Thinkers & Doers: Jan. 29, 2016

Congratulations to Professor Hadar Aviram, whose book, Cheap on Crime: Recession-Era Politics and the Transformation of American Government (University of California Press, 2015), has been named one of CHOICE’s 2015 Outstanding Academic Titles.

In other news, Aviram served as a commentator on The Conversation for the January 14 GOP presidential debate. She’s also published a couple of posts on the California Correctional Crisis blog. The first article analyzes the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that its 2009 decision in Miller v. Alabama, holding that sentences of mandatory life without parole for juveniles were unconstitutional, applied retroactively. The second discusses Governor Brown’s announcement of a ballot measure to make it easier for nonviolent offenders to obtain parole.

Professor Michael Salerno was quoted in the LA Times regarding Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to give more inmates a chance for early release. “The public’s insatiable quest for more punishment resulted in sentences becoming unreasonable,” said Salerno, who as a legislative consultant wrote the law that effectively ended indeterminate sentencing. And ICYMI, Amicus Brief filed by Prof. Michael Salerno referenced in California Supreme Court decision on Advisory Ballot Measures.

Asking “whether what we have created in the lab allows us to do something beneficial that nature does not,” Professor Robin Feldman recently co-authored an article for the Yale Journal of Law & Technology that posits a new approach to patentable subject matter. She was also recently quoted in an article (paywall) on www.bankerandtrademan.com about the banking industry’s efforts to combat patent trolls and in a story on FiveThirtyEight.com about CRISPR, a gene-editing technology that’s the subject of a patent dispute, and shared some valuable advice with wallethub.com for job seekers and local governments interested in STEM fields.

“In an ideal world, I would like to see states have an extremely hard to get personal-belief exemption that will only be used by the most extreme and hard core anti-vaccine activists. For example, require a three-day course with a quiz before allowing an exemption.” – Professor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss discusses her pro-vaccine advocacy in an interview with abovethelaw.com.

Professor Rory Little discussed two proposed (and conflicting) death penalty ballot initiatives on KQED’s “Newsroom” program. And on KTVU, Little discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to take on President Obama’s executive orders on immigration. “It’s clearly going to be…the blockbuster of the term.” He also contributed a post to SCOTUSblog dissecting the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Musacchio v. United States.
The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post quoted Professor Zachary Price’s 2014 Vanderbilt Law Review article about enforcement discretion in pieces about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to weigh in on the legality of President Obama’s plan to allow undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. He also talked to Talking Points Memo for a story about the issue: “In general courts don’t like to address enforcement related questions.” In other Supreme Court activity, he contributed a blog post to Balkinization about the issue of sovereign double jeopardy in Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle.

“It may not be the Oscars, but…it works for me!” tweeted Professor Morris Ratner on winning the Fred C. Zacharias Memorial Prize for Professional Responsibility at the Association of American Law Schools 2016 Awards for Excellence in Legal Education. It works for us, too, Professor Ratner – congratulations!

Professor Joan C. Williams was quoted in a Huffington Post article by Arianna Huffington about the importance of sleep for productivity.
Professor John Leshy appeared on the University of Pennsylvania’s “Knowledge@Wharton” radio show to discuss the laws governing public lands, particularly in light of recent events at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

Professor Reuel Schiller’s comments to the Wall Street Journal (paywall) about Seattle’s decision to allow drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft to unionize were summarized in The National Law Review and a blog post about the city’s labor laws. He was also recently quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle story about the government employee union case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
Professor Frank H. Wu is #9 on The National Jurist’s annual list of the most influential people in legal education. On February 5, he will appear at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City to discuss the contemporary Chinese American experience. In other news, he described recent espionage cases against Chinese-American scientists as a government “oops” in a Chronicle of Higher Education article (paywall) about Xi Xiaoxing, a Chinese-American physicist at Temple University who was wrongly accused of spying last year. He will also appear on a future edition of 60 Minutes to discuss the cases.
Professor John Crawford appeared on “The Investigative Unit” program of NBC Bay Area news to discuss a lawsuit brought by a former employee of Identiv, alleging that the CEO committed fraud and gave improper gifts to a government employee.

Blaine Bookey, co-legal director of the Center for Refugee & Gender Studies, was quoted in a Tri-City Herald article about a 2014 landmark asylum ruling. Bookey discussed data the Center has compiled on the outcomes of asylum applications involving domestic violence in the wake of the 2014 case.
“If [Chow] wanted to cut a deal, he would have selected defense counsel that would do a better job schmoozing the U.S. attorney,” commented Professor David Levine on Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow’s selection of defense lawyer Tony Serra, who is representing Chow pro bono in his upcoming trial. His quote appeared in an article in San Francisco Magazine.

“As the hacking techniques become more ambitious, failure in execution can lead to large-scale privacy and civil liberties abuses at home and abroad,” commented Professor Ahmed Ghappour in a Washington Post article about the government’s increasing use of hacking methods to catch people who visit child porn sites. In the context of the same FBI child porn investigations, he also spoke with Ars Technica about the problems that may arise when the U.S. government hacks foreign targets. In addition, Ghappour’s “Zero Days” article on justsecurity.org was listed as a 2015 story worth revisiting by the website. UC Berkeley likes what Professor Ghappour has to say on cybersecurity and national security enforcement and has invited him to give the History and Theory of New Media Lecture at the school on February 11. His topic: “Machine Generated Culpability.”

