Increasing surveillance a dangerous reaction to Boston bombings, says privacy law expert
In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings,
some people are calling for an increase in surveillance cameras
throughout U.S. cities. “This would be a mistake,” says Neil
Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington
University in St. Louis. “It would be dangerous to our civil liberties,
and it would be bad policy.” Richards
gives his personal reaction to the Boston bombings and offers three
reasons why increasing the number of surveillance cameras would be an
unnecessary response to recent events in a CNN opinion piece, “Surveillance State No Answer to Terror.”
New faculty join Brown School, Law School
Several new faculty members have joined the Brown School and the School of Law this academic year. Read more to learn further details about the new additions.
Push for corporate board diversity set to increase in the U.S. due to European pressure
As Germany prepares to enact quotas that will
mandate quotas for female participation on major corporate boards, the
United States is feeling the pressure to improve board diversity, says
Hillary A. Sale, JD, corporate governance expert and professor of law at
Washington University School of Law. After years of little growth, the percentage of women directors on U.S. Boards remains at 12 percent.
Symposium: Finding humanity in advanced dementia, April 27
Discovering ways to honor the dignity
of individuals coping with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is the goal of an interdisciplinary symposium on “Finding Humanity in
Advanced Dementia” to be held in Wilson Hall on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St Louis on Saturday, April 27.
President signs bill to limit STOCK Act’s web-based publication of employees’ financial information
On Monday, April 15, President Obama signed
legislation rolling back the disclosure requirements of the STOCK (Stop
Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, which would have required
creation of a searchable, sortable database for the annual financial
interest forms of 28,000 executive branch employees as well as highly
paid Congressional staff. These forms contain detailed information
about employees’ assets, outside income and gifts. Former national security officials raised security concerns about this publication requirement.
Current employees filed a lawsuit, resulting in a federal court ruling
that publishing such information on the web would violate employees’
right to privacy. “Both the court and the National Academy of Public
Administration
recognized that federal employees have a legitimate right to privacy
regarding their personal financial information,” says Kathleen Clark,
JD, government ethics expert and professor of law at Washington
University in St. Louis.
Senate votes to limit STOCK Act’s web-based publication of employees’ financial information
On Thursday, April 11, the Senate voted to roll back
the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, limiting the
web-based publication of government employees’ personal financial
information. This action comes in response to a federal court ruling
that such publication violated employees’ right to privacy and a
critical report by the National Academy of Public Administration. “The court recognized that the federal employees have a
legitimate right to privacy regarding their personal financial
information and ruled that the federal government failed to identify a
compelling government interest that would justify posting that personal
information on the internet,” says Kathleen Clark, JD, government ethics
expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.
Are human genes patentable?
On April 15, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument
in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, a case that
could answer the question, “Under what conditions, if any, are isolated
human genes patentable?” Kevin Emerson Collins, JD, patent law expert
and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, believes
that layered uncertainties make this case an unusually difficult case in
which to predict the outcome.
Filibuster abuse destabilizes government and is unconstitutional
Filibuster has become a popular tool for legislators.
“Republicans have held the U.S. Senate hostage despite their minority
status and losses in the last election,” says Merton Bernstein, emeritus
professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Indeed, the threat of a filibuster enables the
minority to exact concessions that the electorate had already rejected
in several elections. This sabotage of the democratic process not only
shuts down the legislative process, short circuits the confirmation of presidential
nominees, but also threatens large foreign purchases of U.S. bonds that
lower interest rates for federal, state and business borrowing.”
Sherraden moderates panel discussion on poverty alleviation at Clinton Global Initiative University
Michael Sherraden, PhD, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, moderated a panel discussion April 6 at the sixth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). The session was titled “Poverty and Promise in America’s Rust Belt” and was held in Umrath Hall on the Danforth Campus. Kailey Burger, third-year law student, served as a panelist.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chief counsel to give Tyrrell Williams Lecture April 11
Stephen H. Legomsky, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services chief counsel, plans to discuss the evolving topic
of immigration law at Washington University in St. Louis on Thursday,
April 11. Legomsky will present the 2012-13 Tyrrell Williams Lecture, “Immigration and the Role of the Government Attorney.”
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