66). Hirschkop taught Constitutional Litigation at Georgetown Law, calling the experience “some of the most rewarding efforts of my legal career.” He notes that recent books and movies like Loving reveal how people were profoundly impacted by anti-misce- genation laws. “The movie makes the point very poignantly of how evil these laws were and how people really suffered by them,” Hirschkop says. He believes that the most significant impact of the case is that it established the sanctity of marriage in the eyes of the law. “It’s not just social experience. It’s so important it’s pro- tected by the Constitution. And the government doesn’t have the right to come past the front door of your house or into your bedroom and tell you who your partner can be,” he said. “It’s a major precedent for same-sex marriages. The sanctity of two people who unite to spend their lives together whether they go get a marriage certificate or make it a common law commitment, is something that the government … according to Loving, has to respect.”
“It’s a major precedent for same-sex marriages. The sanctity of two people who unite to spend their lives together whether they go get a marriage certificate or make it a common law commitment, is something that the government … according to Loving, has to respect.” Philip Hirschkop
2017 Fall/Winter 41 42 Georgetown Law A CHANGING WORLD \ FEATURE Professor Sheryll Cashin Explores LOVING: INTERRACIAL INTIMACY IN AMERICA AND THE THREAT TO WHITE SUPREMACY
Photo Credit: Anthony Crider. Charlottesville “Unite the Right”Rally. 2017 Fall/Winter 43 FEATURE / LOVING: INTERRACIAL INTIMACY IN AMERICA AND THE THREAT TO WHITE SUPREMACY
or the 50th anniversary of the landmark 1967 Supreme This book covers more than Mildred and Richard Loving — it is a history of interracial Court decision, Professor Sheryll Cashin penned Loving: intimacy in America and the threat to white supremacy. How did the book come about? Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White Supremacy F I teach the Loving case in a course called Race (Beacon Press). in American Law; that course covers the history of race relations, and law plays a huge role. And Loving v. Virginia, popularized in a 2011 documentary and a 2016 film, the 50th anniversary of the case was coming. I thought that it would be a kind of refreshing an- officially ended the ban on interracial marriage in America. The case gle by which I could reflect on where we’ve been and where I think we’re going on race relations. was pursued by the ACLU on behalf of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple arrested in their bedroom in July 1958 for the felony You write in the Introduction that “as a daughter of civil rights activists and a de- crime of marrying; a judge banished them from Virginia for 25 years. scendant of slaves and slaveholders,” you “wrote this book from a personal perspec- tive.” Why was it important to you to tell In her book, Cashin explores how laws against race mixing were a this story? crucial tool in constructing white supremacy and fortifying the I was born into an activist family and my parents’ activism was always intentionally building power development and spread of American capitalism. She also discusses with allies. My parents were part of the black how “ardent integrators” in every era of U.S. history have destabilized leadership that organized the sit-in movement in Huntsville, Alabama, and they intentionally fixed notions of race and identity. She argues that today, there is recruited white liberals to march with them. My father founded an independent party — it wasn’t an “increasingly ascendant coalition of the culturally dexterous — the Black Panther Party, it was a party reflecting a whites and people of color who cross different cultures.” The daughter kind of robust multiracial politics. And so I’ve always been interested in people of civil rights activists, Cashin teaches Race and American Law. who intentionally subvert color lines. I had a subversive childhood, and I’ve always been sort of aware of the artificiality of [color lines]. And so for me, personally, I thought it would be interest- Interview by Ann Parks ing to tell the story not just of the construction of white supremacy, which I think some people are familiar with, but a lesser told narrative of what I call “ardent integrators” who come together for love and for activism. Sometimes it’s love, sometimes it is activism, sometimes it is both. And I feature a number of people in the book who represent that.
You wrote about your family in your book The Agitator’s Daughter. Your activist par- ents landed you in jail when you were four months old? I always want to make clear that the police in Huntsville were polite and they actually were more paying attention to protecting the protest- ers than hurting them. My parents never would 44 Georgetown Law have taken a four-month-old baby to a protest if there was going to be any danger. Part of the that’s the ability to see people of another race or strategy to get attention for Huntsville’s sit-in ethnicity, and see and recognize other racial and movement, because there had been a news cultural experiences and accept them. It’s the blackout, was for my mother to go to this sit-in opposite of colorblindness. with me, a four-month-old baby, and with a wom- My argument is that with rising interracial an who was eight months pregnant. They were intimacy, coupled with other forces, rapid demo- both doctor’s and dentist’s wives…and it got a graphic change and the dying off of older genera- lot of news. That ended the news blackout…as I tions of whites [who] grew up expecting to said, they were subversive. be dominant, my speculation is that we’re going to reach a tipping point in which a critical mass Would you consider yourself an activist of whites — not a majority, a critical mass — through your writing? accepts the loss of centrality of whiteness in Absolutely. I write trade books intentionally this country. And that when that happens, poli- ... I’ve always been because I want to reach a broader audience and tics could return to being functional. interested in people make them aware of what I have learned through I give the example of California. California who intentionally years of reading about and reflecting on race re- from the late eighties went from being majori- subvert color lines. lations. And hopefully inspire people to find allies ty-white to gridlocked to being majority-minority I had a subversive and join in the fight for making the values of the to functional again. They got rid of gerrymander- childhood, and I’ve Fourteenth Amendment real for everyone. ing in that state and it’s fair to say that California always been sort of has a functioning multiracial democracy in which aware of the artifici- How did you describe the book to publish- decisions are made based on facts and the merit ality of [color lines]. ers? It’s history but also hope? of the policy ideas, rather than a clash of worl- And so for me, per- I was fortunate; Beacon Press published my last dviews between dexterous and nondexterous sonally, I thought it book. I thought about trying my hand at fiction…I people. Right now, the U.S. Congress is captured would be interesting was using an interracial couple to tell what I by this clash of worldviews. We haven’t gone to tell the story not thought was an American story. My editor said, through that transition yet. just of the con- What about writing a book about the Loving struction of white case? When I reflected on it, I thought that would The 2016 Loving film — did Hollywood get supremacy, which I actually be the perfect vehicle. The book is a it right? think some people history of interracial intimacy in America and how You can’t do everything in two hours. It was are familiar with, it threatens the ideology of white supremacy. It’s historically accurate and beautifully told. My only but a lesser told nar- a short history and some future speculation. modest criticism is that it somewhat softened rative of what I call the violence-backed regime of white supremacy. “ardent integrators” And your conclusions? You wouldn’t know from the film that a cross was who come togeth- I argue that interracial intimacy is poised to burned on Mildred parents’ lawn, and then later, er for love and for explode. It’s accelerating, it’s growing at a very on their lawn. The regime of white supremacy activism. rapid pace and through a number of forms of was violence-backed and dangerous. And you intimacy, not just interracial marriage. People don’t quite get that feeling from that film. are acquiring what I call cultural dexterity. And Photo Credit: AP 2017 Fall/Winter 45 FEATURE / THE FUTURE: THE RISE OF THE CULTURALLY DEXTEROUS
ot yet love. It is growing apace, but fear seems the impulse of the moment. NGerrymandering, voter suppression, empowering corporate money in politics, building walls and zones of exclusion, boxing out people who would be fine living in a smaller home or THE FUTURE: apartment, stopping and frisking, arming to the teeth, just in case — all of it is consistent with a society premised on fear. The dexterous aspire to something greater and more humane. At its heart, the civil rights movement was about economic justice and combating racism. Six months after Loving was decided, the Southern Christian Leadership THE RISE OF Conference announced a new campaign for poor people of all colors. Native Americans, poor whites from West Virginia and other environs, and urban and rural blacks and Latinos of the Southwest descended on Washington, presented demands to Congress and occupied the Nation- al Mall for six weeks in 1968. Their multiracial THE CULTURALLY protest for decent housing, income, and jobs would be forgotten in the wake of assassination, of a Kennedy and a King. Politicians dog-whistled for five decades, destroying possibilities for a unifying consciousness among struggling people. In the absence of class unity, culturally dexterous people may be our only hope for disrupting hoary DEXTEROUS scripts. Here is what could happen. It is not a predic- tion as much as a hope and a conjecture. Wheth- er we can fix what is broken in this “country ’tis of us” is up to you, dear reader, and millions like you. A person overcome by fear or resentment probably will not have read much past the book jacket, unless he or she is doing reconnaissance. But you are still here, and that means our country still has a chance, a magnificent chance. We are in a state of toxic polarity now, but I am optimistic because cultural dexterity is spreading. The tailwinds and the math suggest a future in which culturally dexterous people By Professor Sheryll Cashin predominate in America. Here are my five specu- lations about the future, four positive trends and Excerpted from Loving: Interracial Intimacy in America and the Threat to White one negative caveat: Supremacy by Sheryll Cashin (Beacon Press, 2017). Reprinted with permission from Beacon Press. Footnotes have been omitted. Photo credit: Ines Hilde.
46 Georgetown Law THE FUTURE: THE RISE OF THE CULTURALLY DEXTEROUS \ FEATURE
FIRST, INTERRACIAL INTIMACY IS POISED TO EXPLODE. FIFTH, RACIAL AND ECONOMIC SEGREGATION WILL CONTINUE With legal and social barriers to race mixing falling, the raw TO DO DAMAGE. numbers of Americans who have an authentic friendship or a Stereotypes about low-income people of color, particular- love relationship with a person of a different race or ethnicity ly black people, will endure as long as hyper-segregated, or who know someone who does will continue to increase high-poverty neighborhoods endure. No amount of interracial and accelerate. Media in its myriad, ubiquitous forms will con- intimacy will ameliorate this problem if the architecture of tinue to de-whiten and represent a fuller multiplicity of racial segregation … has not been dismantled. and cultural experiences, enabling parasocial relationships that Ardent integration, immigration, demographic change, humanize others. We are in a geometric progression toward generational replacement, and increasing geographic diversity something new. — all of these forces will have a powerful, cumulative impact SECOND, IMMIGRATION, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND GENERATIONAL on our future. Because of these forces, the ranks of those CHANGE WILL TRANSFORM AMERICAN IDENTITY. who live with diversity and are forced to acquire dexterity will By 2043, Hispanics and people of color, including multiracial continue to expand, perhaps exponentially, in coming decades. people, are projected to be a majority of the U.S. population. Hence I believe my speculations about the future are more Well before then, a critical mass of culturally dexterous whites plausible than the idea that those committed, explicitly or im- will have accepted and become comfortable with, not threat- plicitly, to maintaining white supremacy will forever dominate. ened by, this impending change. Currently, the whites who Such destructive ideologues don’t dominate now in national feel most threatened by this impending transition are older opinion polls. Most of them are adults who have more yester- people, who will not live forever. The future may already be days than tomorrows in their life ledgers. They will be replaced here. “American” will no longer imply whiteness or honorary by growing swaths of dexterous people who explicitly recog- whiteness but a multiplicity of hyphenated people committed nize and reject racism. Even past history, as awful as much to our self-evident, egalitarian values. of it is, provides reason for hope and inspiration. The ardent integrators and radicals who fought for our professed founding THIRD, GEOGRAPHY WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THIS CHANGE. ideals were unable in their time to stop supremacy from being The culturally dexterous class, including immigrants, is moving embedded in law and the vast majority of American minds, toward metropolitan areas, and it will be impossible to escape but they reconstructed the Constitution and kept the ideals robust diversity in these dense, urbanized spaces. In the fifty alive, and each generation of radical patriots kept fighting. largest U.S. metro areas, 44 percent of suburban residents For all his flaws, Thomas Jefferson was a most useful currently live in multiracial, multiethnic suburbs. And younger patriarch. He penned thirteen words that proved timeless, the whites are moving to cities that their parents and grand- core American value: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, parents fled decades before. With proximity comes more that all men are created equal.” That value is suffused in the opportunity for practicing pluralism and creating new norms fastest-growing populations in America — Asian Americans, of inclusion. In these spaces, the culturally dexterous will Latinos/as, and multiracial people. Between 50 and 60 percent invest in public institutions that promote inclusive opportunity of these populations say they experience discrimination or because they value diverse people and must make diversity that discrimination is a problem, and they are clearly inclined work. Those who cannot adapt may retreat to monoracial spac- to support if not fight for racial equality. Culturally dexterous es and very white states. white allies also support this value and say they want to be FOURTH, THE CULTURALLY DEXTEROUS WILL RESTORE FUNCTION- part of this conversation, contributing to the flourishing of ALITY TO POLITICS. attitudes of openness and empathy. For example, a recent Culturally dexterous whites and progressive people of color Pew study found that 40 percent of whites — mostly young will form a coalition of the ascendant. With each passing de- and Democrat-leaning — express support for the Black Lives cade, it will be much easier for this coalition to win in national Matter movement, compared with just 28 percent of whites elections, and candidates and political parties will feel the who disapprove of it. Maybe we already have a critical mass need to compete for the votes of tolerant people. of white allies, but our country is still captured by segregation, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the post–Citizens United dark-campaign financing put in place by those fighting to hold on to the centrality of whiteness.
2017 Fall/Winter 47 FEATURE / THE FUTURE: THE RISE OF THE CULTURALLY DEXTEROUS
Since Loving, supremacy has been formally disavowed Many live in stagnant white communities where blue-collar in law, but we still live with the structures and dog-whistled jobs that paid decent wages have disappeared and where the ideology of supremacy. With spreading dexterity, more people global information economy never arrived. They have bought are acquiring the skills to see, name, talk about, and influ- the myth sold to them by people trawling for ratings and ence others about the systems of supremacy and racism that votes — the story that immigrants and people of color are endure. As Bryan Stevenson, activist founder of the Equal the source of their problems rather than technological dis- Justice Initiative, has argued, the ideology of supremacy that ruption and exploitive, outsourcing, tax-evading corporations. was constructed to prop up slavery has been as damaging as White power, expressly and implicitly, has always been about slavery itself. He asserts that we need to talk about this ideol- segregating insurgent whites from people of color to insulate ogy to change the narrative and get to the point where enough elites from economic demands. So it was with landed planters non-blacks are prepared to say, “Never again.” who wanted to avoid another Bacon’s Rebellion. So it is now with plutocrats who prefer to stoke a race war to avoid even modestly redistributive economic fairness… I believe that we will reach a tipping point in race relations — a point when a critical mass of culturally dexterous whites accepts the loss of centrality of whiteness. In other words, I believe that we will reach a tipping point a critical mass of people not fragile and fearful about demo- in race relations — a point when a criti- graphic change, not ruled by their anxieties, able to assess cal mass of culturally dexterous whites candidates and policy debates according to facts instead of accepts the loss of centrality of whiteness. an entitled or a supremacist worldview. Such a tipping point, In other words, a critical mass of people coupled with a confluence of other forces, led California from gridlocked to governable… not fragile and fearful about demographic California is retreating from the War on Drugs, investing in change, not ruled by their anxieties, able education and offering an example to the rest of the country to assess candidates and policy debates of what functioning, multiracial politics looks like. It is far from according to facts instead of an entitled or perfect. There is still much damage to undo. Prisons are still unconscionably overcrowded. Most black and brown children a supremacist worldview. Such a tipping attend separate and unequal schools. Among many needed point, coupled with a confluence of other reforms for a more just California are the training of police offi- forces, led California from gridlocked to cers to reject the stereotypes in their heads and to deescalate governable… tense situations, more decarceration, and excellent education- al opportunities for all children. The beginning, though, was restoring democracy so that it can no longer be hijacked by racist bids for the dark recesses of people’s hearts and minds. My speculation is not about the future dominance of any In the Golden State, dog-whistling is a political nonstarter for particular political party but of an ascendant coalition that all any candidate with grand ambition. candidates will be forced to compete for. Democrats for a The state also now helps people who were once demon- century were the party of white supremacy, and both Demo- ized. Undocumented immigrants can be admitted to the bar crats and Republicans supported a race-coded War on Drugs to practice law and can get a driver’s license. The state is that filled American prisons with men of color and high school considering allowing undocumented people to participate in dropouts of all shades. Today it is the Party of Lincoln that is the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. It current- captured by angry, resentful whites. Some of these white ly provides state-funded insurance for undocumented children people traffic explicitly in white supremacy or nationalism. through Medicaid. The University of California system offers Some voted for Obama but are frustrated by a plutocracy that loans to undocumented “dreamers,” students who cannot is not responsive to their economic plight. Others are fragile participate in the federal student loan program. Most local souls indoctrinated in a worldview that blinds them to facts. authorities will not report individuals to federal immigration
48 Georgetown Law THE FUTURE: THE RISE OF THE CULTURALLY DEXTEROUS \ FEATURE
authorities solely because of their immigration status. Governor Brown struck the word “alien” from the state’s labor laws because of its neg- LOVING AND THE EDELMANS ative implication. In sum, for most Californians, undocumented immigrants have been humanized so that public policies are more apt to reflect pragmatic realities and the net public benefits of allowing people to come out of the shadows. By 2016, among likely voters in California, 60 percent were white, 18 percent Latino, 12 percent Asian, 6 percent black, and 4 percent multiracial. Among state legislators, 61 percent are white, 18 percent Latino, 9 percent Asian, 9 percent black, and 2 percent multiracial. Conser- vative Republicans would be in charge if most white Californians accepted the disinformation that the extreme-right echo chamber serves up elsewhere for breakfast. This is impossible in California, where a plurality of whites share the worldview and political commitments of most people of color… hile the 2016 film “The Loving Story” did not bring home an This new low in American presidential politics WAcademy Award in 2017, filmmaker Ezra Edelman walked off rendered transparent how embedded suprema- with a statuette for the O.J. Simpson documentary “O.J.: cy and patriarchy are. [President Donald] Trump Made in America.” Maybe not everyone watching the Oscars in rode a torrent of white fragility to victory in the Hollywood that night knew the historical connection between the Electoral College among people who just couldn’t Loving family and the Edelman family, a connection that is well deal with economic and cultural displacement at known in Washington, D.C., legal and political circles. the same time. A pus-filled American sore still Ezra’s father, of course, is Georgetown Law Professor Peter oozes. Exploiters continue to betray economically Edelman — who was a legislative aide to then-Senator Robert F. vulnerable people while playing on those same Kennedy in the 1960s. Ezra’s mother, civil rights activist Marian people’s fears, in an effort to divide and conquer Wright Edelman, was the first African American woman admitted — old story, despicable story. Those with faith to the bar in Mississippi and worked for Dr. Martin Luther King. in a greater idea can write a new narrative. It Peter Edelman and Marian Wright met through Kennedy and King requires acceptance, though, of the self-evident when politics drew RFK to impoverished areas of Mississippi. truth of our founding. If all are created equal, And Peter and Marian became one of the first interracial couples then America should not have been constructed to legally marry in Virginia — choosing that state because of the as a white country. A pluribus that renders white Supreme Court’s June 1967 decision in Loving. just one among many is a new America that After Ezra’s film was nominated for an Oscar in February 2017, some can’t accept. If you are white, you have the New York Times ran a remarkable story about his parents. Titled an obligation to at least understand where the “After Two Tragedies, a Love to Bring Down Barriers,” the story concept of whiteness comes from and to decide included photos from the Edelmans’ July 1968 wedding. The two how you will proceed with that knowledge. I tragedies, of course, were the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy hope your journey will include an intentional and Martin Luther King. Writing about Ezra’s Oscar win, The Guard- choice to acquire dexterity. ian’s Steve Rose noted of Peter and Marian, “Someone ought to make a documentary about them.” We think so, too. In the mean- time, we’re hoping to see a framed photograph of that Academy Award on the walls of Professor Edelman’s office.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Peter Edelman — Ann Parks 2017 Fall/Winter 49 CAMPUS / XXX
CAMPUS \
50 Georgetown Law DUE PROCESS \ CAMPUS
SOCIAL JUSTICE Chokehold: Policing Black Men Professor Paul Butler is in the spotlight with his new book published by The New Press.
