SLS News

Meg Caldwell Testifies Before the California State Assembly Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy

May 15, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

Presentation: Preparing for the Effects of Global Warming: The Public’s Perspective

Meg Caldwell's testimony: "Preparing for the Effects of Global Warming: The Public’s Perspective"

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 15, 2013—Meg Caldwell, director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program and executive director of Center for Ocean Solutions of the Woods Institute for the Environment, testified today before the California State Assembly Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy. Caldwell told committee members that a recent Stanford University poll suggests the California public overwhelmingly supports preparing now for the impacts of global warming (85%) rather than waiting (13%); and that the California public, more so than the general U.S. public, believes state government should take significant steps to lessen the consequences (59% of Californians vs. 53% of the national public) of sea level rise.

In addition, Caldwell said the California public, more so than the U.S. public, believes that adaptation action will have a positive impact on the state’s economy (favored by 52% vs. 38% for the U.S.) and jobs (favored by 60% vs. 42% for the U.S.). She said that Californians are most supportive of adaptation strategies that include: 1) improving building standards for coastal development (62%), 2) limiting rebuilding of damaged structures (55%), 3) limiting new development in flood and inundation zones (53%), and 4) building sand dunes as a means of coastal protection (48%). Californians are least supportive of adaption strategies involving sand replenishment, seawalls and purchasing coastal property to induce retreat (favored only by 30%, 32% and 33% respectively).

The California State Assembly Select Committee on Sea Level Rise has been established to thoroughly review the challenges ahead in addressing the expected impacts of climate change on the California economy. Through research and hearings, the committee is examining the impact of sea level rise on ports and infrastructure, coastal agriculture, parks and other state lands, and the fishing industry as well as examining the existing authority granted to state entities such as the Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission.

Additional Resources:

Meg Caldwell’s testimony included:

tagged: Center for Ocean Solutions, Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program, Meg Caldwell, Woods Institute for the Environment
category: California state government, climate change, energy & environmental law, public policy, seal level rise

Phillip Malone to Direct New Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic at Stanford Law School

May 13, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

New Clinic Made Possible by Gift from Alumnus Stephen Juelsgaard

Phillip Malone, appointed professor of law and director of the new Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic of the Mills Legal Clinic.

STANFORD, Calif., May 13, 2013—Stanford Law School today announced the appointment of Phillip Malone as professor of law and director of the new Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic of the Mills Legal Clinic. Malone will join Stanford in July 2013 from the Harvard Law School, where he is currently clinical professor of law and the director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. His clinical work and scholarship have focused on understanding and promoting sound innovation; intellectual property and competition policy in high-tech industries; and encouraging broad opportunities for creativity, online expression, open access and dissemination of information. His teaching has addressed the relationship between legal policy and innovation, including the role of competition and antitrust law, as well as intellectual property law. Prior to entering the academy, Malone had a long and illustrious career as a senior attorney with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he directed many civil and criminal cases and investigations regarding high-tech companies in the Internet, computer software and hardware, and other industries.

The Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic has been established with generous support from Stanford Law School alumnus Stephen Juelsgaard, JD ’82. The core vision of the Juelsgaard Clinic is that intellectual property law and the regulatory climate must be developed with acute sensitivity to the ways in which laws and regulations can serve to promote or frustrate vital innovation.

“We are delighted to welcome Phil Malone,” said Elizabeth Magill, Richard E. Lang Professor and Dean of Stanford Law School. “He has the perfect background to lead this unique clinic, where our students will take on legal work that touches on the complex relationship between law and innovation.”

“I have worked with Phil for more than fifteen years on issues ranging from antitrust to copyright,” said Mark Lemley, the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology, and director of Stanford’s LLM Program in Law, Science and Technology. “He has the experience and breadth of knowledge to make this clinic a resounding success.”

The Mills Legal Clinic is now made up of 11 distinct clinics. The clinics collectively expose law students to wide array of legal practice models, from individual client representation to transactional work to far-reaching impact litigation. Stanford’s clinics also engage in appellate work, including practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, and policy, legislative, and human rights advocacy. The Clinic’s programs span a range of subject areas, including employment, housing and education disputes, immigrants’ rights, criminal justice, religious liberty, and environmental law.

