5a6
Around Campus
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around CAMPUS
Justice Breyer Visits Cardozo
Kaufman Delivers Bauer Lecture on Justice Cardozo
Students Bring Activists to Campus
Conference Looks at Both Sides of Religious
Liberty Legislation
Students in Tax Clinic Fight the IRS and Win
Visitors Enrich Spring Semester
Chinese New Year Celebration
Goodrich and Engler Named to Faculty
10th Anniversary Symposium for Cardozo Studies
in Law and Literature
Moot Court Team Ends Year with Wins
Music Professionals "Teach" Class in Contract Drafting
and Negotiation
Ethics Talk Covers Gattica, Bertrand Russell, and
DNA Databanks
Commissioner Safir Discusses Serial Rape
Students Launch New Journal Online
IP Program Ranks High
Cardozo Wins Diversity Award
Argentina and Cardozo Cooperation Explored
Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Communications Law
Moot Court Competition
Panel on Kurdish Rights
SBA Auction Raises more than $20,000 for Public
Interest Stipends
Discussion Panel on Proposed UCC Article
2B and Federal Database Protection Legislation
Tigar Speaks on Distortions in the Search for Justice
Heyman Center Winter Lecture Series
Correction
Justice Breyer Visits Cardozo
Last November, legal scholars and judges from around the world convened
to examine cutting-edge issues in constitutionalism and human rights. The
three-day conference opened at Cardozo with US Supreme Court Justice Stephen
Breyer delivering a paper on the Court's 1998 fact-finding trip to European
courts; other panelists discussed how to apply constitutionalism on a global
scale. They also investigated the role of constitutionalism in light of
a worldwide trend for governments to give more power to private agents
and companies.
New York University and Columbia University Law Schools were the venues
for the subsequent days of "Constitutionalism, Constitutional Rights &
Changing Civil Society," which was telecast by C-Span and co-organized
by Prof. Michel Rosenfeld, who is an officer in two of the sponsoring organizations:
the US Association of Constitutional Law and the International Association
of Constitutional Law. The conference also was sponsored by the three participating
law schools. At Cardozo, participants included Dean Paul Verkuil;
NYU professor Norman Dorsen, president, US Association of Constitutional
Law; Thomas Fleiner, president, International Association of Constitutional
Law; Louis Henkin, Columbia Law School; Frank Michelman, Harvard Law School;
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Judge Charles Fried, Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court; and H.W.O. Okoth-Ogendo, University of Nairobi,
Kenya.
Kaufman Delivers Bauer Lecture on Justice Cardozo
|
|
Andrew
Kaufman signs his book for Cardozo Law Review's Brian Waldbaum, editor-in-chief,
and Larissa Paule-Carres,
symposia
editor.
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Last June, Judge John Noonan, Jr. wrote in The New York
Times Book Review that the "much-awaited publication of Andrew L. Kaufman's
Cardozo (Harvard University Press) is a major event in the world of law,
judicial biography, and legal literature." Kaufman presented the annual
Uri and Carolyn Bauer Lecture this fall, speaking on "Cardozo and the Art
of Biography," which will be published in the next issue of the Cardozo
Law Review.
Kaufman, the Charles Stebbins Fairchild Professor of Law
at Harvard Law School, began by noting his pleasure in reestablishing a
connection with Cardozo Law School; he had published an article, "Cardozo's
Appointment to the Supreme Court," in the first issue of Cardozo Law Review,
nearly 20 years ago. He then spoke of Cardozo's legal education and career
as a practicing lawyer, while elucidating his own role as a biographer.
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from
1926 to 1932 and Justice of the US Supreme Court from 1932 until his death
in 1938, is especially noted for his pathbreaking common law opinions for
the Court of Appeals, his brilliant and distinctive writing, his social
consciousness, and his ability to reconcile innovation and precedent.
The idea to write Justice Cardozo's biography was proposed
to Kaufman by Justice Felix Frankfurter, for whom he clerked in 1956-57.