Professor Paul Butler is in the spotlight How would you describe this book to but African-American men, there would be widespread concern. But because with his new book Chokehold: Policing someone who has no knowledge of the history of race in America? these powers are used mainly against Black Men, published by The New Press Chokehold is a book about black men and African-American men — and because on July 11. The book was reviewed by how the law treats us. It’s about state our society has all these concerns and fear the New York Times in July as one of violence against black men, including about African-American men — I don’t three new books on confronting and violence by the police, but I also interro- think that this extraordinary police power gate violence by black men, mainly against has received the attention it deserves. reforming racist policing. It was later each other. The idea is that many of the Was there one specific impetus for named as a “Recommended” book of problematic features of U.S. criminal jus- the book, or has this been gradually the week. We sat down with Butler, a tice — mass incarceration, erosion of civil taking shape in your mind? former federal prosecutor with scholarly liberties and brutal policing — are based When I was at law school [at Harvard] expertise in racial justice, to discuss on fear of African-American men. In the criminal context, the Supreme Court has I knew I wanted to be a public interest how the criminal justice system harms given the police what I call “superpowers,” lawyer and I developed a speciÅc inter- black men and suggesting recommenda- with the understanding that these powers est in criminal law. After law school I tions for change. are to be deployed against African-Amer- clerked and then I worked for Williams & ican men. Connolly, a white-collar criminal defense So I look at cases in which the Court Årm, where I was schooled by some of the gives the police extraordinary power to country’s best lawyers on how to confront arrest, to use force — including deadly the power of the government in defense Previous page: Students during Orientation of my clients. I wanted to get more trial touring the National Museum of African Ameri- force — and to racially proÅle. If these can History and Culture. Photo by Ines Hilde. powers were deployed against anyone else
2017 Fall/Winter 51 CAMPUS / DUE PROCESS
experience, so I went to the Department grocery store. And so while it still seemed of Justice — where I was detailed to the important to make recommendations ce here in D.C., which is for African-American men about how toٻU.S. attorney’s o the local prosecutor. That was an amazing avoid the system, clearly the problem was experience, both personally and profes- much larger than that. In some ways, it sionally. I got to go to court almost every was out of the control of individual black day; I had a lot of jury trials. I had all this men. No matter what you do, it seemed power representing the United States of like you were at risk of being the victim of America, but I was using that power to put violence by the police. And so I wanted to African-American people, especially young think more broadly about what was going black men, in prison. That ultimately led on — not just with young black men but ce. I didn’t with our society and our laws that led toٻme to leave the prosecutor’s o go to law school to put black men in pris- all of these people being killed. on, and that’s basically what my job was. What are your conclusions in the That really opened up this area of book? research, and my scholarship has focused on the intersection of race and crime. Chokehold is a book about There are some evidence-based practices 5y Årst book, Let’s Get Free: A Hip-Hop “black men and how the law that can make it safer for black men and Theory of Justice (The New Press, 2009) treats us. It’s about state for the larger community. For the problem was about mass incarceration. I focused of police shooting African-American men on the way that in hip hop music, young violence against black men, when they wouldn’t shoot other people, African-American men were telling of including violence by the po- I have two recommendations about who cer. 7ne isٻtheir experiences with the criminal justice lice, but I also interrogate vi- ought to become a police o system and making important recommen- olence by black men, mainly that half of every police force should be dations for how our communities could be against each other. The idea women. We know that women are much made safer and our citizens made more is that many of the problem- less likely to use force, including deadly free. That book did well, and the publish- force, than men are, and that they are atic features of U.S. criminal ective as law enforcementٺer wanted me to do another book about every bit as e cers. They’re more likely to be in thatٻcriminal justice. It started out as a guide justice — mass incarceration, o for African-American men who are in the erosion of civil liberties and necessary frame of thinking of their work system. There’s advice about how not to brutal policing — are based as guardianship and protection, rather be stopped by the police; how if you are on fear of African-American than being warriors and regarding the stopped, not to be arrested; and if you do men. In the criminal context, communities that they patrol as enemies, get prosecuted, how you should proceed, the Supreme Court has given as unfortunately too many male cops do. -ٻwhat you should tell your lawyer, how to The other recommendation is for o
select a lawyer, whether to go to trial. the police what I call ‘su- cers to be required to have college degrees.
While I was working on that book, perpowers,ϯ with the under- Again, this is evidence based research that
cers are betterٻTrayvon Martin was killed in Florida. And standing that these powers “ demonstrates that when o then Michael Brown was killed in Fergu- are to be deployed against educated, especially when they have col- son. And Eric Garner was killed in New African-American men. lege degrees, they’re less likely to be racist, York. That dramatically shifted the focus they’re less likely to shoot unarmed people of the book, because some of these young and they’re better at resolving disputes. men were doing everything right. Tray- von Martin was on his way to his dad’s And more broadly? house after buying some candy from a I recommend that we start moving toward prison abolition. Abolition sounds startling
52 Georgetown Law DUE PROCESS \ CAMPUS
when you Årst hear about it, because we “Many on both sides of the Atlantic BREXIT have this idea that we need prisons to keep may be hoping that Britain’s decision to us safe. But when we ask, what does that IIEL Releases “Legal Aspects of leave the European Union is somehow mean, I think it means we want to incar- Brexit” reversible, when in fact that is not the cerate people who are likely to cause harm case,” Hillman said. “Brexit is here to stay if they’re not incarcerated, and we want and now the hard work begins. We hope ,cialsٻpeople who have done harm to pay, to this book will help government o be accountable for the harm that they’ve business people, attorneys, journalists and caused. The question we need to ask is others identify and cut through a dizzying does prison accomplish any of those goals? array of legal dilemmas that need to be When you look at the research, when you untangled after Article 50 is invoked.” look at the evidence, the answer is, prison doesn’t do a very good job of either keep- FACULTY ing us safe or making people take responsi- bility for the harm that they’ve done. Professor John Mikhail Named Georgetown Law is the leading ac- Associate Dean ademic home for this new, exciting idea of abolition, and it’s mainly because of Professor John Mikhail, the Agnes N. my colleague, Professor Allegra McLeod, Williams Research Professor, became who’s done important and groundbreak- associate dean of Research and Academic ing work in theorizing abolition. She Programs in July. A member of the faculty notes that it’s a gradual process. I don’t, since 2004, Mikhail received a Ph.D. in and she doesn’t, endorse opening up philosophy from Cornell University and liate inٻevery prison door tomorrow and letting was a lecturer and research a How will Brexit impact everything from everybody go… [But] we could go a long the Department of Brain and Cognitive travel and trade to human rights, climate way at reducing the prison population, Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute change and the fate of Scotch whisky? keeping families intact and making our of Technology before earning his J.D. at Legal Aspects of Brexit, published by the neighborhoods safer. And by the way, we’d Stanford Law. After receiving his J.D., Institute of International Economic Law, save a lot of taxpayer dollars — it costs at he worked as an associate at Simpson, ers analysis on a broad array of legalٺo least 25 thousand dollars a year to lock up Thacher & Bartlett and clerked for Judge ers a unique roadmap ofٺdilemmas and o folks. Multiply that by the nearly two and Rosemary Barkett on the U.S. Court of Brexit legal resources. a half million people who are locked up Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The book is the product of George- and imagine how much more productively town Law’s groundbreaking legal seminar we could use all that money to invest in “Brexit and the Law,” believed to be the resource deprived communities. ered in the UnitedٺÅrst such course o States. Visiting Professor Jennifer Hillman (a former World Trade 7rganization and cial) and Adjunct ProfessorٻU.S. trade o Gary Horlick (a leading international trade expert) wrote the book’s introduction and edited and compiled Ånal student papers from that course, as well as the comprehensive chapter of additional Brexit legal resources.
2017 Fall/Winter 53 CAMPUS / DUE PROCESS
FACULTY Professor Kristin Henning Named Associate Dean for Clinics, Centers and Institutes
Professor Kris Henning (LL.M.’97), the What made you decide to take on What are your goals for clinics, cen- Agnes N. Williams Research Professor this role in addition to all your other ters and institutes? tasks? of Law, became associate dean for Clin- The goals are evolving. 7ne of the things I am so energized by the social justice that I want to do Årst is to really hear from ics, Centers and Institutes in July. Since work that we do within the Juvenile Justice our community, our current clinical faculty the Law Center now has 18 clinics and Clinic and the tremendous engagement and our centers and institutes about what more than 20 Centers and Institutes, it’s we have with the community through the is working well and what they would like no small task. But given her stellar work Initiative. I want to learn even more about to see improved … and then for us to over the years with the Juvenile Justice what we’re doing across the Law Center collectively set some goals. I imagine that and to Ågure out how to share information one of our goals will be this question of Clinic — she’s now the director — and about what we are doing. Centers and communication — seeing ways we can as faculty director of the Juvenile institutes are a relatively new and evolving again, marry the social justice and com- Justice Initiative, Henning is clearly the concept in the life of the law school, and I munity engagement work of the clinics right person for the job. will be putting some thought into how they with that of the centers. I’m inspired by marry with Georgetown Law’s clinical what my colleagues do. For example, Pro- program, because they serve some of the fessor Aderson François joined our faculty same purposes: outreach, engagement [last year] to launch a Civil Rights section with the community, social justice. I want of the Institute for Public Representation to see where there are natural synergies Clinic. between the centers and institutes and the clinics, and what is happening in the class- room, in practicums, and other activities at the law school.
54 Georgetown Law DUE PROCESS \ CAMPUS
Talk about your own clinic — the We’re always in a push to get more seats after law school — precisely because we Juvenile Justice Clinic, the Juvenile in the clinics. I think the presence of have the number one clinical program Justice Initiative. What’s new on that centers and institutes is extraordinary for in the country. What has changed since front? students at Georgetown Law. Learning I’ve been here is the clinic pedagogy We are really thriving. 7ne of the things opportunities like those provided by the course the fellows take. When I started as we’re most interested in is racial justice Center on Privacy & Technology is in- a fellow, it was a loose sort of existence, work. Racial justice has always been a valuable — and all of Executive Director but the course has grown, evolved and part of our work — you cannot do any Alvaro Bedoya’s work regarding race deepened in such an extraordinary way. of the criminal justice, criminal defense and surveillance. A number of students It doesn’t matter if you’re coming from a clinics and not think about race. But now came to the Årst “Color of Surveillance” litigation clinic, appellate clinic or a poli- we’re much more intentional in thinking conference in 2016 [a second was held in cy clinic, the overlap is signiÅcant, so our about how we make ourselves, as lawyers, 2017]. There are research assistant possi- topics include everything from general more attentive to our own implicit racial bilities, networking and job opportunities. supervision methodology to supervising bias. We are more attentive and inten- Professor Peter Edelman’s Center on Pov- legal writing, cultural competence and .erenceٺtional about raising racial justice chal- erty and Inequality and the work that he dealing with di and Executive Director Rebecca Epstein lenges in D.C. Superior Court in individ- What are you working on at the mo- have been doing on the adultiÅcation of ual cases. We are radically more engaged ment in terms of scholarship? in training and educating others, system black girls is equally invaluable. stakeholders, on implicit racial bias. For I have a chapter [“Boys to Men: The After earning your J.D. from Yale, example, we have facilitated workshops Role of Policing in the Socialization of you were a Stuart-Stiller Fellow in :ce and Black Boys,”] in Policing the Black Manٻwith the attorney general’s o Georgetown Law’s criminal and juve- with the judges who practice in D.C. Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment (Panthe- nile justice clinics in the 1990s. What Family Court, all within the last year. We on, 2017). I am now writing a book with made you come to Georgetown held a race in juvenile justice conference a similar name as our race and juvenile Law? How has clinical education in celebration of the 50th anniversary of justice conference, called The Right to changed in the past two decades? In re Gault — and we brought top notch Remain Children: From Emmett Till to Tamir speakers on the topic in from all over the I’m literally sitting here in this space Rice. That’s a work in progress. I am also country [see page 17]. We had more than because I was drawn to Georgetown co-editing a book of essays that explore 300 people who registered. We did that and commemorate the 50th anniversary in partnership with the National Juvenile of In re Gault, which will be published by Defender Center. Routledge in 2018. 7ur lawyers are literally 7ur lawyers are literally traveling all What do you like to do when you across the country to train stakeholders “traveling all across the coun- aren’t working? in trial skills, substantive juvenile law, try to train stakeholders in I love to run! Running provides a tremen- and implicit racial bias. We have trained trial skills, substantive juve- dous mental relief. I also love to travel federal public defenders, probation nile law, and implicit racial cers, judges and child welfare workers internationally to the greatest extent thatٻo on racial justice issues. So if I had to pick bias. We have trained federal time and resources allow. Next up on just one new thing that our clinic is doing, public defenders, probation my travel dock is probably Barcelona or ?cers, judges, and child GhanaٻI think it’s the attention we are paying to o the racial inequities in the system. welfare workers on racial
justice issues. So if I had to Students during Orientation at a Juvenile How do you see opportunities Detention Center. Photo Credit: Ann Parks evolving for students wanting to pick just one new thing that get involved in clinics, centers and our clinic is doing, I think it’s
institutes? the attention we are paying to the racial inequities“ in the system.
2017 Fall/Winter 55 COMMENCEMENT 2017
Georgetown Law welcomed well over one thousand new alumni — 637 J.D.s, 538 LL.M.s and one S.J.D. — on Sunday, May 21, as graduates and their families, faculty, staff and administra- tors gathered on Georgetown Univer- sity’s Healy Lawn for Commencement 2017.
Charles R. Lawrence III, a former Georgetown Law faculty Dean William M. Treanor also addressed the Class of 2017, member who now teaches at the University of Hawaii, was which he called “one exceptional group.” there to receive an honorary degree and address the Class of “Your experience has been shaped by the world events 2017; excerpts of the full address follow. that happened when you were together at Georgetown Law,” “Today, Georgetown Law honors a pioneer in critical race Treanor said, noting that this class attended law school during theory, an academic, an activist, and a teacher who has devot- one of the most politically charged and divisive moments in ed his career to exposing law’s complicity in making inequality our nation’s history. seem natural, to advocating for law that focuses more on inju- “I will always remember your thoughtful reactions, your ry than motive, to accessing law’s power to retell our shared powerful activism and your willingness to engage in hard history, and to amplifying our sense of justice,” Associate conversation with those who had different views,” the dean Dean Naomi Mezey said as she introduced Lawrence. continued. “Your leadership during this past year has been remarkable, and on behalf of the faculty, the staff and the administration, I want to say thank you.”
