MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry highlights FIU Law student Desmond Meade, who is now challenging felony disenfranchisement laws that deny those who had formerly been incarcerated the right to vote.
Desmond Meade is the current president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), and a 2nd-year law student at Florida International University College of Law.
FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg recognized more than two dozen distinguished members of the FIU academic community for their outstanding achievements in research and scholarship at the Top Scholars reception April 9.
“It is clear that you are reaching for the stars,” said Rosenberg at the annual event held at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential House. “You have set high goals and nd you have met them. The provost and I want to challenge you to keep it up.”
Former Florida Judge and FIU Associate Professor of law Phyllis Kotey – who was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach constitutional law and criminal procedure at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana – said she was proud to be nominated with such world-class scholars. “I think of myself as a practitioner, never as a scholar. It’s wonderful to be welcomed by this prestigious group.”
Honorees are nominated by their respective deans through the Office of the Provost. The following law faculty members were recognized this year.
Professor Thomas E. Baker was selected as “Professor of the Year” for 2011-12 in recognition of his “excellence in teaching” and his “devoted commitment to the students of the FIU College of Law.” This is the second consecutive year Baker has won the award that is announced at the annual Barristers’ Ball.
After the awards ceremony, Professor Baker said “ I am humbled and grateful to receive this award. It means a great deal to me, coming from my students.”
Baker is a popular and respected teacher who also has been elected as the graduation Hooding Professor four times. This year, he was recognized with two additional university-wide awards: “FIU Book Author” and “FIU Top Scholar.” He is the author of 14 books and more than 200 articles.
Adjunct Professor John Little will be honored by the South Florida Community Development Coalition (SFCDC) for his leadership in community development. The awards will be presented at a cocktail reception at The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in the developing arts district of Wynwood on May 1st. South Florida Community Development Coalition is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to building communities and developing assets in Miami-Dade County.
John Little is one of the co-founders of the Community Development Clinic (“CDC”) at Florida International University College of Law FIU College of Law. In 2005, along with Professor Peggy Maisel, John created the CDC to assist small businesses and non-profit organizations in the process of incorporation, contracts, and many other legal matters which would have created a financial hardship on these organizations and community members if they had to hire a private attorney.
In the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), law student Desmond Meade addresses how he is “taking his message to Washington, D.C. where he will speak at a Congressional briefing about the Democracy Restoration Act. The DRA would give Desmond and others like him the chance to participate in the democratic process by restoring voting rights in federal elections to the approximately four million Americans who are no longer incarcerated, but are denied the right to vote because they once served criminal sentences.”
Desmond Meade is the current president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), and a 2nd-year law student at Florida International University College of Law.
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Cammy Clark, of the Miami Herald, profiles FIU Law School Professor Elizabeth Price Foley’s third book, The Tea Party: Three Principles.
Despite graduating with a history degree from Emory University, Elizabeth Price Foley knew little about the U.S. Constitution when she worked on healthcare legislation for two Democratic congressmen.
It was not until the early 1990s — when she left Capitol Hill to attend law school in Tennessee — that she discovered just how little she knew or had cared about the country’s founding legal document.
“I realized all the work I was doing on the Hill was kind of ludicrous,” she said. “I was operating under a knowledge vacuum, with no cognizance of whether the bills I were writing and promoting were constitutional. … The attitude was do what we want to do and let the courts stop us.”
Today, Foley, 46, of Key Largo, calls herself a “constitutional geek.” She can speak passionately for hours about the 224-year-old evolving document.
“She is one of constitutional law’s rising stars,” said Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law.
Professor Hannibal Travis will deliver the 2012 Naby Assyrian Lecture, “Cultural and Symbolic Reparations for Past Historical Injustices: The Future Prospects of Restitution for the Ottoman Christian Genocide” on April19th at Harvard’s Science Center A.
“Cultural and symbolic reparations aim to reverse the last stage of genocide, which is the imposition of the national identity of the perpetrator group on the remnants of the victim group. New laws and policies in the Americas, Europe and Oceania attempt to remember and symbolically remedy past historical injustices against aboriginal peoples and national minorities. These reforms mirror the recommendations of the European Union with respect to the Ottoman Christian Genocide, namely recognition of what happened, unfettered access by historians to the archives, complete religious freedom, and respect for the traditional ownership of lands and cultural treasures.”
Download a PDF version of the event’s program»
In FIU News, Law Fellow Ryan Stoa addresses the world’s growing water crisis and how The Global Water for Sustainability (GLOWS) program, led by FIU, has become a major player in the field.
Ryan Stoa is currently the Program Executive Officer for Global Water for Sustainability – GLOWS, as well as a Fellow in Water Law and Policy at Florida International University College of Law.
MIAMI – The College of Law hosted its Second Annual Art Competition for middle and high school students on Saturday, April 14, 2012. The competition is geared to get young people thinking about concepts like law, freedom, tolerance, and equality. The pieces submitted also help make the College of Law a more visually interesting space, as they are displayed throughout the common areas of the building.
The College of Law began hosting the competition last year and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the work and the thoughtfulness behind the pieces. This year’s submissions were equally impressive and it was tough deciding on the winner. We are thankful for all the submissions and we hope these young artists continue pursuing their dreams.
In the National Post, FIU Law School Professor Elizabeth Price Foley writes on the perception of America’s foundational principles.
Elizabeth Price Foley serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Justice Florida Chapter. She is also the Institute for Justice Chair in Constitutional Litigation and Professor of Law at Florida International University College of Law.
The growing perception that America’s foundational principles are on the verge of a deep, dark, politically correct precipice has created a political environment akin to a gas leak. It was only a matter of time before something ignited the flames of political resistance. As it turned out, the spark was a free-falling economy and a crumbling housing market. For years, Wall Street greed and congressional policies combined to encourage widespread departure from traditional mortgage lending practices, in which no-documentation, no-money-down, interest-only, high debt-to-income-ratio and other high-risk or “sub-prime” loans became commonplace … Read more at the National Post.com »