the university of virginia school of law
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the university of virginia school of law
Friday, 25 April 2008 Volume 60, Number 26 www.lawweekly.org INSIDE Law Weekly Through the Decades: 1998-2007................................... 3 Oscars for the Class of ’08.................................................................. 7 PILA Grantees and Summer Positions................................................ 4 Balserak Makes His Parents Proud/ Faculty Quotes............................ 8 VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY The Newspaper of the University of Virginia School of Law Since 1948 Class of 2008 Pledge to Top Last Year Helene Shen ’10 Contributor As Professor Kraus might say, hold on to your wallets! The 2008 UVA Law Pledge Drive is underway. A call has been put out to all graduating students to pull out the pen and promise to help support the Law School for the next four years. The “pledge” is a commitment by graduating class members to participate in future gift giving campaigns. As in previous years, the emphasis of the campaign is on expanding participation and reach, less on actual amounts given. Participation levels are key to the overall 2008 Annual Gift Giving Campaign. “Not only does your participation provide much needed funding to the Law School and its organizations, but it encourages alumni who have the big dollars. Older alumni are truly enthused by high participation percentages, which in turn encourages them to not only give, but to give more,” said Graduation Committee Co-Chair ►PLEDGE DRIVE page 2 Students Report on Human Rights in Uganda Andy Howlett ’10 Staff Writer “Uganda,” said second-year David Koenig, President of the Law School’s Human Rights Study Program (HRSP), “is an amazing and beautiful country. The people are upbeat, friendly, and hopeful. . . . But it is a country with some serious human rights problems.” So began HRSP’s presentation, “Human Rights in Uganda,” last Wednesday, April 16. HRSP, as described by Koenig, operates like a “mini-NGO” engaged in everything from conducting background research to developing contacts domestically and abroad. Over winter break seven law students traveled to Uganda, where each student researched a different aspect of the local human rights situation. Human rights violations in Uganda arise from a variety of sources. One of the most apparent is the nation’s high HIV infection rate. In addition to the challenge of combating the disease itself, it is difficult to protect the basic rights of children who are HIV-positive. As second-year Emily Buckley noted, many infected children do not ► UGANDA page 2 Students Host Dance for Ugandan Charity Alec Zadek ’08 Senior Staff Writer On Wednesday, April 16, thirdyears Jim Baehr and Laura Holland hosted a dance party, “Move for Uganda,” to raise money for a local non-profit dedicated to benefiting former child soldiers and improving conditions in the war-torn region. Holland, a double ’Hoo, became interested in the Ugandan civil war after hearing a speech by Grace Akallo, a former child soldier in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group in Uganda. Akallo was kidnapped at the age of 15 and forced to fight for the LRA. During her time with the LRA she witnessed the maiming, rape, and murder of other girls. She was able to escape only after being mistaken for dead and buried alive in a shallow grave. Holland’s interest in the turmoil was transformed into action as she and Baehr discussed the atrocities in Uganda while dining at a local restaurant. The two decided to host an event to raise funds for Mosaic, a local nonprofit organization devoted to initiating sustainable projects for peace and social justice in southern Sudan and Uganda. With the help of Justin Holcomb, Holland’s former professor and friend and the founder of Mosaic, the two Congratulations to 3L Tim St. George on his recent engagement to Susan Hoppenjans! Congratulations to 2L Michelle Ferguson on her recent engagement to Kyle Stewart! photo by Alec Zadek ’08 Elliott Klass ’08 and Tiana McLean ’09 stongly support the fundraising efforts at “Move for Uganda.” organized “Move for Uganda.” In an interview with the Law Weekly, Holland discussed the event, which was held at the Satellite Ballroom. “We wanted this event to spotlight Mosaic and the work that its directors are facilitating in Uganda. I hope in the future that more people will become interested in the situation there and that this money will, in some small way, help to rehabilitate child soldiers who have managed to escape the Lord’s Resistance Army. The situation there has wreaked havoc on the lives of so many people, and it was a wonderful experience to see so many students here interested in reaching out to help those in Uganda.” “The whole experience was a surprising success for a firsttime venture,” added Baehr. Holland and Baehr estimated that close to 180 people attended the dance, which raised approximately $1,600. Complementing the work of Baehr and Holland, the event was co-sponsored by the undergraduate fraternity Phi Gamma Delta and Mosaic. Retired O’Neil's Expertise Still in High Demand Samson Habte ’09 Staff Writer Professor Robert M. O’Neil, perhaps the nation’s foremost First Amendment expert, is a busy man – his alleged “retirement” last spring notwithstanding. He’s so busy that an interview with the Law Weekly had to be scheduled a week in advance, squeezed in between trips to Boston and D.C. And when the interview was about to begin it was briefly delayed: another reporter was on the phone. She wanted O’Neil’s opinion on a situation at Yale, where school administrators are threatening to pull a controversial student art project unless the artist admits she lied about artificially inseminating herself and inducing several miscarriages to produce the work. The piece consists of a large, plastic-wrapped cube splattered with blood the student said she collected around the time of her period, after inducing the miscarriages; the cube is to be suspended from a ceiling while videos of her undergoing the miscarriages are projected on the cube and the walls of an exhibition room. The student maintains that the piece was indeed real. “Art departments have always been around north grounds and must remain shelters for creativity which sometimes offends and often challenges,” said O’Neil, who still teaches the First Amendment Clinic and continues to serve as director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, a nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with UVA. The “truthfulness” of the artistic representation is immaterial and should not be used by Yale as a pretext for censoring expression, O’Neil said, citing Caravaggio’s The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (the 17th century portrait, O’Neil helpfully explained, depicts the apostle Thomas sticking his finger in Jesus’ wounds – something unsupported by the text of the Gospel of John, on which the work is based). O’Neil was uniquely qualified to opine on the matter: he has been an administrator as well as an educator, having served as UVA’s sixth President from 1985-1990, so he knows just about everything there is to know about academic freedom and artistic expression. But his expertise is not limited to those areas. Pick a First Amendment clause, any clause: Speech, Press, Petition, Assembly, Exercise, Establishment – bookshelves groan under the weight of O’Neil’s writings in all these areas. (Listing his accomplishments and employment history would obliterate narrative continuity … so just see the sidebar to this article). O’Neil’s passion for free speech preceded his 1962 Supreme Court clerkship, but it was furthered during that period. He clerked for Justice William J. Brennan, who arguably did more than any other justice to expand speech rights (authoring Roth v. United States, New York Times v. Sullivan, and coining the phrase “chilling effect”). O’Neil’s unassailable credentials on all things speech-related make him a pretty good arbiter of egregious or ridiculous acts of censorship, which the TJ Center spotlights annually with its “Jefferson Muzzle” awards. The dubious distinctions, released around the birthday of the nonprofit’s namesake, are given to “those who in the past year forgot or disregarded Mr. Jefferson’s admonition that freedom of speech ‘cannot be limited without being lost’.” Recipients this year included, among others: The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, ► O'NEIL page 3 Congratulations to 2L Preston Hartman on his engagement to Christine Barkowski! Congratulations 3L Aaron Paul on winning the Charlottesville Marathon last Saturday! Thumbs up to the last Law Weekly of the year. Finally, ANG can stop writing sophomoric jokes and finish work on ANG’s novel. Thumbs up to Prof. Collins’ Charge to the Class. ANG had you for Civ Pro and would like you to know that ANG got your Erie joke. So, sleep well tonight. Thumbs down to the official beginning of exam period. Another exam period, another chance for ANG to totally flex ANGself. And yes, that is what is sounds like. Thumbs up to the overwhelming number of end of the year bbq’s, meetings, concerts and events that people are squeezing in before exams. ANG’s outlines are going to be written between trough dives and sets of a Sprinsteen concert. Hopefully ANG’s corporations professor thinks it’s funny when ANG’s exam is saved under the name “Murder Incorporated.” Thumbs up to recent trend of Law School events related to Uganda. Uganda is so the new black. Thumbs up to the HRSP Shooting Trip. Seriously guys, Assassins was one thing, but a shooting trip? You realize the second amendment isn’t really a “human right”, right? 