Shoemaker's Article Accepted by Michigan Law Review
25 Aug 2020
Professor Jessica Shoemaker’s article, Fee Simple Failures: Rural Landscapes and Race, has been accepted by the Michigan Law Review.
The article analyzes who owns rural America, and why. It analyzes myriad historic instances of explicit race-based exclusion in property and fundamentally critiques property law’s ongoing role in keeping American agricultural land ownership almost exclusively—98 percent—white.
This project comes at a time of a great national attention to the need for racial justice and while frightening coronavirus clusters emerge in racialized ways, including in the industrialized meat-packing plants of rural America and the crowded farm fields of concentrated modern food production. It also comes at a moment of tremendous opportunity and urgency. Experts expect in the next decade nearly half of U.S. farmlands will change hands.
Ultimately, this article argues that fundamental property law choices can either continue to facilitate these land transactions in a way that reproduces and re-entrenches the converged challenges of racial injustice, agricultural industrialization, and rural depopulation, or it can help pave a new way.
This article brings together property theory and the work of rural sociologists and farm advocates for the first time to argue for bold experimentation and reconsideration of some of our most fundamental land-tenure institutions.
Brummond Named to the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women
25 Aug 2020
Assistant Dean Molly Brummond, '03, has been named to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of Women (CCSW). Brummond’s term is effective September 2020.
The purpose of the CCSW is to enhance the status of all women at Nebraska, by advising the Chancellor on issues pertaining to gender equity and on specific concerns of women faculty, staff and students at the university.
As the assistant dean for external relations and strategic initiatives, Brummond oversees Nebraska Law’s admissions efforts, alumni relations, student organizations and professional skills development opportunities for both students and alumni. Earlier this year, Brummond was honored with the Chancellor’s Outstanding Contribution to Women Award.
Dean's Message to Our Community
17 Aug 2020
Dear College of Law Community,
Welcome to the fall semester! We start asynchronous classes this week, and then we will welcome everyone back in the building either for Orientation this Thursday and Friday (new students), or for in-person classes beginning the week of August 24.
If it has not been made clear already through a summer of schedule changes, town halls, mass emails, and new health guidance, this will be a year unlike any other. As you likely know, our classes will be taught both in-person and remotely, everyone will wear face coverings in the building, and we will ask people to keep socially distant from each other. We will have events by Zoom and do as much as we can outside. We will even have two tents available for the first six weeks to try to help manage this situation.
Above all, we will rely on every member of this community to take individual actions that protect the safety of our community members. If you are sick, stay home. Do a self-check every morning before you enter the building. Wear a face covering properly (over the nose and mouth!). Avoid public situations where the virus is more easily spread. This is the time when we can show empathy and compassion to those around us, as everyone is experiencing this time differently, with different vulnerabilities and different levels of concern around the dangers of this virus.
I have great confidence and faith in the members of this community. After all, we are developing leaders here, and leaders care about the people around them and keeping them safe.
One thing that has not changed is our commitment to providing you the high quality legal education you expect from Nebraska Law. The faculty and staff have worked hard all summer rethinking their courses, reimagining what is possible, and restructuring our building in order to deliver on that commitment. And, we will keep working on it all semester, and all year, as we will inevitably have to adapt and adjust to whatever comes next. I ask for your patience as we do that – we are all going to learn how to live and thrive in the middle of multiple pandemics, and there may be some bumps as we figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Good luck with your first week of asynchronous assignments – I look forward to seeing you soon.
Richard
Lepard's Work on International Human Rights Law Published in Portuguese in Brazil
16 Aug 2020
From April to June 2020 Professor Brian Lepard published two law review articles and one book chapter in Portuguese on the subject of international human rights law, all of them appearing in prominent publications in Brazil.
The first article was an outgrowth of Professor Lepard’s collaboration with the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (“UFRGS”) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he has taught courses during the summer for the last four years. The article was based on courses he has taught on international human rights law. It was published in April in the law review of UFRGS, Cadernos do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (“Review of the Graduate Program in Law of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul”). The title of the article is “Desenvolvimentos Novos no Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos: As Suas Fontes, História e Instituições” (“New Trends in International Human Rights Law: Its Sources, History, and Institutions”). The article has an abstract in English, and it can be found here.