56 Georgetown Law COMMENCEMENT 2017 \ CAMPUS
EXCERPTS OF MAY 2017 GEORGETOWN LAW COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS “Don’t Go Back to Egypt After God Done Took You Outa There: Reconciliation, Reparations, and the Newest Abolitionists" Charles R. Lawrence III, Professor of Law, University of Hawai’i at MǴnoa Centennial Professor
I teach a course titled “Race, Law, and Literature.” I teach this [In one scene], Augustus and Mildred discover that their son has course because it provides a reason to read some wonderful purchased a human being. books, but also because the stories we read help students to see The power of [the] story rests in Mildred’s question to how law is a narrative — a story we tell, a container of our mo- herself: “How can it be that I did not teach my child this fundamental rality. In both legal and literary texts we negotiate and deÅne the truth of right and wrong?” Henry’s father echoes what many of us meaning of justice. In reading the stories…I want my students to are thinking: “Why should anybody haveta teach you the wrong, son?” he recognize and take responsibility for their own signiÅcant partic- says. [Henry responds], “Papa, I ain’t done nothing I ain’t a right to. ipation as lawyers and as citizens in the creation of the institu- I ain’t done nothin no white man wouldn’t do.” Henry’s answer to his tions, prescriptions and narratives that constitute law, that shape father brings me to my own worry for myself, for you graduates, our vision of justice and give our lives meaning. and for all of us who must consider our own participation in The Known World, by Edward P. Jones,1 tells the story of Henry and responsibility for the ethics of our university and our nation Townsend, a black farmer, a former slave and a slaveholder. and for the narratives that constitute, shape and rationalize what Henry, his father Augustus Townsend, and his mother Mildred we deem ethical or just. We cannot proclaim what we will do Townsend had all been the property of William Robbins, a white to ensure justice, unless we Årst ask ourselves what we mean by man… Augustus was a skilled carpenter and wood carver, and justice. What do we know? What have we learned? What have we Robbins permitted Augustus to hire himself out. The master forgotten? What do we believe about right and wrong? kept the largest part of what Augustus earned, and, with what As I tell this story I know that many of you may be thinking remained, Augustus bought his freedom. Three years later he of…this great university’s inextricable and intimate involvement had saved enough to buy his wife, Mildred, from Robbins. Henry with the institution of slavery. In the report of a working group is 19 when his father Ånally purchases his freedom. But Henry on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation, commissioned by President continues to travel with his former master and assist him with his DeGioia, we learn that from Georgetown’s founding in the 1780s business. When Henry is 21, Robbins helps him to purchase some until the end of the Civil War, the University’s origins, growth, land and then sells Henry his Årst slave, a man named Moses. successes and failures were linked to America’s slave-holding
2017 Fall/Winter 57 CAMPUS / COMMENCEMENT 2017
"And now it is your turn to join this abolitionist strug- gle. Our country and our planet face an existential crisis. I do not use this term lightly, for I believe that the very values that give meaning to democracy are at stake. Our politi- cians exploit our fears and insecuri- ties with appeals to white national- ism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. They brag to each other about their sexual assaults of women. They deny the science that tells us our lust for profits will destroy our planet and they threaten to defund the scientists who would tell us this truth. We well might wonder, as Henry’s mother did, what we forgot to teach and learn about freedom, about our shared humanity, our shared fate and shared responsibil- ity for the steward- ship of our planet. "
58 Georgetown Law COMMENCEMENT 2017 \ CAMPUS
economy and culture. The most direct such connection was call for justice asserts a moral position that values humanity through the Jesuit-owned and -operated plantations in Maryland. Årst and foremost. We have always had those among us who Plantation proÅts and proceeds from the sale of slaves on those ask Henry’s parents’ question, “Don’t you know the wrong of plantations were a primary source of funding for the school. The that?” who have called us back from returning to Egypt. In 1854, report found that bequests and other charitable gifts were also, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison stood outside a federal in large part, linked to the U.S. slave economy. A recruitment courthouse and burned a copy of the Fugitive Slave Law. Then strategy oriented to the South deepened the school’s connections he burned the U.S. Constitution, calling it “the parent of all the to slavery, and many Georgetown students brought enslaved other atrocities, a covenant with death, and an agreement with persons with them to campus to work as their servants. The hell.” In the 1960s, a new generation continued that challenge, Working Group’s best estimate puts the proportion of enslaved moving into the Deep South to wage a nonviolent guerrilla war people on campus at 10 percent in the early 19th century. It is against segregation and racism… Their sit-ins, freedom rides, likely that all of the earliest buildings on this campus were built voter registration and civil disobedience challenged the old order with slave labor. of American apartheid and culminated in the passage of the The 1838 transaction for the sale of 272 human beings Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. They were joined by [other] entered into by the Jesuit community marks an especially painful movements, each challenging unique but intersecting oppressions moment in this university’s historical memory. The sale, worth and reshaping this world so that this Commencement looks so erent from, and so much more beautiful than, mine where theٺabout $3.3 million in today’s dollars, helped to save a struggling di college: “The enslaved were grandmothers and grandfathers, brown faces and women could be counted together on the Ångers pregnant women, anxious fathers, children and infants, who were of two hands. fearful, bewildered and despairing as they saw their families and And now it is your turn to join this abolitionist struggle. 7ur communities ripped apart by the sale.” country and our planet face an existential crisis. I do not use this I feel…uneasy ambivalence as I read the Georgetown Work- term lightly, for I believe that the very values that give meaning ing Group’s “Report on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation.” to democracy are at stake. 7ur politicians exploit our fears and I rejoice at its careful excavation and candid accounting of our insecurities with appeals to white nationalism, xenophobia, Islam- troubled history. I am thankful for its insistence on the need for ophobia and anti-Semitism. They brag to each other about their formal apology and its recognition that reconciliation must be sexual assaults of women. They deny the science that tells us our our ultimate goal. But when the report asks how this reconcilia- lust for proÅts will destroy our planet and they threaten to defund tion might be achieved, it speaks of “perpetrators and victims” the scientists who would tell us this truth. We well might wonder, in a remote time and place. It asks “how persons two centuries as Henry’s mother did, what we forgot to teach and learn about after the events” can “adopt for themselves a personal responsibil- freedom, about our shared humanity, our shared fate and shared ity for those perpetrators and the victims.” responsibility for the stewardship of our planet. Should we hide a painting from view or rename a building? You graduates must choose whether you will be apologists, Should we apologize for the enslavement and sale of our fellow rationalizing slavery and dehumanization, or become our newest human beings? These questions, while necessary, consign these Abolitionists, speaking truth to power and lifting up those who .erence and our disregardٺinjuries to past perpetrators and victims. The legacy of slavery are rendered invisible by their di lives with us today. The injury lies not just in our inheritance of Will you make our land holy by welcoming the wanderer who is the wealth made by the theft and torture of human beings. We without land, by refusing to look away from the homeless child, are injured as well by our participation in today’s institutions, the battered woman, the refugee, the transgender adolescent, the systems and markets of human carnage and oppression. The ide- imprisoned father or the heroin addict, and by regarding every ologies and narratives that justiÅed the genocide and enslavement human being with empathy and reciprocity? of human beings are also our legacy. The paintings and ediÅces We are counting on you to keep us from returning to a land with slaveholder’s names are not just artifacts of past oppression. where the law’s narrative is used to justify crimes against humani- They are part of a narrative that constitutes our nomos, which ty. We trust you to do the hard work of reconciliation, reparations shapes our vision of justice and gives our lives meaning. and healing by acknowledging our responsibility for the sins of The [deaths] of Trayvon Little, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, the past, but, more importantly, by repairing the injuries that we Tanisha Brown [and] Latasha Harris are likewise manifestations do to one another each day. 7ur Åght is a Åght about who we are of black dehumanization. They signify the state’s contempt for — meaning both who belongs and how we live as our best selves. and failure to recognize black humanity. This contestation, this
2017 Fall/Winter 59 CAMPUS / COMMENCEMENT 2017
7ur Åght within our communities is a Åght about values, about FACULTY ethics, about how we constitute ourselves. Judy Areen, Who Led Georgetown Law This ethical pursuit and vocation are especially important as Dean from 1989 to 2004, Retires from in these perilous times when our government is building border the Law Center walls, banning refugees, defunding Planned Parenthood and Meals on Wheels. In Arizona and California, armed agents from ICE park outside of elementary schools waiting for pick up time so that they can seize children’s parents and deport them. 7ur government says these parents are here in violation of our immi- gration law, that they are criminals. Their capture, incarceration and deportation are authorized by our laws, what can be the wrong in that? We must answer, as Henry’s mother did, with an ethics question: Does this law disregard the human being? We are asking Henry’s parents question of ourselves: “Don’t we know the right and wrong of what we do?” I know that Georgetown has prepared you well for this great responsibility because I lived with this community for 15 years. I have known your teachers as colleagues and friends. I know that they have always asked you not just whether a law comports with precedent or the intentions of its authors, but also whether those laws are just. The places where most of you will work and live will be less diverse, whiter, more male, more homophobic and more commodiÅed than Georgetown. It will not always be easy to The picture, if you’ve seen it, has become almost legendary at give the gifts of anti-racist understanding that you have received Georgetown Law. A young law professor (Judy Areen) in the from your Black, Latino, Asian and Indigenous friends. You may want to forget what you learned from women friends about 1970s, with a long-haired law alum (Wally Mlyniec) who was sexual harassment in the workplace. You may want to ignore the leading Georgetown Law’s Juvenile Justice Clinic. Back then, anti-Semitic remark made by a well-heeled client. But I hope that as they will gleefully tell you, some on campus referred to you will have the courage to keep the gifts you have been given them condescendingly as “the girl and the hippie.” Areen, who alive, that you will understand that the obligation to give away the gifts you have received is an obligation not just to those who have was the school’s second woman professor when she joined shared their gifts with you but to yourself. I am happy to count the Law Center faculty in 1972, would become a beloved dean you graduates among the abolitionists that Åght alongside me to of the Law Center for 15 years (1989-2004) and interim dean in make this wounded nation whole, to re-birth it as our own. 2010. Now, after nearly 45 years, Areen retires from George- Congratulations to you, my young brothers and sisters, in town Law. struggle and peace! “Judy has been a colleague, teacher, advisor, mentor, friend, and leader to countless faculty, staff, students, and 1. Edward P. Jones, The Known World (2003). alumni,” says Dean William M. Treanor — who called Areen’s retirement “the end of an era” for the Law Center. Her greatest legacy, Treanor said, will be her “transformative leadership” as dean. “No one has meant more to Georgetown Law than
Commencement Photos by Sam Hollenshead. Judy Areen.”
60 Georgetown Law TAKE NOTE \ CAMPUS
SECOND WOMAN PROFESSOR AT GEORGETOWN LAW As young as she looks in that 1970s photo with Mlyniec and teaching law was not Areen’s Årst job after ,ٺProfessor Charles Ru she graduated from Yale Law in 1969. She worked as a program planner for higher education in the budget bureau of the New ce, and was a fellow and eventual directorٻYork City Mayor’s 7 of the Education Voucher Study for the Center of Public Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her work on education issues prompted an interest in teaching. “I made a few inquiries,” she once said of teaching. “The an- swer came back, you are too young, and worse, you are a woman. I was enough of a rebel at that point that I thought, well, in that case, this is something that I had better do.” She was up for the challenge. Areen had been one of only eight women in her graduating class — in an era when men, if they were not in school, could be drafted and sent to Vietnam. Women were pressured to justify their very existence in a law school classroom. “She recalled to me how awkward it was at that time for ev- eryone,” said Professor Edith Brown Weiss at an event honoring Areen, along with retiring Professors Patricia King and Richard Diamond, in April. “Including the day a classmate asked her whether she realized that with her being in law school, a man was being forced to serve in Vietnam.” the community through the construction of the Gewirz Student Library ٺAfter joining the Georgetown Law faculty in 1972, Areen Center, Hotung International Law Building, the Wol found her niche teaching family law and began raising funds for a and the Scott K. Ginsburg Sport & Fitness Center. new juvenile justice clinic to help children. The clinic launched in “To get a sense of what Judy has achieved, you just have to 1973-1974 and Areen hired Mlyniec as its Årst director. look around,” Treanor said. “Literally the place on which we “When I look back, this university took quite a chance on me stand was built by Judy.” in 1972,” Areen said. “I was joined by Pat [King] and then Wen- Areen hired 45 Law Center faculty members. She also ex- dy [Williams] and Edie [Brown Weiss]… If you are very lucky in panded the Law Center’s dedication to public service, establishing ce of Public Interest and Community Service in 2003 andٻlife, you Ånd your joy, and hopefully it has meaning for others. For the 7 me, being a law professor is one of the greatest possible jobs and I guiding thousands of students into public interest careers. “Judy am very grateful I was given that chance.” has always been a visionary,” Edith Brown Weiss said. As the Law Center’s Årst woman dean, Areen was the driving FIRST WOMAN DEAN OF GEORGETOWN LAW force behind the creation of Georgetown Law Women’s Forum In the late 1970s, Areen took a leave of absence from George- and the Alumnae Award. She also created the Board of Visitors ce of Management and Budget. She and even helped establish an Early Learning Center for childrenٻtown, serving in the 7 became general counsel to President Carter’s Reorganization of the Georgetown Law family. Project and served as special counsel to the White House Task Areen’s service as dean led her to her work on higher edu- Force on Regulatory Reform. Back at the Law Center, she be- cation and the law, which became central to her teaching and came associate dean in 1983 and continued to publish textbooks scholarship. “The life story of Judy [is that of] an enormously on family law. capable woman who triumphed in a man’s world — an excellent In 1989, Areen became dean and executive vice president of scholar of family law, a delightful teacher, a remarkable dean, the Law Center. 7ver the next 15 years she would transform the Edith Brown Weiss said. “Generations of students are grateful for campus, leading the McDonough Hall expansion and guiding her contributions.”
2017 Fall/Winter 61 CAMPUS / TAKE NOTE
FACULTY Retiring Professors Patricia King, Richard Diamond
n 1973, Professor Pat King was work- After graduating from Yale Law, Dia- ing in the federal government when mond served as a law clerk for Judge Stan- Ishe received a call from Professor ley A. Weigel of the U.S. District Court for Paul Rothstein, asking her if she would be the Northern District of California and interested in teaching at Georgetown Law. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger of the U.S. At the time, she had not considered Supreme Court. He practiced 10 years becoming a law professor. Role models with the D.C. Årm of Steptoe & Johnson, for African-American professional women in the areas of antitrust and international had been rare, growing up in segregated trade litigation, before joining the faculty Norfolk, Virginia. A high school teacher in January 1985. helped her prepare for college — the At Georgetown Law, Diamond’s areas majority white, all female Wheaton of expertise included antitrust and trade College in Massachusetts. Yet King would regulation, business organizations and meet every challenge, go on to Harvard securities regulation, and international Law and pursue her life’s work when she trade. Dean William M. Treanor and er to teach. She Professor Larry Gostin said that Diamondٺaccepted Rothstein’s o joined the Georgetown Law faculty in has also been critical to the Ånancial suc- 1974 “as a pioneer in bioethics, a Åeld cess of the Law Center and its relationship she helped to create,” said Associate to the University. Dean Naomi Mezey. “He is a gifted teacher who has King and her longtime colleagues introduced thousands of students to the Richard Diamond and Judy Areen [see basic principles of corporate law and, page 60] were honored in April upon their with an emphasis on economic analysis, to retirements. Coincidentally, all graduated the intricacies and contradictions of the from their respective law schools in 1969. Agreement Establishing the World Trade After graduating from Harvard Law, 7rganization,” Treanor said. King went on to become the Deputy And as his colleagues were quick to ce of Civil Rights note — having raised two children withٻDirector of the 7 and Special Assistant to the Chairman of his wife, Professor Emerita Wendy Wil- the EE7C. She also served as a Deputy liams — Diamond was only too happy to Assistant Attorney General in the Civil serve as an honorary dad to his colleagues’ Division of the Department of Justice. At children as well. Georgetown Law, she was the Carmack “We celebrate three remarkable people Waterhouse Professor of Law, Medicine, who have, in so many ways, built George- Ethics and Public Policy. town Law…,” Treanor said. “Their scholarship, their friendship, their vision, is woven into the very fabric of who we are.”