2 News & Features VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY ► PLEDGE DRIVE Jeffries Reflects on Years of Service as Dean continued from page 1 Pledge Drive Going Strong Frankie Jones. There is no minimum amount that participants must give, and class members are asked give whatever they feel comfortable giving. If your first paycheck doesn’t come until August and you need it to buy appliances, don’t worry. No money is due until June 30, 2009. Pledge members may peg their dollars to a specific organization or activity at the law school if they wish, or they may simply make an unrestricted pledge. Last year, a record total of 7,643 alumni, or over 50% of all alumni, directly donated $9.8 million out of a total of $13.9 million in private giving. A significant portion of this accomplishment can be traced to the enthusiastic participation of young alumni. Private donations provide funding for a myriad of school benefits, including all of the recent renovations, summer research support, financial aid, library needs, student publications, organizations, and more. Year after year, UVA Law has proudly led the nation in alumni support. This year, the drive is led by Graduation Committee Co-Chairs Frankie Jones and Kira Walmer along with 36 “class agents.” With Director of Donor Relations and Young Alumni Development Laura Pietro leading the effort, the committee looks to surpass last year’s pledge participation level of 92% with a new goal of 93%. Currently, 55% of the class has already pledged. Every class member who pledges will receive friendly yearly notices from their class agent reminding them of their pledge. Because pledges are collected on a fiscal year calendars, pledging members are asked to honor their pledges by June 30 of each calendar year. Third-years must submit their pledge forms before graduation on May 18. From the Registrar Initial course enrollment for next year will occur in several lottery rounds during July, followed by a short add/drop period in early August. We are pleased to announce that Law ITC has programmed some needed enhancements into LawReg that should be helpful: adds-tied-todrops, a wait list capability, and yearlong course enrollment in both semes- ters. We will be building next year’s schedule between now and mid-June as well as planning the implementation of the new LawReg features. I encourage you to monitor your UVa e-mail accounts during June for periodic updates, instructions, tips, and information regarding next year’s schedule and course enrollment. -Dean Cary Bennett Virginia Law Weekly COLOPHON COLOPHON John C. Jeffries, Jr. is one of the few people to have had the privilege of being a student, faculty member, and dean at the University of Virginia School of Law. As a student, Dean Jeffries earned the Z Award for the highest academic average, served as editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review, and received the Woods Prize for the outstanding graduate. During his years as a professor, he developed his research and teaching interests in civil rights, federal courts, criminal law, and constitutional law. Before Dean Jeffries steps down from his post as dean this summer, he spent some time with the Law Weekly reflecting on the time he spent serving as the law school’s 10th dean. In contrast to students and professors, who can cement themselves within the walls of the law school, Dean Jeffries said that the dean’s role at the law school requires a primarily external focus. While balancing obligations to alumni and the central university, there is not as much time as he would prefer to interact with students and faculty members. Therefore, while he loved being dean, and reiterated that it is a great job, he is ready to go back to teaching. “I am leaving a job I love to go back to a job I love,” he said. Dean Jeffries made it clear that although the perks of the job are nice, such as the freedom from grading exams and the prestige that comes with being the top administrator at the school, it was something more that persuaded him to take on the job: his commitment to the University of Virginia School of Law. He is not interested in serving as dean of other universities. UVA Law is his permanent home, and he reiterat- Sean Conway Executive Editor Neal Hayes Production Editor Allison Muth Managing Editor Rogan Nunn News Editor Michael Warner Columns Editor Dipti Ramnarain Features Editor Ryan Dougherty Reviews Editor Jen Goodlatte Photography Editor Allen Abrams Business Editor Nick Nelson Web Editor Mary Niemann Associate Production Editor Smitha Dante Associate News Editor Nick Nelson Associate Photography Editor Samson Habte, Andy Howlett Dan Balserak, Natalie Blazer, Andy Clayton, Kyle Schindler, John Sheehan Mike Lecaroz Published weekly on Friday except during holiday and examination periods and serving the Law School community at the University of Virginia, the Virginia Law Weekly (ISSN 0042-661X) is not an official publication of the University and does not necessarily express the views of the University. Any article appearing herein may be reproduced provided that credit is given to both the Virginia Law Weekly and the author of the article. Advanced written permission of the Virginia Law Weekly is also required for reproduction of any cartoon or illustration. Virginia Law Weekly 580 Massie Road University of Virginia School of Law Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-1789 Law Weekly Staff ed his devotion to the institution. It is this commitment that made him interested in being dean, for in this capacity he could have a hand in directing the future of the Law School. “Plus,” said Dean Jeffries, “it is fun to have people pretend to listen to what you say and act like it matters.” Dean Jeffries had a sneak preview of the position when he assumed the role of acting dean in the fall of 1999 while then-Dean Bob Scott was visiting at Columbia. This experience introduced him to expectations and responsibilities that come with serving as dean. The most important aspect of the position, said Dean Jeffries, is serving as a representative of UVA Law to alumni. Onethird of the law school’s budget derives from private support, and maintaining strong relations with alumni will help ensure that such support continues to play a major role at the law school. Dean Jeffries was quick to point out an interesting trend in alumni giving for this year’s graduating class: the rate of new graduates contributing to the law school has increased dramatically in recent years. Dean Jeffries was proud of this high level of participation by young graduates, realizing that by donating, even while saddled with school debt, the recent graduates were making a statement of their support for the law school. Dean Jeffries said this vote of confidence bolsters other alumni to become more involved in the Law School and is one of the reasons for the overall high alumni participation. When asked what the main challenge was for the Law School, the Dean answered without hesitation that it was the intense competition for good faculty members. While the law school has hired great faculty members, photo courtesy of law.virginia.edu it has also lost a good number of stellar academics. This is happening at most schools and is due to several factors. First, the trend towards having multiple jobs during one’s career has affected most professional fields, including the legal teaching profession. In addition, there has been a real renaissance in the interest in American cities, and the surge in two-income families makes cities more affordable since it is often easier for both spouses to find jobs in an urban area. Luckily for UVA Law, Dean Jeffries will continue on as a professor at the school. This means that the Class of 2010 will have a chance to take classes with Dean Jeffries during their third year. In terms of how being dean will change his teaching as a professor, Dean Jeffries paused before saying, “It has been eight years since I was teaching. There is a lot of law I need to refresh myself on.” While he has been getting caught up in some segments of civil rights law for his class this semester, he feels he has plenty of review left to do. With exams right around the corner, many students no doubt understand his feelings. ► UGANDA Craig Smith Editor-in-Chief Contributors: Columnists: Reviewer: Friday, 25 April 2008 Phone: 434.924.3070 Fax: 434.924.7536 editor@lawweekly.org www.lawweekly.org EDITORIAL POLICY: The Virginia Law Weekly publishes letters and columns of interest to the Law School and the legal community at large. Views expressed in such submissions are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Law Weekly or the Editorial Board. Letters from organizations must bear the name, signature, and title of the person authorizing the submission. All letters and columns must either be submitted in hardcopy bearing a handwritten signature along with an electronic version, or be mailed from the author’s e-mail account. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. the Monday before publication and must be in accordance with the submission guidelines. Letters over 500 words and columns over 700 words may not be accepted. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, and clarity. Although every effort is made to publish all materials meeting our guidelines, we regret that not all submissions received can be published. continued from page 1 Studies Focus on Less Publicized Aspects of Tragedy have access to education—often because they are stigmatized and suffer from discrimination, cannot afford school fees, or are forced to serve as parents to their younger siblings because their own parents have died. Second-year Kristy Morgan spoke on the related topic of domestic violence against women who are HIVpositive, recalling that during her visit to clinics she heard many “horrifying” stories of women who were beaten by their husbands for being HIV-positive. Morgan also spoke with members of the Ugandan parliament about pending domestic violence legislation which, although not a perfect solution, she believes represents a step in the right direction. Two of the presenters, third-years Allissa Pollard and Michael Hollander, researched homosexuality in Uganda. As in many third-world countries, homosexuality is extremely stigmatized in Uganda. “Uganda is a deeply conservative, predominantly Christian society that for a long time denied that there were even gays in the country,” Pollard said, adding that the nation has a long history of legal discrimination against gays. Pollard also leveled sharp criticism at some aspects of America’s involvement in Uganda’s HIV crisis. “The US has played a detrimental role here,” she said. “A US program ... teaching abstinence-only education ... has re- sulted in a lack of information, especially for a population [referring to homosexuals] that under Ugandan law isn’t allowed to get married. This has a negative overall impact on the country.” Two other speakers, including Koenig, discussed human rights issues related to the protracted war between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), comprised of Christian guerillas from Northern