The second law review article was the fruit of collaboration with another law school in Brazil, the law faculty of the Universidade de Uberlândia in Uberlândia, Brazil. It is called “O Status da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos no Direito Internacional Contemporâneo” (“The Status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Contemporary International Law”). The article was published in the Revista da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (“Review of the School of Law of the Federal University of Uberlândia”). Again, the article has an abstract in English, and can be read here.
The book chapter appeared in a book entitled Argumentação Jurídica: E Questões Controvertidas de Direito Constitucional Contemporâneo (“Legal Argument: And Controversial Questions of Contemporary Constitutional Law”). The book was edited by Professor Arthur M. Ferreira Neto of the law faculty of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (“PUCRS”), another law school in Porto Alegre, Brazil where Professor Lepard has given numerous lectures. Professor Neto has visited the College of Law twice and spoken to both students and faculty. Professor Lepard’s chapter in the book is entitled “Reflexões sobre a Resolução de Debates Relativos à Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos: O Potencial de uma Abordagem Baseada em Princípios Éticos Fundamentais” (“Reflections on the Resolution of Debates on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Potential of an Approach Based on Fundamental Ethical Principles.”). The book was published by Editora Instituto Memória in Curitiba, Brazil.
Professor Lepard is the Harold W. Conroy Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and a recognized expert on international human rights law.
Tschider Wraps Up a Successful Year as Visiting Professor
20 Jul 2020
We were happy to welcome Charlotte Tschider to the program for the year as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Tschider joined us from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, and will be joining the faculty at Loyola University of Chicago in 2021. As a visiting member of the faculty, Tschider brought fresh experience and perspectives into our classrooms, research, and engagement between students and faculty alike.
In addition to teaching courses on Cyberlaw and Cybersecurity and co-supervising an LL.M. thesis, she had a remarkable year as a leading emerging scholar in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and privacy law. In her time with us, Tschider published two articles and a book chapter, and has another article, two book chapters, two op-eds, and a book forthcoming. While she was here, she completed the work for many of these projects, which were presented at conferences and other events at law schools and universities both in the United States and around the world.
An expert in FDA and Health law, as the world began struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic Tschider used her experience to assist organizations to navigate the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization process so that they could bring Personal Protective Equipment into the United States.
Magilton, Hurwitz Speak at USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative
14 Jul 2020
Executive Director of Technology, Security, and Space Law Initiatives Elsbeth Magilton and professor Gus Hurwitz were featured expert speakers during the University of Southern California’s Election Cybersecurity Initiative’s Nebraska Workshop on June 18.
Magilton delivered a presentation entitled “Cybersecurity Research and Programming” during the Perspectives panel, which also featured U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R).
Hurwitz participated in the Thought Leadership panel, which featured other University of Nebraska-Lincoln professors, and state leaders.
The initiative, which has planned to host free workshops in all 50 U.S. states, focused on exploring and discussing the topics of “cyber security, disinformation and misinformation, and crisis communications” during its Nebraska workshop. One of the broad goals of the initiative is to “strengthen election cybersecurity” through each of these state workshops, as well as making information regarding best election practices accessible to everyone.
Hurwitz Article Featured in Penn Law Journal of Law and Innovation
14 Jul 2020
Professor Gus Hurwitz authored the recently published article, Regulation as Partnership, which is featured in the Penn Law Journal of Law and Innovation’s third volume, Rethinking Innovation Policy: The Role of the State.
This article uses recent literature on Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) to argue that “Regulation as Partnership” is often a more productive approach to regulation than the more common adversarial and transactional approaches common to the contemporary regulatory environment. Partnerships, in which public entities engage the private sector to serve some government purpose (often to construct infrastructure) in exchange to some ownership interest derived from that purpose, have become popular since the 1980s. They are most often thought of as an alternative vehicle for financing public projects. But they primarily operate (and are most effective when) by aligning the incentives between the public and private project participants. This alignment of incentives stands in stark contrast to the often adversarial and transactional approach to much regulation – with regulation of the tech sector highlighted as an example in this article.
Dunn-Wall named Brunswick Public Service Fellow
14 Jul 2020
Shailana Dunn-Wall, ’20, was one of two students nationwide selected to serve as a Christine A. Brunswick Public Service Fellow. As a fellow, Dunn-Wall will work for Legal Aid of Nebraska to educate residents throughout Nebraska on the benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit in an effort to increase the percentage of eligible taxpayers who claim the credit by filing a tax return.
