Celebrating 50 years of teaching
The WUSTL community recently honored David M. Becker, JD, associate dean for external relations and the Joseph H. Zumbalen Professor Emeritus of the Law of Property, on his 50th year of teaching at the School of Law.
Religious holiday displays – three wise men and a heap of legal troubles
The upcoming holiday season brings with it the
annual gaze upon religious displays — and the legal issues that come
with them. “The Supreme Court’s approach to public religious displays
under the Establishment Clause has been less than clear,” says John
Inazu, JD, expert on religion and the constitution and professor of law
at Washington University in St. Louis.“Some commentators have
described it as the ‘three plastic animals rule’ –a Christian nativity
scene on public property passes muster if it is accompanied by a
sufficient combination of Rudolph, Frosty, and their friends.” Inazu
says that future litigation will likely press against this
line-drawing, but even apparent victories for religious liberty may come
at a significant cost.
Celebration weekend honors Professor Becker’s teaching milestone
More than 1,100 School of Law alumni and friends are returning to campus today and tomorrow for Alumni Weekend and to celebrate the 2012 milestone of Professor David M. Becker’s 50th year of teaching. Becker, JD, associate dean for external relations and the Joseph H. Zumbalen Professor Emeritus of the Law of Property, is a popular teacher and mentor known for his service and dedication to the law school.
Clinton Global Initiative University application workshops begin Nov. 1
A series of application workshops will be held for
students interested in the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U)
to be held at Washington University in St. Louis April 5-7, 2013. The
workshops will focus on application criteria and developing the
required Commitment to Action. A Commitment to Action is a concrete plan
that addresses a pressing challenge in one of CGI U’s five focus areas:
education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation, or public health. The first workshop will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, in Brown Hall, Room 118.
Environmental advocate calls for global movement to solve climate crisis
For decades, author, educator, environmentalist and
activist Bill McKibben has been telling us things we don’t want to hear —
presenting scary scorched Earth scenarios due to carbon emissions in
the atmosphere. He also leads a
global initiative — 350.org — to try to solve the climate crisis. McKibben will give the keynote address for the Sustainable Cities Conference Thursday, Nov. 1, on campus.
Conscience legislation ignores medical providers committed to giving patients all necessary care
Advances in medicine allow doctors to keep patients
alive longer, tackle fertility problems and extend the viability of
premature babies. They also lead to a growing number of moral questions
for both the medical provider and patient. “Across the country,
so-called conscience legislation allows doctors and nurses to refuse to
provide abortions, contraception, sterilizations, and end-of-life care,”
says Elizabeth Sepper, JD, health law expert and professor of law at
Washington University in St. Louis. “But legislators have totally
overlooked the consciences of providers who have made the conscientious
judgment to deliver care and of the patients who seek these treatments.” Sepper says that conscience in the medical setting needs to be protected more consistently. “The
one-sided protection of refusal cannot stand,” she says. “Just as we
wouldn’t say that giving students vouchers only for Christian schools
furthers religious freedom, we can’t say that current conscience
legislation successfully lives up to its goal of protecting conscience.
Center for Empirical Research in the Law Faculty Launch Online Database of 2,300 EEOC Cases
Critical data for more than 2,300 federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases now are available online thanks to a multi-year effort of researchers at Washington University School of Law’s Center for Empirical Research in the Law (CERL). The EEOC Litigation Project, which spans the period between 1997 and 2006, makes readily available detailed information about the EEOC’s enforcement litigation to legal scholars, social scientists, and policy-makers.
‘The Law School in the New Legal Environment Symposium’ is set for Oct. 26
Academicians, business leaders, judiciary members and a key watchdog group will come together to discuss the future of legal education at “The Law School in the New Legal Environment Symposium” at Washington University School of Law Friday,
Oct. 26. The symposium will examine issues such as affordability and access to legal education; faculty; preparation for practice; job placement; and online legal education and how it will change traditional law schools. “Lawyers and law students are facing serious challenges with employment, debt and career satisfaction,” says Kent D. Syverud, JD, dean of the law school. “This symposium will address how American law schools can embrace needed change rather than avoiding it.”
Provost offering interdisciplinary teaching grants; workshop for prospective applicants Oct. 23
Interdisciplinary faculty collaboration is fast becoming a hallmark of Washington University in St. Louis. To help support interdisciplinary teaching, the Office of the Provost announces the second round of the Interdisciplinary Teaching Grant Program. The application deadline for the teaching grants is December 1. In order to assist prospective applicants in putting together proposals, the Provost will hold a workshop from 3:30-5 p.m. in DUC 234 on October 23 facilitated by faculty who were successful in the previous round. Please RSVP for the workshop to Marion G. Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law and vice provost at WUSTL, at mgcrain@wulaw.wustl.edu.
Law school to Host Missouri Court of Appeals Special Session Oct. 11
The law school is hosting a Special Session of the
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District on Thursday, October 11 in
the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom (Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310) beginning
at 1 p.m. The attorneys for the three cases―regarding a property
line dispute, legal representation of a defendant in a child sexual
abuse case, and an alderman’s defamation claims―will have 15 minutes
each to argue their sides. A Q&A on judicial procedure and an informal Q&A on judicial clerkships will follow the special session.
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