Uganda and Sudan, and the Ugandan People’s Defense Force (UPDF), the military apparatus of the Ugandan government. While third-year Najah Farley studied the plight of women in refugee camps in the north of the country, Koenig examined efforts to establish a lasting peace across the country. He noted that while members of the LRA had committed scores of well-documented atrocities, their counterparts at the UPDF were equally guilty of war crimes. In describing the worldwide response, Koenig was decidedly unoptimistic about the recent International Criminal Court indictments of top LRA commanders. “Criminal prosecution by the ICC of top LRA leaders will not come close to achieving justice,” he said seriously. “In fact, they may even be counterproductive, because they are one sided ... the leaders of the UPDF will be getting off free.” Two of the most interesting speakers focused on less publicized issues. Third-year Devin Huseby gave a detailed and fascinating description of the fractal real property system in Uganda which, while undergoing reform, is still an amalgamation of remnants from the imperialist era, tribal methods of ownership, and attempts at direct government regulation. Huseby concluded that the lack of readily enforceable property rights, coupled with the threat of global climate change, could exacerbate Uganda’s already dire food shortages. The findings presented by thirdyear Matt Van Wormer were among the most tragic. His research focused on the Batwa people of Southwestern Uganda, an indigenous pigmy group that had lived on their ancestral lands until the early 1990s, when they were forcibly and sometimes violently evicted, in part to protect one of the last remaining habitats of the near-extinct mountain gorilla. Batwa people occupy the lowest stratum of Ugandan society; they often end up as beggars in larger cities and many have developed serious alcohol problems. There is a push to save the Batwa and to “bring them into harmony of the rest of Ugandan society,” but the transition from an agricultural to a monetary economy is proving difficult. Van Wormer noted that their language is fading fast and it has become extremely difficult for the Batwa to preserve their culture and religion. Friday, 25 April 2008 SBA Notebook: This Isn't 'Nam, People. It's Law School. There Are Rules Ryan Quillian ’09 SBA President Every semester around exam time we all get a little messy. We also sometimes neglect to extend to our fellow students the common courtesies that society recognizes as reasonable. As a little pre-exam reminder, I’ve put together some things that I hope we can all keep in mind while we cram for exams. Library. This is an area of the law school where tensions are probably highest. Please do your best to accommodate your fellow law students. Along those lines, please do not leave your belongings on tables when you are going to be gone more than an hour. This includes leaving your stuff in the library overnight—just don’t do it. You shouldn’t have any problem finding a place to study when you get back in the morning, but even if you do, WB152 has been reserved for law student use during the entire exam period. Additionally, there are power and extension cords available at the circulation desk that should allow you to work at tables that don’t have electrical outlets nearby. Finally, if you have problems with undergrads or other non-law students in the library, please bring it to the attention of the librarians rather than approaching them yourselves. While we may encourage vigilante justice in other situations, confront- ing people in the library should be done by seasoned professionals. Scott Commons. Leading up to and during exams, students tend to treat this area of the Law School with less and less respect. They leave food and trash all over the place assuming somebody else will clean up after them. Let’s try to do a better job of cleaning up after ourselves this year so that everybody can enjoy this area at all times. Bathrooms. I’m assuming all of us have been potty trained. However, this may be a big assumption considering the state of some of the bathrooms during finals. Please flush the toilets—twice, three times, whatever it takes. It’s simple, easy, and eliminates odor. Parking. Remember that parking restrictions remain in place throughout the exam period. You will not be able to get out of tickets for parking in D3 because there were no spots in the Blue lot. Overflow parking is available at U-Hall (with bus service to the law school) and other places around campus. For your reference, there is a map outside the SBA office showing additional lots in which Blue permit holders may park. Additionally, as the e-mail sent by Dean Ballenger on Wednesday said, there will be an event at the Park from 12pm to 4pm on Wednesday, April 30, that will take up some blue parking spots, so be sure to plan accordingly. Outlines. This isn’t a common courtesy issue, but I wanted to let everybody know that the SBA Outline Bank is now bigger, faster, and stronger. Check it out at the E-Services link on the SBA website (www. virginiasba.com) or use this direct link: http://www.virginiasba.com/ Eservices_ol.aspx. In addition to downloading outlines to help you prepare for finals, please upload your outlines after finals are over so future law students can have the aid of your wisdom. If you have any additional complaints/suggestions/questions during finals, feel free to e-mail me (quillian@virginia.edu) or stop by the SBA office (196e). I spend a lot of time in that office. Lastly, SBA wants to help you all stay connected over the summer. If you have yet to fill out an employment survey, you can find it in the Career Services section of LawWeb. We are using these results to compile lists of who will be in each city. Over the summer, the SBA Student-Alumni Relations Committee will be planning UVA-related events in cities all over the country. If you have any questions about these events or want to plan one in your city, please get in touch with the committee’s co-chairs, Minoo Sobhani (mms9w@virginia.edu) and Corey Neal (cnn4m@virginia.edu). That’s all I’ve got. Good luck on exams and have a great summer everybody. ► O’NEIL continued from page 1 Muzzle Awards Spotlight Censorship cited for its objection to a retired police officer’s vanity license plate, which read “GETOSAMA”; Lewis Mills High School (Burlington, Vt.) administrators, who refused to allow a student to run for school council because she wrote a blog posting that referred to school officials as “douchebags in central office,” and who refused to let the student assume her position when she won as a write-in candidate; Valdosta State University President Ronald M. Zaccari, who expelled a student environmental activist who had protested the construction of two new campus parking decks, labeling the student a “clear and present danger” after he posted a collage of pictures on Facebook that included photos of Zaccari, a parking deck, a bulldozer excavating trees, and captions including “No Blood for Oil” and “Zaccari Memorial Parking Garage.” “We awarded [Muzzles] to more private, non-governmental entities this year than in the past,” O’Neil said. Among those entities, he noted regrettably, was the 2007 Managing Board of The Cavalier Daily, which earned its Muzzle for firing cartoonist Grant Woolard after a public uproar followed the publication of his controversial – and, truth be told, unimaginative and unfunny – cartoon “Ethiopian Food Fight,” a single-panel comic depicting loinclothed, skinny black men attacking each other with chairs, boots, sticks and other non-foodstuffs. (Get it? They don’t have any food!) Joshua Wheeler, the executive director of the TJ Center, analogized the Cavalier Daily incident to the firing of shock-jock Don Imus by CBS Radio and MSNBC, two other Muzzle recipients. The chill on speech in both cases was exacerbated by the timing of the firings. “In both cases Student Life & Features VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY they were fired only when the degree of public criticism went up,” said Wheeler. It is one thing to base such firings on an initial judgment that they are warranted, quite another to succumb to the escalating heat of an agitated public mob. “A democratic society needs a free press willing to stand up to public criticism,” read the Muzzle citation. The process for choosing Muzzle recipients begins by scouring news reports for candidates. The list is whittled from hundreds down to about 30 or 35, and is then forwarded to the TJ Center’s Board of Trustees, an eclectic group that includes Fox News’ Brit Hume, actress Sissy Spacek and musician Boyd Tinsley. Finalists are then given an opportunity to make the case that their actions have been misunderstood. “They almost invariably start with ‘I’m a firm believer in the First Amendment’,” said Wheeler. “Or, ‘I’m a lifetime member of the ACLU’,” added O’Neil. “Then comes the big ‘but . . . ’,” said Wheeler. Some prospective awardees simply don’t respond. Others, like a different DMV office which refused to approve a vanity plate composed of a family surname, can successfully fend off the Muzzle by raising exculpatory defenses. “They convinced us that the family name contained a racially derogatory term,” explained O’Neil. Still others “respond in a way that only reinforces our belief that they deserved one,” said O’Neil. That was the case with the New York DMV, which wrote a letter saying they had reversed course and offered to allow the motorist to keep the “GETOSAMA” vanity plate. “That offer came only after he filed his lawsuit, and only on the condition that he drop the lawsuit,” said Wheeler. “And they did not tell me that in the letter.” Other nominees who choose not to respond to the TJ Center have reacted to the awards after receiving them. When former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was asked at a press conference about how he felt about receiving the TJ Center’s first Lifetime Muzzle Award in 1999 (listing his offenses would also obliterate narrative continuity), he responded: “Oh, that’s just some out of control advocacy group.” Rep. Peter King (R-NY), recipient of a 2007 Muzzle for calling for the prosecution of New York Times reporters who disclosed the government’s covert, warrantless surveillance program, said his only gripe was that he hadn’t received an actually trophy, medal or certificate. “If they give me a medal, I’ll wear it,” King said. “They’re using my good name to boost their popularity, and they’re too cheap to even give me an award . . . I’m really waiting for [a trophy].” The TJ Center has awarded the Muzzles every year since 1992, Wheeler noted, and while some recipients have “take[n] issue with our interpretation,” the organization has never “been faulted for factual inaccuracies or for being unfair.” O’Neil modestly added that the Board of Trustees has never seen fit to take out liability insurance to protect against potential libel claims in connection with the awards. That is probably attributable to their assumption that Bob O’Neil can identify the contours of the actual malice standard applicable to statements about public figures . . . which is a pretty good assumption. 