Kaufman said "yes" immediately because he was interested in doing biography
and no thorough book on Cardozo had been written, yet it took 40 years
for the Kaufman book to be published.
Kaufman entertainingly described the many difficulties
he encountered in his research. To illustrate, he explained that when Cardozo
moved to Washington, D.C., he gave St. John's Law Library a collection
of briefs and memoranda from his 23 years as a trial and appellate lawyer.
Apparently the library lost them, and because they have never been found,
Kaufman tried to reconstruct those years by painstakingly looking through
New York Reports, and looking for every case that had Cardozo's name on
it. This took almost a year of plodding work. Once the online legal research
database Lexis was developed, Kaufman did a duplicate search that took
only 45 minutes! After reading Cardozo's briefs dating back to his first
year at the bar, Kaufman was astonished to discover that he did not observe
a progressive development of Cardozo's finely crafted writing style. He
said "his brief writing ability appeared nearly full-blown at the outset
of his career."
Kaufman was more fortunate in researching the Justice's
legal education. Cardozo, who had a photographic memory and could speed-write,
reproduced and preserved Columbia Law School class lectures verbatim, leaving
a fairly complete record of his professors' views and a rare look at legal
education a century ago.
In discussing the ethical questions that arose in the
undertaking of the Cardozo biography, Kaufman said that he tried to be
fair to his readers by giving them a complete picture, and to Cardozo,
who was an exceedingly private man who burned much of his correspondence
and papers. Kaufman said he was careful not to speculate about Cardozo's
personal life and sought to understand it only as it shed light on his
legal contributions. Kaufman was curious, however, as to why Cardozo never
married, wondered about his religious beliefs, and tried to understand
how damaged Cardozo was by the disgrace of his father resigning from the
bench amidst a Tammany Hall corruption scandal.
The lecture came to a close with a selection of Ka
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ufman's
favorite Cardozo quotations; they were a reminder of the Justice's unique
voice.
Students Bring Activists to Campus
Rev.
Al Sharpton
This year the Cardozo Law & Politics Society and the Black, Asian,
and Latino Law Students Association (BALLSA) have been especially energetic
in presenting panels on topical subjects such as police brutality, human
rights, and legal activism.
Just hours after a Bronx man was shot at 41 times by 4 police officers,
and before the story broke in the press, the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke to
about 300 Cardozo students on "Police Brutality and the Giuliani Administration."
He addressed the need to remedy what he described as an escalating problem
in New York Cityó"Crime is down, but police brutality is up." He suggested
ways to reduce police brutality, including giving more power to the Civilian
Complaint Review Board, making it mandatory for NYC police officers to
reside in the city, providing better training for officers, bringing in
federal prosecutors if a case does go to trial, and making it impossible
for officers to waive a jury trial.
(from
left) Prof. Andrew Hacker, Prof. E. Nathaniel Gates, and John Garvey
The student groups also co-sponsored "The Concept of ëRace' in the
New Millennium: Transformation or Abolition?", a scholarly discussion of
race and its relevance in scientific and social analysis that brought together
Andrew Hacker, professor of political science, Queens College, and author,
Two Nations; Prof. E. Nathaniel Gates; and John Garvey, new abolitionist
and editor, Race Traitor.
Ron
Kuby
Ron Kuby was among the lawyers who spoke at "Fighting City Hall: Activist
Lawyering in Giuliani's New York City." He and Norman Siegel, executive
director, New York Civil Liberties Union; Bill Goodman, legal director,
Center for Constitutional Rights; and Roger Wareham, legal counsel for
the Million Youth March, discussed how to mount legal challenges to what
they presented as Mayor Giuliani's efforts to squelch free speech and activism.
Leslie Brody '83, co-chair, New York City Chapter, National Lawyers Guild,
a sponsor of the event with the Law and Politics Society, moderated.