Berger lead amicus for brief filed in In re Federal Bureau of Prisons' Execution Protocol Cases
10 Jul 2020
Professor Eric Berger was the lead amicus for an amicus brief that was filed to accompany a cert petition in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding In re Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Execution Protocol Cases (Roane v. Barr). It challenges the legality of the federal government’s new execution protocol. The amicus brief focuses on two administrative law issues, contending that the government failed to follow proper administrative procedures when it adopted the new execution protocol.
Pearlman, Weber publish faculty bibliography
07 Jul 2020
Professor Stefanie Pearlman, along with Keelan Weber, head of cataloging and resource management for Schmid Law Library, have published "A Bibliography of University of Nebraska College of Law Faculty Scholarship 2014-2018". This follows Pearlman’s work "A Bibliography of University of Nebraska College of Law Faculty Scholarship 1892-2013" (compiled with Marcia Dority Baker). You can find both bibliographies on the UNL Digital Commons: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawlibrary/26/.
Knight Foundation announces funding for Nebraska College of Law project
01 Jul 2020
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has announced a $250,000 investment to support the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The grant made to the University of Nebraska Foundation will support research and programming at the interdisciplinary center based in the College of Law.
“We’re thrilled to have the Knight Foundation’s support as we continue building out this new interdisciplinary focus on the regulatory challenges created by new technologies,” said Professor Gus Hurwitz, director of the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center. “Journalism and media are ground zero for so many of these challenges, and the Knight Foundation’s support in bringing them into this collaboration opens up incredible new possibilities for programming and research.”
The Nebraska Governance and Technology Center studies the ever-changing relationship between law and technology, how the law can regulate technology and how new technologies affect what the law can do. The center consists of an interdisciplinary team of faculty, students and researchers across the University of Nebraska–Lincoln housed at the College of Law and working in partnership with the Colleges of Business, Engineering, and Journalism and Mass Communications.
The Nebraska Governance and Technology Center is one of 20 projects that received a total of $1.7 million from the Knight Foundation to focus on research to inform the public conversation on current issues in technology policy, including free expression online and the scale and power of digital platforms. These grants, which come amid growing debate over technology’s role in our democracy, will help ensure that society is equipped to make evidence-based decisions on how to govern and manage the now-digital — and increasingly privately-owned — public square.
The awards mark the culmination of the Knight Foundation’s $50 million commitment to catalyze new research to inform how technology is transforming our democracy. Knight’s overall investment has led to the establishment of new research centers at five universities around the country, and it is supporting a range of ongoing research at a growing network of institutions of higher learning, independent research organizations and policy think tanks focused on understanding technology’s impact on democracy and helping to inform solutions.
“As we proceed from a pandemic to an election, everything about technology is getting bigger: the companies, their role in our lives, and the debate about how to manage what we say and do online,” said Sam Gill, Knight Foundation’s senior vice president and chief program officer. “From COVID-19-related misinformation to labeled posts by the president, it’s clear that we need to chart a path forward about how to best protect democratic values in a digital age.”
Contact:
Nebraska Governance and Technology Center
Elsbeth Magilton, College of Law, Executive Director of Technology, Security, and Space Law Initiatives, elsbeth@unl.edu, 402-472-1662
New fall course & exam schedule released
30 Jun 2020
The College of Law has released an updated course schedule for the fall semester. This schedule serves the dual function of preserving the high-quality educational experience while also ensuring campus safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This updated course schedule can be found here. In addition, the College has also announced its plans for the fall exam period. Information about how and when exams will be administered can be found here.
Magilton Part of New NSRI Research Initiative
26 Jun 2020
A team of faculty members and researchers from across the Lincoln and Omaha University of Nebraska campuses have assembled to form a new research initiative that will collaborate with the National Strategic Research Institute and pool its collective knowledge to support the operations of the future Nuclear Command, Control and Communications Center’s (NC3) capabilities under the United States Strategic Command.
