School of Law

Richard J. Goldstone, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and former Justice of the South African Constitutional Court, will receive the 2008 World Peace Through Law Award from the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute. Goldstone was chairperson of South Africa’s Standing Commission of Inquiry Regarding Public Violence and Intimidation Justice (the Goldstone Commission) and chairperson of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo. He also served on the panel investigating the U.N. “Oil for Food” program in Iraq. Goldstone is available for interviews throughout the day.

Reversing the longstanding case law would give undue windfall to opportunistic third parties, says Kieff.The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing Quanta v. LG, a case that could determine the future direction of patent law. “This case is key to ensuring that patent law develops in a way that best promotes innovation and competition,” says F. Scott Kieff, J.D., professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Kieff and colleagues have filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of LG, arguing that under contract law the patent holder had a right to sue a downstream purchaser. Kieff will be closely following this case and is available for comment.

Looking back over the recent past, the advances in biomedicine seem astonishing. The birth of the first “test tube baby” 30 years ago, for example, was viewed as exotic and, to some, scary. Now, in vitro fertilization is commonplace. And yet, justifiable ethical concerns surround the human outcomes of these medical breakthroughs. Leon Kass, M.D., […]

Two nationally recognized law professors who served on the legal team representing Anita Hill during the Justice Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and the author of “Guantánamo: What the World Should Know,” are part of the spring lineup for the School of Law’s 10th annual Public Interest Law and Policy Speakers Series. Titled “Access to Justice: The Social Responsibility of Lawyers,” the yearlong series brings to WUSTL nationally and internationally prominent experts in such areas as international human rights, the economics of poverty, racial justice, clinical legal education, government public service and pro bono legal practice.

As part of his continuing efforts to serve his native country, A. Peter Mutharika, J.S.D., professor of law, has been named Malawi’s Chief Advisor to the President on Constitutional, Legal and International Affairs. Mutharika currently is on leave in Malawi for the 2007-08 academic year. Upon his return, he will serve as Washington University School of Law’s Charles Nagel Professor of International and Comparative Law. In his current role, Mutharika is advising President Bingu wa Mutharika on the constitutionality of the president’s decisions, constitutional reforms and judicial appointments. He also acts as a special presidential envoy to other heads of state and heads of international organizations.

Two nationally recognized law professors who served on the legal team representing Anita Hill during the Justice Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and the author of “Guantanamo: What the World Should Know” are part of the spring lineup for the School of Law’s 10th annual Public Interest Law and Policy Speakers Series. Titled “Access to Justice: […]

A $10 million commitment has been made to Washington University by alumnus and philanthropist Harry Seigle, and his wife, Susan, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. It is the lead gift for the building currently under construction on the western end of the Danforth Campus that will serve academic functions for the three social science departments in Arts & Sciences and for the School of Law. When it opens for the fall 2008 semester, it will be known as Harry and Susan Seigle Hall. The name is significant, for it represents the first academic building on the Danforth Campus to be named for an alumnus living outside of St. Louis.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is bringing together a distinguished group of scientists, legal scholars, jurists and philosophers from across the country to help integrate new developments in neuroscience into the U.S. legal system.

“It is unlikely that a dispute over proper ownership of sports memorabilia would receive this sort of attention if it did not involve O.J. Simpson,” says Christopher A. Bracey, associate professor of law and of African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “If the past is prologue, his celebrity status may also prove to be his ‘get out of jail free’ card, reinforcing his reputation as a man who operates ‘above the law.’ On the other hand, recent celebrity cases suggest that celebrated athletes and entertainers will no longer receive a free pass when it comes to the criminal justice system. In the case of Michael Vick — and perhaps OJ — one might argue that celebrities are now, in some sense, being targeted for prosecution.” Bracey is following the Simpson case and is available for interviews.

“I always thought the fashion police were a myth, but they seem to be real,” Richards says.A growing number of cities have enacted laws that would make wearing saggy or low-slung pants indecent exposure. “It’s an interesting question whether these laws would violate the First Amendment as currently understood,” says Neil Richards, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Saggy pants laws form a hybrid case. They are regulating in terms of indecent exposure but seem to be directed at the expression of identity through clothing.” Richards is available to discuss the constitutional issues surrounding these laws.