62 Georgetown Law TAKE NOTE \ CAMPUS
Faculty Awards
Associate Dean Kristin Professor Eloise Adjunct Professor Professor Laura Henning Accepts Juve- Pasachoff Recognized Alvaro Bedoya Named Donohue at the nile Justice Award by the ABA D.C.’s “Rising Stars” National Archives
s Adjunct Professor Alvaro Professor Laura Donohue’ٺGeorgetown Law’s Juvenile Professor Eloise Pasacho Justice Initiative (JJI) received recent Yale Law Journal article Bedoya, executive director of spoke in June at the National the Juvenile Justice Leader- on “The President’s Budget Georgetown Law’s Center on Archives about the future of ship Award at the 8th Annual as a Source of Agency Policy Privacy and Technology, was digital technologies — spe- Criminal Justice Coordinat- Control” was recognized by named one of “D.C.’s Rising ciÅcally, on using DNA to the ABA Administrative Law Stars” by the National Law Jour- store the 16 trillion terabytes ing Council (CJCC) Juvenile Section as “the best work of nal in August. of information likely to be Justice Summit in Washington, administrative law scholarship produced in 2017 and how D.C., on August 11. Associate questions of cybersecurity will ٺpublished in 2016.” Pasacho Dean Kristin Henning, the ect our ability to preserveٺalso received Georgetown a director of the Juvenile Justice Law’s Frank F. Flegal Excel- our culture. She also gave a Clinic who has spearheaded lence in Teaching Award at the presentation at the Sun Valley JJI at the Law Center, accepted Faculty Teaching and Scholar- Writers’ Conference that the award. ship Luncheon on April 27. included a demonstration on drone and IT technology.
2017 Fall/Winter 63 CAMPUS / NEW FACULTY
Take Note
PROFESSOR ALICIA PLERHOPLES Plerhoples has received the American Bar tions through her supervision of 36 clinic Association Business Law Section’s 2017 students who provided more than 10,700 7utstanding NonproÅt Lawyer Award for hours of pro bono legal services. “Her her contributions in law and social entre- student attorneys helped to form Aloetree, preneurship — which are transforming the the Årst beneÅt corporation in the District way attorneys advise nonproÅts. “By cre- of Columbia, which produces ecofriendly ating the Årst-ever Social Enterprise and children’s clothing and other products that NonproÅt Clinic at Georgetown Law, she promote kid-friendly service projects and helps train the next generation of lawyers fundraisers, and also contributes a portion ”,ckingٻerently about how to apply of its proÅts to combat child traٺto think di existing areas of law and to guide social the ABA notes. “The clinic students also entrepreneurs and social enterprises that provided legal advice on issues such as are developing new approaches to address consumer privacy, trademark and brand intractable social problems,” the organiza- management, and anti-terrorism Ånancing tion writes. From 2013 to 2015 alone, Pler- policies, among other important transac- hoples made signiÅcant contributions to 30 tional issues.” nonproÅt and social enterprise organiza-
TDI at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on these kinds of issues. “7ften times, TDI is the only group to provide comments on petitions for waiver of the FCC’s accessibility rules that have been put out for public comment by the FCC,” Simshaw says, noting that the clinic will draft comments on behalf of TDI and circu- late them to a larger contingent of consumer groups concerned with disability access, many of whom will sign on. Simshaw and the clinic also assisted during the FCC’s transi- tion from TTY to RTT earlier this year. While TTY machines al- low people to communicate over landlines by typing, hearing-im- paired people can only communicate with those who also have a TTY machine. The FCC recently replaced the requirements Drew Simshaw (LL.M.’20), a fellow in Georgetown Law’s that networks accommodate TTY with requirements for RTT, Institute for Public Representation’s Communications & Technol- which allows users to type and to read messages in real time, as ogy Law clinic, received the H. Latham Breunig Humanitarian they are being typed — improving everyday as well as emergency Award from Telecommunications for the Deaf & Hard of Hear- communications. ing (TDI) in July. While much of IPR’s Communications work ensures that -orts on issues related to TV everyone can enjoy the same convenience and access to entertainٺSimshaw was honored for his e ords, technology is a lifeline for peopleٺcaptioning, including requests for waivers from small producers, ment that technology a IP-captioning, advanced communication services and user inter- who are deaf and hard of hearing, Simshaw notes. “It represents faces covered under the Communications and Video Accessibility the ability to conduct communications that a lot of people take Act of 2010, and the adoption and deployment of Real-Time for granted.” Text Technology (RTT). The Georgetown Law clinic represents
64 Georgetown Law NEW FACULTY \ CAMPUS
New Faculty
heila Foster likes cities. She grew up in both Detroit and Miami, went to Ann Arbor for college at the University of Michigan and chose Berkeley, SCalifornia for law school. She practiced law in San Francisco for a time, then came back East for teaching positions at Rutgers and at Fordham in New York City. In 2017, she comes south to Washington, D.C., to teach Urban Law and Policy and Property at Georgetown Law. Foster will also teach at George- town University’s McCourt School of Public Policy as a joint appointment. “I have always been interested in neighborhoods and cities, where people live, and how they structure their lives,” she says. Her work is tied to environmental justice — meaning environmental quality at a human scale as opposed to “out there” in nature. And Washington, D.C., Foster believes, will bring a policy focus to her work. “What attracted me to Georgetown are the institutions that are engaged in larger policy discussions, in particular about cities and climate change, cities and inequality, cities and housing,” Foster notes. “There’s a whole conÆuence of urban issues that aren’t necessarily about just one city, but rather the impact of urbanization in cities / Sheila Foster on a whole host of issues that we see coming up all over the world. So for me, B.A. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Georgetown is both an elevation in terms of the richness of the faculty and J.D. University of California, Berkeley resources and also an elevation in terms of the level at which I’ll be looking at Experience and Affiliations these issues.” University Professor and Albert A. Walsh Professor of Real Foster is currently working on a book that focuses on imagining cities as Estate, Land Use and Property Law, Fordham University common spaces — and her work has gone global. “I am part of a research Associate Dean and Vice Dean, Fordham Law School team [Laboratory for the Governance of the Commons, “LabGov”] that Co-director, Fordham Urban Law Center; founder, Fordham helped to draft a regulation for the city of Bologna, Italy, on the care and Urban Consortium regeneration of urban commons, where the city enters into pacts with residents Courses to manage and regenerate urban spaces,” she explains. “They could be vacant Urban Law and Policy Seminar lots, they could be abandoned houses, they could be neighborhood squares, Property they could be housing projects….this is a city policy that we helped to frame and implement, and we’ve been monitoring and engaged in very similar poli- Representative Publications The Co-City: Collective Governance, Urban Commons and cies in cities around the world.” In December 2017, she and her international cials and leaders in urbanٻExperiments In Social and Economic Pooling (with Christian team of researchers will convene up to 22 city o Iaione) (manuscript in progress) innovation at Rockefeller’s Bellagio Conference Center in Italy for a workshop Comparative Equality and Antidiscrimination Law: Cases, on “Accelerating Citywide Civic Entrepreneurship: An Exercise in the Co-City Codes, Constitutions and Commentary (with David Oppen- Approach.” In the meantime, she’s taking advantage of everything that Wash- er. “D.C. is a great biking city,” she says. “I look forwardٺheimer, UC Berkeley and Sora Han, UC Irvine) (Foundation ington, D.C., has to o Press, 2012). to exploring the bike paths and discovering the city that way.” “The City as a Commons,” 34 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 281 (2016) (with Christian Iaione)
Photo Credit: Martin Bentsen, City Headshots.
2017 Fall/Winter 65 CAMPUS / NEW FACULTY
hon Hopwood has everything that a law professor could want on a resume. He was a Gates Public Service Law Scholar at the Univer- Ssity of Washington School of Law. He served as a law clerk to Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Most recently, he was a law fellow in Georgetown Law’s Appellate Litigation Clinic. He’s passionate about prison reform and criminal justice. And that’s where his incredible path to the law began. Before he ever set foot in law school, Hopwood discovered that he had a knack for writing legal briefs, including two cert petitions that were granted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Fellers v. United States was argued in 2004 by former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman, who was so impressed by Hopwood’s self-taught legal skills that he became a mentor. That mentorship made all the .erence to Hopwood, who was an inmate in federal prison at the timeٺdi Today, Hopwood teaches prison law and policy as well as criminal justice. A published book author, he speaks at colleges, law schools, churches and pris- ons across the country. And he’s following Waxman’s example by mentoring / Shon Hopwood law students whose pasts may keep them from practicing. “It’s a huge problem, J.D. University of Washington School of Law because no one knows whether they are going to get through [the character LL.M. (Master of Laws in Advocacy), Georgetown and Åtness tests] when they are making the decision to go to law school,” University Law Center Hopwood says. “Most of the states don’t actually say what ‘rehabilitation’ means…what you see are very arbitrary decisions being made.” Experience and Affiliations Teaching Fellow, Appellate Litigation Clinic, Georgetown What does he like about Georgetown Law? “Georgetown, the spirit of Law public service, means something here,” Hopwood says. “It permeates every- Board Member, Families Against Mandatory Minimums thing…I plan to work and write about criminal justice reform, and we’re Law Clerk, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, U.S. Court of three blocks from Capitol Hill.” And the alumni network, he observes, is Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit amazing. “I probably received 300 e-mails from alumni this summer, [saying] how great they think it is that I am going to be a faculty member. I did an Courses Prison Law and Policy event at the Brookings Institution recently on the need for criminal justice Criminal Justice reform, and the person who gave the keynote speech was the governor of .e (L’84). He said, ‘You’re teaching at my alma materٺVirginia, Terry McAuli Representative Publications That’s wonderful.’” “Clarity in Criminal Law,” 54 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 695 (2017). “The Not So Speedy Trial Act,” 89 Wash. L. Rev. 709 (2014). “Failing to Fix Sentencing Mistakes: How the System of Mass Incarceration May Have Hardened the Hearts of the Federal Judiciary,” 43 Geo. L.J. Ann. Rev. Crim. Proc. iii (2014).
Photo Credit: Ines Hilde.
66 Georgetown Law NEW FACULTY \ CAMPUS
n 1996, Professor Brad Snyder saw his Årst Supreme Court oral argument while working as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun and knew that he wanted Ito go to law school. The case, Brown v. Pro Football, which prevented players’ unions from suing their leagues on antitrust grounds, changed Snyder’s life. After writing about the oral argument, he quit his newspaper job covering the Baltimore 7rioles and went to law school. “I knew that I’d much rather write about the Supreme Court than interview Cal Ripken, Jr.,” he said. Today Snyder teaches Sports Law, Constitutional Law I & II, and Legal Justice, and a Constitutional History seminar at Georgetown Law. But Snyder’s path to academia was an unusual one. After clerking for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and working as an associate at Williams & Connolly, he left the law Årm to write a book about Curt Flood, a player who sued Major League Baseball over the reserve clause .ٺin his contract which bound him to his team for life. The gamble paid o Snyder’s research for his book, A Well-Paid Slave, led him to Justice Blackmun’s papers and made him realize that he wanted to make a living writing and / Brad Snyder thinking about the history of the Supreme Court. His latest book, The House of A.B. Duke Truth: A Washington Political Salon and the Foundations of American Liberalism, tells the J.D. Yale story of how a Dupont Circle rowhouse became a political salon that included Felix Frankfurter, Louis Brandeis, 7liver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and Walter Lip- Experience and Affiliations pmann. Snyder is currently writing a biography of Justice Frankfurter. Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin Since 2008, Snyder has been teaching at the University of Wisconsin Law Associate, Williams & Connolly School. Teaching, he says, allows him to think through issues of constitutional Law Clerk, Judge Dorothy W. Nelson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit law while presenting material to a class in an entertaining way. He also brings practice exercises, such as mock oral arguments, to the classroom. Professional- Courses ly, the move to Georgetown is his dream job. “There is no better place to teach Constitutional Law constitutional law than Georgetown,” he said. “In every class I’ve ever taught Sports Law here, there is a critical mass of students who want to work in government and Legal Justice Seminar who make it cool to want to talk and think about the Constitution. I can’t wait Representative Publications to come to class every day.” The House of Truth: A Washington Political Salon and the Foundations of American Liberalism (Oxford University Press, 2017). “Frankfurter and Popular Constitutionalism,” 47 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 343 (2013). “Rehnquist’s Missing Letter: A Former Law Clerk’s 1955 Thoughts on Justice Jackson and Brown,” 53 B.C. L. Rev. 631 (2012) (co-authored with John Q. Barrett) A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight of Free Agency in Professional Sports (Viking/Penguin, 2006)
Photo Credit: Brent Futrell.
2017 Fall/Winter 67 CAMPUS / NEW FACULTY
rofessor Urska Velikonja never intended to stay in the United States after getting her LL.M. from Harvard in 2003. She returned to her native PSlovenia, where she’d graduated Årst in her class from the University of Ljubjana, to work in an international law Årm. Traveling with her was her husband-to-be, Georgetown Law Visiting Lecturer Brian Sawers, whom she met at Harvard. In fact, the couple would make headlines when they married at a European castle on January 22, 2005 — the same day that Donald Trump was marrying Slovenian-born Melania in Florida. The local newspaper was only too delighted to split the coverage between the Velikonja-Sawers wedding and the Trumps. “The Årst sentence in our write up says that Melania may have married Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, but we found our own Slove- nian-American couple right here,” Velikonja says, laughing. Ultimately, the pair would come back to Harvard, where Velikonja decided to go to law school a third time as an American J.D. candidate. Regulation, enforcement, and M&A had always interested her — in Slovenia, she wrote a law school thesis on corporate governance of state-owned enterprises, drawing / Urska Velikonja on literature from the United States just before the Enron and WorldCom scan- LL.B. University of Ljubljana dals hit. “It was fascinating to consider how the scandals could take place; you LL.M. Harvard have this gold-plated system of corporate governance that the whole world was J.D. Harvard trying to copy, yet that same system allowed these massive scandals that took everyone by surprise,” she recalls. “It remains a source of endless inspiration for Experience and Affiliations my research.” Associate Professor, Emory University School of Law As a professor and visiting professor at the University of Maryland, Uni- Assistant Professor, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law versity of Chicago, Duke, Emory and Georgetown Law schools, Velikonja likes Law Clerk, Judge Stephen F. Williams, U.S. Court of what she calls “the performative aspects of teaching,” putting on the show. “In Appeals for the D.C. Circuit a course in scandals, I’ll show a photo of a ‘perp walk’ with some chief execu- Associate, Schoenherr Rechtsanwaelte tive being [escorted] by a federal prosecutor. Those images tend to get students interested,” she says. And Georgetown Law, for Velikonja, makes a lot of sense. Courses “Securities enforcement is based here; the Securities and Exchange Commis- Securities Regulation sion is a half a mile up the street, and I write speciÅcally about enforcement Securities Enforcement Seminar policy,” she says. “Georgetown has a faculty of people who care about similar Contracts questions, and it’s always great to have students who care about the things that Mergers & Acquisitions you care about. You can have animated conversations, and the classes are more Representative Publications interesting as a result.” “Are the SEC’s Administrative Law Judges Biased? An Empirical Investigation,” 92 Wash L. Rev. 315 (2017). “Reporting Agency Performance: Behind the SEC’s Enforce- ment Statistics,” 101 Cornell L. Rev. 901 (2016). “Public Compensation for Private Harm: Evidence from the SEC’s Fair Fund Distributions,” 67 Stan. L. Rev. 331 (2015).
Photo Credit: Brent Futrell.
68 Georgetown Law / ALUMNI
2017 Fall/Winter 69 ALUMNI / FOR THE RECORD
AUTHORS Life after Law: Karen Kao (L’84)
aren Kao (L’84) spent more than 25 years practicing Charles Wright, who later became the poet laureate of the Unit- law — primarily cross-border M&A as a law Årm part- ed States, was one of my teachers and one of the most wonder- Kner in The Netherlands — before turning to full-time ful people that you could imagine. I became friends with Yusef Åction writing in 2011. Her debut novel, The Dancing Girl and the Komunyakaa, who was the Årst person to publish my poetry and Turtle, was published by Linen Press in London and Amsterdam who eventually got a Pulitzer for his own amazing work. So I was last April; it is available on amazon.com. at a really good place at a really good time.
As an undergraduate at the University of California, you Why law school? were an aspiring poet. Who were some of your favorite My plan after college was to go write poetry on the beaches of poets? France — until my dad talked me into applying for law school. Poetry to me is emotions onto paper. It’s bleeding. Ai 7gawa is I only applied to two, Harvard and Georgetown Law, and once someone who does that. Tess Gallagher was a poet who wrote you get in, you have to go. Later, when I asked Charles Wright for a lot about 7range County, which is where I went to college. career advice, he said, being a poet is such a hard life. Unless you
Book cover, courtesy of Linen Press. Childhood photos provided by Karen Kao.
