Alumni E-mail Newsletter
March 2006
UT Law honored to host Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in March
During a public speech hosted by The University of Toledo College of Law, the only woman currently sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court offered new insight on the historic movement to eliminate gender-based discrimination from the law. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke in Doermann Theater to nearly 750 law students, federal and state judges from Michigan and Ohio, attorneys and other members of the northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan communities.
Her talk was titled “Advocating the Elimination of Gender-Based Discrimination: The New Look at the Equality Principle Launched in the 1970s.” She gave the public address in Doermann Theater on the UT campus.
Justice Ginsburg gave generously of her time, taking in a tour of the Toledo Museum of Art before embarking on a full day of activities. Following the museum visit, she met with UT Law students, faculty and staff in the College of Law auditorium for an hour-long question and answer session, answering questions from law students about the constitutional law issues they’re currently studying, as well as giving practical advice to future lawyers, encouraging them to strike a balance between work, family and leisure time.
Later in the day, Justice Ginsburg attended a lunch with federal judges, as well as state supreme court justices, from Ohio and Michigan. The lunch, which took place in Libbey Hall, was co-sponsored by the Federal Bar Association.
Before joining the judiciary, Ginsburg was instrumental in launching the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. She served as the ACLU’s General Counsel from 1973 to 1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974 to 1980. Some of the cases that Ginsburg and the ACLU were involved in ultimately led to the groundbreaking ruling that laws discriminating against someone because of their gender would get heightened scrutiny from the Court. Ginsburg took her seat as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court on August 10, 1993 following her nomination by President Bill Clinton
Justice Ginsburg is the third U.S. Supreme Court Justice to visit the College of Law over the past four years. Other United States Supreme Court Justices who have spoken recently at the College of Law include Justices Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O’Connor. Justice Scalia has recently accepted an invitation for a return visit to UT Law in Spring 2007.
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Provost announces new dean
UT Provost Alan Goodridge announced March 31 that Douglas Ray has accepted his offer to become Dean of the College of Law effective July 1, 2006. Doug comes to UT Law from Widener University where he is Professor and former Dean of Law. He was Professor of Law at The University of Toledo from 1981 to 1998.
UT News - Former UT professor named law dean
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There’s still time to support the Torrence R. Greene Scholarship Lecture and Luncheon featuring U.S. Rep. John Conyers, Jr., and benefiting a scholarship fund for law students
A leader in civil rights and the second most senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Conyers, Jr., will be the featured speaker for the annual Torrence R. Greene Scholarship Lecture at The University of Toledo College of Law, April 10, 2006, beginning at noon.
The noon lecture from Rep. Conyers in the College of Law auditorium is free and open to the public. Funds raised from tickets sold to the luncheon following the speech will go toward scholarships given out annually by the Black Law Students Association at the College of Law.
“After more than 40 years in the House of Representatives, Rep. Conyers continues to play a vital role on many legislative fronts in Congress,” said Beth Eisler, interim dean at the College of Law. “We’re honored to have his participation in an event that results every year in scholarships for outstanding law students.”
Rep. Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, was re-elected to the 14th Congressional District in November 2002, to his 19th term in Congress. He has served on the pivotal House Committee on the Judiciary and has provided leadership on many key issues. Rep. Conyers is one of the 13 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and is considered Dean of that group. Formed in 1969, the CBC was founded to strengthen African-American lawmakers’ ability to address legislative concerns of Black and minority citizens.
Named after an African-American UT Law student who was tragically killed while still in law school, the Torrence R. Greene Lecture Series is dedicated to highlighting issues relating to diversity in the legal profession, an issue that legal communities and law schools are grappling with nationwide. Past Torrence Greene lecturers include the NAACP’s Julian Bond.
Tickets to the luncheon cost $40/person and $300 for a table for 8. There’s a special student rate of $20/ person and sponsorship opportunities for individuals and community organizations beginning at the $50 level. Sponsors will be entitled to a lunch and will be listed in the luncheon program. Past sponsors include area law firms and other community organizations committed to diversity, including the Thurgood Marshall Law Association and Advocates for Basic Legal Equality.
For more information about the lecture and the luncheon, contact Kathleen Amerkhanian, Director of Law Communications, at 419.530.2712.
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UT Law professor plays important role in American Society of International Law resolution
Washington, D.C. – A resolution was adopted this week by an influential group of international lawyers in Washington, D.C., at an American Society of International Law conference that featured speakers such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and PBS’ Gwen Ifill.
One of the key players in shaping that resolution made the trip from Toledo. UT Law Professor Ben Davis has spent the past few months garnering support for his draft resolution, posting it on his web site and circulating it among the ASIL membership. Although his draft was not fully adopted, it provided both the impetus and the framework for the final resolution. Professor Rich Edwards also attended the conference and was instrumental in forging a compromise among the proponents of differing versions of the resolution.
The resolution, which is only the fourth adopted during the American Society of International Law’s 100 year history, among other things reaffirms the applicability of the Geneva Conventions and other international law principles to armed conflict, reaffirms international laws prohibiting cruel inhuman or degrading treatment and prolonged secret incommunicado detentions, and reaffirms the need to maintain security and liberty in a manner consistent with international law obligations. It was inspired by issues involving detainees at Guantanamo Bay and the conduct of the war in Iraq.
“When the ASIL speaks on issues of international law, lawyers around the world listen,” said UT Law Professor Daniel Steinbock, who has consulted with the United Nations on questions of international law.
The resolution passed by the ASIL will be delivered to the Secretary General of the United Nations. Secretary of State Rice was specifically asked about the ASIL resolution by Gwen Ifill during a moderated conversation with Rice, Justice O’Connor and others. Rice responded that she hopes members of the international law community will consider that the current conflict in Iraq is a different kind of war.
Professor Davis joined UT Law’s faculty in 2003 and teaches in the areas of Contracts, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Public International Law, and International Business Transactions. He worked in international arbitration in Paris, France for thirteen years. As a member of the faculty of UT Law, he has introduced UT Law students to international competitions for on-line dispute resolution, which has allowed UT Law students to compete and win against law students from across the globe.
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UT Law one of top 100 law schools, according to U.S. News rankings
U.S. News and World Report rankings place UT Law in the top 100 law schools for the second time in three years.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NEWS21/603310422/-1/NEWS
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Stranahan National Issues Speaker weighed in against the use of torture
Professor Scott L. Silliman of Duke University School of Law gave a well-received and heavily attended talk titled “National Security and Human Rights: The Torture Debate” in March at UT Law.
Silliman was one of the highlights of the year for the Stranahan series, which also brought author and columnist Christopher Hitchens to campus last October.
Widely sought throughout the country as a commentator on the law of war, Silliman frequently appears on CNN, National Public Radio, and other national radio and television news programs to speak about issues related to military law and national security.
Prior to joining the Duke Law faculty in 1993, Silliman had a long-standing career as a military attorney, holding a variety of leadership positions, including staff judge advocate (the senior attorney) at two large installations and three major Air Force commands. During the Persian Gulf War, he supervised the deployment of all Air Force attorneys and paralegals incident to Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After 25 years of service, he retired from the Air Force with the status of colonel in 1993 to assume his current position at Duke.
Silliman serves as Professor of the Practice of Law at Duke, as well as executive director of the law school’s Center on Law, Ethics and National Security.
The speech was co-sponsored by The University of Toledo College of Law and The Federalist Society.
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