SPRING 2006 IN THIS ISSUE Focus On: Constitutional Law Farewell: Dean Alex M. Johnson, Jr. Hollywood’s Brush With Fame: North Country The Magazine for the University of Minnesota Law School DEAN EMERITUS Alex M. Johnson, Jr. INTERIM DEANS Guy-Uriel E. Charles Fred L. Morrison EDITOR Scotty G. Mann ASSISTANT EDITORS Jennifer Derryberry Mann Elizabeth Washburn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lotem Almog Dana Bartocci Dale Carpenter Jim Chen Brad Clary Anita Cole Amber Fox Alex Gese Ann Hagen Allison Haley Michael Hannon Jennifer Hanson Katherine Hedin Brita Johnson Sara Jones Erin Keyes Heidi Kitrosser Ben Kremenak Matthew Kreuger Kelly Laudon Martha Martin Todd Melby Dave Nardolillo Anna Pia Nicolas sue rich Scott Russell Michael Stokes Paulsen Mary Thacker Karla Vehrs Carl Warren Leslie Watson PHOTOGRAPHERS William Cameron Jessica Johnson Dan Marshall The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons Tim Rummelhoff shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment Stephen Simon without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation. DESIGNER Jennifer Kaplan, Red Lime, LLC This is a general interest magazine published throughout the academic year for the University of Minnesota Law School community of alumni, friends, and supporters. Letters to the editor or any other communication regarding content should be sent to Editor, University of Minnesota Law School, 229 19th Avenue South, Room N221, Minneapolis, MN 55455. ©2006 by University of Minnesota Law School. Dean’s Perspective uring the past four years, the Law School’s stature has grown, primarily due to strong faculty hiring and even greater selectivity in student recruitment.As you know, one of the most telling measures of a law school’s stature is the quality of its faculty. I believe that it is the Dachievements of our faculty that help influence top students to entrust their edu- cational futures to the University of Minnesota Law School. In the last four years, we have made the most significant number of promising lateral hires that the Law School has seen in decades, bringing several nationally known and rising stars to the faculty.We have made strategic hires in the areas of criminal law, envi- ronmental law, intellectual property, and international law, positioning the faculty among the very best in the country in those areas.We are ending a very success- ful year—indeed, an extraordinary year—for appointments, in which seven offers were accepted.We are also especially proud to have Dean Emeritus Bob Stein, ’61, returning to the faculty after more than a decade of distinguished service as executive director of the American Bar Association. Our faculty is now relatively one of the largest in the nation, with a 13/1 student/faculty ratio. In addition, the Law School has become increasingly selective in its admissions process.The median GPA of last year’s entering class was 3.54, and the median LSAT score was 164 (approximately 91st percentile); making this the statistically strongest entering class ever. Indeed, bucking the national trend, the Law School last year saw its largest number of applications in the school’s history, and this year’s application pool has broken the record yet again. I am also proud to note that our student body is becoming ethnically and geographically more diverse. DEAN ALEX M. JOHNSON, JR. Further, as we reach the close of our fiscal year I am pleased to report that the gifts to the Law School this year will set a new record for a year in which we are not in a capital campaign.As a result, I am also happy to share the news that the Law School maintains its outstanding position in the top 20 in national rankings. Our accomplishments have been extraordinary, and everyone in our Law School community can take pride in knowing they played a part in these significant achievements. I hope you will enjoy this issue of Perspectives.Among the Law School’s many growing strengths is its constitutional law faculty, and we are pleased to highlight their work in this issue; you will notice that our constitutional law scholars are not uniform in their opinions regarding some of the most pressing constitutional issues. We also have a great deal of good news to share about the many successes of our faculty, students, and alumni, from the serious (the Law Review Symposium on the future of the Supreme Court) to the not-so-serious (another rollicking, sold- out TORT show). As you are aware, this is my last message to you as dean, as I have transitioned to emeritus status. