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August 1998, Oxford, England
One of the joys of being in Oxford this summer was
seeing a nice group of Cardozo connections coming into place. It started
when I got on the plane at JFK early in June. One of the passengers was
Leslie Berman ’93, who is now getting a D.Phil. degree and tutoring at
New College. She lives about five miles from Oxford, on a small farm with
sheep and a swimming pool. She told me that Barry Scheck was about to make
a much-heralded visit, so I went to hear him on two successive evenings.
One was to a full and enthusiastic house, when he addressed the Oxford
Union. It was the same day the Louise Woodward decision came down, and,
after the talk, he was ushered into a series of important television interviews.
There is deep interest in the United Kingdom in Barry’s Innocence Project,
his work with DNA, and the role that he has played in the modernization
of crime labs.
One fine morning, as I walked to work, I passed
Blackwell’s, the biggest and best bookstore in Oxford, and the window was
filled with a promotion for Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader, reminding me
of the great panel held at Cardozo in the spring that was inspired by Professor
Schlink’s book.
I spent much of June and July at the Centre for
Socio-Legal Studies at Wolfson College, a promising locus for Cardozo research
and interests. Prof. Richard Weisberg gave a very well-received lecture
there related to his book on Vichy, and Prof. Lester Brickman did research
on the history of lawyer-client relationships. My own days were spent with
the new Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy that I co-direct,
which was conceived and developed at Cardozo’s Squadron Program. In early
August, we had a special course for incoming Cardozo students (and others)
on Comparative Media Law. This seminar was taught, to much acclaim, by
Prof. John Duffy, who had just married. There were several Squadron fellows
there as well, including Joseph Perkovich ’99, who remained to become executive
assistant to the Comparative Media Programme and will spend a semester
as part of his Cardozo education. Melissa Mathis ’01 and Tamara Bock ’01
helped coordinate the summer program.
It was these students who also helped to create
a new foothold at Oxford for The Heyman Center. In July, professors Lawrence
Cunningham and Charles Yablon were at the Centre and St. Edmund Hall (where
students lived and learned in medieval glory) for an inaugural seminar
on comparative governance law.
It is likely that next summer, we shall have both
summer seminars at Oxford again and that more cooperation between Oxford
and Cardozo is a part of the future.
June 1, 1998
What a touching and informative article on the Lennon
cases. I read [Professor Wildes’] article in Cardozo Life (Spring 1998)
with particular interest as I am an immigrant (from South Africa) and know
what a great difference a good immigration lawyer can make, at least in
some cases. [He] writes with great humility. I arrived in the United States
in 1968, and I have a clear memory of where things stood at that time.
I have little doubt that the victories on behalf of [his] clients are a
testament to exceptionally fine lawyering.
Thank you for allowing us to learn a little of those
legal battles.