The students in the Juelsgaard Clinic will represent primarily nongovernmental organizations in subject areas including biotechnology, information technology, pharmaceuticals, clean technology, and the creation and distribution of knowledge. Students will wrestle with complex issues such as how to ensure a regulatory climate that is appropriately sensitive to the ways in which law—whether through litigation, legislation, or regulation—can serve to promote (or frustrate) the inventiveness, creativity, and entrepreneurship that provide the real engine for economic growth.

“We are thrilled that Phil is joining us,” said Professor Juliet Brodie, who is the incoming associate dean for clinical education and will oversee the Mills Legal Clinic starting June 2013. “Under Phil’s mentorship, students in the Juelsgaard program will represent clients who are involved with some of the most exciting technology and innovation issues of our time. They will learn about those issues and about the role of a lawyer in working with clients in this fast-evolving environment. No one is better suited than Phil to lead our students into this arena, here in the heart of Silicon Valley.”

“I couldn’t be more excited about launching this new clinic at Stanford Law School,” said Malone. “It will provide Stanford students the opportunity to deeply engage with and shape the course and outcome of important legal and policy debates before courts, legislators, regulatory bodies, and other policy makers regarding the sorts of innovative activity that drive the worldwide economy.”

About Phillip Malone

Prior to joining Stanford, and prior to his position at Harvard Law School (HLS) as clinical professor of law at and the director of the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Philip Malone was the Victor H. Kramer Fellow at HLS (from 2001 to 2003). For the previous 20 years, he was a senior attorney with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he directed numerous civil and criminal investigations and prosecutions, primarily focused on high-technology industries, the Internet and computer software and hardware. Beginning in 1996 Malone was lead counsel in the DOJ’s investigations of Microsoft, and he was the primary career counsel, along with outside counsel David Boies, in the trial of U.S. v. Microsoft Corp. (D.D.C). Before leaving the Justice Department he was one of the lead lawyers in the government’s antitrust case against Oracle Corp. He graduated from Harvard College and earned his JD at the University of Arizona College of Law.

About Stephen Juelsgaard

Stephen G. Juelsgaard, DVM, JD, served as chief compliance officer of Genentech Inc. from June 2005 to April 2009 and also served as its executive vice president from September 2002 to April 2009 and secretary from April 1997 to April 2009. Juelsgaard served as general counsel of Genentech Inc. from July 1994 to January 17, 2007 and also served as its vice president since July 1994. He joined Genentech in July 1985 as corporate counsel and served as senior corporate counsel from 1988 to 1990, chief corporate counsel from 1990 to 1993, vice president of corporate law from 1993 to 1994, assistant secretary from 1994 to 1997 and senior vice president from April 1998 to September 2002. Prior to his employment with Genentech, Juelsgaard was an associate with the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He holds a doctorate of veterinary medicine and a Master of Science degree from Iowa State University and a law degree from Stanford Law School.

About Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School (www.law.stanford.edu) is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a new model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.

tagged: Dean Elizabeth Magill, Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic, Juliet Brodie, Mark A. Lemley, Mills Legal Clinic, Phillip Malone
category: IP, Mills Legal Clinic, U.S. Department of Justice, antitrust, clinical legal education, corporate, commercial, business & finance law, internet law, law & biosciences, law & technology, legal education, public policy

Stanford Law School’s Allen Weiner Files Comments on Viet Nam’s Response to United Nations Petition on Behalf of Seventeen Detained Vietnamese Social and Political Activists

May 9, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

Allen Weiner's April 25, 2013 comments on Viet Nam’s reply to the petition.