70 Georgetown Law FOR THE RECORD \ ALUMNI
cannot wake up in the morning and you back in 2011, I started talking to clients. I whatever it is that you’re trying. For most cannot go to sleep at night without writing said, I’m looking for a change and I want people my age who have had any measure poetry, do something else. to know, how did you get where you are of success, it’s really hard to go back. today? I got a tremendous amount of help. How did you end up doing cross-bor- I walked in a lot of shoes but when it came Your debut novel, The Dancing Girl der M&A in Amsterdam? down to making a choice, writing was and the Turtle, was published in April. I met my husband [who is Dutch] during really the one thing that made me happy. What was the inspiration for the law school at a party — he was not a law I did some consulting for a while but it book? How did you describe it when student but had Ånished his master’s at felt an awful lot like my old law practice. pitching it to publishers? Columbia. I started out doing communi- I thought, if I’m going to quit, I better go The inspiration for my book is actually cations law in Washington, D.C., in the all the way. my father, who grew up in Shanghai. He early 1980s, when everybody wanted to 7f course, the Årst thing any sane per- would tell me stories about his life and buy a piece of a telecom company. That son would ask is: aren’t you scared about about family legends. I guess I stored the allowed me to do mergers and acquisitions your money running out? And it’s true: information somewhere in the back of from the regulatory perspective — which taking a really long and hard look at your my mind, because when I started writing is the best side to be on, since you can Ånancial situation is key in order to make again, I found myself focusing primarily advise on deal structure and control and a step like this. Even then, you have to re- on those old stories. satisfying the FCC. trench, you have to cut back. You have to My publisher, Linen Press, bought the And it turned out to be a godsend think: what do I really need? For example, manuscript because my novel explores because when we moved from D.C. to I don’t have anywhere near the same shoe violence against women. There is more vi- Amsterdam, it was the one marketable collection that I used to have. olence in women’s lives than we would like skill that I had that translated. It was good But I think the real hurdle for most to admit, and that story needs to be told. timing as well because the Dutch civil code people is the ego thing. You have to be The novel is about a woman in Shang- had just been completely overhauled. So willing to start over again and to be bad at hai who is raped at the very beginning of I only had to learn the code once. But in the novel. It’s told from her perspective, order to really practice law here, I had to that of her amah and the other house ser- get a Dutch law degree. I got a paralegal vants and the cousin who falls in love with erent characters — a kind ofٺposition, worked during the day and went I think that what holds her. Very di to law school at night until I graduated. I “people back the most is fear. Upstairs, Downstairs Shanghai-style — in switched to a Årm in Amsterdam in 1999. We lawyers in particular are order to create a kaleidoscopic view of a risk-averse tribe. When I what life in Shanghai in 1937 would have As a law firm partner doing cross-bor- felt like. der M&A, and the head of a corporate decided to leave my Årm and law department in The Netherlands, went around to tell each of How does being a lawyer help you as you were often the only woman in the partners personally, by a writer? There is the life experience, the room. What advice would you and large the response was certainly, but does it help you when give to young women attorneys in structuring a plot? under-represented fields? very positive: that’s great and that’s courageous, and it’s Lawyers are always thinking ahead — got
Do your job. Don’t get upset about being really wonderful that you’re to have a contingency plan. You’re used the only woman in the room. Put your en- to thinking, if I do A, what is the B step ergy into being the best lawyer you can be. willing to make a leap. But going to be?
there were a handful of peo- “ Then there are the language skills we How did you transition to being a full- ple who said, God, I wish I have to learn. A lot about being a lawyer is time fiction writer? could do that. being clear, conveying your points. Doing When I decided that I was going to quit, that in purple prose doesn’t usually work.
2017 Fall/Winter 71 ALUMNI / FOR THE RECORD
You are using your language to convince. SUPREME COURT And that’s kind of what a writer does. I 2017 Supreme Court Swearing-In Ceremony need to captivate you with my language in sort of the same way that you try to captivate the other side when you are negotiating.
What would you say to lawyers who still have a different dream inside them? I think that what holds people back the most is fear. We lawyers in particular are a risk-averse tribe. When I decided to leave my Årm and went around to tell each of the partners personally, by and large the response was very positive: that’s great and that’s courageous, and it’s really wonderful that you’re willing to make a leap. But there were a handful of people who said, God, I wish I could do that. It’s not that hard. You can use your skill set as a lawyer in unsuspecting ways. You’re not starting over completely. You still bring the beneÅt of your life experi- The Supreme Court swearing-in ceremony is a much-anticipated an- airsٺce of Alumni Aٻence and to some extent some work skills nual event sponsored by Georgetown Law’s 7 into whatever it is that you end up doing. Just go for it. for alumni who become members of the Supreme Court Bar. The following alumni took part in this year’s ceremony on June 19. You can follow Karen Kao on her blog at inkstonepress.com. Frances Chang (L’07) Randel K. Johnson (L’84) Lawrence N. Daniels (L’82) Jennifer McVey Thomas (L’07) Timothy B. Pistell (L’12) Leah J. Tulin (L’07) Thomas W. Fahey (L’72) Robert E. Vagley (L’77)
Angelo I. Amador (L’05) Karen McDonald Lopez (L’82) George C. Chipev (F’09, L’12) Gregory S. Lisi (L’92) Angelique P. Dorsey (L’97) Richard J. Ramsay (L’07) Rowan M. Dougherty (L’07) Bradley N. Kehr (L’12) Marian G. Fowler (L’07) Gary A. Ritter (L’82) Daniel S. Harawa (L’12) John P. Morgan III (L’16) Michael L. Huang (L’07) Photo by Bill Petros
72 Georgetown Law FOR THE RECORD \ ALUMNI
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D.-Md.)(L’90) Speaks at Luncheon for Washington, D.C., Alumni
ll of us know, at the end of the day…it is “I have no idea where ACCESS TO JUSTICE the rule of law that stands between us and these facts will lead, As Van Hollen noted at the outset of his 30-minute the exercise of arbitrary power in the Unit- and I think anybody speech, the words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are “A who is not directly ed States of America,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen enshrined above the portico at the Supreme Court. (D-Md.)(L’90) to the lawyers gathered for George- involved in the inves- tigation cannot say “If you think about the story of America…it’s the town Law’s Washington, D.C., Alumni Luncheon as of now what may story of the struggle to make those words more real on May 17. “And at this moment, our key principles or may not happen. in our country in every day life,” the senator said, and many of our key institutions are being tested.” But I hope that all noting that that was the struggle of the Civil Rights Speaking hours before a special counsel was Americans, especially Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Labor named to oversee the Russia investigation, Van lawyers…should agree Rights Movement and more. “All trying to move us Hollen urged the appointment of a special counsel, that it’s important for closer to building a more perfect union — trying citing Russian interference in the November 2016 us to have a nonparti- to make reality in America closer to the promise of U.S. elections, the ongoing FBI investigation into san investigation that equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity.” possible collusion, the Åring of FBI Director Jim gets to the root of this Equal justice resounded in the senator’s remarks Comey and news of the Comey memo regarding issue.” about funding for the Legal Services Corporation. the Michael Flynn investigation. “The motto, equal justice under law means nothing “I have no idea where these facts will lead, and without access to justice…,” Van Hollen said. “I I think anybody who is not directly involved in the know everybody in this room is committed to that investigation cannot say as of now what may or goal.” may not happen. But I hope that all Americans, especially lawyers…should agree that it’s important for us to have a nonpartisan investigation that gets to the root of this issue,” Van Hollen said. “It’s important to our democracy, it’s important to our
institutions.” Senator Chris Van Hollen (D. Later he added: “It is important that we pursue –MD) (L’90), Photo Credit: this not as partisans but as patriots.” AP | Robert Swan Mueller III. Photo Credit: AP
2017 Fall/Winter 73 ALUMNI / FOR THE RECORD
AWARDS Senator George J. Mitchell, Jr. (L’61, H’89) Honored with Georgetown University’s Timothy S. Healy, S.J., Award
The story of Senator George y the twenty-Årst century, Mitchell “Senator Mitchell, a dedicated pub- lic servant, titan of industry, and global J. Mitchell, Jr. (L’61, H’89) is a could look back on 15 years in the BU.S. Senate, service as the U.S. statesman, is worthy to join Sadako 7gata great American success story: a Special Envoy for Northern Ireland and (M.A.’53, H’13), President Bill Clinton boy born in the Årst half of the the Middle East and more. (F’68, H’80), Ambassador Mark R. Dybul (C’85, M’92, H’08), and Dr. Dikembe Mu- 20th century to the orphaned son Fortunately, Mitchell’s successes in- cluded four years as an evening student tombo (I’91, H’10) as an honored recipient of Irish immigrants who worked at Georgetown Law. And in April, he was of the Timothy S. Healy, S.J. Award,” as a janitor (his father) and an im- honored with Georgetown University’s said Georgetown Law Dean William M. migrant textile worker who could prestigious Timothy S. Healy, S.J. Award Treanor. — given to just Åve distinguished alumni President John J. DeGioia, who led a not read or write (his mother). who have changed the course of humanity conversation with Mitchell during the through service. 2017 John Carroll Weekend in Austin,
Photo by Phil Humnicky
74 Georgetown Law FOR THE RECORD \ ALUMNI
called Mitchell “a transformative leader.” leader in opening markets to trade. In “We are proud to consider him a son of 1994, he declined an appointment to the Georgetown.” Supreme Court in order to pursue the Mitchell said humbly that no person struggle for universal national health care orts that would pave the way forٺsucceeds or fails alone. “I owe what I am — e ,ordable Care Act. Along the wayٺand what I have done to many others, the A most especially my parents,” he said. Mitchell developed a respectful rapport “They lived their entire lives on the edge with Republican Senate Leader Bob Dole of the abyss of Ånancial insecurity and that should serve as a model for fairness, they died penniless. In their minds, they decency and courtesy today. were successful, because each of their “I said [to him], these are tough jobs,
Åve children was able to get a college and if we don’t trust each other, they
education and go on to live lives that are impossible jobs,” Mitchell said. “Not
er, but the Senate and theٺwere completely beyond the imagination only will we su
I have a very long and very“ ”.erٺof my parents.” people of our country will su -We shook hands. “ powerful, favorable associa“ :ٺThe gesture paid o Leader in the Law To this moment, not once ever, has a tion with Georgetown. After growing up in Maine, Mitchell at- harsh word passed between Bob Dole tended Bowdoin College and later served and me. We disagreed every day…we cer in the U.S. Army Count- tried very hard to work things out and we President Barack 7bama appointed himٻas an o er-Intelligence Corps before entering the reached agreement on some things…we the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. evening program at Georgetown Law. never made it personal, and we always Beginning in 2006, Mitchell led “I have a very long and very powerful, tried to help the other guy when we the investigation into the use of per- favorable association with Georgetown,” could.” formance-enhancing drugs in Major Mitchell said. League Baseball, and earlier served as the Northern Ireland, Baseball He was a trial attorney at the Depart- Chairman of the Special Commission and Beyond ment of Justice before being appointed Investigating Allegations of Impropriety U.S. Attorney for Maine by President Beginning in 1995, Mitchell served as the in the Bidding Process for the 7lympic Jimmy Carter in 1977. He then served as U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland Games. He has served as chairman of a federal judge. Mitchell was appointed and led peace negotiations, culminating DLA Piper, The Walt Disney Company to the U.S. Senate in 1980, elected in in the historic Good Friday agreement. and on the board of the Boston Red Sox. 1982 and during the next 15 years, would His son Andrew’s birth in 1997, in fact, In 2014, the Hon. George J. Mitchell work tirelessly to better the nation and inspired Mitchell to work harder for Professorship in Law and Public Policy the world. “It was a great honor to serve peace — for him and for the 61 children was established at Georgetown Law. the people of my state in the Senate, and born in Northern Ireland the same day. “Senator Mitchell has dedicated his it was even greater to serve as Senate Andrew (C’20) is now a Georgetown life to supporting humanitarian causes Majority Leader for six years,” he said. University student. and advancements for the betterment of He led the successful 1990 reautho- For his involvement in the Northern mankind,” said Dean Treanor, who con- rization of the Clean Air Act, cham- Ireland peace negotiations he was award- ducted a similar interview with Mitchell pioned the nation’s Årst child care bill ed the Presidential Medal of Freedom onstage at the senator’s 50th reunion in and was principal author of the low and the Liberty Medal, and was nomi- 2011. “He embodies the very best values income housing tax credit program. He nated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mitchell of our community.” was instrumental in the passage of the also worked to negotiate a settlement in Americans with Disabilities Act and a the Israel-Palestinian conÆict. In 2009, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East George J. Mitchell meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister Office in Jerusalem October 30, 2009. Photo Credit: State Department photo by Matty Stern U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv / Public Domain
2017 Fall/Winter 75 ALUMNI / ALUMNI PROFILE
Alumni Profile: Leslie T. Thornton (L’83, LL.M.’16) As senior vice president and general counsel of WGL Holdings and Washing- ton Gas, a critical energy infrastructure company located in the nation’s capital, Leslie T. Thornton (L’83, LL.M.’16) must know all about cyber security. She must help make sure that the right protec- tions are in place and that the corpo- ration is properly trained to confront the ever-changing threats. In getting up to speed on this growing challenge, Thornton discovered Georgetown Law’s LL.M. in National Security Law, with its cyber focus. She had always wanted to pursue a LL.M. and when the timing was right, she decided to go for it. More than 30 years after getting her J.D. here, she returned to Georgetown University.