"Domestic Abuses: Critiques of US Compliance with International Human
Rights Norms" featured panelists Ward Moorehouse, Council on International
& Public Affairs; Daniel Shanfield, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights;
and Gabriel Torres and Peter Weiss, Center for Constitutional Rights. Prof.
David Golove moderated. The Law & Politics Society was the sponsor.
Conference Looks at Both Sides of
Religious Liberty Legislation
Since the US Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act (RFRA) was unconstitutional, thanks in part to Prof. Marci
Hamilton's successful argument, several state legislatures have enacted
laws modeled on the federal RFRA. The issue has even become a campaign
issue, with Governor George Bush, whose eye is on the White House, endorsing
a bill in Texas.
These new laws are supported in part by a large and diverse coalition
of religious and civil rights organizations, making bedfellows of The Rutherford
Institute and some state civil liberties unions. In opposition are neighborhood
groups, child advocates, and the National League of Cities, whose objections
include the fear that th
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ese laws might undermine other civil rights protections.
Last summer, Congress considered the proposed Religious Liberty Protection
Act (RLPA), which would reinstate the RFRA regime. Among opponents of the
federal legislation are the Home School Legal Defense Association (whose
president helped draft the original RFRA) and the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
In February, the Cardozo Law Review brought together legal scholars
and some of the key participants in the current debate for a daylong conference,
"State and Federal Religious Liberty Legislation: Is It Necessary? Is it
Constitutional? Is It Good Policy?"
One highlight was a panel devoted to the real-world impact of religious
liberty legislationóan issue that, according to Professor Hamilton, was
not debated sufficiently prior to RFRA's enactment. Representatives of
the American Civil Liberties Union, The Rutherford Institute, and The Aleph
Institute, an organization that protects the rights of Jewish inmates,
argued in favor of RLPA and the various state initiatives. Taking the opposite
stance were representatives of the National League of Cities, the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Chaplain's Office of the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. People for the American Way
Foundation and Amicus for Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc.,
groups that had been deeply involved in RFRA's creation, indicated new
reservations.
Students in Tax Clinic Fight the IRS and
Win
(from
left) Andrew Zucker, Prof. Hedy Forspan, and Maria Celis
Fighting the Internal Revenue Service, especially in the US Tax Court,
is considered to be a losing battle and certainly one that strikes fear
in most US citizens. However, this fall, Cardozo students Andrew Zucker
and Maria Celisóboth of whom were in their last semester of legal studiesótook
a seemingly unwinnable case that came to the Cardozo Tax Clinic and proceeded
to beat the IRS.
Their client, Haji Uddin, a Pakistani immigrant and a security guard
at New York University, had claimed the earned income credit (EIC) for
his cousin's two children while his cousin's entire family was living with
him. The IRS disallowed the credit and refused to settle.
In January, special trial Judge Robert N. Armen, Jr. of the United
States Tax Court found in favor of Zucker's and Celis's client in
Uddin v. Commissioner of the IRS, Doc #2866-98S. Judge Armen's decision
established new precedent for the interpretation of eligibility for the
EIC.
The story of how the two soon-to-be lawyers worked closely with their
professors and colleagues in Cardozo's Tax Clinic to win the case illustrates
how well the Tax Clinic has fared since it was founded by the late James
Lewis, a giant of the tax bar and a professor at Cardozo. The Clinic, supervised
since 1992 by Prof. Hedy Forspan, handles approximately 200 cases annually,
most of which are resolved administratively in audit or appeals or settled
in negotiations with an IRS attorney.
At the trial, when the judge called a conference just prior to summation,
it seemed clear to both sides that he was going to find in favor of the
IRS. Zucker, a veteran of Cardozo's Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP),
presented arguments in chambers that were so persuasive that Judge Armen
decided to give the disputing parties 30 days to file briefs.
In a team effort, all 16 students in the Tax Clinic worked on the case
for the next 30 days. They researched the law and legislative history,
and all of Judge Armen's previous decisions. Then, with professors Stewart
Sterk and Forspan, Zucker and Celis wrote and edited the brief and submitted
it for decision. The judge informed both parties that they could expect
a decision by November 1999; however, he ruled
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in just five weeks.