STANFORD, Calif., May 9, 2013— On behalf of seventeen Vietnamese social and political activists, Allen Weiner, senior lecturer in law and director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law, has filed comments in response to the Vietnamese government’s reply to a petition filed last year with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) that challenged the legality of the arrest and detention of the activists. Weiner, counsel for the petitioners, rejects the justifications invoked by the government of Viet Nam for the activists’ detention and reiterates the request that Viet Nam release all of the detainees immediately to remedy the human rights violations stemming from their arbitrary arrest and detention.

In July 2012, Weiner filed a petition with the UNWGAD on behalf of Mr. Francis DANG Xuan Dieu and others who have been arrested, tried, and convicted in Vietnamese courts for violating several Vietnamese criminal laws that outlaw “activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration,” the “undermining of national unity,” and participating in “propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.” According to Weiner, the detainees have suffered a range of human rights violations, including violations of their fundamental rights of expression, assembly, and association, as well as rights aimed at ensuring a fair trial. They were arbitrarily convicted by the government of Viet Nam in a series of closed trials between May 2012 and January 2013.

The petition before the UNGWAD, which is responsible for examining cases of arbitrary detention, emphasized that the petitioners’ arrest and detention violated international due process and fair trial rights guaranteed under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other international legal instruments. Last month, the government of Viet Nam submitted a reply to the petition, in which it reiterated that the petitioners had been convicted for violations of Vietnamese law.

Commenting on Hanoi’s reply, the comments state: “Viet Nam’s argument merely confirms that it is utilizing its domestic legal provisions as an instrument to deny petitioners rights that Viet Nam has agreed to guarantee to its citizens under international law.”

“Viet Nam has invoked a series of vague and open-ended criminal statutes to selectively target Vietnamese citizens whose only crime is to engage in nonviolent forms of political and social activism,” said Weiner. “These petitioners have been convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment simply for writing blog posts, signing petitions, and joining nonviolent protests related to a range of issues, including calls for multiparty democracy and opposition to social injustices. Others have been convicted merely for their membership in an opposition political party that is committed to peaceful political change in Viet Nam. In short, they have been engaged in legitimate forms of peaceful political expression protected under international law.”

In its reply, the government of Viet Nam accused eleven of the petitioners of engaging in only one specific act: having “participated in overseas trainings” organized by Viet Tan, a pro-democracy political party. Vietnamese authorities have provided no credible explanation as to why participation in peaceful training is a criminal offense under Vietnamese or international law.

The petitioners are as follows: Mr. DANG Xuan Dieu, Mr. HO Duc Hoa, Mr. NGUYEN Van Oai, Mr. CHU Manh Son, Mr. DAU Van Duong, Mr. TRAN Huu Duc, Mr. LE Van Son, Mr. NONG Hung Anh, Mr. NGUYEN Van Duyet, Mr. NGUYEN Xuan Anh, Mr. HO Van Oanh, Mr. THAI Van Dung, Mr. TRAN Minh Nhat, Ms. TA Phong Tan, Mr. TRAN Vu Anh Binh, Mr. NGUYEN Dinh Cuong, and Mr. HOANG Phong.

UNWGAD is currently in session in Geneva and may be releasing an opinion on this matter shortly.

More information:

Read the April 25, 2013 comments on Viet Nam’s reply to the petition: Vietnam UNWGAD comments GOV reply w_annexes (25 APR 13). The original petition is available here: UNWGAD Vietnam Petition (25 JUL 12).
The first announcement of the July 2012 filing can be read here. A January 2013 update to the filing can be read here.

About Allen S. Weiner

Allen S. Weiner is senior lecturer in law, director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law, and co-director of the Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation at Stanford University. He is an international legal scholar with expertise in such wide-ranging fields as international and national security law, the law of war, international conflict resolution, and international criminal law (including transitional justice). His scholarship focuses on international law and the response to the contemporary security threats of international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He also explores the relationship between international law and the invocation of domestic “war powers” in connection with the U.S. response to terrorism. In the realm of international conflict resolution, his highly multidisciplinary work analyzes the barriers to resolving violent political conflicts. Weiner’s scholarship is deeply informed by experience; he practiced international law in the U.S. Department of State for more than a decade advising government policymakers, negotiating international agreements, and representing the United States in litigation before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Court of Justice, and the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2003, Weiner served as legal counselor to the U.S. Embassy in The Hague and attorney adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. He was a law clerk to Judge John Steadman of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School (www.law.stanford.edu) is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a new model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.