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving as dean of this great Law School and I leave knowing that it is in excellent shape and that its future is boundless! Dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law CONTENTS SPRING 2006 FOCUS ON: COVER 26 Constitutional Law Features Building a More Perfect 27 Law School BY SCOTT RUSSELL Revisiting Executive Privilege 31 BY HEIDI KITROSSER A DISCOURSE: 35 Presidential Powers in Time of War Departments FACULTY PERSPECTIVE 2 Faculty R&D Faculty Scholarship FIRST PERSON Work Continues on Darrow Papers BY MICHAEL HANNON FACULTY PROFILE Brett McDonnell AT THE LAW SCHOOL 42 Legalizing Human Rights 90 Years of Law Review Lindquist & Vennum Symposium It’s Only Words Race for Justice Helping Legal Scholarship Keep Pace with Scientific Advances Moot Court Report Tribal Court Management Program FAREWELL: Dean Alex M. Johnson, Jr. STUDENT PERSPECTIVE 62 TORT Show Sings and Dances to Sell-out STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP As the Waters Recede: Legal Lessons from Hurricane Katrina SCHOLARSHIP SPOTLIGHT The Briggs and Morgan Scholarship Student Profiles STUDENT ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT The Woman’s Law Student Association ALUMNI PERSPECTIVE 72 Hollywood’s Brush the Law New Spring Alumni Weekend Distinguished Alumni Profiles Class Notes In Memoriam FACULTY PERSPECTIVE In keeping with the University of Minnesota’s overarching goal to strengthen its already impressive reputation as one of the nation’s premier public research institutions, the Law School faculty brings its considerable talent, insight, and work ethic to legal education and scholarship. In this section, catch up on faculty research and development projects, newly published works, and works in progress. Discover how the Law Library is creating a state-of-the-art digital archive of the papers of esteemed American attorney Clarence Darrow. Get to know Associate Professor Brett McDonnell, whose latest work supports greater employee involvement in corporate decision making, and get up to speed on the many lectures and events made possible throughout the year by the Law School’s highly productive and influential faculty. 2 Perspectives SPRING 2006 DAN L. BURK In October 2005 Professor Burk attended Faculty R&D the Sixth Annual Conference of the Asso- ciation of Internet Researchers (AoIR) The following is a partial list of the many accomplishments where he delivered two papers,“Legal Standards in Digital Rights Management and activities of the Law School’s faculty. Technology,” and “An Information Own- Oct. 1, 2005 through March 1, 2006 ership Approach to Spyware.” Professor Burk also attended the October confer- ence of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) in Pasadena, Calif., where he spoke on “Beyond Copyleft: Patenting Open Source Bioinformatics.” In Novem- ber Professor Burk was honored as the Katz-Kiley Fellow at the University of Houston Law Center, where he delivered Beverly Balos the 12th Annual Katz-Kiley Lecture on Stephen F. Befort “The Problem of Process in Biotechnol- Brian Bix ogy.” Later in the month he traveled to BEVERLY BALOS zine, and “Public Sector Update Genoa, Italy, where he delivered a series of Professor Balos participated in training 2004–05” in Public Sector Labor & Employ- three endowed Fresco Foundation lectures legal advocates for victims of domestic ment Law (Minnesota CLE). He also com- on the economics of patent law at the violence at the Annual Meeting of the pleted work on a law review article that University of Genoa Faculty of Law. In Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women will appear shortly in the Ohio State Law December, he traveled to Harvard Law School, where he participated in the Berk- in November 2005. She was part of the Journal,“When Quitting is Fitting:The man Center workshop on Patent Law and audit team working with professionals Need for a Reformulated Sexual Harass- Innovation in the Life Sciences. In Febru- from the State of Nevada in creating ment/Constructive Discharge Standard in ary 2006 Professor Burk met with other domestic violence prosecution best prac- the Wake of Pennsylvania State Police v. experts convened by the U.C. Berkeley tices guidelines.At the end of March Suders” (with Sarah A. Gorajski).A fre- Center for Technology and Law at a work- 2006, she presented a paper at the 23rd quent labor arbitrator, Professor Befort shop on the intellectual property implica- Annual Edward V.Sparer Symposium currently serves as coeditor of the 2005 tions of the Google “Book Print” database Annual Proceedings of the National Academy sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia project. In March he visited New Haven, of Arbitrators, which will be published in Law School Consortium and the Conn., where he spoke to the Yale Law book form by the Bureau of National Philadelphia Bar Association.The School Information Society Project on Affairs. symposium topic was Civil Gideon: “The Goldilocks Hypothesis: Balancing Making the Case; her article,“Lawyers Intellectual Property Rights at the Bound- Matter:Vindicating the Right to be Free BRIAN BIX ary of the Firm,” a paper coauthored by from Domestic Violence,” will be pub- Professor Bix’s forthcoming publications Law School Professor Brett McDonnell. lished in the Temple Political and Civil include two books: the fourth edition of Professor Burk also presented this paper to Rights Law Review.