3 Law Weekly Through the Decades: 1998-2007 Law Weekly Staff [Editor's Note: The Virginia Law Weekly, founded in 1948, is enjoying its 60th year of publication. This is the last in a series of six articles looking back at the events, milestones, controversies, and student life chronicled in the Law Weekly's pages.] As the Law Weekly charged into the new millennium, its coverage of the Law School community included reports of new highs, new lows, and new babies. As for the highs, UVA Law scored a personal best in its US News rankings in 1999 when the school topped out at number seven. The bump in rank no doubt had something to do with the prior year’s addition of a junior faculty member who was amusingly believed to be a new student during 1L orientation. Caleb Nelson has no doubt spent the past decade overwhelming students with his intellect to it eminently clear that he is indeed a member of the faculty and we are most certainly not. The decade did see its share of more serious controversy, however. Crime shot up on the Law School’s grounds, most infamously with the 1999 theft of the popular-but-jarring “Couples” oil painting, nicknamed “Hell Hounds” by the student body. The Law Weekly’s subsequent coverage of the incident, as well as a closer examination of security at the school in general, raised the salience of crime as a topic of discussion amongst student body. Despite this attention, thefts continued over the next year, as glass tabletops, lamps, chairs and rugs were all among items stolen from the law school. Citing security concerns, the administration finally decided to restrict access to the building in 2000, resulting in the card readers for after-hours access we have today. Student letters to the paper demonstrated a general willingness to sacrifice “historical law School amenities like 24 hour open access, extensive tree lined streets, and lush landscaping in order to provide enhanced security for students and staff.” Perhaps the zaniest piece of news during the decade involved a baby switching controversy in 1998. After the University’s hospital gained national notoriety by accidentally switching two babies shortly after birth, a local attorney solicited UVA Law students to help in the pending litigation against the hospital. This was swiftly followed by a response from the UVA Rector, John P. Ackerly III, “I would hope law students would think twice before taking a case that might be adverse to the University.” While that story eventually faded away, the Law School again found itself in entangled in another national controversy when Professor Richard Bonnie agreed to represent the Unabomber the following year. Not every story published that decade garnered such off-grounds attention. For example, the Law Weekly covered one event in 1999 that few others did: the opening of Waffle House in Charlottesville. Other tidbits featured in the archives reveal that the sound of chiming bells heard at the Law School is actually piped in via fiber optic phone cables lthat transmit the sounds from real bells in the Chapel on Central Grounds. Waffles and chimes received universal praise; other articles did not, however. In 2000 the Law Weekly opened the year with a bombshell article suggesting biases in the dean selection process. An anonymous source questioned whether the dean search committee was stacked in favor of then-Professor John C. Jeffries, Jr. at the expense of an external candidate. The following week’s paper featured a fierce rebuttal from professors and students defending the traditional dean search method. In retrospect, the hiring of Jeffries seems to have worked out okay. A few policies that now seem mundane were instituted in the beginning of this decade. A new research credit option was made available for second- and thirdyear students to work on joint projects with faculty members in 2002, and early admissions made its first appearance in 2004 as part of an administrative decision to increase the Law School’s admissions yield. In 2005 Martha Ballenger assumed the position of Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, the same year that West Publishing contracted with Professor Leslie to assume the marketing and sales of his self-created CaseFiles. Finally, in 2006 the Law "I would hope law students would think twice before taking a case that might be adverse to the University.” -John C. Ackerly III, UVA Rector School welcomed students from Tulane and LSU in part of its response to Hurricane Katrina. The past sixty years have seen many changes at the University of Virginia School of Law. We’ve changed buildings, diversified our student body, and raised tuition. One constant, however, has been the presence of the Law Weekly chronicling the controversies and triumphs that have helped define this law school. The 2008-17 decade will undoubtedly present a new set of challenges to this community, and just as undoubtedly, the Law Weekly will report on these events of the day. Always weekly. Mostly pertinent. Sometimes insightful. Usually inaccurate. 4 Columns VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY Friday, 25 April 2008 Feeling Better: The Good, the Bad, the Unmarried One freezing cold night in December of 2004, I was curled up in a ball in the St. Elizabeth’s emergency room in Boston with four Natalie Blazer ’08 Columnist doctors hovering over me. I had just been transferred to the hospital after a week in my university’s infirmary, where nobody was sure what was wrong with me. All that was apparent was that I was severely jaundiced (all the nurses who walked by did a double-take; later they would call me Lisa, as in Simpson) and I couldn’t stop throwing up. Earlier that evening, the campus physician had told me he would call my cell phone to make sure I got to the ER all right. So when my phone rang displaying an unknown number, despite the fact that at that precise moment I was being hooked up to an IV and crying uncontrollably (I hate needles), I answered: “Hello, is this Natalie Blazer?” a female voice asked. “Yes,” I croaked. “Hi, Natalie! I am calling from the University of Virginia School of Law to tell you that you have been accepted! Congratulations!” “I’m in the emergency room,” I sobbed. “I can’t talk right now.” “Oh, dear! Well I hope you feel better before the fall!” she sang, and hung up. For some perverse reason, I like to think of that moment as the official beginning of my law school career. Luckily for me (and for my spleen—I had a very extreme case of mono), things have only gotten better since then. By that I mean, things have pretty much stayed the same, but my spleen is no longer as big as an NFL regulation-sized football, and aside from that medical journal that got sent to my parents’ house using my freakishly severe illness as a study, I can pretend the whole thing never happened. Now I know what you’re thinking: how perfect! The “relationship” columnist afflicted with the “kissing disease!” But as it turns out, embarrassingly, during the so-called “incubation period,” I hadn’t actually kissed anyone: it seems I got mono from an ice luge (now if only I had been the evil genius who came up with that vile invention, I might never have made it to law school. But of course I wasn’t, so of course I did, and thus now I would like to remember some of those law school moments, or at least I’d like to pretend that events transpired here in such a way that they can be characterized by semester, because I find it makes for easier reading). As a 1L, I had a charmed life. Two of my best friends from high school came here at the same time I did; I lived with one of them and was miraculously placed in the same first-year section as the other. Never one to eschew a law school stereotype, I got called on by Dean Jeffries on the first day of Criminal Law and had a crush on two out of my three male Peer Advisors. Less predictably, that fall I also suffered from unrequited love, tasted sweet victory in the 1L softball tournament, and embarked on a whirlwind romance that would haunt me well into my final days in Charlottesville. In the spring of 1L year, I experienced the agony that is journal tryouts. Not coincidentally, I also discovered the joy that is Feb Club. Aside from making me miss my first class of law school, Feb Club also gave me the gift of travel, in that I bought a plane ticket to Austin in the wee hours one February morning (I believe it was postSnow Pants or No Pants, but don’t quote me on that). As I found out in the (far too bright) light of the next day, the ticket was non-refundable. Thus, I ended up having photo courtesy of Natalie Blazer It's been an exciting few years, but the closing ceremonies are around the corner for Blazer and company. a lovely (albeit unexpected) weekend in Texas with a similarly Feb Club-impulse-prone sectionmate. That spring I also drove to the Gulf Coast to do Hurricane Katrina relief and found out that I would be working at the war crimes tribunal in Bosnia for the summer. But this is my farewell column, so let’s skip mere frivolities, shall we? Moving right along, I soon found out that 2L year was all about change. Some bad (seeing boys running around sweating in their suits the first few weeks), some good (seeing boys running around sweating in their suits the first few weeks). Ivy Gardens pre- and postparties were a thing of the past (at least until I became a 3L). People were making new friends, getting new jobs, joining new clubs. That fall was full of football games, feelings, and frustration. I watched a lot of ESPN and developed a fondness for red Gatorade. 