###

EDITORIAL CONTACTS

For comment:
Allen Weiner
Director, Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law
Stanford Law School
Phone: 650 724-5892
Email: aweiner@stanford.edu

For assistance:
Maria O’Neill
Administrative Assistant
Stanford Law School
Phone: 650 723-4039
E-mail: moneill@law.stanford.edu

For Stanford Law School:
Judith Romero
Public Information Officer
Stanford Law School
DESK: 650 723.2232
EMAIL: judith.romero@stanford.edu

tagged: Allen Weiner, United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
category: human rights law, international law

Deputy Secretary of the Interior and Alumnus David J. Hayes to Visit Stanford Law School

April 30, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

David J. Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior

STANFORD, Calif., April 30, 2013—In fall 2013, alumnus David J. Hayes, JD ‘78, who currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior, will be at Stanford Law School as a distinguished visitor from practice to teach a law and public policy seminar on the effects of energy and large infrastructure projects on land, water, and wildlife.

Throughout his career, David Hayes has been involved in developing creative solutions to environmental and natural resources challenges. As the second-in-command at the Department of the Interior, Hayes has served as the Department’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) and has had authority over all of the Department’s bureaus and agencies. In this role, he has promoted conservation initiatives, encouraged thoughtful renewable energy development on public lands, implemented unprecedented oil and gas safety reforms after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, worked to fulfill the nation’s trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives, managed the nation’s water supplies sustainably (including improvements to California’s water infrastructure), and implemented the Department of the Interior’s scientific integrity policy. Prior to his government service, Hayes was a partner and global chair of the environment, land, and natural resources department at Latham & Watkins LLP.

At Stanford Law School Hayes will teach Energy Projects and their Environmental Impacts: A Seminar Exploring How Legal Tools Can Address Conflicts between these Societal Interests. The seminar will explore existing mechanisms that government officials use (or don’t use) to mitigate negative effects on resources. Students will develop—and present to government officials—their recommendations for new approaches that can more efficiently and effectively mitigate environmental impacts associated with infrastructure projects.

“We are delighted to welcome Deputy Secretary Hayes back to Stanford Law School,” said Dean Elizabeth Magill. “David has proven himself to be a visionary, effective, and wise policy maker. We are creating more opportunities for our students to work on complex public policy questions, and we look forward to supporting his course through the school’s new Policy Laboratory. David will be an ideal teacher. In addition, the entire community at Stanford will benefit from his presence.”

“I’m looking forward to teaching this course about how government can work with industry and stakeholders to balance the interests of environmental protection and natural resource conservation with the nation’s important energy needs,” said Hayes. “I know that Stanford students are world-class and so I’m ready to engage in a great dialogue on energy development and public policy.”

More on David Hayes

Before his appointment as Deputy Secretary, Hayes served as a leader in President Obama’s Transition Team, heading the agency review process for the Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, and Environmental Protection Agency. In July 2011, President Obama appointed Hayes as Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska, which works to organize the efforts of federal agencies that oversee the safe and responsible development of onshore and offshore, renewable and conventional energy in Alaska. This month, Hayes released a report to the President, Managing for the Future in a Rapidly Changing Arctic, recommending that the United States develop an innovative, government-wide “Integrated Arctic Management” strategy for the rapidly changing Arctic.

Additionally, Deputy Secretary Hayes co-chaired the Secretary’s Energy and Climate Change Task Force; he played an instrumental role in settling the long-standing Cobell Indian trust litigation and oversaw implementation of the settlement; he headed up the Interior Department’s response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for the secretary, managing day-to-day operational issues and overseeing the Interior Department team that responded to the disaster; and, in his COO role, he served on the President’s Management Council and was engaged in IT transformation and other management initiatives at the 70,000-employee department.

