Law in 10

As part of its plan to close a $26 billion dollar budget gap, and in response to a federal order to reduce its prison population, the State of California last year began sending hundreds of non-violent, non-sexual offenders back to their home counties. What will the so-called realignment strategy mean for counties, for communities, and for the offenders themselves? 

Assistant Visiting Professor Jessica Eaglin teaches federal sentencing at California Western and is following California's prison plan closely. She offers her thoughts on how the plan and how incarceration disproportionately affects communities of color.

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American legal education has been the subject of a number of recent national news stories, highlighting the challenges in preparing the next generation of lawyers. 

The American Bar Association plays a significant role in shaping the future of legal education. Bill Robinson serves as this year's ABA president and was the featured speaker at California Western's commencement exercises held December 19. Law in 10 spoke with President Robinson before the event.

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The Occupy Wall Street protests in cities around the country demonstrate a growing dissatisfaction with the influence of corporations in American politics and business. Now a U.S. Senator proposes a constitutional amendment empowering the Congress to regulate campaign spending by big business.

Constitutional law professor Glenn Smith talks about the amendment, its chances, and how Congress and the people can better control the influence of money in politics.

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California residents have consistently supported the death penalty since its reinstitution in 1978. Now, a group of retired law enforcement personnel and civil rights groups propose a statewide ballot measure to replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole, even for the state's worst offenders.

Retired federal judge James Stiven and California Innocence Project Director Justin Brooks talk about the proposed SAFE Act, which would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. The measure is proposed for the November 2012 ballot.

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Natural disasters including floods, hurricanes, and wildfires displace thousands of Americans each year and leave consumers and insurers on the hook for millions in losses to homes and other structures.  

In a recent article in the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, California Western Associate Professor Kenneth S. Klein explores the growing problem of underinsurance, the complicated reasons behind it, and offers a proposal to better educate consumers while protecting the ability of insurers to compete in a free market. Klein looks to the ENERGY STAR program backed by the U.S. Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency as a model for his “Coverage Guide” proposal.

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This month marks the 10^th anniversary of the most devastating attack on U.S. soil, the events of the morning of September 11, 2001. 

The attacks carried out that day continue to resonate both here and abroad. In New York City, work continues at One World Trade Center, otherwise known as Ground Zero, where a memorial plaza honors the more than 2,700 who died in and around the twin towers. In Afghanistan, more than 30,000 U.S. forces remain on the ground, while more than 6,000 have lost their lives in the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

William Aceves, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at California Western and an expert in international law and human rights, looks back at the events of that day and the ways in which their effects are still felt.

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 In addition to the standard law school curriculum, California Western students gain practical experience and begin to develop their professional role and responsibilities through the second-year course called STEPPS. 

Beginning this year, all second year students will participate in the STEPPS course, taught by practicing attorneys from the San Diego bar. The program was recently highlighted by the Chronicle of Higher Education and the ABA Journal as among the leaders in this kind of practical training for law students.

Professor Tim Casey describes the STEPPS curriculum which he describes as "reverse engineering a lawyer."

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While the recent political deal to lift the U.S. debt limit did not prevent serious economic consequences, it did provide a number of lessons about the limits of our two-party system and the relevance of the U.S. Constitution to contemporary political reality.

Professor Glenn Smith examines the constitutional lessons from the debt ceiling debate. His op-ed on the subject appears in the August 10 issue of the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

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The United States Supreme Court ended its 2011 term this week, handing down several high-profile decisions and capping a session which included rulings on free speech, the limitations of class action law, and campaign finance.

Constitutional law professor Glenn Smith looks back at some of the highlights of the past term.

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President Obama scored a major political victory with the approval of national health care reform, but the dose of policy medicine left a bad taste in the mouths of many Americans, helping fuel a Republican victory in last year's midterm elections. The fight over health care reform continues in the courts and the Congress, as Republicans seek to overturn what they dub, "Obamacare."

In this first in a two-part series of interviews, California Western Professor Susan Channick talks about health care reform, its chances of survival on a national level, and whether Americans will ever truly embrace a single-payer system. Professor Channick's research interests include health law and public policy.

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