ASU News - Law + Law

Gerchick writes on so-called "AZ Turbo Court"

lfaling — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:31:29 -0700

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Class of 2000 alumna Cari Gerchick recently wrote an advertising supplement "The Impact of the Economy on Arizona Courts" that appeared in the Oct. 23 Phoenix Business Journal.

Gerchick's article explains that Arizona's courts have begun using online technology, dubbed the "Arizona Turbo Court" system, to increase efficiency. The system allows court documents to be sent to judges, staff and litigants simultaneously, reducing court administrative staff workloads, and in some cases, decreasing the need for hard-copy versions of case files. Litigants, including the public, often will be able to access the online system to file, retrieve and use court documents without the need to make a trip to their nearest court house.

Gerchick is the former director for the Arizona Supreme Court, and was chosen by the Phoenix New Times as "Best Public Information Officer for 2007."

Garcia op-ed on biomedical research in 'Business Journal'

lfaling — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:27:53 -0700

Greg Garcia, J.D. Class of 1997, 2009 Willard H. Pedrick Scholar and recipient of an LL.M. in Biotechnology and Genomics from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, recently wrote an opinion piece in the Phoenix Business Journal's Oct. 30 issue, "Support Arizona's biomedical research community."

As commissioner of the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission serving his second term in office, Garcia expresses the view that biomedical research in Arizona is a win-win situation for our state.

The Commission provides "grants supported by lottery and tobacco funds to researchers working on the prevention, treatment and cures for diseases affecting the people of Arizona," and that "for every dollar of commission funds, researchers are able to bring in $6 of new funds from other sources," Garcia says.

Garcia is "Of Counsel" to the firm of Polsinelli Shughart PC, and has litigated extensively in commercial, insurance and personal injury cases. He is a member of the Arizona BioIndustry Association and the Association of University Technology Managers, and participates on the Biotechnology Committee of the Section of Science and Technology Law of the American Bar Association.

Hodge talks about safety of H1N1 vaccine

lccampb — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:04:44 -0700

James G. Hodge Jr., the Lincoln Professor of Health Law and Ethics at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, recently was a guest on the KJZZ program, "Here and Now," to talk about the safety of the H1N1 vaccine.

In response to doubts raised by program host Steve Goldstein's other guest, Martha Grout, a physician with the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine, Hodge noted that the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations have recommended the vaccine as safe.

"This vaccine does what we really have to do from a public health perspective, and that is to prevent the potential onset of more serious conditions," Hodge said. "There's no reason to toy or tinker with death or serious illnesses" that might arise from not using the vaccine.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Law professor comments on court hearing issue

lccampb — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:28:01 -0700

An Arizona Republic article about a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office jailer who removed documents from a defense attorney's file during a court hearing included comments from professor Paul Bender, of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

In "Officer told to apologize for taking lawyer's notes," by reporter JJ Hensley, Bender said there may be grounds for an appeal of the order by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe that Detention Officer Adam Stoddard apologize to attorney Joanne Cuccia.

"It'd be interesting if the defendant said, `I think that's an unconstitutional penalty. You can't force me to say something that I don't want to say, and you can't keep me in jail,'" Bender said.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Kornhauser article published by ABA

shibner — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:47:25 -0700

An article written by Professor Marjorie Kornhauser, of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, about the new Tax Literacy Project at the College of Law was published in the Fall 2009 edition of the ABA Tax Section Newsquarterly.

Kornhauser, the project's director, writes that, according to a 2009 H&R Block survey, most Americans "fail tax 101." People are ignorant about general concepts, their own tax situation, the law, and why taxes exist.

"Tax ignorance harms individuals and the nation as a whole," writes Kornhauser, noting few opportunities exist for the average person to learn about taxation. "Lack of understanding frequently causes frustration, even hostility."

The Tax Literacy Project, launched in May 2009, will use popular media to informally educate young adults about basic aspects of taxation. It will focus on the development of a Web site and the technical design of online activities (such as games, contests and videos) which people will engage in during their leisure time. The project will focus on the federal income tax, but much of the content will be applicable to other federal, state, and local taxes.

It will include information on three distinct, but overlapping, areas: Why we have taxation (the purpose of taxes; the connection between taxing and spending); Fairness of taxation (how to distribute the burden of taxation, including choice of tax base and rate structure); and Basic concepts of taxation (e.g. marginal rates versus effective rates and credits versus deductions).

To find out more about the Tax Literacy Project, click here.

To read the ABA article, click here.

Kornhauser's research focuses on the intersection of federal income taxation and society, and explores the philosophical, social, political, gendered and historical aspects of taxation. She enjoys helping students learn about this intersection and understand the more technical aspects of taxation.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Harvard Speaker Series to include Hodge

shibner — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:42:49 -0700

James G. Hodge Jr., Lincoln Professor of Health Law and Ethics, and Director of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law's Public Health Law and Policy Program, will speak at the Harvard School of Public Health on Friday, Dec. 4.