Hayes previously served as the Deputy Secretary and counselor to the Secretary of the Interior in the Clinton administration. He worked for many years in the private sector where he chaired the Environment, Land and Resources Department at Latham and Watkins, an international law firm. He is a former chairman of the board of the Environmental Law Institute; he was a consulting professor at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment; he served as a senior fellow for the World Wildlife Fund, and was the vice-chair of the board of American Rivers. Hayes has written and lectured widely in the environmental and natural resources field.

Hayes graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and received his JD from Stanford Law School, where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review. He is the former chairman of the Board of Visitors for Stanford Law School.

About Stanford Law School

tagged: David J. Hayes Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Dean Elizabeth Magill, Policy Laboratory
category: U.S. Department of the Interior, United States government, administrative law, energy & environmental law, public policy

First Edition of “An Introduction to the Constitutional Law of Afghanistan” Published by the Afghanistan Legal Education Project

April 22, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

After several years of hard work, An Introduction to the Constitutional Law of Afghanistan (First Edition) was published Friday, April 19th, by the Afghanistan Legal Education Project (ALEP) at Stanford Law School. The authors of the book are Rose Leda Ehler ’12, Elizabeth Espinosa ’12, Jane Farrington ’13, Gabe Ledeen ’12, and Daniel Lewis ’12, with Professor Erik Jensen as faculty advisor. The book is available for download on ALEP’s website.

tagged: Afghanistan Legal Education Project
category: constitutional law, law of Afghanistan, rule of law

Stanford’s Hank Greely presents the ethics of resurrecting extinct species

April 5, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

At some point, scientists may be able to bring back extinct animals, and perhaps early humans, raising questions of ethics and environmental disruption.

This news story was originally published April 5, 2013 in Stanford Report.

By Thomas Sumner and Bjorn Carey

Within a few decades, scientists may be able to bring back the dodo bird from extinction, a possibility that raises a host of ethical questions, says Stanford law Professor Hank Greely. (Frederick William Frohawk / Courtesy of Stanford University)

Twenty years after the release of Jurassic Park, the dream of bringing back the dinosaurs remains science fiction. But scientists predict that within 15 years they will be able to revive some more recently extinct species, such as the dodo or the passenger pigeon, raising the question of whether or not they should – just because they can.

In the April 5 issue of Science, Stanford law Professor Hank Greely identifies the ethical landmines of this new concept of de-extinction.

“I view this piece as the first framing of the issues,” said Greely, director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences. “I don’t think it’s the end of the story, rather I think it’s the start of a discussion about how we should deal with de-extinction.”

In “What If Extinction Is Not Forever?” Greely lays out potential benefits of de-extinction, from creating new scientific knowledge to restoring lost ecosystems. But the biggest benefit, Greely believes, is the “wonder” factor.

“It would certainly be cool to see a living saber-toothed cat,” Greely said. “‘Wonder’ may not seem like a substantive benefit, but a lot of science – such as the Mars rover – is done because of it.”

Greely became interested in the ethics of de-extinction in 1999 when one of his students wrote a paper on the implications of bringing back wooly mammoths.

“He didn’t have his science right – which wasn’t his fault because approaches on how to do this have changed in the last 13 years – but it made me realize this was a really interesting topic,” Greely said.

Scientists are currently working on three different approaches to restore lost plants and animals. In cloning, scientists use genetic material from the extinct species to create an exact modern copy. Selective breeding tries to give a closely-related modern species the characteristics of its extinct relative. With genetic engineering, the DNA of a modern species is edited until it closely matches the extinct species.

All of these techniques would bring back only the physical animal or plant.

“If we bring the passenger pigeon back, there’s no reason to believe it will act the same way as it did in 1850,” said co-author Jacob Sherkow, a fellow at the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences. “Many traits are culturally learned. Migration patterns change when not taught from generation to generation.”

Many newly revived species could cause unexpected problems if brought into the modern world. A reintroduced species could become a carrier for a deadly disease or an unintentional threat to a nearby ecosystem, Greely says.