2L spring, on the other hand, was full of surprises. I learned that I could write a 94-page paper and not kill myself. I learned that, if the people involved are funny enough, a relationship really can be cultivated via e-mail. And, although this should not have been a “surprise,” I learned that Buddhist is a decision-making black hole (and also that “angry bear” shots are the most genius-ly vile creation since the ice luge). Then we have the summer after 2L year, which I like to think of as an exercise in excess. From $100 lunches to limo service to keeping up with two very determined, tequila-loving West Villagers, I am simply happy to have made it out alive. A month spent in the Paris office was a welcome respite, as I could eat lettuce every day and go to Nice by myself for the weekend. As I had developed a strong aversion to European men the previous summer, it was indeed a solitary (and lovely) existence. Thus I entered 3L fall with a southof-France tan and a few bucks in my bank account, eager to spend them on Charlottesville-priced items. It was a wonderful yet feverish era; everybody was so excited to be back and yet acutely aware of the dwindling time we had left. Think of it this way: when you’re a 1L or 2L and you’ve got your eye on someone, you usually keep it to yourself, figuring that everything will work out with time. 3L year you have no time. 3L year is when you make your feelings known, whatever the consequences. 3L year it is acceptable for your first question to a guy be “are you married?” because you can’t even afford to continue that conversation if he is. My senior year of college (long after I had recovered from mono), my friends and I organized a Beer Olympics. The competition kicked off with a pitcher-chug, followed by four-person teams competing in flip cup, beer pong, quarters and tricycle races at various stations in our backyard, all at the same time. That is the closest I can come to summarizing 3L spring. Except without all the different nations’ flags hanging everywhere or the bronze-plated forty my team won for third place (Vamanos, México!), but seeing as it’s an Olympic year I thought the analogy was semi-appropriate. Alas, as I sit here in the Starbucks on the Corner on a beautiful spring day, looking out the window and watching people pick through the Virginia gear outside of Mincer’s, while also trying to fulfill yet another law school stereotype of sitting in a coffee shop typing furiously on my laptop, I realize that I really will miss it here. Enough girls have passed by in sundresses for me to have already had one panic attack that today was Foxfields and I accidentally missed it. Enough boys have passed by wearing khakis and Croakies for me to have considered asking at least two of them if they were married. And enough time has passed that I have realized it’s time to get up, pack up my bundle computer that I predict to die precisely three years from its purchase date, and go home. Email: nrb5x@virginia.edu PILA would like to congratulate all of the 2008 summer grant recipients. Aaron Esty Alane Ballweg Alice Beauheim Amanda Muller Amy Saltzman Andrew Johnson Andrew Stockment Barbara Colberg Benjamin Holley Brendan Radke Bridget Joyce Caroline Klosko Christopher Dumler Christopher McCoy Christopher Schoen Christy Weisner Corrie Sirkin Dan Sullivan Daniel Perell David Roberts Dawn Miller Eitan Goldstein Elisabeth Custalow Elizabeth Norton Eric K. Gerard Eric Penley Erin Crowgey Gabe Walters George Milam Ian Hiatt Jaclyn Paolucci Jamie Lea Schoen Jason McKim Jennifer Jessie Jessica DeVera Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark – Immigration Services U.S. Attorney’s Office – Alaska Embassy of Ethiopia – Geneva, Switzerland U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Massachusetts Public Defender Services, Juvenile Trial – Washington, D.C. National Labor Relations Board – Region 3 Legal Services of Northern Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office – Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office – San Diego U.S. Attorney’s Office – Portland, ME Legal Aid Justice Center, Child Advocacy Program Atlanta Legal Aid Orange & Greene County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office Illinois State Appellate Defender – 2nd District International Justice Mission – Chenai, India Dept. of Commerce, Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security Rutherford Institute Legal Aid Justice Center, Immigration Clinic United Nations Office for Recovery Coordination of Aceh and Nias Commonwealth’s Attorney – Charlottesville; Supreme Court of Virginia, Office of the Chief Staff Attorney Department of Justice, Office of Special Investigations International Rescue Committee – Washington, D.C. Animal Legal Defense Fund, Florida Anti-Corruption Commission, Sierra Leone Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Maine Legal Aid Justice Center, JustChildren ACLU Foundation – New York Greenville Office of the Public Defender – South Carolina Blue Ridge Legal Services Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center International Justice Mission – Chenai, India Legal Aid Justice Center, Institutionalized Persons Project Oliver Hill Foundation – Washington, D.C. Legal Services of Northern Florida – Tallahassee Jill Sager John M. Layfield Jonathan Brent Jordan Feit Jose Masini Katherine Lydon Kathleen Doherty Katie Worden Kelly Hendry Kelly Hodges Kenneth Duvall Kristen Carothers Kyle Wamstad Leigh Miller Lindsey Bartlett Matthew Prince Mitch McGuffey Molly Kubiak Nikolena Moysich Patricia Cooper Patrick Mott Phil Storey Preston Hartman Rebecca Vallas S. Mario Lorello Sara Wood Sarah McCracken Stefanee Handon Steven Garrett Steven Gould Susan Edwards Tamara Fishman Thomas Krepp Victoria E. Neely W. David Sims William Mann Zach Carter Zach Williams TBA Legal Aid Justice Center, Child Advocacy Program U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps MFY Legal Services, Inc. Legal Aid Justice Center, Child Advocacy Program United States Attorney’s Office – Washington, D.C. Native American Rights Fund – Anchorage Public Defender’s Office of Alexandria, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney – Albemarle County Sierra Club, California Department of Justice, Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training Central Virginia Legal Aid Society Legal Aid Justice Center, Civil Advocacy Program Women’s Legal Center, South Africa Legal Aid Justice Center, JustChildren or Advocacy New Hampshire Legal Assistance Fulton County Public Defender’s Office Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office Community Law Center, Small Business Unit: Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative Department of Justice, Arlington Immigration Court U.S. Attorney’s Office – Southern District of New York Legal Aid Justice Center, Immigrant Advocacy Program Colorado Attorney General, Appellate Division Community Legal Services – Philadelphia Commonwealth’s Attorney – Alexandria South Brooklyn Legal Services Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Office of the Federal Public Defender – 4th Circuit Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity – Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office – Western District of Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office – Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office – Washington, D.C. Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Santa Cruz Supreme Court, Family Law Facilitator Charlottesville Commonwealth Attorney’s Office Department of Justice, Office of Deputy Attorney General Southern Environmental Law Center U.S. Attorney’s Office – Eastern District of Virginia Columns VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY Friday, 25 April 2008 5 Final Musings of a Three-Time Web Editor “Brandy, you’re a fine girl What a good wife you would be But my life, my lover, my lady Is the sea.” – Looking Glass John Sheehan ’08 Web Editor You know that old song “Brandy” by the ’70s pop group Looking Glass? It’s about a seaman (grow up) rebuffing a barmaid for his true love, the sea. In fact, there is an excerpt from it at the top of this column. I can’t believe you missed that. I will meet you down at the next paragraph while you read over it. Okay. When I was asked to write this farewell column, I had a number of thoughts like, “Jesus, didn’t I just write a column a week or two ago?” and “Farewell column? I have all the passwords to the website, I can keep uploading my columns for years and they can’t do a damn thing about it.” But most importantly, I thought of “Brandy” and the popular wistful refrain, “My life, my lover, my lady is the sea.” At the Law School, my life, my lover, my lady has always been the Law Weekly. Well, arguably I have had two lives, lovers and ladies: the Law Weekly and the Libel Show. In fact, I probably dedicated a substantially larger portion of my time to the latter, so in theory, the Law Weekly might actually be Brandy in the analogy, but let’s just keep moving. The Law Weekly was the first student group I joined. I had just left a job loading online content and they needed someone who knew how to upload content online. If that’s not serendipity, I do not know what is. (I doublechecked online. That is what serendipity is.) Though not necessary to my web-editing functions, I began dropping by the weekly meetings for the pizza and the chance to rub elbows with the school’s literati and journalistic elites. I have many fond memories of our bold and decisive Editor-in-Chief Lee Kolber, his right-hand man and eventual successor John Kabealo, and the opinionated, but loveable, Jimmy Thunder. At the end of the year, I was given a framed colophon that listed me as a proud member of the team; the gesture touched me more than it reasonably should have. During my second-year, a passionate love triangle emerged as the Libel Show began to steal me away from the Law Weekly offices. As so many eligible and reasonably attractive girls have found, there’s only so much Sheehan to go around. In my stead, I recruited my former roommate Alec to join the paper knowing one day he would reshape the News Section into something wonderful, nay sublime. At elections near the end of the year, I ran for Associate Columns Editor, one of the sixteen most prestigious positions in the Law Weekly world. I ran on a platform of seniority and, more importantly, not wanting to web edit anymore. Alas, victory was not to be mine. I lost to a rakish upstart named Michael Warner. After crying bitter, bitter tears, I vowed