Zucker and Celis agreed that "the information and skills learned in
all the special programs at Cardozo, the help of Professors Forspan and
Sterk, plus the energy, time, and assistance of the other students in the
Tax Clinic made it possible for us to win this case."
Celis is now working with the New York office of Neville, Peterson
& Williams, which specializes in international trade and customs litigation.
Zucker began a job in March at the Bronx District Attorney's office.
Visitors Enrich Spring Semester
The spring semester saw visits by several professors. Shlomo Avineri
of the Hebrew University returned and taught a seminar on Hegel and one
on nation-building and ideology in Israel. Rochelle Dreyfuss, director
of NYU's Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy, and a teacher
of intellectual property and civil procedure there, was a scholar-in-residence.
Michel Troper, who teaches constitutional law at Paris X (Nanterre) and
often visits Cardozo, taught a three-week mini-course on French public
law. In addition, three professors from law schools in the area taught
as academic adjuncts: Dan Burk of Seton Hall taught Cyberspace Law; Nina
Crimm of St. John's taught Federal Tax; and Jeffrey Hass of New York Law
School taught Corporate Finance.
Chinese New Year Celebration
For the first time since it was founded in 1991, Asian Pacific Islanders
American Law Students Association (APALSA) organized a celebration of the
Chinese New Yearóthe year of the Rabbit.
Goodrich and Engler Named to Faculty
Peter Goodrich, founding dean of the department of law, Birkbeck College,
University of London, has been appointed professor of law at Cardozo beginning
fall 1999, announced Dean Paul Verkuil. At present, Professor Goodrich
is Corporation of London Professor of Law at Birkbeck College, where he
teaches contracts, torts, legal methods, and legal theory among other courses.
He received an LL.B. degree in 1975 from the University of Sheffield, England
and a Ph.D. in 1984 from the University of Edinburgh.
According to Dean Verkuil, "With the appointment of Peter Goodrich,
the program and faculty in legal theory and philosophy, which is already
first-rate, is now unparalleled."
Professor Goodrich has written extensively in the areas of law and
literature and semiotics. He has authored eight books and has two more
forthcoming: Histories and Theories of Law: A Textbook in Contemporary
Jurisprudence (with Costas Douzinas), to be published by Oxford University
Press, and The Laws of Love, to be published by Cambridge University Press.
He is editor of the International Journal for the Semiotics of Law and
editor-in-chief of Law and Critique.
Mitchell L. Engler, who has been acting assistant professor at NYU
School of Law for two years, has been appointed associate professor of
law. From 1992 to 1997, Engler was an associate in the tax department of
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; he was an associate at Davis
Polk & Wardwell in 1991. He holds a B.A., a J.D., and an LL.M. in taxation
from NYU. He was on the editorial staff of the NYU Law Review and the Tax
Law Review and is a member of the Order of the Coif. Professor Engler will
teach Corporations and a variety of tax courses beginning in the 1999-2000
academic year.
10th Anniversary Symposium for Cardozo Studies
in Law and Literature
David Margolick, contributing editor at Vanity Fair, delivered the
keynote address at a symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of Cardozo
Studies in Law and Literature. "Theaters of Justice and Fictions of Law"
invited practitioners and scholars from
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around the world to discuss the
theory and practice of law as theateróor the storytelling of justice. Panelists
looked at the seminal scholars of this movement, the impact of law on ancient
and modern forms of theater, and the central notion of law as performance.
The event was co-sponsored by the Journal, The Jacob Burns Institute for
Advanced Legal Studies, and the Law and Humanities Institute.