ome things on campus, of course, had changed a lot. had…there was an interest in my particular view because people “When I went to school, we wrote out all our exams in little saw [me] as more informed in some ways.” booklets,” Thornton laughs. “And now everybody takes S Real-World Perspective their exams on a laptop. That was an adjustment, since I actually don’t type that fast…I use a computer of course, but I didn’t grow Growing up in Philadelphia, Thornton decided she wanted to up with my Ångers on the keyboards, like students now.” become a lawyer after reading a book by a judge in Philadelphia She graduated in 7ctober 2016 and her name appeared in the named Lisa Richette about the criminal justice system for juve- 2017 Commencement booklet, though she chose not to walk the niles (The Throwaway Children, 1969). second time around. Laptop exams not withstanding, going back “I remember reading that in junior high school or high school to Georgetown Law was deÅnitely worth it. and deciding I was going to right all the wrongs of the criminal “Your [LL.M.] professors are going to be largely those who are justice system,” Thornton recalls. “I felt really strongly about doing something in the real world, so that gives you a practical that, what happened to kids in the juvenile justice system. It just perspective of how practice will be in real life,” Thornton says. really hurt my soul.” 7ne of her favorite classes was a seminar on current issues in At Georgetown Law, she participated in Professor William national security law taught by Adjunct Professor Mark Plotkin, Greenhalgh’s Criminal Justice Clinic as well as the Street Law an expert on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United Clinic. “We had a choice — you could teach high school, or States (CFIUS). “He’s a fantastic professor, and with our merger, you could [teach in] minimum, medium or maximum security now we have to do a CFIUS Åling. Guess who I reached out to, to prison,” she says of Street Law. “I chose maximum security and it be my outside counsel on our CFIUS Åling?” was a phenomenal and scary experience… I really liked the fact Thornton has nothing but good things to say about her LL.M. that Georgetown had these great clinical programs, a practical classmates. “A lot of the students were out in the world, had way to deal with the world.” worked for a while — a number of them were JAGs, because the After graduating from Georgetown with her J.D., she served as national security program makes sense for that,” she notes. a public defender in Washington, D.C. In 1992, she volunteered Regarding the J.D. students, who were often much younger, to be part of the Clinton presidential transition team and got her “people would ask me lots of questions, about the experience I
76 Georgetown Law ALUMNI PROFILE \ ALUMNI
big break when a driver was needed for Alumni Profile: Robert N. Davis (L’78) Vernon Jordan. Despite her education, Thornton reached for her car keys — and by the end of the day, her resume was among those of top lawyers being vetted for the White House and the cabinet. Thornton ended up serving as deputy at ,ٺand later chief of sta ,ٺchief of sta the Department of Education for eight years. In 1996, she served in a senior role on Bill Clinton’s presidential debate team. A few years at Dickstein Shapiro and Patton Boggs followed, before she joined Washington Gas. “To young people I would just say take the risks, be open to things you might not have thought of,” Thornton says. “I have taken some major risks in my life and my career and everything I’ve done, every time I’ve done it, it’s turned out.” And it’s turned out well. In 2017, Thornton was named a “Legend in the Law” among general counsel as part of the Burton Awards. “I’m unbelievably honored to be in the company of the other general counsel,” she says. “I can’t say enough about Georgetown,” Davis was not disappointed. His How does it tie in to the Georgetown says Robert N. Davis — who became the criminal law professor was Sam Dash, Law experience? “What law school does, chief judge of the Court of Appeals of chief counsel to the Senate Watergate and particularly a law school like George- Veterans Claims last year. “It really is a Committee. And when he wasn’t in class, town that has a practical angle to it, it major part of who I am.” Davis was working on Capitol Hill, for teaches you that you can learn anything, Telling words, from an alum who has then-Senator John Culver from Iowa. He and in some respects that means you can lived up to Georgetown’s ideal of cure returned to Iowa after graduation — but do anything,” she says. “The critical think- personalis, or educating the whole person. while working on a state attorney general ered a job with theٺing skills and the writing skills — I ‘wrote Growing up in Davenport, Iowa, Davis campaign, he was o on’ to the American Criminal Law Review — wanted to get a taste of life on the East Commodity Futures Tradition Commis- those skills carry you as far as you go. As a Coast, so he headed to the University of sion that would send him right back to general counsel, [there’s always] some Åre Hartford. From there, he thought that Washington, D.C. I have to put out. So the ability to have re- Georgetown would be a great place to And while serving as a adjunct professor ally honed your critical thinking skills and study law — and embraced the challenge at American University, Davis discovered be able to write well, and be comfortable of D.C. life. a love of teaching — which propelled him in yourself and your decisions, is critical in “[I grew] up in the 60s and 70s, when into a full time career at Mississippi and a role like this.” the country was in a lot of turmoil over Stetson law schools teaching national secu- government abuses,” Davis says. “Water- rity law, con law and administrative law. gate occurred, there were protests on col- In his youth, he’d just missed serving in lege campuses over the Vietnam War, so Vietnam, due to a high draft number. So law became a necessary vehicle, as I saw it, Davis joined the Navy Reserve Intelligence for change. I thought if I really wanted to Program, to gain military experience. And Photos courtesy of Leslie T. Thornton, Robert N. get in the arena and help to change things, then came September 11, 2001. Davis law school would be the place to go.” 2017 Fall/Winter 77 ALUMNI / PUBLIC INTEREST
“I got angry…I wanted to go Åght Public Interest Proud right away, I wanted to go get the people On April 25, Georgetown Law celebrated student accomplishments at the annual who were responsible for this,” Davis recalls. “I was recalled to active duty in “Public Interest Proud,” hosted by OPICS. Highlights: 7ctober 2001 at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where I was assigned to the Bettina Pruckmayr Award for 2017 Home Court 30 Charity Bas- United States Central Command Joint Human Rights: Megan Abbot (F’09, ketball Game: The 30th anniversary Intelligence Directorate and began to L’17), Becca Balis (L’17) (pictured, game raised more than $1 million work in 7peration Enduring Freedom opposite, with Professor from for the Washington Legal Clinic for and 7peration Iraqi Freedom. Fortunately Practice Andrew I. Schoenholtz and the Homeless, thanks to student MacDill was literally 30 minutes away Dash-Muse Fellow Patrick Griffith) leaders like Genevieve Fugere (L’17), from my home in St. Petersburg.” Stephanie Ritter (L’17) and Brooke And he continued to teach law. “I had Student Recognition: Charlotte Ber- Pinto (L’17)(see Spring/Summer an evening rotation at the military base, schback (L’18), Claire Chevrier (L’17), issue of Georgetown Law). so I would go to work at six in the evening Emily Wilson (L’17) and I would work until six the next morn- Spring Break: Thirty-six students ing, and I would come home and sleep, Growth of the Partner Fellowship participated in spring break trips to get up, prepare to teach my classes in the Program for Graduating Students: Detroit and New Orleans, working afternoon and go back to work.” Georgetown Law now partners for seven legal services organiza- Not long afterwards, he received a call with a record-number 55 organiza- tions. saying that then-President Bush was nom- tions — including nonprofits and inating him to the U.S. Court of Appeals agencies — to provide one-year Class of 2017: More than 260 stu- for Veterans Claims. Today, he serves as fellowships for graduates. “It’s dents in the Class of 2017 participat- the chief (when he’s not traveling, coach- been a wonderful thing for students ed in the Pro Bono Pledge, contrib- ing a high school tennis team or further- looking to break into public inter- uting collectively more than 35,000 ing his martial arts hobby of traditional est,” said Assistant Dean Barbara public service hours. Chinese kung fu and Tai Chi). Moulton. “It’s also been a wonderful “Every day I come to work I pick up way for us to support those public Class of 2019: More than 200 ILs a Åle, and I know I have at least to some interest organizations that are doing signed the Pro Bono Pledge, report- degree a veteran’s life in my hands,” Davis great work and are always under- ing more than 2500 hours so far. notes. “Most of the cases that we deal with funded.” Approximately 150 sought opportu- are disability claims cases, so they involve nities through the Pro Bono Project service members who have been injured Summer Funding: Summer funding, in the fall and 80 signed up in the in some way…it makes me very proud to which has been guaranteed since spring. -cult 2009 for all Georgetown Law stuٻbe in a position to help resolve di -cient dents doing public interest or govٻlegal issues in a fair manner, in an e manner, and in a timely manner.” ernment work, has been increased to $5500.
78 Georgetown Law PUBLIC INTEREST \ ALUMNI
IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST OPICS Celebrates 20 Years of Championing Public Service
,ces at law schools across the Assistant Dean Barbara Moultonٻhat does 7PICS stand for? interest o 7PICS means that Caitlin country. And at a special event at the Law 7PICS Director Lauren Dubin and WCocilova (L’15) is teaching Center in March, they helped Georgetown Vice Dean Jane Aiken also recounted the others to advocate for themselves at the Law celebrate 7PICS’s 20th anniversary. successes of 7PICS since its founding in Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. “7ver the last 20 years, we have sup- April 1997. From former Georgetown Law That Mark Doss (L’13) at the International ported countless students to realize their Dean Judy Areen to present Dean William Refugee Assistance Project fought “tooth dreams; we have connected students to M. Treanor; from Professor Deborah Ep- and nail” to help a client detained at JFK thousands of internships, externships, stein to Vice Dean Aiken; from longtime ce Manager Kim Matthews to currentٻairport. That Lee McGoldrick (L’99), who fellowships and post-grad positions; we’ve 7 worked for Teach for America as a college funded hundreds, possibly thousands of AssociateAssistant Directors Nicole student, was able to build a career with students in the summer and in post-grad Vikan, Morgan Lynn-Alesker, Katie Dilks, that organization. That thousands of cur- fellowships; we’ve fostered a program and Ruby Sheikh, Robert Kaylor and Pro rent and former Georgetown Law students ethic of Georgetown that few schools can Bono Coordinator Jen Tschirch — count- and alumni have also ٺare working to improve the lives of others, equal; we have provided placements, elec- less faculty, sta every single day. tion protection training [and] immigrant helped to make 7PICS what it is today. These individuals all found their way to rights training,” Wally Mlyniec (L’70), the “Your presence here Ålls us with re- ce of Public Inter- Lupo-Ricci Professor of Clinical Legal newed inspiration as we continue our workٻGeorgetown Law’s 7 est and Community Service (7PICS) — Studies, said at the event. in supporting new generations of public one of only a handful of standalone public interest advocates,” Moulton said.
Photo Credits: Bill Petros; Ann Parks
2017 Fall/Winter 79 ALUMNI / FOR THE RECORD
Development News Former Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow Endows $1 Million Fellowship in Honor of 1993-1994 Fellowship Classmates
Christine Webber, a staunch supporter of the George- “I just started thinking: if we had two hundred Åfty, three hundred thousand dollars to start, I know we could get there,” town Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Webber recalls. “I thought, well, some day we’ll get the money program and a 1993-1994 participant of the program, together.” So when Webber, a partner in the Civil Rights and Employ- was attending a WLPPFP luncheon celebration in 2013 ment practice group at Cohen Milstein, found herself getting when she was inspired to create a WLPPFP fellow- a million dollar bonus from her Årm, she did not hesitate. “I thought, you can make it happen now, and have years and years ship of her own. Webber, and her two closest friends of fellows getting to go through the program that I got to go from the program, Amy Spencer and the late Lisa through,” she said. “That made me very happy.” Small (L’92), often had discussions about how to raise A CONNECTED EXPERIENCE enough funds. Small had died in 2012, and Webber As a student at Michigan Law in the late 1980s and early 1990s, wanted to do this in her honor. But she learned from Webber heard about the Georgetown fellowship through Michi- gan alumnae who had later been WLPPFP fellows. WLPPFP Executive Director Jill Morrison that the “I had wanted to do civil rights work, particularly wom- price tag to endow a prestigious WLPPFP fellowship en’s rights work, and the fellowship was just the perfect entree into that world,” Webber says. “We were not just placed in an was one million dollars. organization, never to see each other again. It was an ongoing enterprise where we were getting together on a regular basis. We were interacting with the tremendous speakers that the Fellowship Program was bringing in for us. It was really a whole connected experience.” The 1993-1994 Women’s Law and Public Policy fellowship class posed She also made lifelong friends. Small, who was challenged with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Georgetown Law with disabilities arising from a train accident, was an inspiration, Professor Susan Deller Ross (seated, center) during the fellowship year. The class included Christine Webber (standing, fourth right), Amy Spen- spending her fellowship year working to protect the legal interests cer (standing, second left) and the late Lisa Small (L’92)(seated, left). of disabled women at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health
DEVELOPMENT NEWS: LAW ANNUAL FUND SOARS IN FY2016 Thanks to Georgetown Law’s amazing alumni and friends, Many of the donations were made in support of George- 2016-2017 was the best year in history for the Law Cen- town Law’s new Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and ter annual fund, which raised in excess of $8 million in Protection (see page 26), but they also included a million current-use pledges and gifts. By comparison, the Law dollar gift for faculty development from an alum wishing to Center annual fund raised just shy of $2.5 million in fiscal remain anonymous. year 2011. It is a remarkable increase by any measure. And Annual fund support, of course, goes to financial aid nearly 250 more alumni made annual fund contributions to and scholarships if it is undesignated. And Opportunity the Law Center this fiscal year – a trend we would like to Scholars remain a high priority: “High merit and high need see continue! students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to go here,” “We went up across the board, which was awesome,” Bonner said. said Annual Fund Associate Director Amanda Bonner.
80 Georgetown Law FOR THE RECORD \ ALUMNI
Law. “She was able to accomplish so much, working full time on established the Harriet Burg foundation in honor of Gerald’s late the fellowship and doing all the fellowship activities, she also was wife, a physical therapist who became a lawyer. The initiative doing volunteer work in addition to that.” was designed to support legal fellows working on one of Harriet’s Spencer, another of the eight U.S. WLPPFP fellows that year, passions — the problems surrounding gender and disability. Har- was another inspiration. It was also the Årst year of Georgetown riet was a graduate of Antioch Law School; GarÅnkle, a lawyer Law’s Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa program, at Whiteford, Taylor and Preston in Washington, D.C., went to with two fellows from Uganda and two from Ghana. Brooklyn Law School. But they all knew about Georgetown Law’s “7ne of the things we found as the LAWAs were adjusting to WLPPFP fellowships and wanted to create one. U.S. law school was that despite their tremendous accomplish- “We raised money the hard way, and ended up with a good ments and experience in their own country, there was still an outcome,” said Burg, who encourages others to do the same. “Jill adjustment,” Webber said. “Amy spent a lot of time during the Morrison was fantastic; the people at Georgetown, they are really fellowship year working with LAWA fellows on adapting to U.S. good people.” law school norms of legal writing.” 7ne of the Burg fellows was the late Lisa Small (L’92), the At the time, Webber regretted not being able to spend more woman who would inspire her fellowship classmate Christine time with the group, absorbed as she was in litigation. But today, Webber to give back so generously in 2017. Throughout her life, she’s giving back in spades because of her fellow fellows. “I Small remained committed to public interest work, to WLPPFP thought what made the fellowship so special was really the way and to helping people with disabilities. She worked as an attorney that Amy and Lisa and others brought the whole group of us for disability and fair housing issues, and provided pro bono legal together as a community.” assistance to indigent clients by helping them obtain healthcare Morrison says gifts like these mean stability for and investment and get recusal from their medical bills. “She was a brilliant wom- in WLPPFP fellows. “Knowing that we will deÅnitely have this an and she went on to do excellent things,” GarÅnkle said. placement, we can continue the program and build on it in the Today, the Burg Foundation funds an annual lecture at future.” Georgetown Law every spring: The Harriet B. Burg and Lisa Marie Small Lecture on Women and Disability. It’s a way of GIVING BACK giving back by a small group who wanted to see their loved one’s You don’t need to be a millionaire to help WLPPFP. In 1983, interests live on. “You don’t have to be a multimillionaire to do Gerald Burg and two friends, Ann GarÅnkle and Vicki Golden, this,” GarÅnkle said.
2017 Fall/Winter 81 / ALUMNI AUTHORS
/ Lauren-Brooke Eisen (L’02) Inside Private Prisons Lauren-Brooke Eisen (L’02) has penned Inside Private Prisons, which Kirkus Reviews has called “an admirably researched look at an ominous aspect of criminal justice.” More than 100,000 individuals in the United States are held in private prisons and private immigration detention centers. These institutions are criticized for making money off mass incarceration — $5 billion every year — and have become a focus of the anti-mass incarceration movement. The Department of Justice under President Obama attempted to cut off private prisons, while DOJ under Trump has embraced these institutions. Inside Private Prisons blends the author’s work as a prosecutor, journalist, and attorney at policy think tanks to analyze privatized corrections in America. David Simon, creator of “The Wire,” has stated, “Inside Private Prisons is a careful, discerning assessment of our transformation of human incarceration into product and profit. Lauren-Brooke Eisen has compiled a definitive history of the phenomenon… If you want to intelligently argue about the modern prison-industrial complex, begin your studies here.”
/ William R. Durland (L’59) The Demise of American Democracy: Understanding the Crisis and Resisting the Threat William R. Durland (L’59) has penned The Demise of American Democracy: Understanding the Crisis and Resisting the Threat, 2nd edition, Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America” in 1994 extended the conservative attempt to de-democratize America. Nixon’s abortive autocratic expansions of presidential powers in the early 1970s culminated in his firing of the Watergate Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox. Cox reflected on the debacle by posing the challenge: “Whether ours shall continue to be a government of laws and not of men is now for Congress and ultimately the American people to decide.” Today a rogue movement presents us with a similar challenge after the takeover of the once moderate and representative Republican Party. The election of President Trump and the policies and practices initiated by his administration have intensified the movement to replace democracy with a conservative autocracy. Americans are now faced with a fundamental attack on the pursuit of justice and the rule of law. A majority has chosen to resist the threat, and to look forward to the restoration of what is being taken away. The story reads like a novel and sounds like a legal brief...an eternal light illuminates the way to renew our quest for a more perfect union.
/ Thaddeus Hoffmeister (LL.M.’02) Social Media Law in a Nutshell Thaddeus Hoffmeister (LL.M.’02) has published Social Media Law in a Nutshell (West Academic Publishing, June 2017), with Ryan Garcia. “Social media has transformed how the world communi- cates,” Amazon.com notes. “Its impact has been felt in every corner of our society including the law. Social Media Law in a Nutshell is a wide-ranging look of how the social media transformation has impacted various legal fields. From marketing to employment to torts to criminal law to copyright and beyond, virtually every legal field has been changed by social media. By looking at high level concerns and example cases, [the book] attempts to give practitioners exposure to social media issues and concerns so they can better advise clients and approach the new social media world with their legal eyes opened to new and old risks alike. This book can also serve as a text for law professors looking to expose law students to the burgeoning area of Social Media Law.
82 Georgetown Law ALUMNI AUTHORS \ ALUMNI
Mike Kowis (LL.M.’96) 14 Steps to Self-Publishing a Book Mike Kowis (LL.M.’96) has published 14 Steps to Self-Publishing a Book (Lecture PRO Publishing, February 2017). In this handy self-publishing guide, Kowis explains his simple 14-step process that can be used by anyone to self-publish a top quality book and sell it on websites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. He also explains the costs involved and shares the ten surprising lessons he learned from writing his first book. 14 Steps to Self-Publishing a Book was selected as a Finalist in the Busi- ness: Writing & Publishing category of the 2017 International Book Awards. For more information, please visit www.engagingcollegestudents.com/self-publishing-guide.
/ Jo Ellen Lewis (L’86) Telling Your Story: A Step-by-Step Guide to Drafting Persuasive Legal Resumes and Cover Letters Jo Ellen Lewis (L’86) writes, “My book, Telling Your Story: A Step-by-Step Guide to Drafting Persua- sive Legal Resumes and Cover Letters, was just published by Carolina Academic Press. I teach at Washington University in St. Louis’s School of Law. While the book is designed for law students, it would be useful for lawyers in practice who are thinking of making a career change.” Lewis, director of Wash U. Law’s Legal Practice Program, applies techniques that students learn in legal writing classes to illustrate how to draft resumes and cover letters — “two of the most important pieces of persuasive writing” that they “will ever draft.” Each chapter includes the purpose of a specific section of a resume or cover letter; a step-by-step guide to drafting that section; annotated “before and after” student samples; and a checklist. The book also includes chapters on putting together a writing sample, requesting references and recommendation letters, and job prospecting and networking tips. This book can be used as part of a legal writing curriculum, as a weeklong or weekend course on professional development, or by career advisors (both in law school and undergraduate school) when working with students.