to get my revenge. (I hope you enjoyed the bee costume and the quick costume changes, asshole!) But all was not sorrow and sadness. At our end of the year barbecue, I received another framed colophon. It was pretty cool. To be honest there was some diminishing returns on it, but still I plan on raising holy hell if I don’t get one at the end of this year as well. Third-year, the gradual movement apart continued. Some people claimed that the paper didn’t get loaded online quite as often or as quickly as it had in the past. Some said I had lost a step. For months, I tried to deny it, playing through injuries and hiding the truth. My friend and colleague Andrew Christensen Virginia Paw Review Winner! Cooper ’09 tried to cover for me, not letting others know the shadow of a web editor that I had become. But you can only run so long and so far (I can only run about three miles). At elections this year, I finally renounced my web editor-ship. I believe I was the paper’s first web editor, as well as the only three-term web editor. That is a record which, for his own sake, I hope my successor does not break. But why do I keep rambling on about web editing you ask? Most of you probably know me for my columns, not for the many hours I sat alone in the office hitting CTRL-C and CTRL-V over and over again. Well, maybe for the same reason other third-years are writing their farewells about their columns, or their softball teams, or their sexual conquests (hey Natalie!), because it was important to them. In a place where everyone is well above average, we all have a need to feel unique or special. I think we can all agree anyone who would agree to do this job for three years must be very special indeed. Early on, I discovered one of the more annoying parts of the job. Normally, the paper is supposed to go online on Friday morning when the physical paper comes out at the school. If I dared sleep past 9:30 on a Friday, I would receive angry, rude emails from alums who wanted to read the latest Around North Grounds. At the time, I could not believe how lame that sounded. Now, after three years of UVA Law, three years of law and outlining, Feb Club and friends, Libel and Law Weekly, I understand those alums who wanted so badly to feel reconnected in some small way. For three years, I helped them do that, and now sadly I join their obnoxious, demanding ranks. Thank you so much to everyone past and present at the Law Weekly. Oh yeah . . . SECTION D, bitches! Email: jss9b@virginia.edu photo by Jason McKim '10 If the bee costume was out of revenge, then why is Sheehan wearing a Santa suit? Lawweekly.org Lost your print edition of the paper? Want to read the latest controversial satire about beer and softball but feel like opening a newspaper in class is a little too conspicuous? Surf on by www.lawweekly.org and enjoy all the latest Law School news brought to you courtesy of columnist John Sheehan and current Web Editor Nick Nelson. 35--%2*/"3 7ORKWITHPEOPLEYOUROWNAGE ,OCALLONGDISTANCEMOVING nPERHOUR 4RAINING"ONUSES Congratulations to Cooper, owned by Kathryn Fleming, winner of the 3 rd Annual Paw Review Competition! VALS would like to thank all the pets and their people who participated in this year’s Paw Review pet photo contest. It was enormously successful thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of the students who donated, and those who pressured their friends to donate! We had a ton of adorable contenders this year, and collectively raised a total of $695.45. VALS will donate $600 of the Paw Review proceeds to the Animal Protection Litigation Section of The Humane Society of the United States. WWWSTUDENTSERVICESMOVINGCOM 6 Columns VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY Friday, 25 April 2008 Ask Kyle and Andy: The 2 Fast 2 Furious Edition or: How we Learned to Stop Worrying and Enjoy Law School A: So . . . K: Yep . . . A: I guess this is it. Andy Clayton ’08 Columnist K: Things are winding down and 1L’s are ramping up, Kyle Schindler ’08 Columnist A: And Kyle and I are busily amassing the Ultimate Finals Youtube Collection. K: I just watched an Anaconda vomit a baby hippo. A: (sighs wistfully) How symbolic, just like the circle of life at UVA Law. K: For our final column, we are going to offer totally unsolicited advice without reverting to lame, thinly disguised aliases of our friends. A: It’s too bad, though, because we had a great “adultcontent” piece planned about Daiquiri Atoms and Long Blond Vail. K. And about the intrigues of our friend Sarah with Locke. A: Such clever punsters ne’er passed through these wood-paneled halls, and the names were never Googleable. So you can thank us for your still intact careers. K: (dusts it off) To be perfectly frank, we’re savvy. I know, I know. A: But this week we’re cutting right to the chase, Johnson. K: And as always, we’ve packaged it in bite-sized nuggets to make it easier for all the anti-intellectuals to digest. A: First, GOOD ADVICE WE’RE GLAD WE DIDN’T GET BEFORE WE NEEDED IT, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS STUPID THINGS THAT WERE A LOT OF FUN: K: We had enough for an entire column, so we tried to choose the highlights. A. One, don’t submit pictures of your friends to a “hottest law student” contest. K: Hold on, you didn’t do that. Whose picture would you have submitted? I mean, really? A: Okay, you’re right, don’t submit pictures of your professor to a “hottest law school professor” contest. K: I could get lost in Dean Ryan’s eyes forever. A: Next, don’t hook up or get romantically involved with your good friends. That’s only going to get messy, and also emotionally difficult for the people involved. A: Ooh, ooh, me again. Don’t get blitzed on Saturday before your first 1L exam on a Monday. No, seriously, don’t. That was a bad idea. K: Don’t wear an outfit out in public you aren’t comfortable with the entire world, including future employers, seeing (in the Law Weekly on OGI day).* A: Gorgeous homemade Christmakuh turtlenecks, however, are always appropriate. K: But sketchy facial hair should be grown at your own risk. A: Avoid narcissistic references to your own exploits in public fora. K: And never disrespect your roommate’s privacy: Pods and Pans!!! Next, GOOD ADVICE LEARNED THROUGH OTHERS’ MISTAKES: A: First, if you’re going to get into a fight with another guy, never utilize the open-handed slap. K: You will never live that down A: Next, do not stand in the front row of a law school band concert without proper facial heat protection. K: It will, I repeat, it WILL melt off. A: Note, pulling your shirt up over your face will not do the job. K: Also, thank God we didn’t make Law Review. A: Or any journals for that matter.** K: Finally, farewell columns are not the appropriate medium for public declarations of love. A: Or for that matter, any display of sincerity. entire state of South Carolina over to watch the game. A: Hey, you leave Cocky and his eccentric fashion stylings out of this. K: Stayed out of crushing debt. Oops. Good thing I got a Sugar Mama. A: Dated an undergraduate cheerleader. K: Well you still would have, but she would’ve had cankles. A: Ridden a whinnying stick horse at Foxfield. K: North-tapped the 13th hole at Birdwood. A: That drive went so far, it sailed through the fairway and into the bush, man. K: Championed the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. A: Without ever actually going hiking. K: Created a chic, satin-upholstered lounge in our basement. A: And enjoyed the, um, comforts, of said lounge. A: Finally, THINGS WE WOULD’VE NEVER DONE HAD WE NOT GONE TO UVA: K: Roomed with a future Supreme Cou. . . A: Who are we kidding? We would’ve lived with like five of them, a rich venture capitalist, and some person knighted for saving poor starving children from some deadly parasite. K: Watched a LOT of TV outside, especially on Saturdays in the fall. A: Our lawn still has a bare spot from Kyle’s croquet mallet. Evidently, he expresses both excitement and displeasure like John Adams at the First Continental Congress. K: At least I don’t dress up a rooster like Zorro and invite the K: And now, PARTING ADVICE for the youngsters at home. A: Be nicer to your 4Ls than we were. K: Associate Feb Club in Atlanta is looking more and more attractive by the day. A: Like it or not, we’re coming back to visit next year. K: A LOT. A: You won’t know when and you won’t know where. K: But just when you least expect it, we’ll be there. A: Show us some sympathy. K: Or pity. A: And remember, your 3L year will fly. K: So sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. A: And leave no costume unworn, no class unskipped. THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW AND THE Kyle and Andy provide questionable advice as they ride off into the sunset K: No meat on that bone, no gimme not taken. A: No drunken feelings unexpressed, no dead horse unbeaten. K: No cakes on the griddle and no ducks on the pond. A: And remember, in the words of Dan Quayle, if you don’t succeed, K: You run the risk of failure. * See, e.g., Furry Sexy Reindeer, Captain Planet the Weaker, Lobster Hat in CivPro, Apocalippz the Sexy Roller Derby Dominatrix, The Mime, Don’t Hassel the Hoff, Bierhaus Leiderhosen Boy, Will Rogers the Foxfield Cowboy with Whinnying Stick Horse, Onesie Pajama, speedos galore, Skelator at PILA, Daft Punk, Cross-dressing Daisy Duke/Dude in ripped jean miniskirt, Ian Poulter. **Despite not completing tryouts we both got offers from the Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. Emails: kms9wj@virginia.edu asc7w@virginia.edu THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF LAW AND THE MORTIMER CAPLIN PUBLIC SERVICE CENTER MORTIMER CAPLIN PUBLIC SERVICE CENTER Congratulate the following members of the Class of 2008 for completing 75 or more hours of pro bono while in law school: DANIEL F. ALLISON ERICKA ALONSO REBECCA P. BARNES JEFFREY B. BENDER JANET M. BOYSEN K. CARY BREGE MEGAN K. CALLAHAN JENNIFER M. CARPENTER TIFFANY E. CLEMENTS ELIZABETH C. COE JENNIFER L. DACOSTA DANIA C. DAVY BRENDAN O. DIGNAN MICHAEL J. ENGLE JAMES W. EVANS NAJAH A. FARLEY RYAN S. FAULCONER ALISON L. FERGUSON KATHERINE P. FLATLEY NICOLE FLATOW KRISTIN E. FLOOD JOSEPH L. FOWLER HEATHER N. FUGITT VERA V. GERRITY RYAN J. GREECHER MICHELLE HARRIS JAMES R. HARVEY KENNETH B. HICKMAN MICHAEL G. HOLLANDER photo by Andy Clayton ’08 CHU-YUAN HWANG TIFANI M. JONES TIMOTHY F. KENNEDY LAUREN J. KING ADERONKE A. LAWAL JOSEPHINE LIU LISA M. LORISH