Hodge will address "Legal Responses to the H1N1 Outbreak: Global and Local Perspectives," as part of the 2009-2010 Speaker Series of the School's Center for Public Preparedness. He will be joined by Donna E. Levin, General Counsel in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Through scholarly and applied work, Hodge delves into multiple areas of public health law, global health law, ethics, and human rights. He teaches Health Law, Ethics, and Policy, Public Health Law and Ethics, and Global Health Law and Policy. Before joining the College of Law faculty in 2009, Hodge was a Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and a Core Faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. He is a Senior Scholar at the Centers for Law and the Public's Health: A Collaborative at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities, President of the Public Health Law Association, and Vice-Chair of the ABA Public Health Interest Group.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Furnish article published in 'Review'

shibner — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:38:14 -0700

An article by emeritus professor Dale Furnish, of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, "Sorting Out Civil Jurisdiction in Indian Country After Plains Commerce Bank: State Courts and the Judicial Sovereignty of the Najavo Nation," has been published in the Spring 2009 issue of American Indian Law Review.

The article analyzes recent U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence on tribal court jurisdiction in the context of the Navajo Nation's tribal courts. In it, Furnish concludes that the tribal courts will develop a stronger role in the resolution of civil controversies, despite anything the high court may decide.

Furnish joined the faculty of the College of Law in 1970, following a clerkship with Judge Martin D. VanOosterhout of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and stints in Peru with USAID and in Chile with the Ford Foundation. On leave from the College of Law, he practiced law in Phoenix from 1987-1992 with Molloy, Jones & Donahue, chiefly in the field of bankruptcy litigation. Furnish has taught courses on Contracts, Secured Transactions and other Uniform Commercial Code topics, Creditor-Debtor, Bankruptcy, Mexican (Comparative) Law and NAFTA.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Pace quoted in 'AZ Capitol Times' employer sanctions story

lfaling — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:54:17 -0700

Julie Pace, a '92 alumna of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, is quoted in a Nov. 6 Arizona Capitol Times article, "Groups hopeful about appeal of employer sanctions."

Pace, who represents business groups in the case, is hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear and overturn the 2007 Arizona law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. The justices have asked the U.S. solicitor general to submit a brief in the case.

"That usually means that they realized that this decision impacts the federal government and they want it to express its views," Pace is quoted as saying.

Pace is a partner in the litigation department of Ballard Spahr LLP in Phoenix, and a member of their labor, employment and immigration, construction, health care, resort and hotel law groups. She concentrates her practice in the fields of employment, OSHA, health care, and construction. She defends claims of sexual harassment, employment discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower, and wrongful discharge, and against charges by the EEOC.

'State Press' reports on Iran panel event

shibner — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:19:11 -0700

Reporter Scarlett Heydt of the ASU State Press reported on a Nov. 17 panel discussion at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law about the state of human rights in Iran since the June election was discussed.

In the article, "Panel gives perspective on Iran," Heydt quoted panelist Shahla Talebi, an ASU assistant professor who was in Iran during the 1979 revolution. People there are still silenced, Talebi said. "Every single human rights violation that you can imagine is happening," she said.

The event, presented by the College's Center for Law and Global Affairs, was moderated by Laura Dickinson, Foundation Professor of Law and the Center's Faculty Director. Other panelists were law Professor Orde Kittrie and Renee Redman, Executive Director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center.

To read the full article, click here.

Janie Magruder, Jane.Magruder@asu.edu
(480) 727-9052
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Ferguson-Bohnee testifies before committee on Indian Affairs

shibner — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:58:03 -0700

Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, director of the Indian Legal Clinic at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, at an oversight hearing on "Fixing the Federal Acknowledgment Process."

Four Indian Legal Clinic students - Rebecca Ross, Vanessa Verri, Derrick Beetso and Daniel Lewis -- helped prepare the testimony for the Nov. 4 hearing and accompanied Ferguson-Bohnee to Washington, D.C.

Ferguson-Bohnee told the Committee that the process for a tribe to receive federal acknowledgment suffered from a lack of transparency, inconsistent standards, a lack of resources, and untimely response, sometimes taking decades to deal with requests.

In addition, she said, tribes do not have the resources to hire legal and historical experts to meet the standards being used to review their applications. Some tribes have spent more than a million dollars preparing their petitions.

Ferguson-Bohnee and the students suggested several possible solutions, including establishing an independent commission or administrative law judge to rule on applications.

U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, asked Ferguson-Bohnee and the students to provide more information on their suggestions.

Also testifying were George Skibine, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior, accompanied by R. Lee Fleming, Director, Office of Federal Acknowledgment for the Interior; Frank Ettawageshik, Chair of the Federal Acknowledgment Task Force for the National Congress of American Indians; The Hon. John Sinclair, President of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana; and The Hon. Anne D. Tucker, Chairperson of the Muscogee Nation of Florida.

Read Ferguson-Bohnee's written remarks here.

Watch the Web cast here.

Judy Nichols, Judith.Nichols@asu.edu
(480) 727-7895
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law