Moot Court Team Ends Year with Wins
Once again, the Moot Court Honor Society had a banner year in interschool
competitions. Two teams competed in the Ruby R. Vale Moot Court Competition
at Widener University Law School. The team composed of oralists Sonny Chehl
and Rebecca Duewer won the competition in final arguments before the Chief
Justice and Associate Justices of the Delaware Supreme Court. This was
the first time Cardozo has won this competition. Oralists Nathaniel Ginor
and Seth Kaufman advanced to the quarter-final round. Gregory Dell and
Michael Hoffman were bench memorandum writers; Atul Joshi and Eric Stern
were team editors.
In another victory, Cardozo won for the second year in a row the Nassau
Academy of Law competition. Oralists Erica Busch and Sean Parmenter and
bench memorandum writers Joshua Fine and Sandi Greene worked with team
editor Rob Wallack.
For the first time, Cardozo competed in the Giles Sutherland Rich National
Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition, where they advanced to the
semi-final round. Reuben Levy and Daniel Schnapp were the oralists; Deborah
Cynn and Jared Shapiro were bench memorandum writers. The team editor was
Hillary Schaeffer.
In the Domineck L. Gabrielli National Family Law competition, oralists
Erin Naftali and Ellie Rivkin, assisted by bench memorandum writers Jennifer
Davis and Perry Krinsky and team editor Vered Adoni, advanced to the quarter-final
round.
The Cardozo team advanced to the sweet-sixteen round of the Irving
R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law competition. Jaimie Rothman and Mark
Korn were the oralists. Debbie Rubino and Stephen Romagnoli were bench
memorandum writers, and Elizabeth Kase was the team editor.
Music Professionals "Teach" Class in Contract
Drafting and Negotiation
Every year, Prof. Michael Reinert (standing), invites professionals
in the music industry to "teach" a class in Contract Drafting and Negotiation.
This year "Anatomy of a Recording Artist: A Look at the Developments and
Career of Edwin McCain" featured the singer/songwriter (seated) and Dean
Harrison, Harrington Management; Jason Flom, president, Lava/Atlantic Records;
and Evan Lamberg, executive vice president, EMI Music.
Ethics Talk Covers Gattica, Bertrand Russell, and
DNA Databanks
In Cardozo's darkened Moot Court Room, students watched an early scene
from the futuristic film Gattica. In the film's world, the genetic material
of unborn children can be manipulated to subtract all negative tendencies
and create a near-perfect human being. The film's protagonist, however,
was not genetically programmed and was born with imperfections. His parents
respond very differently to him and his "perfect" brother, basing their
child-rearing behavior on each child's genetic expectations. The lights
came back on, and Prof. Barry Scheck began the Jacob Burns Ethics Center
lecture "Privacy: The Impact of DNA Databases."
"This film shows that with too much knowledge, a danger of genetic
determinism arises. It is this issueódenial of an open futureóthat underlies
our fears about DNA testing," Professor Scheck said. "Imagine if the CIA
could have tested Ronald Reagan's DNA," he continued. "They may have seen
he had a gene for Alzheimer's disease and not allowed him to run for president."
Despite the possibilities for abuse, unwarranted surveillance, eugenics,
and all manner of invasions of privacy, Profes
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sor Scheck ardently believes
in the responsible use of DNA for forensic identification.
He would like to see more DNA testing at crime scenes right after the
crimes are committed. It can help link apparently unrelated crimes to the
same perpetrator and generate leads at the beginning of an investigation.
He advocates carefully constructed legislation to protect civil liberties
and limit DNA databank use to forensic identification only.
As a crime-fighting tool, DNA databanks can be very effective. Professor
Scheck discussed how the British have invested resources and utilized this
powerful tool far more aggressively than American authorities. Essentially,
they use DNA the way US law enforcement uses fingerprintsóas a universal
identifier. In the UK, the police create a DNA profile for everyone arrested
for either a misdemeanor or felony. They compare it to databank samples
gathered from other crime scenes and try to make a match. If no conviction
follows, the DNA is presumably expunged.
The statistics for the UK DNA databanks bear witness to their power
as a crime-solving tool. Each week, 300 to 500 matches are made, and to
date 36,454 suspect-to-crime scene "hits" have been made.