“It’s a little odd to consider these things ‘alien’ species because they were here before we were,” he said. “But the ‘here’ they were in is very different than it is now. They could turn out to be pests in this new environment.”

When asked whether government policies are keeping up with the new threat, Greely answers “no.”

“But that’s neither surprising nor particularly concerning,” he said. “It will be a while before any revised species is going to be present and able to be released into the environment.”

Greely and Sherkow recommend that the government leave de-extinction research to private companies and focus on drafting new regulations. Sherkow says the biggest legal and ethical challenge of de-extinction concerns our own long-lost ancestors.

“Bringing back a hominid raises the question, ‘Is it a person?’ If we bring back a mammoth or pigeon, there’s a very good existing ethical and legal framework for how to treat research animals. We don’t have very good ethical considerations of creating and keeping a person in a lab,” said Sherkow. “That’s a far cry from the type of de-extinction programs going on now, but it highlights the slippery slope problem that ethicists are famous for considering.”

Thomas Sumner is an intern at the Stanford News Service.

tagged: Hank Greely, Jacob Sherkow, Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences
category: law & biosciences, law & technology

‘Pied Piper of new research-based legal education’ chosen for 2013 Roland Volunteer Service Prize

April 5, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

The Miriam Aaron Roland Volunteer Service Prize recognizes Stanford faculty who engage and involve students in integrating academic scholarship with significant and meaningful volunteer service to society.

This news story was originally published April 5, 2013 in Stanford Report.

By Kathleen J. Sullivan

Stanford law Professor Joan Petersilia, who has won praise for her excellent teaching, generous and inspiring mentorship, rigorous social science research and decades of public service scholarship, will receive the 2013 Miriam Aaron Roland Volunteer Service Prize.

Stanford law Professor Joan Petersilia has won the 2013 Roland Volunteer Service Prize for her efforts in integrating scholarship and community service.

Petersilia, who holds a doctorate in criminology, law and society from the University of California-Irvine, joined theStanford Law School faculty in 2009. She will receive the Roland Prize at an awards luncheon next week.

Petersilia is the faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, which promotes and coordinates the study of criminal law and the criminal justice system, including legal and interdisciplinary research, policy analysis, curriculum development and preparation of law students for careers in criminal law.

The Haas Center for Public Service awards the annual prize to members of the faculty “who engage and involve students in integrating academic scholarship with significant and meaningful volunteer service to society.” It was created by alumna Miriam Aaron Roland and includes a $5,000 cash award. Petersilia will be the 15th faculty member to receive the award since it was established in 2004.

Provost John Etchemendy will present the Roland Prize at an awards luncheon on April 11.

Petersilia, who said she was “honored and humbled” to be chosen for the prize, said she has long been fascinated by the way laws and public policies affect – often in unforeseen ways – the everyday lives of people, especially the disadvantaged.

Most law schools, she said, don’t have social scientists on their faculties.

“What I love is that I can bring a different perspective to students who will become the future thought leaders,” Petersilia said.

“When students come into my juvenile justice, sentencing and corrections, or advanced public policy courses, they have already completed the doctrinal criminal law classes. I tell them: ‘You know how somebody gets convicted; now we’re going to talk about the impact of that conviction on the offender, families and the community.’ I also want them to appreciate the impact of crime on victims.”

Elizabeth Magill, dean of Stanford Law School, said students she has spoken to have described their contact with Petersilia as a life-changing experience.

“One young woman I met told me that she had only a passing interest in criminal justice issues until she encountered Joan,” Magill wrote in a letter nominating Petersilia for the prize. “After taking Joan’s class and working with her, she reoriented her career goals around work in this policy arena. Another student I know was so inspired by the work she did with Joan that she started a new nonprofit aimed at assisting women before they are released from prison.”

Under Petersilia’s leadership and supervision, the Stanford Criminal Justice Center has created new pro bono opportunities for students: Project ReMADE, which teaches women recently released from prison how to start their own businesses, and the San Quentin Prison Workshop, an academic workshop for Stanford graduate students and Prison University Project students.