ADAM S. LOVELADY DAVID S. MORDKOFF SINEAD O’DOHERTY KRISTIN PADGETT KELLY E. PHIPPS JULIA D. PIZZI ANDREA E. RENALDI JAMES P. ROBINSON JUSTIN M. ROSS RENADA R. RUTMANIS SHARON E. RYE V. KATHLEEN SCHLEETER COLEEN P. SCHOCH REBEKAH R. SHAPIRO DANIEL P. SHEAN NATALIE N. SHONKA KATHRYN J. SKAGERBERG BRIAN J. TIEMANN MATTHEW T. VANWORMER KIRA L. WALMER AMY L. WOOLARD Congratulate the Class of 2008 Public Service Graduates JAMES S. C. BAEHR United States Marine Corps (Quantico, VA) HALLET R. BRAZELTON U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel (Washington, DC) K. CARY BREGE Advocates for Children’s Services (Durham, NC) Equal Justice Works Fellow, Buffett Fellow MIKA S. CLARK Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition (Washington, DC) JOSEPH W. CLOUD Atlanta Area District Attorney’s Office (Atlanta, GA) ELIZABETH COE Orleans Public Defenders (New Orleans, LA) PATRICIA E. DANGELO Immigration Law (Charlottesville, VA) DANIA C. DAVY Land Loss Prevention Project (Durham, NC) Skadden Fellow KATE FLATLEY The Center for Disease Control Global AIDS Program for Central America and Panama/Anacafe (Guatemala City, Guatemala) Leigh Fellow, Corcoran Award ADAM A. GORDON San Diego County District Attorney’s Office (San Diego, CA) MICHAEL HOLLANDER Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) Skadden Fellow J. PATRICK ROBINSON United States Army JAG Corps (Charlottesville, VA) KATHRYN J. SKAGERBERG Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) VAROUJ SYMONETTE The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (New York, NY) MATT VANWORMER DNA-People’s Legal Services (Shiprock, NM) Skadden Fellow, Fairstein Fellow, Corcoran Award TYLER WELTI Department of Justice Honors Program: Environmental Natural Resources Division (Washington, DC) AMY L. WOOLARD JustChildren, Legal Aid Justice Center (Richmond, VA) Powell Fellow, Fairstein Fellow, Buffett Fellow 7 Reviews VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY Friday, 25 April 2008 Mike’s Oscars: The Movies for the Class of ’08 Mike Lecaroz ’08 Reviewer For my final Law Weekly review, I submit my picks for the films, actors, and directors that defined the world of film from August 2005 to May 2008, a time that we were all distracted trying to survive law school. Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett Coming off of an Oscar win and a significant role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Blanchett has earned three Oscar nominations in three years. My favorite was I’m Not There, a rendition of Bob Dylan’s greatest hits masquerading as a deconstruction of the Dylan myth. Her contribution was a pitch-perfect impression of Dylan at his most popular and controversial in the mid-1960s. Her presence as a Soviet villainess in the Indiana Jones’ trailers only promises more for the future. photo courtesy of irlook.net Runner-up: Katherine Keener was sexy and funny in 40-YearOld Virgin, understated in Capote, and sort of in between in Into the Wild. In Friends with Money, a female-centric look at modern marriage and family starring Jennifer Aniston, Keener out-acted the former sitcom mega-star to the point of embarrassment. Best Documentary: The Aristocrats Unfortunately, I did not see all the popular documentaries on fill-in-the-favorite-liberal-cause (global warming, the tragedy of Iraq, and baby penguins). But The Aristocrats, in which dozens of famous and less famous comedians tell the same dirty joke is nothing if not an affirmation of the First Amendment. I saw it with two of my new section-mates during the first night that I needed an alternative to Bar Review. Best Supporting Actor: William Hurt photo courtesy of moviegoods.com Back in the fall of 2005, I had to explain to people that this former star of The Big Chill was a prominent leading man in the 1980s. Then came his 10 minutes at the end of A History of Violence, the best of a string of career-saving supporting roles—including a raging suburban father in Into the Wild that certainly would have scared me off to Alaska. With this recent run, he has earned back the right to sell out for a higher paycheck in this summer’s Incredible Hulk. Runner-up: Jeffery Wright is a fantastic character actor who I hope will soon break out. He was funny in the too-little-seen Broken Flowers and reinvigorated one of my favorite franchise characters: CIA agent Felix Leiter in Casino Royale. Best Screenplay: Brick This movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt is built on just one joke: film noir set in a California high school. But if one’s going to spend four years in an environment already defined by noir elements like moral ambiguity and sexual motivation, one might as well talk like a ’40s private eye. Best Actor: Matt Damon After helping Martin Scorsese win his Oscar in the Boston-based The Departed, Damon switched to comic relief in my favorite guilty pleasure from last summer, Ocean’s Thirteen. If the Oscars ever moved closer to nominating successful commercial films, it would have nominated The Bourne Supremacy. In fact, it was nominated for a BAFTA (England’s version of the Oscars). Finally, The Good Shepherd photo courtesy of timeinc.net considered a real actress. But for three years she has done what I praised Damon, Clooney and Blanchett for doing: she earned her first Oscar nomination in 2006, was an action hero in the last two installments of the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy, and in Atonement was the female lead in a romantic period piece that lived up to its critical expectations. Runner-up: Helen Mirren had one great movie performance in this period. But her year-long victory lap for The Queen was made even more remarkable given Julie Christie’s loss in Away From Her this year. For an actress over 40 to win Best Actress she needs continuing sex appeal and some real cajones. Best Director: Ang Lee While Scorsese and the Coen Brothers won Best Director Oscars (the latter for the uncompromising No Country for Old Men), it was the 2006 winner for every Good Night, Good Luck, there was a Leatherheads. Clooney takes more responsibility for his failures because he wears more hats on set (director, producer) while playing himself in front of the camera. Honorable mention: Will Smith became the world’s biggest movie star while we were in law school. I will never cease to be amazed that The Pursuit of Happyness made over $150 million. Best Actress: Keira Knightley Women seem equally split between admiration of Knightley and indignance that she is even photo courtesy of kieraknightleys.com photo courtesy of indiewire.com Lee who delivered more than one movie over the past three years. First, Brokeback Mountain was a masterpiece. Lee crafted an entirely personal movie to deliver a message—consenting adults deserve complete sexual freedom because any restriction is a deadweight loss to society—in a way that was almost acceptable to the mainstream. He also delivered Lust, Caution, a foreign language film set in Japan’s occupation of China during WWII that further explored the presence of sexual desire throughout history. Lee clinched the win with 1997’s The Ice Storm’s re-release on special edition DVD. Runner-up: David Cronenberg did not direct a perfect film in three years, but he did make two really good ones: A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Both starred Viggo Mortensen and excelled at showing how violence shattered his characters’ peaceful veneers. To borrow the poker analogy, Cronenberg presented the feeling of life as hours of boredom punctuated with brief moments of terror. Best Picture: The Lives of Others Everyone who has seen this film is blown away by the story of an East German police agent (Ulrich Mühe) who oversees the wiretapping and surveillance of a reluctantly dissident playwright at the instigation of a Party Committee member who is in love with the playwright’s girlfriend. A friend told me it was William F. Buckley’s favorite movie. This makes sense since it is about the evils perpetrated by East German secret police as part of an atheist Communist regime. The film’s focus on secret wiretapping and sacrifices of privacy for national security gives it contemporary resonance. But the director’s vision is not confined to abstractions. Although it masterfully depicts grand themes of loneliness and compromise, it also captures a very specific oppression and a very specific redemption. Of course, the real reason I’ve listed the movies above is to remember the days and stories tied to watching them. Tied to each title and performance is a memory of those with whom I shared these memories from the past three years. So, thanks again. image courtesy of wordpress.com Title Summary Pro Con National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, DVD and Blu-Ray, May 20 Nicolas Cage and much of the supporting cast from the first National Treasure are back in this seemingly improbable action-adventure romp. This time their adventures take to such places as London, Paris, Mount Rushmore, and Washington, D.C. Instead of finding a city of gold, Cage is out to prove that one of his ancestors dod not conspire to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Ed Harris is a very good, but underrated actor. Here he plays a very convincing bad guy who is out to get Nicolas Cage at every turn. The movie does attempt to infuse some intelligence into the otherwise vapid action-adventure theme by engaging American history. Moreover, with Disney money behind it, it has high-end production values too. Hollywood was pushing it with Harrison Ford (a.k.a. Han Solo) playing a professor of archaeology, but Nicolas Cage? I mean the only reason we believed that he was a chemist in The Rock was because Sean Connery was in it, and he suspends disbelief by the fact that he is 70+ and still considered a “sex symbol.” Van Halen, John Paul Jones Arena, May 2; $49.50-$149.50 They’re back . . . for the first time! Yes, kids, Van Halen is actually coming to John Paul Jones Arena this time. This tour marks the first time that Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth have performed together in over twenty years. Amazingly, after years of that “rocker” lifestyle both have survived to do a reunion tour. If you are looking for a way to spend those tax refunds from last summer’s job, those $149 floor seats are still available. Yes, that means since the last time we previewed this same concert they have still not been able to