Adriana Sanford (LL.M.’99) Global Security: Ramifications of International Multi-jurisdictional Conflicts/A Guide for CEOs and Board of Directors on Multi-jurisdictional Legal Issues Adriana Sanford (LL.M.’99) has published a chapter, “Global Security: Ramifications of International Multi-jurisdictional Conflicts/A Guide for CEOs and Board of Directors on Multi-jurisdictional Legal Is- sues” in Debbie Christofferson’s Women in Security: Changing the Face of Technology and Innovation, part of the “Women in Engineering” book series.
2017 Fall/Winter 83 ALUMNI / CLASS NOTES
CLASS NOTES \
Georgetown Law’s Reunion Weekend 2017. Photo by Sam Hollenshead
84 Georgetown Law CLASS NOTES \ ALUMNI
1972 Practice, Litigation — Regulatory Enforcement, Litigation — Secu- Awards Jerome J. Niedermeier received rities, Mergers and Acquisitions the Founders Award from the Law, and Reinsurance Law. Federal Magistrate Judges Asso- He is the senior partner in the ciation (FMJA) at its annual con- Baton Rouge office of Breazeale, vention in Chicago in August. The Sachse and Wilson. award is presented to those who have made valuable and lasting contributions to the Magistrate 1981 Judges system of the United Edward A. Hogan, a member of States courts. Niedermeier the Bridgewater-based law firm served as a magistrate judge in Norris McLaughlin & Marcus Vermont from 1982 to 2009 and and co-chair of its Environmen- from 2010 to the present in Mas- tal Law Group, was recognized sachusetts at Boston and Cape in Who’s Who Legal — Environ- Cod. ment 2017. A resident of Liberty Corner, Hogan represents and counsels developers, redevelop- 1993 Yael Levy received the New York State Prosecu- 1974 ers, manufacturers, commercial tor of the Year award for Appellate Advocacy at the 2017 New Joanne Young (L’74) came to entities, and highly regulated ser- York District Attorney’s Association Summer Conference. the rescue of a fellow alum and vice businesses in all aspects of She is the deputy chief of the Appeals Bureau at the Nassau his wife who live in St. Thomas, environmental law and litigation. County District Attorney’s Office and an adjunct professor VI, to assist them in flying out of New York Criminal Practice at Saint John’s Law School. In and advising their neighbors Cynthia Sharp has been February, she secured the affirmance of the public corruption on evacuation options follow- appointed to the following lead- ing the devastating hurricanes. conviction of the deputy commissioner of the Nassau County ership positions of the American Police Department and persuaded the New York Court of Young, the managing partner of Bar Association’s Solo, Small Appeals to broadly interpret New York’s public corruption stat- D.C.-based Kirstein & Young, has Firm & General Practice Division: been engaged in commercial the GP Solo Magazine Board and ute, making it easier to prosecute corruption cases across and regulatory law practice since the Membership Committee. the state. Yael and her husband, Joshua Needleman, a phy- 1975, with a focus on aviation Serving as business develop- sician, are the proud parents of Erez (19), Daniella (16), and and shipping. She represents ment strategist & CEO of The Ori (12) and live in the Riverdale section of The Bronx. She is airlines, shipping lines, railroads, Sharper Lawyer, Sharp helps law- pictured on the left with Susan Valle, executive director of the airports, and transportation-re- yers generate more revenue for New York Prosecutors Training Institute, who presented the lated businesses before U.S. gov- their law firms. award. ernment agencies, Congress and the courts. 1982 (NYCBA), one of the nation’s 1984 1975 Michael McKay has joined the oldest, largest, and most influ- Corporate Practice Group of ential bar organizations. Peerce Shirley Ann Higuchi chairs the Jack Quinn (C’71) has joined Martin LLP. McKay has more than recently began a four-year term Heart Mountain Wyoming Foun- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as part- 35 years of experience in the on the committee, which has dation (HMWF), which aims to ner in the firm’s litigation group area of banking and finance, rep- executive oversight responsi- preserve the legacy of Japanese and chair of its federal regulatory resenting corporate borrowers, bility for the 24,000-member American World War II intern- and government practice in the private equity sponsors, project association, known as “the ment in order to protect civil Washington, D.C., office. sponsors, banks, institutional City Bar.” A longtime NYCBA liberties today. An annual pil- lenders and individuals in a wide member, Peerce is a former grimage in July was covered by 1979 variety of secured and unsecured chair of the City Bar’s Criminal NBC News and the Washington debt financings, both domestic Law Committee, which works Post. “Including interviews with Van R. Mayhall, Jr. (LL.M.) was and international. He joins the to improve the quality, fairness, pilgrimage participants, former selected as a 2018 “Lawyer firm from Vinson & Elkins, where and effectiveness of the criminal incarcerees, and long-time sup- of the Year” for Litigation and he spent the last 17 years as a justice system in New York and porters of the Heart Mountain Controversy — Tax in the Baton partner in the finance group. nationally. She also served on Wyoming Foundation, [the NBC Rouge area. Mayhall was also the association’s Criminal Justice piece reflected] the important listed in the 2018 Best Lawyers Council and White Collar Crime anniversary of 75 years since the in America in Business Organi- 1983 Committee. signing of Executive Order 9066,” zations, Closely Held Compa- Marjorie J. Peerce, a partner in the HMWF stated on its website. nies and Family Businesses Law, Ballard Spahr’s New York office, Higuchi, whose parents were Corporate Compliance Law, Cor- has been elected to serve on incarcerated at Heart Mountain porate Governance Law, Corpo- the executive committee of the as children during World War II, rate Law, Government Relations New York City Bar Association participated in the interviews.
2017 Fall/Winter 85 ALUMNI / CLASS NOTES
James J. McDonald, Jr., has Harris has been active in SFIG been selected to the Best Law- 1988 since its inception, previously 1991 yers in America 2018 list. McDon- E. Scott Johnson, a shareholder serving as co-chair of its Tax Colin Murray (C’88) has been ald is managing partner of the with Baker Donelson in Balti- Policy Committee and currently named managing partner for Irvine office of employment law more, was named a Best Law- serving on the Women in Securi- Baker McKenzie in North Amer- firm Fisher Phillips, and he has yers’ 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” tization Steering Committee. ica. A former prosecutor, Murray been selected to the list for more in Technology Law. is a senior member of the firm’s North America Litigation and than 10 consecutive years. Matt A. Taylor was named Government Enforcement Prac- Jonathan O. Levine, a share- chairman and CEO of Duane tice. Based in San Francisco, he holder in the Milwaukee office of Morris, effective January 2018. 1985 has represented global and local Littler, has been recognized with Taylor is Duane Morris’ ninth clients in complex business dis- The firm of Barry I. Grossman, a top ranking in the 2017 edition chairman and CEO since the putes, has tried more than 50 Ellenoff Grossman & Schole — in of Chambers USA: America’s firm’s founding in 1904. He is a cases to final jury verdict, and celebration of its 25th anniver- Leading Lawyers for Busi- Fellow of the American College has served as lead counsel in sary — was honored by NASDAQ ness. Chambers has placed of Trial Lawyers and a member bench trials and private arbitra- on July 14th with a ringing of the Levine in Band 1, the guide’s of the International Associa- tions. Murray will oversee the Opening Bell. EG&S started with highest distinction, since 2010. tion of Defense Counsel. Taylor firm’s business in Canada, the 3 lawyers and now has 80 attor- Levine represents employers in serves as a board member of the United States and Mexico. neys; Grossman is one of the all areas of labor-management Kimmel Center for the Perform- founding partners. relations, including litigation ing Arts and Business Leadership before the National Labor Rela- Organized for Catholic Schools 1992 The law firm of Steve Hoke, a tions Board and in state and (BLOCS), as well as serving on of Charles- principal at Hoke LLC, has seen federal courts. He also has sig- the board of his alma mater, Mal- Christopher Adams ton, S.C., was sworn in as one of its cases selected as nificant experience with union vern Preparatory School. Taylor is second vice president of the one of five “Biggest Insurance organizing campaigns, collective listed in Chambers USA: Amer- National Association of Criminal Rulings of 2017” in the United bargaining, labor arbitration and ica’s Leading Lawyers for Busi- Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the States by the legal website Title VII. ness and is one of Pennsylvania’s Association’s Annual Meeting in Law360. The firm obtained the leading trial lawyers. San Francisco, Calif., on July 29. decision, which was affirmed on Michael Pryor has joined the Lit- appeal, on behalf of its mining igation and Government Rela- company client. The case is the tions departments of Brownstein most complex civil lawsuit in Hyatt Farber Schreck as a share- Connecticut history (based on holder, based in the firm’s Wash- APPOINTMENTS the number of pleadings filed), ington, D.C., office. With nearly with Hoke LLC’s victory help- 30 years of experience, Pryor ing its client secure more than represents cable, telecommuni- 30 years of historical insurance cations and wireless companies coverage dating back to 1956 for in federal and state regulatory alleged asbestos and talc-re- proceedings, litigation and trans- lated claims. Hoke LLC, a Chi- actions. Previously, Pryor was cago-based boutique firm with special counsel for Cooley LLP’s five attorneys, tried the first two regulatory communications prac- phases of the case in Connecti- tice. cut state court.
Elizabeth Lee, an attorney in 1989 the Washington, D.C., office Anna-Liza Harris (F’83), co-head of Womble Carlyle, has been of Katten Muchin Rosenman’s elected to the top leadership Structured Finance and Securi- position in the American Bar tization practice, was recently 1984 Laura P. O’Hara was appointed senior vice presi- Association’s Section of Real voted to the board of directors dent and general counsel of M&T Bank Corporation, effective August Property, Trust and Estate Law. for the Structured Finance Indus- 21. She is based in Buffalo, N.Y. O’Hara joins M&T with more than 30 Lee will serve as the section try Group (SFIG). SFIG is the years of litigation, regulatory compliance and risk management expe- chair for the 2017-18 Bar Year and leading advocacy group for the rience, most recently for Santander Bank, where she served as exec- was elected to this leadership structured finance and securiti- utive vice president and general counsel from 2015 to 2017. Prior to position at the ABA’s 2017 Annual zation industry and its member- Santander, O’Hara was executive vice president and general counsel, Meeting. ship includes investors, issuers, Consumer and Commercial Banking, for Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS banks, law firms, rating agencies Citizens from 2011 to 2015. and other industry participants.
86 Georgetown Law CLASS NOTES \ ALUMNI
Adams founded The Law Office Michael R. Thornton has been of Christopher W. Adams in 2007 1994 1995 named to The Best Lawyers in and has represented clients all H. Beau Baez (LL.M.’95) has Javier Soto is serving a two- America’s 2018 guide in the area over the country in capital and started Learn Law Better, a year term as board chair for the of real estate law. He practices at noncapital cases. Before starting company that provides educa- Council of Foundations, having Smith Anderson in Raleigh, N.C. his own practice, Adams was a tional services to law students. served two years as the board’s public defender for 15 years. A former tenured law profes- vice chair. The position puts Soto, sor, he saw a need to create a president of The Miami Founda- 1996 Gary E. Davidson (LL.M.) has site where law students can go tion, at the helm of the orga- Jennifer Mathis is the new man- been selected for Best Lawyers for private tutoring, online legal nization that has empowered aging partner of Troutman Sand- in America 2018 in the category courses and final exam assis- philanthropic foundations and ers’ San Francisco office. She of International Arbitration — tance. corporations to advance a culture previously practiced in the firm’s Governmental. He represents of charitable giving in the United Orange County office before clients all over the world as a Donna Balaguer, a principal States and globally for more than moving to the Bay Area in 2015. partner at Diaz, Reus & Targ in at Fish & Richardson in Wash- 70 years. Soto is the second Mathis is a litigation partner with Miami. Throughout his distin- ington, D.C., received a 2017 Miamian to assume a leadership more than 20 years of experi- guished career, Davidson has “Women Worth Watching” role at the Council on Founda- ence litigating cases arising out obtained favorable judgments on award and was featured in a tions. behalf of clients in complex inter- special issue of Profiles in Diver- national litigation, arbitration and sity Journal (PDJ). According commercial disputes, and he has to PDJ, “these women are forg- served as an arbitrator and medi- ing ahead with global acclaim In Memoriam ator in several high-profile cases. in strategies that are making a difference in their workplace, 1993 marketplace and around the Mario Belardino (L’66) Georgetown Law staff member world.” Balaguer advises clients Wanda Duarte passed away Sep- Edward T. Brown (L’48) Gail Marshall (LL.M.) has been on the full range of privacy and tember 28. She served the George- promoted to chief compliance data security laws and best Julian Abele Cook Jr. (L’57, H’92) town community for more than 30 officer of the Municipal Securi- practices. She also works with years as the office manager for Joseph Eugene Costello ties Rulemaking Board (MSRB), companies that are building new the Juvenile Justice Clinic and (C’80, L’84) whose mission is to protect “Internet of Things” — everyday the executive assistant to faculty investors, state and local gov- objects that collect and transfer Saone Baron Crocker (L’83) members Wally Mlyniec (L’70) and ernment issuers and the public personal data about their users. Kris Henning (LL.M.’97). interest by promoting a fair and Robert Anthony Feenick (L’51) Deborah Naylor, former senior efficient municipal market. Mar- David B. Clement (LL.M.) has- Edward Fogarty (L’72) assistant registrar who served the shall has served as associate been named to The Best Law- Law Center for more than 35 years, general counsel for enforcement Jim Graham (LL.M.’73) yers in America 2018 guide in died October 14. She was honored coordination since 2015. She is the area of corporate law. He Professor Emeritus Robert J. with Georgetown Law’s Carol responsible for managing the practices at Smith Anderson in Haft Quindlen O’Neil Award in 2014. MSRB’s professional qualifica- Raleigh, N.C. tions program, enforcement Gerald “Jerry” T. Halpin (L’53) Professor Emeritus Heathcote support initiatives and internal Robert R. Hunter Jr. (L’75) “Pete” Wales died October 6. A corporate legal activities. Elizabeth Parsons, a partner at graduate of the University of North Farhang & Medcoff, was named Hampton Stennis Little Jr. Carolina and the University of Chi- one of the top 100 attorneys in (LL.M.’67) cago law school, Wales joined the Julie A. Uebler (C’90) was a Arizona by AZ Business maga- Georgetown Law faculty in 1971 guest speaker at the 23rd Annual Thomas O’Malley (C’49, L’52) zine. She joined the firm in 2013 and taught a popular law and psy- Employment Law Institute, pre- and was named a partner in Frederick E. McMullen II (L’56) chiatry course in addition to Con- senting “What Every Employ- March 2016. Parsons represents stitutional Law and Criminal Law. ment Lawyer Needs to Know Richard Strafer (L’83) corporations, lenders, investors, Wales also gave generously of his About Labor Trafficking.” Uebler, developers and other business William J. Taylor (L’57) time outside of the classroom. He a partner at Greenblatt, Pierce, enterprises in a broad range played in the very first Home Court Funt & Flores in Philadelphia, Donald DeFrance Welt (L’52) of corporate and transactional charity basketball game between focuses her practice on all matters. Her industry exper- Nicholas H. Willett (L’50) Georgetown Law professors and aspects of protecting and enforc- tise includes financial services, members of Congress in 1988, ing the legal rights of individuals energy, infrastructure develop- and in many games since. He also in the workplace. ment, real estate development, participated in Georgetown Law’s technology, telecommunications Gilbert & Sullivan Society theater and healthcare. group.