In the US, investigators can take DNA only from inmates who are convicted
of violent felonies and sex offenses or from individuals if they have a
court order showing "probable cause." In the UK, the turnaround time for
lab results is 7 to 14 days, whereas in the US, results can take 3 to 10
monthsóa long time to wait if you are innocent and can be exonerated by
the sample. Because of limited resources here, there is a tremendous backlog
of collected but untyped samples as well as more than a million "owed"
samples (people on parole or probation for violent felonies from whom DNA
samples should, but have not been, collected). There are also thousands
of untyped rape kits and many old, unsolved homicides where DNA testing
could make a difference. In addition, the statute of limitations allows
evidence to be destroyed after five years. "To destroy such powerful clues
is a big mistake," said Professor Scheck, noting that Cardozo's Innocence
Project relies on preserved evidence.
Constitutional questions have been raised about methods of DNA gathering.
Sometimes investigators find DNA evidence that is "abandoned" from a discarded
cigarette butt, for example. This method raises concerns about potential
law enforcement abuses with "pretext arrests" designed to obtain DNA samples
surreptitiously and thereby skirt Fourth Amendment protections against
unreasonable searches and seizures.
Other questions include what will be done with blood samples from convicted
offenders after the DNA from them has been extracted and entered into the
databank. Today, they are preserved as backup, but Professor Scheck believes
they should be discarded to prevent their use for purposes other than crime
solving. The armed forces, medical research labs, hospitals, the genome
project, commercial labs, and blood banks, and many private employers have
DNA databases that are used for various purposes.
Scheck warned that the use of DNA databanks should be limited to protect
civil liberties. "Keep in mind," he said, "the words of Bertrand Russell.
ëPragmatism is like that warm bath that heats up so imperceptibly that
you never know when to scream.'"
Commissioner Safir Discusses Serial Rape
(from
left) Dr. Casey Jordan, Assemblyman John Ravitz, Commissioner Howard Safir,
and Susan Hendricks
Though homicide and crime rates in general are down in New York, serial
rape is up. Dr. Casey Jordan, a criminologist from John Jay College of
Criminal Justice, opened up the panel "Serial Rape" discussing the consequences
of rape and s
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haring personal reflections.
Dr. Jordan said rape differs from other crimes because it terrorizes
a community and changes the victims' lives permanently. "A rapist does
not spend a life in prison, but the victim pays a life sentence of trauma.
The effect is extraordinarily severe, and the emotional and psychological
damage cannot be quantified.
The panel, which also featured NYPD Commissioner Howard Safir; NY State
Assemblyman John Ravitz; and Susan Hendricks, director of litigation, Criminal
Defense Division, Legal Aid Society, focused on a bill sponsored by Assemblyman
Ravitz, whose district includes Manhattan's Upper East Side, haunt of the
notorious "East Side Rapist," who is believed to have raped 14 women in
the past two years alone. The bill would mandate that persons convicted
of two or more rapes against different victims serve consecutive terms
of imprisonment. Current law allows the judge to order concurrent terms
of three to six years.
The State Senate has passed Ravitz's bill two years in a row; yet it
has not reached the floor of the House. Ravitz blames Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver for inaction and hopes that the bill's bipartisan support
and pressure from the public will finally push Silver to bring it to the
floor.
Hendricks expressed reservations about the proposed legislation. In
particular, she objects to the loss of judicial discretion it would entail.
Dr. Jordan, who supports the Ravitz bill, believes also that these rapists
need rehabilitation while incarcerated, to curtail their well-documented
high rate of recidivism.
Commissioner Safir indicated that he, too, supports this legislation.
He urged that DNA samples be taken from all arrestees, noting DNA's usefulness
as a forensic identification tool, especially in cases of serial rape.
