WNE Law Blawg

Tax Challenge Success!

Bill Childs — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:50:22 +0000

Warm congratulations to Nicole Dunk and Joe Horvath for winning second place in the American Bar Association Section of Taxation’s Tax Challenge competition. Over 100 student teams entered this competition. During the last five years, four of our teams have won significant awards. Two teams have finished first in the competition and one team won the award for the best written work. Nicole and Joe have joined the other winners with their second place finish.

Transgender Rights Panel

Bill Childs — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:52:40 +0000

The Center for Gender & Sexuality Studies at Western New England University School of Law is pleased to announce that on Tuesday, February 14th at 12:00 noon, there will be a panel at the law school to discuss Massachusetts’s new transgender rights law. Come hear from the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, as well as other attornies and advocates, about what the new law requires and how employers, schools, landlords, lenders, and others subject to the act should comply. This event is free and open to the public. Panelists include:

Julian Tynes L’97, Chair, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
Susan Fentin L’96, Partner, Skoler, Abbott, and Presser, P.C
Whitney Holovach L’11, Civil Rights Specialist, Massachusetts Fair Housing Center
Jennifer Levi, Professor, Western New England University School of Law and Director of GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project

Joint Committee on Transportation Meeting

Bill Childs — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:30:05 +0000

Our Institute for Legislative and Governmental Affairs hosts a number of fascinating events every year, including the popular Supreme Court Seminar. On Wednesday, it will host the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation, which will hear testimony from transportation, business, and resident stakeholders who rely on safe, reliable, and affordable transportation in Western Massachusetts. Among those invited to testify are the Economic Development Council, PVTA, Chamber of Commerce, and Peter Pan Bus Lines.

The hearing will be Wednesday, January 25, from 10 to noon in the Pellegrini Moot Courtroom.

Shay on Gonzalez v. Thaler

Bill Childs — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:20:48 +0000

My colleague Giovanna Shay posted on the widely-read SCOTUSblog about the recent Supreme Court decision in Gonzalez v. Thaler, in which the Court answered two procedural questions regarding the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). You can read her post here.

Carasik on Guatemalan Justice

Bill Childs — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:46:56 +0000

Prof. Lauren Carasik, director of our International Human Rights Clinic, recently coauthored an article published on the Al Jazeera website regarding the efforts to obtain justice for those killed thirty years ago in Guatemala. Read the story here. To learn more about our clinical programs, visit our clinic web page.

Prof. Charity on the Responsibility to Protect

Bill Childs — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:35:30 +0000

Professor Matthew Charity has developed a strong reputation in the area of international human rights. His most recent article, Criminalized State: The International Criminal Court, the Responsibility to Protect, and Darfur, Republic of Sudan, published in the Ohio Northern University Law Review, adds to that reputation, and indeed, was recognized as important reading in the War Crimes Prosecution Watch.

“Led by the child who simply knew.”

Bill Childs — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:46:33 +0000

That’s the name of a Boston Globe story relating the experience of two kids, born identical twin boys, one of whom “simply knew” from a very young age that he was, in fact, a girl. As the story puts it, it was

…a journey that few have taken, one the Maineses themselves couldn’t have imagined until it was theirs. The process of remaking a family of identical twin boys into a family with one boy and one girl has been heartbreaking and harrowing and, in the end, inspiring — a lesson in the courage of a child, a child who led them, and in the transformational power of love.

Prof. Levi is an attorney with GLAD and is quoted regarding the legal challenges the family has faced.

Semester’s Final Clason Lecture

Bill Childs — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:42:32 +0000

Our final Clason speaker of the semester is coming tomorrow (Tuesday) and will be speaking in the Commons at noon.

Richard Wilson is a professor of anthropology and law at the University of Connecticut and will be speaking about his recent book, Writing History in International Criminal Trials.

His lecture caps off our semester of speakers focusing on human rights issues. Thus far, it’s been a real success, with Jennifer Harbury and Claudio Grossman bringing important and interesting perspectives to us and our students. Richard Wilson’s talk is sure to do the same, dealing with questions of the purpose of international criminal trials, who gets to write the history of a conflict, and what legal import history ought to have in questions of criminal justice.

Prof. Shay’s Supreme Court Recap Available

Bill Childs — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:12:19 +0000

As I mentioned last week, my colleague Giovanna Shay was asked to cover the Supreme Court’s consideration of Gonzalez v. Thaler, a case involving the interpretation of the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), for the SCOTUSblog. The Court heard argument last week, and Gio has now provided a recap. Read it here.

Shay Previews Supreme Court Case; Supreme Court Review Upcoming

Bill Childs — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:04:31 +0000

My colleague Giovanna Shay was asked by the popular and well-regarded SCOTUSblog to preview Gonzalez v. Thaler, which “presents yet more procedural questions regarding state prisoners’ federal habeas petitions under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA).” You can read her preview here. The case will be argued on November 3, and Gio will do an argument recap after that.

On a related note, please join us on Friday, November 4, for the 16th annual U.S. Supreme Court Review. Professors Harpaz, Miller, and Shay will explore the constitutionality of the Federal Affordable Care Act as well as the Court’s recent decisions addressing the First Amendment, criminal law, federalism, and business regulation. Free and open to the public. 11:30-2:30, Law School Commons.