“She has the unique ability to be committed to gaining unbiased insights into the criminal justice system, while also maintaining a deep compassion for all involved,” Angela McCray, the third-year law student who founded Project ReMADE wrote in a letter nominating Petersilia for the prize.

Two years ago, Petersilia designed a new course to give students the opportunity to engage in real-world crime policy analysis.

Students enrolled in Advanced Seminar on Criminal Law & Public Policy: A Research Practicum, have prepared policy briefs evaluating the impact of California’s historic 2011 Public Safety Realignment law on public safety for California Attorney General Kamala Harris and for Matt Cate, former secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. A group of law students recently presented their research findings to California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Stanford law Professor Robert Weisberg, faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, said Petersilia has transformed the criminal law curriculum by challenging students to do original, rigorous social science research, and to use social science research tools to test hypotheses about the effects of legal doctrine.

He said Petersilia quickly became a magnet for students yearning to do policy research about the legal issues that were their most passionate concerns, calling her the “Pied Piper of a new research-based form of legal education.”

“For our brightest students, the Law School has gone beyond a mechanism of professional training and conventional academic research to become a veritable public policy think tank,” Weisberg wrote in a letter nominating her for the award.

tagged: California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Dean Elizabeth Magill, Debbie Mukamal, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Joan Petersilia, Matthew Cate, Project ReMADE, Robert Weisberg, San Quentin Prison Workshop, Stanford Criminal Justice Center
category: Public Safety Realignment Act, criminal justice, criminal law, public policy, public service

Former Senator and Energy Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman to Lead Stanford University Steyer-Taylor Center Initiative on Renewable Portfolio Standards as Distinguished Fellow

April 1, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

Former Senator Jeff Bingaman (Photo by Norbert von der Groeben)

STANFORD, Calif., April 1, 2013— Former U.S. Senator and Stanford Law School alumnus Jeff Bingaman will join the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance as a distinguished fellow to develop policies to assist states and local communities in promoting increased use of clean energy. Currently, 29 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted policies to promote increased generation of electricity from renewable energy sources in the form of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS). Seven other states have adopted voluntary goals for generation of electricity from renewable sources. Bingaman’s efforts will focus on actions that could be taken to extend and update those policies. His fellowship is made possible by a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Bingaman, who spent 30 years in the Senate, was the lead champion of the Clean Energy Standards Act of 2012, which would have required greater use of low-carbon energy sources. During his tenure, he served as Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and on the Senate Finance Committee, as well as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

During his appointment as a distinguished fellow from April 2013 to April 2014, Senator Bingaman will assess the status of current RPS programs and try to determine what policies might be adopted to update and improve those programs.

“Senator Bingaman will bring unparalleled policy and finance experience to the work of the center at a moment when energy is on the national and international agenda like never before,” said Dan Reicher, executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.

At the center, Bingaman will collaborate with the Environmental Law Clinic within the Mills Legal Clinic, which provides law students with hands-on experience in policy work on environmental and energy issues and in client representation. In addition, the former Senator will provide research opportunities to other law students, business school students, and also collaborate with energy scholars throughout campus, including at Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy.

“We are honored to welcome Senator Bingaman back to Stanford Law School,” said Dean Elizabeth Magill. “The whole university community will benefit from his enormous expertise and his wisdom.”

“I look forward to helping advance the Steyer-Taylor Center’s mission to find cost-effective solutions to advance clean energy,” said Bingaman. “I’m excited to work with Stanford faculty and students to develop approaches to policy and finance that make sense to the investment community, Congress, and state legislatures.”

More on Jeff Bingaman

Jeff Bingaman served in the U.S. Senate 1982-2013 and was chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural resources Committee from 2001-2002, and again from 2007 until the end of his term in the 112^th Congress. In the 109^th Congress, Bingaman played a major role in the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the first comprehensive energy bill to become law in 13 years. He was the lead sponsor of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which required a historic increase in vehicle fuel economy, boosted homegrown biofuels, and mandated the most sweeping energy efficiency legislation ever to be put into law. Bingaman served on the Senate Finance Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure. He was also a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and a senior member of the Joint Economic Committee. Before being elected to the Senate, Bingaman was elected New Mexico attorney general. The former New Mexico Senator has an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and law degree from Stanford (JD ’68).