2017 Fall/Winter 87 ALUMNI / CLASS NOTES
of complex professional liability at the national and international She focuses her practice on member of the litigation team insurance coverage disputes. She levels; have the ability to teach representing insureds in complex prosecuting Linde v. Arab Bank, has litigated in state and federal across the University; and posi- insurance coverage and other dis- the first litigation against a finan- courts at both the trial and appel- tion Villanova as a thought leader putes. Holt’s clients include For- cial institution brought to trial late level. and innovator at the intersection tune 500 companies, technology under the Anti-Terrorism Act. He of law, business and economics. corporations, healthcare corpora- has also pursued litigation under Derek Schmidt was elected He is a renowned scholar in intel- tions, entertainment studios, film the Alien Tort Statute, including in June 2017 by the 56 state, lectual property and Internet. and television production compa- victims of terrorism in Israel, territorial and district attorneys nies, and individual talent in the Sri Lanka and the United King- general to a one-year term as Caroline C. Setliffe (LL.M.) has entertainment and sports indus- dom, and victims of international president of the National Asso- joined the Tax Practice Group of tries. She comes to Blank Rome human trafficking from South- ciation of Attorneys General. His Eversheds Sutherland as counsel from Kasowitz Benson Torres. east Asia who were exploited presidential initiative for the year in the Washington, D.C., office. by the camel-racing industry in is “Protecting America’s Seniors: Setliffe previously served as Matt Kaiser, a founding partner Dubai. Eubanks played a signifi- Attorneys General United Against counsel at Buchanan Ingersoll at KaiserDillon, was named to cant role in litigation filed against Elder Abuse.” He is serving his & Rooney. With more than 15 the 2017 edition of The Best the financiers and supporters second term as attorney general years of experience — includ- Lawyers in America for his work of al Qaeda related to the 9/11 for the State of Kansas. ing a stint as an attorney adviser in criminal defense. It is the terrorist attacks, and pursued liti- for the U.S. Tax Court — Setliffe fourth time he has been recog- gation against Libya for allegedly represents multinational cor- nized. Described by Fox News as providing material resources to 1997 porations, private equity and a “top-notch white collar defense the Provisional Irish Republican Army, resulting in the death and John Woodruff (LL.M.) joined insurance companies, and finan- lawyer,” Kaiser’s practice focuses injury of U.S. and U.K. citizens. Polsinelli’s expanding tax prac- cial institutions in complex tax on legal ethics and malpractice, He is a published author on coun- tice as a shareholder in the controversy and litigation matters federal litigation, and investi- terterrorism and security and firm’s Houston office. Woodruff before the Internal Revenue Ser- gations by federal agencies or was a central contributor to the brings two decades of experi- vice (IRS), and advises clients on Congress. He currently serves non-fiction work American Jihad: ence providing strategic, practical a wide range of tax issues. as president of the Bar of the The Terrorists Living Among and efficient guidance to clients District of Columbia, the oldest Us (Free Press 2002), detailing involved in complex tax matters. private voluntary association rep- the activities of organizations Demonstrating his particular 2001 resenting lawyers practicing in and individuals within the United focus on energy companies, he Ralph Winnie Jr. (LL.M.), direc- the nation’s capital. States who provide material sup- has represented clients with tax tor of the Eurasia Center’s China port and/or resources to Middle issues involving exploration and Program, announced the China Eastern and Islamic terrorist production, oil field services, off- Program’s Silk Road Summit in 2003 organizations abroad. shore drilling, maritime, oil field Washington, D.C., in October Alex Brauer is a founder of the manufacturing and engineering, — the 2nd annual conference Dallas law firm Bailey Brauer, procurement and construction. exploring business, trade and which was included recently on Katie Lasky became a found- investment opportunities on the BTI Litigation Outlook 2018’s ing member of Lasky Murphy, New Silk Road with participation Honor Roll of the nation’s Most a women-owned boutique law 1998 from representatives of U.S. gov- Feared Law Firms. This is the firm in New Orleans, handling Johnny Friedman was listed ernment agencies and the U.S. second time the firm has been commercial litigation and busi- in The Best Lawyers in Amer- Congress, multilateral develop- recognized for its complex com- ness transactional matters. She ica 2018 for his work in Personal ment banks, corporations and mercial litigation, class action and was also recognized as a “Super Injury Litigation – Defendants trade associations, policy centers other litigation work. Selection Lawyer” in the 2017 Louisi- and Products Liability Litigation – and foundations. He was invited is based upon interviews with ana edition and the firm was Defendants. by the Central Election Com- general counsel and in-house appointed as class counsel in a mittee of the Kyrgyz Republic litigation leaders nationwide who nationwide class action pend- to participate in the upcoming were asked which lawyers they ing in the Southern District of 2000 presidential election as an inter- would least like to face in litiga- Indiana. Brett Frischmann was named national observer. Winnie was tion. the Charles Widger Endowed also quoted in Sputnik regarding Alan J. Lipman was quoted in University Professor in Law, U.S. ambassador to Russia Jon John Eubanks (F’97) has been the October 9 New York Times Business and Economics, at Huntsman. promoted to member attorney at story “Coming to Terms With Villanova Law, effective August Motley Rice. Eubanks has been Mass Murder” on the Las Vegas 1. Frischmann will promote 2002 instrumental in the firm’s anti-ter- mass shootings; was interviewed cross-campus research, program- rorism and human rights practice, by BBC News on October 3 on ming and collaboration; foster Julia Holt has joined the Los representing victims and families the causes and consequences high-visibility academic pursuits Angeles office of Blank Rome in in litigation aimed at bankrupting of the Las Vegas mass shoot- the Insurance Recovery group. financiers of terror. He was a key ings; and was featured on the
88 Georgetown Law CLASS NOTES \ ALUMNI
CNN/Tom Hanks/Gary Goetzman dollar private equity firms in the focuses his practice on immigra- series “The Nineties” in inter- investment in and acquisition of tion law and deportation defense 2010 views on the causes of occur- various healthcare and specialty for individuals and corporations J.P. Howard is an administrative rences of terrorism during that providers nationally. Prior to join- in New Jersey, New York and law judge on the D.C. Commis- decade. ing Waller, Saling was a partner Pennsylvania. He has defended sion on Human Rights. Howard with McDermott Will & Emery in individuals against deportation joined the bench in 2014, at age Miami. across the United States and rep- 30. Prior to judicial service he 2005 resented individuals who over- clerked for Chief Judge David Kellie L. Howard-Goudy has stayed their visas or entered the C. Simmons of the Commission been honored with a 2017 Mich- 2007 United States without inspection. on Human Rights and Judge igan Lawyers Weekly Women in Karen Balderama was named a Lahoud has received numerous Alexander Williams, Jr., (D.-Md.); the Law Award. The award recog- 2017 Northern California “Rising accolades for his pro bono efforts worked in the D.C. office of an nizes commitment to excellence Star” in the area of Business/ as well as his achievements in international corporate law firm; in the practice of law, inspiring Corporate. She practices in the immigration law. He has been and practiced in Houston, Tex., and accomplished leadership in Oakland, Calif., office of Wendel, awarded the Empire State Pro alongside Judge Daniel J. Lem- the profession, mentoring and Rosen, Black & Dean, repre- Bono Counsel Award, selected kuil. He is married to Brandi G. significant contributions of time senting corporate and individ- by Lehigh Valley Magazine as a Howard, a current clerk to Judge and effort to volunteer and pro ual clients in complex corporate Lehigh Valley “40 under 40,” has Damon J. Keith (6th Cir.). Howard bono activities. Howard-Goudy transactions, as well as general been named a Super Lawyers is a member of the Washington is a partner with Collins Einhorn business and securities matters. Rising Star and ranked as a Top Bar Association’s Judicial Coun- Farrell, a leading defense litiga- Rated Immigration Attorney in cil, serving as the co-chair of its the New York Metro Area. Judicial Intern Program; the D.C. tion firm in Southfield, Mich. Her Alexandra (“Xander”) Meise practice focuses on professional was elected partner at Mitchell liability claims including medical Silberberg & Knupp. Meise joined malpractice, commercial litiga- the firm in Washington, D.C., in tion, commercial transactions, 2017 as Of Counsel in the inter- Recognition and personal injury litigation. national disputes practice. Meise Howard-Goudy was also rec- advises governments and private ognized by Super Lawyers as a entities in connection with inter- 2017 “Rising Star.” national public and private law disputes, particularly those con- Edward C. Renenger, a co-chair cerning international investments of Stevens & Lee in Philadelphia, and alleged treaty breaches. She has been named co-chair of the lectures on international arbitra- firm’s ERISA, Employee Benefits tion and human rights, especially and Executive Compensation on the legal implications of gov- Department. Renenger concen- ernment security actions. Meise trates his practice in helping recently was named a “Rising companies navigate the complex- Star” by both Law360 and the ities of employee stock own- National Law Journal. She is an ership plans (ESOPs). He also adjunct professor of International advises on other ESOP-related Human Rights Law at George- transactions, including situations town Law and a Fellow of the where ESOP-owned companies Columbia Center for Sustainable sell to outside buyers. Investment. 1963 Robert L. Parks Miami based trial attorney James Saling (LL.M.’07) has 2008 Robert L. Parks (L’63), principal and founding partner of The joined the Nashville law firm Law Offices of Robert L. Parks, is the 2017 co-recipient Waller Law. Saling joins the firm David Brenneman has been pro- of the Plaintiff Lawyer of the Year Award. The prestigious with nearly a decade of experi- moted partner at Morgan Lewis, award, given by the Florida Chapter of the American Board ence advising private equity and effective October 1. He rep- of Trial Advocates (FLABOTA), was presented at FLABOTA’s venture capital investors and resents clients primarily in merg- 20th Annual Conference held at the Four Seasons Resort ers, acquisitions, joint ventures, healthcare providers in trans- in Orlando. A nationally recognized trial attorney with more and civil antitrust litigation. actional and regulatory matters than 50 years of experience, Parks is a highly respected involving hospitals, health sys- advocate in the courtroom and a leader in the community. tems, academic medical centers, 2009 Since being admitted to the Florida Bar in 1964, Parks has outpatient services providers and other healthcare entities. Raymond G. Lahoud has joined represented hundreds of plaintiffs in personal injury, wrong- He has represented multi-billion Norris McLaughlin & Marcus as ful death, aviation, large manufacturing and automobile cases a member and chair of its immi- in the Americas and around the world. gration law practice. Lahoud
2017 Fall/Winter 89 ALUMNI / CLASS NOTES
Association of the Administra- regulation, general business, tive Law Judiciary, serving as real estate, municipal and family president-elect; and Georgetown law. Szymanski received her Law’s Recent Alumni Advisory bachelor of arts degree from Council. the University of Michigan, her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law, cum 2011 laude, and a Master of Laws in A. Jude Avelino (LL.M.), general Securities and Financial Regula- partner at Avelino & Hartlaub, tion from Georgetown Law. She was recognized in the June 26, is a member of the State Bar of 2017, edition of New York Maga- Michigan. zine in its special section, “New York’s Leading Lawyers 2017.” Brittany Harwell was named a The profile highlighted Avelino’s 2017 Texas Equal Justice Works experience and accomplish- Fellow by the Texas Access to ments in areas including Estate Justice Foundation. Harwell is Planning, Trusts and Estates one of nine recent law school Administration, Tax and Corpo- graduates chosen to pursue rate Law. He proudly serves innovative legal projects that will a clientele composed of high serve communities in desperate net worth individuals, financial need of legal assistance. Harwell institutions, corporations and a will work for Disability Rights range of charitable organizations. Texas in San Antonio. Avelino & Hartlaub has offices in New York City and Summit, New Jersey. 2012 Rick E. Hansen (LL.M.) has been appointed corporate secretary and lead counsel, Securities and Corporate Governance, at Gen- eral Motors in Detroit, Mich. 2015 Bruce Friedrich, executive direc- tor of the Good Food Institute, spoke of consumer acceptance Across Classes of clean meat at a conference in Maastricht; spoke at the Concor- Women in Law as a Second Career dia Summit on a panel focused on the future of food; and spoke The founding students of “Women in Law at the Toronto VegFest (world’s largest vegfest) on a panel about as a Second Career,” a former student the future of food and a stand- organization at Georgetown Law, met up alone presentation about GFI’s for a dinner on Wednesday, August 2. Back theory of change. row, l to r: Marilyn Tucker, director of Alumni 2017 Career Services and faculty mentor, Judith Barnett (L’85), Marlene Beckman (L’85), Joan Paige M. Szymanski (LL.M.) Wise (L’84). Sitting, l to r: Eliana Sachar (L’86), has joined Mika Myers, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., as an Susan Oldham (L’85, LL.M.’90). Not pictured: associate. She will practice Martha Kendrick (L’85). Other “founding at the firm’s Manistee office. mothers” of the group included Immigration Szymanski’s areas of practice include securities and financial Judge Noel Brennan (L’85), who participated in Georgetown Law’s 2017 Women’s Forum, and the late Diana Engel (L’83).
90 Georgetown Law CLASS NOTES \ ALUMNI
Awards, Recognitions and Appointments
Eric Blubaugh (LL.M.’95) was and is currently a member of He previously served as part- extraordinary commitment to the appointed to the 91st District the Pennsylvania Bar Associa- ner-in-charge of the Washington protection of life, liberty, and con- Court in Michigan by Governor tion’s Committee on Legal Ethics National Tax practice for RSM, stitutional rights. Serna lives in Rick Snyder. and Professional Responsibility. A an audit, tax, and consulting ser- Albuquerque, New Mexico. commercial litigator, he is active vices firm. Douglas M. Bregman (L’74), an in the leadership of the Mont- Timothy Strachan (L’04) has adjunct professor at Georgetown gomery County Bar Association, Timothy J. Kelly (L’97) was nom- been named Legislative Affairs Law, was named the “Distin- where he served on its board of inated as a district judge for the Director at the Federal Communi- guished Maryland Real Property directors, chaired several com- U.S. District Court for the District cations Commission. Practitioner” for 2016–2017 by mittees, and was president of its of Columbia by President Donald Trial Lawyers Section. Elliott was the Maryland State Bar Associa- Trump in June. He was later James J. Sullivan Jr. (L’80), a tion’s Real Property Section. The honored as the Trial Lawyer of confirmed by the Senate and the Year and since 2004, he has member of Cozen O’Connor’s award — recognizing the high- received his judicial commission Labor and Employment Depart- est level of technical skill, client been repeatedly recognized as in September. Kelly was chief a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer.” ment, was nominated a member service, experience, integrity, counsel for national security and of the Occupational Safety and collegiality and courtesy among He and his wife Helen have three senior crime counsel to Senate children and live in Blue Bell, Pa. Health Review Commission by Maryland’s real estate lawyers Judiciary Committee Chairman President Donald Trump in June — was presented at the MSBA Charles Grassley. He also serves and he was confirmed in August. Annual Meeting in June. Breg- Bridget Fitzpatrick (L’00) was as the Republican staff direc- man, the founder of Bregman, named chief litigation counsel of tor for the Senate’s Caucus on Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, was the U.S. Securities and Exchange International Narcotics Control. Leona V. Theron (LL.M.’90) was recognized for his dedication Commission in September. Earlier in his career, Kelly spent appointed to the Constitutional and contribution to the legal pro- a decade as a federal prosecu- Court of South Africa, that coun- fession, the Maryland State Bar tor, serving first as an Assistant try’s highest court, on June 30 Greenberg Traurig Shareholder and began her new role July 1. Association, his colleagues and Danielle Gonzalez (L’05) United States Attorney in the clients over his 40-year career. District of Columbia and then as Theron is not the first George- received South Florida Business town Law alum to serve as a Journal’s “40 Under 40” Award a trial attorney in the Public Integ- rity Section of the Department of Supreme Court Justice in Africa. Deborah Burand (L’85, in June. Esther Mayambala Kisaakye MSFS’85) has been promoted Justice’s Criminal Division, where he won the Assistant Attorney (LL.M.’94) has been on Uganda’s to associate professor of Clinical highest court for several years. Law and named the faculty co-di- General’s Award for Distin- rector of the Grunin Center for guished Service. Law and Social Entrepreneurship The St. Thomas More Society at NYU School of Law. Beth McCann (L’74) became of the Diocese of Wilmington Denver’s district attorney in 2016, awarded the Monsignor Paul J. the first woman to hold the role. Taggart St. Thomas More Award to Francis J. Trzuskowski (L’62) at its 29th Annual Dinner held at Lucas Moskowitz (L’06) has the Wilmington Country Club, been named chief of staff at the Wilmington, Del., on May 21. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Craig Waugh (L’08), an attorney with Polsinelli, has been elected David C. Serna (L’77) was Secretary of the Securities Reg- awarded a certificate by the Rosemary C. Harold (L’91), a ulation Section of the State Bar National Board of Trial Advo- of Arizona. Waugh is a com- partner at Wilkinson Barker, was cacy, “Recognizing Thirty Years named the Federal Communica- mercial and securities litigator of Board Certification in Criminal who assists clients in state and tions Commission’s Enforcement Trial Law.” He was also rec- Bureau Chief in June. federal court actions, arbitrations, ognized by Super Lawyers for and enforcement actions by the being selected 11 consecutive SEC, FINRA and Arizona Securi- Matt Kaiser (L’02) was inducted years in the fields of criminal ties Division. Thomas J. Elliott (C’71, L’74) as president of the bar of the Dis- defense, white collar defense has been appointed to the Judi- trict of Columbia in June. and DUI Defense. He is the 2013 cial Conduct Board of Pennsyl- recipient of the Charles Driscoll vania by Governor Tom Wolf. A Memorial Award, named for a senior shareholder and vice pres- David J. Kautter (L’74) was nominated assistant secretary criminal defense lawyer who ident of the Elliott Greenleaf law became a Catholic priest. The firm, Elliott is a former member of the Treasury for tax policy by President Donald Trump in May award is given to one lawyer of the Disciplinary Board of the each year who has exemplified Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and assumed the role in August.
2017 Fall/Winter 91 92 Georgetown Law In Class Associate Professor of Law Yvonne Tew teaching a constitutional law class. Her scholarship interests are in comparative constitutional studies, with a focus on Asia, and religion and law. Her book on constitutional adjudication in Malaysia and Singapore is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. Check out her work and other recent faculty scholarship on our website at www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/.
Photo Credit: Sam Hollenshead Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. NON-PROFIT ORG. Washington, D.C. 20001-2075 U.S. POSTAGE PAID RICHMOND, VA PERMIT NO. 930