sell very many tickets. “1984”. . . ”Jump” . . . anything? I’m just trying to fill While people are willing to go listen to Bob Dylan’s failing voice because his songs are timeless, I’m not sure if the same applies for David Lee Roth. Seriously, his songs probably sound better on CD . . . and I’m guessing they can be found in a bargain bin for a lot less than $149. Also, will DVD Concert may well have been boring; nevertheless Damon deserves praise for he how well he threw himself into the role of a conflicted intelligence agent. Runner-up: George Clooney won an Oscar in 2005 and Michael Clayton was 2007’s best film. But Grade B+ C 8 The Back Page VIRGINIA LAW WEEKLY Friday, 25 April 2008 I’m Walking on May 18 Whether I’m in Shackles or Not Earlier today I looked over past farewell columns for inspiration. They were, without exception, Dan Balserak ’08 Senior Columnist over whelmingly positive about this place. However, unlike our weekly pro-beer-and-softball screed, this phenomenon is not the product of the well-oiled Law Weekly propaganda machine. It’s because it’s hard to spend three years here and not have overwhelmingly positive things to say. But this is my last chance to provoke someone into writing an angry letter, so here we go. My parents came down to watch me play soccer the other weekend (it’s sort of their thing) and we went out to lunch afterwards. As we got into our cars to go our separate ways, we exchanged these parting words: Mom: “Just make sure you actually graduate, okay?” Me: “Okay, Mom.” Dad [sternly]: “Don’t get arrested.” Me: “Alright, Dad.” Along roughly the same lines, just an hour or two ago a friend and I were remarking over instant messenger that maybe I’d managed to grow up at least a little bit since 1L year. She said: DrJones08: you did have a girlfriend for a while law school with the hope that it would force me to grow up. I’m not saying that’s why I came here per se—I did that because I had no idea what in the world else to do with a philosophy degree. I just thought that some imposed maturity might be a desirable consequence. Given the god-awful mess I made of my first year here, my 1L section probably wanted me to grow up even more than I did. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why I wanted to shake off my youth. We love youth in America. Case in point: Miley Cyrus. Who the hell doesn’t like Miley Cyrus. Does my (unsuccessful) quest for maturity make me counterculture? Like, in a really lame way? I suppose I would have been satisfied if I had just achieved a few basic benchmarks of adulthood, such as being able to make a comment in class without nervously sweating so much that I have to go towel off immediately afterwards. Or maybe if I had only forgotten to turn in my writing requirement intent form once, instead of twice (in a row), I could have hung my hat on that. I would just like to be free of these little reminders that I am not yet a fully functioning human being. But currently it appears I am still stumbling ass-backwards into the real world rather than striding purposefully into it. To me, UVA Law is like a mother photo courtesy of Jonathan Miller Sorry, Dad. DrJones08: everyone was impressed by that People were impressed? I have been alive for a quarter century now. These sorts of things are not supposed to be a concern anymore. Not only do people my age get married, they actually have children. On purpose. And they certainly do not normally get admonished by their parents to stay in school and out of jail. Looking back, I guess I came to who spoils her children, who coddles them a bit too much. She lets us get away with a bit more than we should, and we love her for it. North Grounds is the Big Rock Candy Mountains, where you never change your socks, and little streams of alcohol come a-trickling down the rocks. It’s a fantasy world. But it’s also not—it’s real. This is a real school, where we learn real things, and employers give us real jobs because of it. Our time here is so idyllic will not doubt notice, we failed the immodest task which was our charge. Instead, we ended up with an article about a (concededly exceptional) professor, Robert M. O’Neill, whom we profiled when he retired last year. This would be bad enough standing on its own. But first contrast the absence of these two profiles with our ability to remember Professor Klarman and Dean Jeffries. Then add in last week’s blatant misspelling of our own dean’s name (there are just two ‘e’s in Jeffries!) mul- G. Robinson: I don’t think you have it right—the question is not whether you can get it up or not. Wait . . . that didn’t come out right. M. Dooley: If for some reason you wish to be punished, and do not know a sadist, buy calls on insider information. E. Flippen: Why do professors grind through so many cases? The law has changed. Read a case where the doctrine started. Then read the case that controls the law now. I guess they have to do something. photo courtesy of dreambreeze.com The real-life Big Rock Candy Mountain. See? North Grounds is maybe just as real. that we suspect, silently and with no small hint of guilt, that the joke is on them, but maybe it’s just a big joke that we’re all in on together. To be sure, my experience here was in no way universal. In fact, if any parents happen to be reading this on graduation weekend, I can assure you with the utmost confidence that your child’s experience here was vastly more wholesome and productive than mine. This school, like anything else, is what you make of it. And I’ll be damned if some of us—maybe most of us—don’t make a lot of it. However, I am similarly certain that I’m not alone in having come here 1L year with grand aspirations of buckling down and tearing things up, so whatever sense of regret I feel at failing to do so is likewise neither special nor unique. It makes no sense to wallow in it; the chance is gone, and things did turn out fine anyway. At the moment, it seems more appropriate to note that my fond memories of this place are innumerable, and that the litany of people to whom I owe thanks is endless. Alright, that’s an exaggeration, but it’s definitely long. In retrospect, I was wrong in looking to someone or something else to make me grow up. You’ve got to do that on your own. So as much as it miffs the faculty when Bar Review gets in the way of Friday morning Corporations, perhaps it’s a virtue of this school that it gives us the chance to mess up. There’s no atmosphere of paranoia here, like at other schools, that drives us to work—we drive ourselves to work. Which is what adults do, if I understand correctly. So, Mom, I’ll recount my class credits and make sure I got all 86. Dad, if I see the cops, I’ll start running. Joking aside, though, I want to thank both of you from the bottom of my heart. I know your prayers had something to do with me ending up here. Email: deb7d@virginia.edu From the Editor-in-Chief The Law Weekly concluded its look at sixty volumes' worth of history this week. This issue will probably enter the annals of this paper’s infamy, right alongside Babygate and the use of satire. Traditionally, the last Law Weekly of the school year is a time to write about longstanding faculty members who have elected to hang up their full-time academic hats. We intended to recognize Professors Earl Dudley and Glen O. Robinson as they add “emeritus” to their titles this year. As readers faculty quotes tiple times in our news lead. What you’ve got is a string of poor showings by the Law Weekly’s editor-inchief. Maybe we haven’t published anything flagrantly offensive on my watch (if anything, I’ve overedited a couple of columns), but this string of errors since Spring Break feel just as bad. So coming next fall, we hope Professors Dudley and Robinson will be gracious enough to help us with some belated appreciation. And maybe proofreading. -Craig Smith ang continued E. Magill: Being bettter than Justice Douglas by 1970 is kind of like being the best looking law professor—it’s not like there’s that big a pool to start with. T. Nachbar: Isn’t it pretty outside. Should we have class outside? My first year I taught a class outside, my small section. I thought it would work out okay, we were friends, right? . . . Yeah, that didn’t work out at all. Thumbs up to Passover, and the students who passed out unleavened bread Monday in recognition. Nothing makes ANG’s Monday like a little pre-noon macaroon. M. Schwartzman: Don’t shoot your casebooks. We had a guy who would take his casebooks to the range after exams and blow them away. Then he would post pictures of it. He became a JAG officer. I guess that’s no surprise. Thumbs up to students who so crack under the stress of exams that they literally yell at their friends during class. Nothing says “future superstar trial attorney” than a case of stress induced Tourette’s. T. Nachbar: Anyone ever hooked up with someone? Class: [snickers] T. Nachbar: Not that way! Hooked up to their kidneys! Thumbs down to people who think their comments or jokes about exams are original or witty. ANG is the only person that can make unoriginal and unfunny jokes time after time and think it’s funny. So back off. Thumbs up to new cheese steak special in the cafeteria. Good thing all of ANG’s pants have elastic waists. Thumbs down to the winner of Paw Review for using a picture of your dog taken when it was a puppy although it is now full grown. Size matters dammit! Size f’ing matters. K. Abraham: I skipped [the unit] on collision and comprehensive coverage. It’s what happens when your car is damaged. I can’t bring myself to talk about it. Just buy both. That way, when you hit a deer, it doesn’t matter. Anyways, it’s not worthy of a great law school. T. Jacobi: I thought you were going to quote the less famous Jefferson quotation: “Let one nail one’s genitals to a table . . .” R. Balnave: You’re going to have to give me signals that class is over because the clock is broken. Put your heads down and look tired. The trick is to make it distinguishable from our normal [9 am] classes. M. Collins: Next week we’re going to cover the topic of divorce. That is going to have some serious life consequences for you.
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EDITORIAL POLICY: The Virginia Law Weekly publishes letters and columns of interest to the Law School and the legal community at large. Views expressed in such submissions are those of the author(s...
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