About the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance

The Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance is an interdisciplinary initiative of Stanford Law School and the Graduate School of Business to study and advance the development and deployment of clean-energy technologies through innovative policies and financial mechanisms. Dan Reicher, formerly of Google, the clean-energy investment ranks, and the U.S. Department of Energy, is the center’s executive director.

tagged: clean energy, clean tech, Dan Reicher, Dean Elizabeth Magill, Environmental Law Clinic, Mills Legal Clinic, Senator Jeff Bingaman, Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance
category: clean tech finance, energy & environmental law

Professor Emeritus Michael Wald is Co-Author of Prop 8 Amicus Brief

March 25, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

Brief of Amici Curiae California Professors of Family Law in Support of Respondents

Stanford Law School Professor Emeritus Michael S. Wald is co-author of a friend of the court brief in the Proposition 8 case Hollingsworth v. Perry being heard in the Supreme Court of the United States March 26, 2013. The brief was filed on behalf of California professors of family law who support the Respondents.

To read it, you can download it here: Brief of Amici Curiae California Professors of Family Law in Support of Respondents.

tagged: California Proposition 8, Michael Wald, same-sex marriage, Supreme Court of the United States
category: Supreme Court of California, Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, amicus brief, constitutional law, family law

Professor Juliet Brodie Appointed Associate Dean for Clinical Education

March 21, 2013 • by Judith Romero • no comments »

Juliet M. Brodie, Professor of Law and Director, Stanford Community Law Clinic

STANFORD, Calif., March 21, 2013—Stanford Law School today announced the appointment of Juliet M. Brodie, who has directed the Stanford Community Law Clinic since 2006, to Associate Dean for Clinical Education, effective June 15.

“I am delighted that Juliet Brodie will lead the Mills Legal Clinic,” said Law School Dean Elizabeth Magill. “Juliet is an exceptional lawyer, an inspiring teacher, and a natural leader. She has built the Community Law Clinic into a powerhouse. The Mills Legal Clinic is already gem of the academic program at Stanford Law School. I know Juliet will bring it to even greater heights.”

“I am humbled by the opportunity to help the clinical faculty continue to build and operate programs that give extraordinary learning opportunities to our students and that provide great service to clients,” said Brodie. “Stanford should be very proud of its clinics, and I’m excited to play whatever role I can in continuing their growth and sustaining their excellence.”

Professor Brodie is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 2006, Professor Brodie was an associate clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She began her career as a litigation associate at the Boston law firm Hill & Barlow and went on the serve as an assistant attorney general for the state of Wisconsin, prosecuting health care providers accused of Medicaid fraud. She has served as a member of the editorial board of the Clinical Law Review and of the executive committee of the Section on Poverty Law at the AALS. She was co-chair (2009–2011) of the AALS Clinical Education Section Subcommittee on Lawyering in the Public Interest (Bellow Scholar Program). She is a frequent speaker on community lawyering, clinical education, and representing low-income clients in civil matters.

The Stanford Law School clinical program now includes 11 clinics operating across a wide array of substantive practice areas as well as practice types. The substantive areas range from criminal defense to Supreme Court litigation to religious liberty to education law. And the practice types are just as wide-ranging: alongside trial and appellate litigation in clinics like the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and the Criminal Defense Clinic, Stanford’s clinics expose students to transactional work (in the Organizations and Transactions Clinic), to policy work (in the Environmental Law and Youth and Education Law clinics), to client advising (in many of the clinics). Students enroll in clinics full-time for a quarter, and over the past four years, more than 60 percent of our students have taken at least one clinic.

tagged: Juliet Brodie, Mills Legal Clinic
category: clinical legal education, law school curriculum, legal education, pro bono legal services, public service

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