Law Briefs
NCIP Shares $2 Million Grant
The Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) at Santa Clara University School of Law and the California Innocence Project (CIP) at California Western School of Law received more than $2 million to administer a massive DNA testing program designed to free California inmates who were wrongfully imprisoned.
The funding, from the National Institute of Justice, is part of the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing grant program, included in the 2004 Justice for All Act sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Bloodsworth grant was intended to allow states to conduct DNA tests in cases in which someone has already been convicted, but key DNA evidence was not tested.
For more information, visit ncip.scu.edu.
Law School Expansion
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Santa Clara Law now occupies all three stories of Bannan Hall. |
All three stories of Bannan Hall are now occupied by the School of Law, a move that centralizes many offices and makes it easier for students, faculty and staff to interact.
Bannan’s ground floor, as always, is home to classrooms and the Herman Levy Student Lounge. The second and third floors now house additional classrooms, faculty offices, Student Services (formerly known as Law Records), Alumni Relations and Development, Law Career Services, Academic and Professional Development, the law journals, and the school’s centers and institutes. Many offices were moved back to the center of the campus from Loyola Hall on the southern edge of the campus.
For the first time in many years, almost all law school activities are in adjacent buildings, with the Heafey Library and Bergin Hall next door.
“I think the benefits are considerable and already evident,” said Jacqueline Wender, senior assistant dean of administration, who helped coordinate the move. Wender said the move “produces opportunities for collaborative projects and shared ideas. We appreciate the support of the university in making this possible.”
Entering Class Profile
This year’s entering law class totals 242 full-time students, and 81 part-timers, up a handful from the previous year. But the real story is the additional 600 applications for the coveted spots, rising from 3,983 last year to 4,581.
The class is 46 percent women and 54 percent men, while 48 percent are students of color. The median age of day students is 24, while the oldest student in the night class is 57. Students come from 31 states and 10 foreign countries, including China, South Korea, India, Canada and Armenia. The top two suppliers of new students are Santa Clara University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Celebrating Diversity
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Keith Wattley ’99 received the Santa Clara Law Social Justice and Human Rights Award at the October celebration. |
In October, Santa Clara Law hosted the 6th Annual Celebration of Diversity in the Legal Profession. One of the most diverse law schools in the nation, Santa Clara Law created the event to provide its students with the opportunity to build relationships with members of the legal profession and honor the work of leaders who have furthered civil rights and social justice. In addition, the gala raised funds for the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Scholarship, which supports students committed to equality and social justice. At the event, two people received the Santa Clara Law Social Justice and Human Rights Award—Honorable Carlos R. Moreno of the California State Supreme Court and Keith Wattley ’99, founder of UnCommon Law.
Graduation 2009
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Graduates were inspired by the words of Bryan Stevenson, who fights for the rights of the poor and death row prisoners in the South. |
Pomp, circumstance and a reminder to remember the power a law degree confers were all part of the ceremony as 280 law students graduated in the Mission Gardens on May 23.
Human rights attorney Bryan Stevenson told the graduates to use their diplomas as microphones to speak up in the face of “appalling silences.” “Nothing is impossible if you speak up,” he said. Stevenson is founder and executive director of the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative, which has secured relief for 75 condemned prisoners in Alabama. In 2008, Stevenson was the first recipient of the School of Law’s Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize.
Stevenson urged the students to be vocal in whichever field they choose.
“You have the capacity, you have the power, you have the ability when you leave this place today, to say things that can change the world around you,” he said.
SCU president Michael Engh, S.J. told the students to “be heroes” like Stevenson, to “inspire us by your lives as lawyers.”
“The ceremony was fantastic,” said graduate Krista Jacobsen. “My family and friends thought everything was lovely. Bryan Stevenson was very inspirational.”
Gemma Daggs, in describing the post-graduation ceremony of champagne and strawberries summed up what graduation is about for many. It “was a perfect ending to three wonderful, but challenging years of law school,” she said.
For a photo gallery, visit law.scu.edu/alumni.
Community Law Center Celebration
Gratitude for 16 years of helping low-income clients filled the Adobe Lodge on Oct. 1 at the annual Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center celebration. The Walnut Creek law firm of Bramson, Plutzik, Mahler & Birkhaeuser received the community award. Jacquetta Lannan ’06 was honored with the commitment award for her volunteer work at the center, including serving on its advisory board. Lannan practices employment law at Pierce and Shearer in Palo Alto. Sandra Gonzalez was honored with the courage award.
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FACULTY NEWS
2009-10 Center Scholars Santa Clara Law’s distinguished faculty includes nationally and internationally recognized scholars. For the 2009-2010 academic year, Santa Clara Law has recognized professors Colleen Chien, Steven Diamond, Kerry Lynn Macintosh, Michelle Oberman, Margaret Russell, Beth Van Schaack, and E. Gary Spitko as Center Scholars for their scholarship connected to the Law School Centers of Excellence—the Center for Global Law and Policy, the Center for Social Justice and Public Service, and the High Tech Law Institute. Center Scholars receive some release time from teaching to focus more time on research and scholarship. For more information, see law.scu.edu/centerscholars.
Fore more faculty news including recent publications and awards, see law.scu.edu/faculty/faculty-spotlight.cfm.
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