In the News - September 21, 2020

Media Highlights

Trudging Towards Justice: The El Mozote Massacre’s Decades-Long Trials
El Faro—September 18, 2020
Naomi Roht-Arriaza: “Knowing that this came from the top is still something that is not universally understood.”

Congress’s Control Over the Military
LawFare Podcast—September 17, 2020
Zach Price: Price discussed the legal limits on Congress’s authority over the military, what the president’s commander-in-chief authority actually entails and what it all means for the future of U.S. troop deployments overseas.

The One Vital Message Democrats Need to Win
Politico—September 17, 2020
Joan Williams: If they neglect the working class, they’re bound to lose. But that doesn’t mean they should ignore identity. Here’s how to talk about both.

Do Not Let Homeworking Become Digital Piecework for the Poor
Financial Times—September 15, 2020
Veena Dubal: Dubal’s research is cited in this piece on crowd-work platforms that enable companies to split virtual jobs into small tasks, then offer them to home workers to complete anywhere in the world.

COVID Means Extra Challenges for Minority-Owned Businesses
MReport—September 15, 2020
Joan Williams: Opening economies without schooling and childcare is a “recipe for a generational wipeout of mothers’ careers.”

Pandemic Expected to Cause Additional Barriers to Tenure for Marginalized Academics
Insight Into Diversity—September 15, 2020
Joan Williams: Granting extensions on a large scale may exacerbate gender inequities in tenure by providing men with more time for writing and publishing than would otherwise be afforded to them. Universities as well as tenure review committees therefore must take into account the fact these extensions could “strengthen the invisible escalator” for men in academia.

Restoring the Bipartisan Consensus
Jewish Currents—September 15, 2020
George Bisharat: “We could be looking at these very outdated positions on Palestine for the next 12 years. The Democratic leadership has not yet recognized the ground shift underneath them.”

Are We Facing a Generational Wipeout of Working Mothers?
Amanpour & Co.—September 14, 2020
Joan Williams: COVID lockdowns forced working parents to find a way to reconcile their jobs with the burdens of homeschooling and household management. And who is doing the lion’s share? Working moms.

UC Law Deans Unite to Defend Critical Race Theory Amid Trump Attacks
The Recorder—September 14, 2020
David Faigman: In a note to the UC Law SF community, Faigman said the issue also pertains to academic freedom and the ability of law professors to teach freely.

Federal Law Now Gives Some Parents Paid Time Off to Help Their Kids with Remote Learning
MarketWatch—September 14, 2020
Liz Morris: “We’re trying to rely on this patchwork of laws to bring together a set of legal rights for people so that they just have a job to return to when this is all over and need income. . . . What we really need is a single comprehensive law that protects everyone.”

Can Public Lands Unify Divided Americans? An Interview with John Leshy
Mongabay—September 14, 2020
John Leshy: Could public lands serve as an opportunity to bridge gaps in a polarized America? Leshy thinks it’s possible.

A California Law Was Supposed to Give Uber Drivers New Protections. Instead, Comedians Lost Work
The Wall Street Journal—September 12, 2020
Veena Dubal: The ride-sharing and delivery companies’ legal and political push against AB-5 is “such a frustrating example of the way you can buy your way into a regulatory environment that suits you.”

Montana Supreme Court Hears Arguments on 35-Year-Old Triple Homicide in Great Falls
Great Falls Tribune—September 11, 2020
John Mills: “Three decades of behavior demonstrates that he is not the same impetuous person he was at the age of 18.” Mills is defense counsel for Steven Wayne Keefe, aided by 3L Serena Witherspoon, 3L Griffin McEvoy and Brooke Acevedo ’17.

Which Side Are You On?
Harper’s Magazine—September 2020
Veena Dubal: The police “aren’t workers even in the way that firemen are workers. Police defend property. They have historically defended white property. We’re not in a place where that is going to change.”

College and Community Stories

UC Law SF Secures Financing, Initiates Work for New Building
UC Law SF has secured $364 million in tax-exempt bond financing for construction of a 14-story, mixed-use complex that will replace Snodgrass Hall at 198 McAllister Street and add much-needed student housing.

Scholarly Leadership

Scott Dodson: “Personal Jurisdiction in Comparative Context,” American Journal of Comparative Law

Clark Freshman: Chapter on lies in negotiation across cultures, “(Mindfully) Negotiating around ‘Lies’: The Science of Nonverbal Communication for ‘Soft’ and ‘Hard’ Cultures” (forthcoming, 2021) was accepted for publication in Comparative Dispute Resolution

Paul Lanois: Was a panel speaker at the American Bar Association’s Internet of Things (IoT) 2020 Virtual National Institute discussing national security, privacy and cybersecurity. Co-panelists included current and former attorneys at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

John Leshy: “Still Made for You and Me? Our Public Lands Are under Attack as Never Before by the Trump Administration,” The American Scholar

John Leshy: Testified before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on September 9, 2020, in opposition to S. 614, a bill to remove the Greater Yellowstone grizzly from the endangered species list

Emily Murphy: “Evidence of Memory from Brain Data,” Journal of Law and the Biosciences, was accepted for publication (forthcoming 2020)

Joel Paul: Interviewed Bill Petrocelli about his latest book, “Electoral Bait & Switch,” in which Petrocelli argues that the Electoral College has changed from the institution that the framers of the Constitution intended to one that distorts the result of the popular vote for president.

Upcoming Events

UC Law SF Center on Tax Law: Sept. 22, Tax Speaker Series
|Gregg Polsky, the Francis Shackelford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law at University of Georgia School of Law, will present Taxing Buybacks. The Tax Speaker Series is open to faculty, staff, students, and other affiliates of UC Law SF. Email tax@uclawsf.edu for Zoom link.

Sponsored by the Office of Advancement: Sept. 26, Lunch With the Expert
Hadar Aviram: Aviram joins Lunch With the Expert to discuss her latest book and California’s addiction to incarceration.

LexLab: Oct. 1, Legal Ops Panel
Learn how legal operations is transforming the practice of law. With Greg Kaple, Senior Director, Legal Operations Programs at Kaiser Permanente; Catherine Krow, Founder and CEO at Digitory Legal; Julie Lee, Director, Legal Operations and Innovation at Levi Strauss & Co.; and Josh Rosenfeld, Corporate Chief Practice Officer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.