The Law School will host a reunion honoring former law clerks honoring former Law Clerks of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. on Feb. 27-28.
U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. Granade recently issued an order prohibiting Attorney General Luther Strange from enforcing Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage, but she placed a two-week stay on the ruling while Strange’s office crafts an appeal.
The stay is set to expire Feb. 9, but Professor Steven Hobbs told The Anniston Star that Granade could extend it or an appeals court could grant a separate stay and put the issue on hold until June.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on whether same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry or whether states are allowed to ban gay marriage. A ruling is expected in June.
For more, read “Same-sex Alabama Couples Await Appeals Court, Supreme Court Decisions.”
Becca Brady, Assistant Dean for Admissions, was recently awarded the Patriot Award by Bret Hedrick, the Alabama Area Chair for Employer Support of the Guard, on behalf of the Department of Defense. She was honored for fully recognizing and honoring the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) as well as showing support for our country’s Service members and their families.
Professor Montre Carodine recently said on NPR’s “Morning Edition” that the BP trial judge will be mindful of his earlier gross negligence ruling when assessing the fine BP must pay for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has ruled that BP’s decisions and willful misconduct are to blame for the oil spill.
“When he’s thinking about how much money ultimately to impose, he’s going to be thinking about that testimony that led him to believe that BP acted with gross negligence,” Carodine said.
For more, read “U.S. District Judge To Calculate BP’s Fine For Gulf Oil Spill.”
Second year student Shalyn Smith was selected by the Southern Region of the Black Law Students Association as the recipient of the 2015 Trailblazer of the Year Award. The award recognizes students for their hard work and dedication to excellence through exemplification of the SRBLSA theme: Onward and Upward: Blazing the Trail. The theme is a reflection of Ms. Smith and SRBLSA’s commitment to creating the next generation of trailblazers in the legal profession. Smith’s work as a law school ambassador, as well as her development of pre-law panels and outreach programs for minority students are just some of the many accomplishments that the award seeks to honor. Smith will accept the award at the SRBLSA regional convention in South Carolina.
The Law School welcomes Professor Anne Macduff and nine students from the Australian National University College of Law. Macduff is a faculty member and teaches Legal Theory, Family Law, Evidence, and Foundations of Australian Law. While in Tuscaloosa, Macduff will team-teach a course on Comparative Race Law with Professor Bryan Fair, while the students will participate in a five-week period of intensive study.
The visit is part of a reciprocal summer school program that the Law School initiated in 2001 with the ANU’s College of Law. Under the program, up to 10 law students from UA travel to Canberra every July-August to visit the country’s High Court, the local Supreme Court, and the Commonwealth Parliament. The program has been directed from its inception by Professor Bill Andreen. During the past 14 years, 130 students from each law school (260 total) have participated in the program. In addition, 14 professors from the law school have taught at the ANU, while 14 ANU professors have taught at Alabama.