Students Launch New Journal Online
This spring, the Law School launches a new publication: the Cardozo
Online Journal of Conflict Resolution. Students initiated the project
and will have the first issue online soon. Editor-in-chief Jed Melnick
noted, "The challenge will be to combine a serious academic journal that
fully utilizes the internet and its interactive capabilities." The journal
will get a significant boost from a generous contribution from the Kukin
Foundation, YU President Norman Lamm announced recently. "The Kukin support
of the online journal will significantly enhance Cardozo's growing dispute
resolution program," said Prof. Lela Love, director of the Kukin Program
for Conflict Resolution. "Scholars, students, and practitioners will have
a new venue to exchange ideas in this field."
The journal also presented its first symposium: "Teaching a New Paradigm:
Must Knights Shed Their Swords and Armor to Enter Certain ADR Arenas."
Panelists discussed whether teaching mediation in law school imparts a
different vision of lawyering that will require advocates to have new strategies
and skills. Participants were (from left above) Peter R. Robinson, Pepperdine
University School of Law; Kimberlee K. Kovach, University of Texas Law
School; and Professor Love. Not shown: Robert A. Baruch, Hofstra University
School of Law; and Carol Bensinger Liebman, Columbia University School
of Law. A transcript of the proceedings will be available at the Journal's
website: www.yu.edu/cardozo/journals/conresj.
IP Program Ranks High
Every year, US News and World Report ranks the best graduate school
programs in the country. In this year's issue, dated March 22, 1999, Cardozo
was ranked ninth in the country for its Intellectual Property Law program.
These rankings are based on a survey of law school faculty who
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teach in
the field. Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire and University of
California-Berkeley tied for number one, while Columbia tied for third
and NYU tied for fifth.
Cardozo Wins Diversity Award
The Council of Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) honors law schools
that have shown a commitment to helping minority students. At a reception
held during the AALS conference in New Orleans, Cardozo was one of 38 law
schools presented with a CLEO Diversity Award. "This is particularly gratifying,
given our efforts to increase minority enrollment at Cardozo," said Robert
Schwartz, director of admissions. "Today, more than 20% of the student
body are students of color." CLEO, a widely recognized and respected organization
for minorities in legal education, sponsors regional pre-law summer institutes
and counsels, and functions as an information clearinghouse for thousands
of students.
Argentina and Cardozo Cooperation Explored
Ambassador G. J. McGough, Consul General of Argentina, visited with
Dean Paul Verkuil to explore the possible cooperative efforts between Cardozo
and law schools in Argentina. He also met with several professors. (From
left) Dr. Herbert Dobrinsky, vice president for university affairs and
meeting liaison, businessman Baruch Tenembaum, Ambassador McGough, Dean
Verkuil, and Prof. John McGinnis.
Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Communications Law
Moot Court Competition
This year, 28 teams from 22 law schools participated in the annual
Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Communications Law Moot Court Competition.
Cardozo's Moot Court Honor Society members, who do not compete, write the
Competition problem, organize and plan the event. BMI, an organization
dedicated to the protection of the rights of writers, composers, and publishers
of music, hosts a reception at their offices. Theodora Zavin, BMI senior
vice president and special counsel, said "It is BMI's hope that this Competition
helps sensitize tomorrow's lawyers, legislators, and judges to the vital
importance of the law of intellectual property." Final round judges were
(from left) Hon. Andrew J. Peck, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern
District of New York; Hon. Stephen F. Williams, US Court of Appeals for
the D.C. Circuit; and I. Fred Koenigsberg, Esq., White and Case, L.L.P.
Panel on Kurdish Rights
The Kurds are a minority group who live in the mountainous area of
Eastern Turkey. They make up approximately 20% of the Turkish population
and as a group have been subject to discrimination and other abuses. "Human
Rights and Democracy in Turkey under International Law," sponsored by the
Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law, brought together
a group of human rights activists and legal experts just as the Kurdish
People's Party leader Oculan was captured by Turkish commandos in Nairobi,
Kenya. The panel participants were Edip Yuksel (above), a Turk and Kurdish
national who is a prominent lawyer and human rights activist; Dr. Thomas
Christiano, professor of philosophy, University of Arizona; Gregory Fox,
senior fellow, Orville H. Schnell Jr. Center for International Human Rights,
Yale Law School; Dr. Paul Magnarella, professor of law and anthropology,
University of Florida; and William Pfaff, international affairs columnist,
International Herald Tribune.