Professor Karen Musalo recently participated in a conference at UCSD called “Comparative Responses to Asylum Seeking in Europe, Australia, the U.S., and Middle East” where she discussed the externalization of borders in the U.S.

Adjunct Professor Samuel Miller was quoted in a Wall Street Journal story about Qualcomm’s request to compel some of its customers and competitors to turn over documents they provided to Korean antitrust officials investigating the company.

Governor Brown has appointed Adjunct Professor Richard Lee Barnes to the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee.

“Introverts can be good at interviewing, but it’ll drain their battery,” says Sari Zimmerman, assistant dean in the Office of Career & Professional Development, in an ABA Journal article about the importance of law students understanding their temperament when they embark on a job search.
The Center for WorkLife Law is mentioned in a blog post on jdsupra.com about its work with the Gap to study the retail behemoth’s scheduling policies. In addition, the Center’s 2015 “Disruptive Innovation” report was cited in a recent Star Tribune article about alternatives to the traditional law firm model.

In UC Law SF news…It’s an honor to be recognized by The National Jurist Magazine for excellence in public service careers. UC Law SF placed in the top 20 in Government, based on curricular offerings, employment placement, debt, starting salary and LRAP programs.

UC Santa Cruz and UC Law SF have recently announced a new joint degree program beginning in fall 2016 that will offer students both a law degree and a master’s in applied economics and science.

U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris ’89, California’s current attorney general, is the subject of a wide-ranging Essence profile. Political strategist and pundit Donna Brazile is quoted in the story describing Harris as a “‘twenty-first century’ politician who is a rising star and the future of American leadership.”

“There’s a national conversation now around how do we not only clean up, but also make sure we’re bridging inequality in low-income communities,” says Vien “The Power Shifter” Truong ’06, named one of Grist.org’s “50 People You’ll Be Talking About in 2016” for her work advocating for clean energy, green jobs, and income equality with Green For All.

Congratulations to Steve Phillips ’97 on the imminent publication of Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority (The New Press, 2016), which was recently reviewed on theroot.com. The book argues that Democrats need to pay more attention to progressive people of color in order to create a “New American Majority.”

“It’s worse than dysfunctional,” says Ann Ravel €˜74 of the Federal Election Commission that she chairs in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. She blames the Commission’s gridlock on the three Republican members of the FEC who are essentially opposed to the Commission’s very existence.
“Right now I think it’s really scary because we’re living in a time where we found out that much of the most controversial things our government does, it does in secret€”and doesn’t tell us about and there’s no clear avenue for us to find out,” says Jennifer Granick €˜93, director of civil liberties at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, in an extensive profile in the new issue of Stanford’s alumni magazine.

“I’ll be judged on how I lead the next four years and the people of Grand Island will like it or hate it based on what I do,” said Nathan McMurray €˜06 in a recent profile in the Buffalo News. After spending much of his career working in Asia, McMurray returned to the U.S. a few years ago and recently became the new supervisor of Grand Island, NY.

The Metropolitan-Enterprise News recently named Edith Matthai ’75, a prominent L.A. lawyer, “Person of the Year.”
With the new year comes several new partner announcements and other alumni moves. Jessica Mussallem ’06 has been named a partner at Vinson & Elkins. A commercial litigator, she practices out of the firm’s San Francisco office. Ann La Morena Rohlin €˜01 has just been promoted to partner at Norton Rose Fulbright. Her practice focuses on public finance matters and she works out of the firm’s LA office. Diana Kruze €˜06 has just been named a partner at Morrison & Foerster where she’s an IP litigator based out of the firm’s San Francisco office. Michael Nunez ’92 has been named a senior partner at Murchison & Cumming where he’s a litigator in the firm’s Las Vegas office. Governor Brown has reappointed Celia McGuinness €˜91 to the CA Commission on Disability Access, where she has served since 2015. Grover Wickersham ’76, who sits on the UC Law SF’ Board of Trustees, was recently elected the vice chairman of SenesTech, an Arizona-based life sciences company. Timothy Lepore ’13 has joined Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley’s new Las Vegas office. Professor James Cox ’69 of Duke University School of Law has joined the Board of Directors of the Healthy Market Association. Governor Brown has appointed Katherine Feinstein €˜84 to the Medical Board of California. Amanda Cooper €˜08 has been promoted to counsel at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. A federal and international tax lawyer, Cooper is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Nicole Campbell €˜92 has joined InsideView Inc., a customer data management and marketing provider as its first general counsel and corporate secretary. SunMi Kim €˜03, Metro Market Manager for Robert Half, has helped the company’s Robert Half Legal arm launch its new Irvine office.

In memoriam. The UC Law SF community extends its condolences to the families of James Browning, Jr. ’59 and Michael Kennedy ’62, two accomplished litigators who recently died. Browning gained notoriety as the lead prosecutor in the Patty Hearst trial. Kennedy was a well-known civil rights and criminal defense lawyer who represented Timothy Leary, defended Black Panther Huey Newton against murder charges and represented one of the defendants in the notorious Pizza Connection money laundering trial in New York City, among other notable cases.