Alabama Law’s 1L incoming class consists of 152 students—drawn from a pool of over 1,500 applicants. More than 50 percent of the 1Ls are women and just under 20 percent identify as members of a racial or ethnic minority. Members of this class have studied, lived, or worked in 43 countries outside of the United States, including those in Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, and they read or speak 12 different languages and dialects from around the world. Read more about this year’s incoming class here.
Alabama Law is proud to announce that Professor Daiquiri Steele has rejoined the School of Law as an Assistant Professor. Her research examines whether and how anti-discrimination laws help ensure equal access to employment and education—both of which are crucial determinants of socioeconomic mobility. Read more about Professor Steele’s work and new position here.
Alabama Law alum and Alabama Appleseed intern, Allen Slater (’21), recently helped free a man after 27 years in Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County, Alabama. Read more about it on the Alabama Appleseed webpage.
The University of Alabama Federal Tax Clinic contributed $37,500 to the University of Alabama’s Federal Tax Clinic Scholarship fund.
Tim Francis (’84) gifted $10,000 to the James Timothy Francis Endowed Scholarship fund.
The Scott Family Fund / Thomas J. Scott, Jr. allocated $5,000 in support of the Judge Irene Feagin Scott Tax Library Collection Fund.
Susan Doss (’89) contributed $32,540 to the L. Susan Doss Endowed Scholarship.
Scholarship Foundation Inc/H. Thomas Heflin (’79) donated $5,000 to the Howell T. Heflin Fund & $5,000 to the Class of 1979 In Memoriam Scholarship.
Susan R. Miller gifted $175,000 to the John C.H. Miller, Jr. Scholarship.
The Estate of William H. Mills (’56) allocated $200,000 to establish the William H. Mills Symposium on Legal Ethics and Professionalism Endowment Fund.
Penny A. Davis (’78) contributed $5,500 to the Alabama Law Alumni Society.
Paula W. Hinton (’79) donated $15,000 to the Paula W. Hinton (1979) and James F. Hinton, Sr. (1948) Scholarship.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP gifted $13,000 to the Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Endowed Scholarship.
M. Wayne Wheeler (’66) contributed $100,000 to the Judge Robert J. Wheeler Endowed Scholarship Fund.
David and Geri Butterfield donated $250,000 to establish The Ashley Lauren Butterfield Memorial Endowed Law Scholarship.
The Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions Committee donated $10,000 for the Alabama Pattern Jury Instructions/William C. Sullivan Scholarship.
Professor Deepa Das Acevedo’s essay, (Im)mutable Race? was published in the Northwestern University Law Review Online, on July 15. The essay applies the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County to cases of racial transformation and uses an anthropologically-informed interpretive posture called “cultivated attentiveness” to guide courts.
Additionally, Professor Acevedo presented her book project, The Battle for Sabarimala, at a roundtable discussion during the Society for the Anthropology of Religion’s biennial conference on May 15. She also organized the roundtable, which was titled “Institutional Matters: Controversies at the Center of Religion, Law, and Politics,” and featured Deonnie Moodie (Oklahoma) and Leilah Vevaina (Chinese University of Hong Kong).
Professor John Felipe Acevedo participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Institute on Law and Culture in Medieval England.
At the Law and Society Association’s Annual Meeting (May 27-30) Acevedo presented his draft paper, “Prurient Zoning: The Theory and Practice of Sex Speech Zoning.” He also chaired a round table, “Race and Property Law” and a paper session, “Addressing the Housing Crisis” as part of the Socio-Legal Approaches to Property Collaborative Research Network, which he organizes with Bernadette Athuahene (Chicago-Kent College of Law).
Professor Richard Delgado‘s article, Remedies for Police Shootings: A Comment on Slater, was a Top Ten Download on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) list for several weeks. The article appeared in the Berkeley Journal of African American Law & Policy.
His article, Groundhog Law received the same recognition after appearing in Journal of Law in Society, as did Rodrigo’s Reappraisal, co-authored with Professor Jean Stefancic. Their article appeared in B.U. L. Rev.
Their book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction was the #1 best seller on Amazon’s list for general constitutional law most of the summer. The Kindle version was often rated #2 bestseller, and the audiobook #3.
Their contribution to critical race scholarship was covered by Michelle Goldberg (N.Y. Times), Ian McWhorter (N.Y. Times), and publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Washington Post, AL.com, Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Conversation.
They submitted the final manuscript for a new edition of their casebook, Latinos & The Law: Cases and Materials. Co-edited with Leticia Saucedo (UC-Davis) and Marc-Tizoc Gonzalez (New Mexico), the 1063-page book will be published by West Law Group in October 2021.
Jean Stefancic also spoke on a Presidential Panel at the American Sociological annual meeting, on the subject of emancipatory sociology and the “Future of Critical Race Theory.”
Professor Russell Gold published the Oxford Handbook of Prosecutors and Prosecution, of which he is a co-editor. Professor Gold also authored a chapter in that volume and co-authored the Introduction.
On July 15 and July 19, Professor Gold presented via Zoom his work in progress, Power over Procedure, at the Civil Procedure Workshop and CrimFest.
Professor Amy Kimpel’s article Paying for a Clean Record was accepted for publication in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (forthcoming 2022). The article looks at the twin criminal justice reforms of diversion and expungement and the ways in which, in some jurisdictions, they enable defendants with financial means to pay to avoid or erase a criminal record. Because of the racial wealth gap, allowing defendants to pay for a clean record can calcify race and class-based disparities both in the criminal legal system and in society at large.
Professor Ron Krotoszynski, Jr. was elected, by acclamation, Vice-President and President-Elect of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. He will serve as Vice-President/President-Elect at the 2022 annual meeting, President at the 2023 meeting, and Past-President at the 2024 annual meeting. His election took place at the SEALS Annual Meeting, held at Amelia Island, Florida, from July 26, 2021 to August 2, 2021. Krotoszynski’s position includes a three-year term of service on the SEALS Board of Directors. In addition, he moderated two workshops for law school research deans focused on how best to support faculty with researching, writing, and marketing their scholarship.
Finally, Krotoszynski represented the University of Alabama School of Law on the SEALS Steering Committee.
Professor Shalini Bhargava Ray published The Emerging Lessons of Trump v. Hawaii, in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal as part of its symposium on The Presidency and Individual Rights.