SBA Auction Raises more than $20,000 for Public
Interest Stipends
At the Seventh Annual Goods and Services Auction, a dinner
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with the dean, a trip to the Delaware courts with professors Larry Cunningham
and Charles Yablon, and a jog around the park with Prof. John Duffy were
among the items that helped bring the total amount raised to more than
$20,000. The money goes to funding Cardozo Public Interest Stipends.
According to Mitch Kleinman, president of the SBA, "There
was a large group of students who worked very hard to put together a great
list of live and silent auction items, as well as a terrific raffle. Our
hope is that next year we will have additional support from the students
and alumni alike to insure that the total is even higher." Each year, approximately
90 students apply for stipends of $3,250 to enable them to take public
interest summer internships that pay no salary. Typically one-third of
this number are awarded the grants.
Robert
Schwartz, director of admissions and
Dean
Verkuil buying raffle tickets (below).
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Discussion Panel on Proposed UCC
Article 2B and Federal Database Protection Legislation
The third floor lounge was packed to capacity for "Information in the
Digital Age: Licensing, Selling and Using Information Under the Proposed
U.C.C. Article 2B and Federal Database Protection Legislation." The discussion
focused on reconsideration of two questions: how intellectual property
products should be licensed and whether the data in such works should be
treated like property. The resolution of both issues will significantly
impact the distribution of wealth derived from intellectual property. Speakers
were (from left) Raymond T. Nimmer, Leonard H. Childs Professor and director,
Information Law Program, University of Houston and reporter to the Drafting
Committee on U.C.C. Article 2B, National Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws; George A. Cooke, vice president and chief counsel,
Home Box Office; Justin Hughes, attorney-advisor, Patent and Trademark
Office, US Department of Commerce; Prof. Marci Hamilton (moderator); Robert
W. Gomulkiewicz, senior corporate attorney, Microsoft Corporation; Jane
C. Ginsburg, Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property
Law, Columbia Law School; and Pamela Samuelson, professor, School of Information
Management and Systems and School of Law, University of California at Berkeley.
The panel was co-sponsored by the Intellectual Property Law Program, the
New York City Bar Committee on Copyright and Literary Property, the Cardozo
Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, the Intellectual Property Law Society,
and the Jacob Burns Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.
Tigar Speaks on Distortions in the Search for
Justice
"The US Constitution was conceived to guarantee rights for all its
citizens, but that doesn't always happen in realityóespecially if one is
poor or disenfranchised," said Michael E. Tigar, the Edwin A. Mooers Scholar
and professor of law, Washington College of Law at American University,
when he spoke at Cardozo on "How Market Theory Distorts the Search for
Justice," on the occasion of the first Jacob Burns Ethics Center Lecture.
Tigar is a well-known trial lawyer, activist, author, scholar, and
teacher. His clients have included Angela Davis, t
46a
he Chicago Seven, former
Texas Governor John Connally, accused Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk,
and Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.
Heyman Center Winter Lecture Series
Two well-known business leaders presented talks this February as part
of The Heyman Center Winter Lecture Series. Ronald Stanton (in middle),
chairman, Transammonia, and a YU Trustee, spoke on "Issues in International
Arbitration," and Howard W. Lutnick (far left), president and CEO, Cantor
Fitzgerald, discussed "Marketplaces, Exchanges, and Competition." Howard
Abrahams '94 (at far right) helped organize the series.
CORRECTION
A photo caption in the last issue of Cardozo Life mis-identified Michael
Dowd, who was a panelist on "Neonaticide: The Psychiatric, Legal, and Ethical
Dimensions in Defense of Women."
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