The interdisciplinary team members include Nebraska Law’s Elsbeth Magilton, executive director of Technology, Security, and Space Law Initiatives, along with seven other university professors and researchers with backgrounds in engineering, computer science and public policy. They’ll be working directly with the NSRI Director James Taylor, who oversees STRATCOM Mission Systems.
After its June kick-off, one of the main goals of the team is to gather modeling and simulation capabilities and knowledge regarding the NC3 through a range of workshops and events and use that data to inform how to go about filling identified capability gaps. The data gathered will also help inform future research capabilities and problem-solving needs of NC3 Enterprise Center (NEC). The team will continue their work through fall 2021.
The NEC was formed in 2018 in order to support the operation of the NC3 in regard to current and future requirements generation, systems engineering and integration across all areas.
For more information about this initiative, click here.
Berger interviewed by NET News following SCOTUS LGBTQ+ workplace protection ruling
23 Jun 2020
Professor Eric Berger was interviewed by NET News following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that LGBTQ+ individuals are protected from workplace discrimination under federal law. Read the article here.
Centner interviewed by IANR’s Market Journal
19 Jun 2020
Professor Terry Centner was interviewed for episode 923 of the Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources’ Market Journal podcast. In the episode, Centner discusses the issue of the three dicamba herbicides and the 9th Circuit's vacating their registrations. Listen here.
Thimmesch quoted by OWH
16 Jun 2020
Professor Adam Thimmesch was interviewed for and quoted in an Omaha World Herald article published June 4th, “Federal tax changes in coronavirus relief measure could cause $250 million hit to Nebraska coffers.”
Schutz named associate dean for faculty
12 Jun 2020
Dean Richard Moberly has appointed Professor Anthony Schutz as the College of Law’s associate dean for faculty effective June 1. In this role, Schutz’s responsibilities will include mentoring our untenured faculty, focusing on helping the College faculty incorporate technology and remote teaching techniques into their pedagogy where appropriate and working to increase the amount and quality of the Law College’s scholarship and research. Schutz has a twenty-year history with the College of Law, beginning with his time as an extraordinarily successful student and continuing through his work first as an adjunct faculty member while he clerked for the Honorable Arlen C. Beam on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and then as a full-time professor over the past fourteen years.
The product of a farm family in Elwood, Nebraska, Schutz's research interests include the often intertwined subjects of agricultural law, environmental and natural resources law, and state and local government. He has served as the chair of the AALS Section on Agricultural Law, is active in the American Agricultural Law Association, and is a frequent lecturer on agricultural and water law issues. He consults frequently with members of the Nebraska Unicameral on these issues as well as state constitutional issues. Schutz is a co-author of the well-regarded treatise, The Nebraska State Constitution: A Reference Guide, and articles appearing in, among other places, the Drake Journal of Agricultural Law, the Notre Dame Journal of Legislation, the Texas A&M Law Review, the Fordham Environmental Law Review, and the Nebraska Law Review.
Leiter recipient of Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to ALL
09 Jun 2020
The 2020 ALL-SIS Frederick Charles Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Law Librarianship is awarded to Professor Richard Leiter. Those who nominated him cited his service, scholarship, and podcast (Law Librarian Conversations), as well as his "spectacular ability to bring people together to learn, develop and dissect the core values and vision of what it means to be a great law librarian. Since 2000, the annual Frederick Charles Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Law Librarianship has recognized an individual or group who has made outstanding contributions to academic law librarianship through continued efforts to improve law librarianship. The award is named in honor of Frederick Charles Hicks, the first great American law librarian/scholar who was also the first academic law librarian to serve as president of AALL.
Fuxa, Barrett, Mirs compete in Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition
05 Jun 2020
David Fuxa, Sarah Barrett, and Sarah Mirs competed entirely virtually in the 2020 Manfred Lachs International Institute of Space Law Moot Court competition on Saturday, May 30. Out of 26 teams, the Nebraska Law team's brief was the second best in the competition, missing the first spot by only a fraction of point. The team made it into the quarter final rounds of oral arguments. Professor Frans von der Dunk, Adam Little, ’12, and Elsbeth Magilton, ’12, executive director of technology, security, and space law initiatives at the College, coached the team. “The team did a wonderful job representing Nebraska Law,” said Magilton. “We were very impressed by their performance and their adaptability to this circumstance.”
Dean’s Message to Our Community
02 Jun 2020
Richard