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December 2007

Nathan A. Sales to Join Faculty of George Mason University School of Law [2007-12-20]

Nathan A. Sales, a former official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice, will join the faculty of George Mason University School of Law as an Assistant Professor in the spring 2008 semester. Professor Sales will teach National Security Law and Administrative Law.

From 2006-2007, Sales served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at DHS. His work focused on combating terrorist travel and improving information sharing. Sales led DHS's efforts to draft and implement legislation that strengthens the security features of, and expands, the Visa Waiver Program (which allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the United States without a visa). He headed the U.S. delegation in talks with seven countries to implement the new visa waiver security measures and served as the Secretary of Homeland Security's Special Envoy to South Korea.

Sales previously was Counsel, then Senior Counsel, in DOJ's Office of Legal Policy. In 2002, he received the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service – the Department's highest honor – for his role in drafting the USA PATRIOT Act. He received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award in 2003 for his work on judicial confirmations. Sales returned to OLP in summer 2005 to lead the Justice Department's "war room" for the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts.

During the 2005-2006 academic year, Sales was John M. Olin Fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center. From 2003 through 2005, he practiced at the Washington, D.C., law firm Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP. He clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Sales was graduated from Duke Law School magna cum laude, joining the Order of the Coif and serving as Research Editor of the Duke Law Journal. He received his A.B., summa cum laude, from Miami University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

"Nathan Sales is one of the most promising young legal scholars in the country," said the law school's dean, Dan Polsby. "We are delighted that he has joined our community."

Lerner on Giving to Higher Education [2007-12-07]

Professor Craig Lerner advised that philanthropists should give to something they believe in or limit a gift to five or 10 years to avoid finding years later that their gifts are supporting something that would not have been their choice.
Lerner's comments came during a conference on higher education philanthropy sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, a new nonprofit group that strives to represent the interest of donors ready to make major gifts. Among the topics examined by a panel of lawyers, philanthropy experts and college alumni at the conference was the redirecting of gifts intended for a specific purpose without adequate notice to the donors.
Donations to American higher education have been doubling every decade.

Giving Thought to Donor Intent, Inside Higher Ed (insidehighered.com), December 7, 2007. By Elia Powers.
Excerpt:
"Ron Malone, the lead plaintiff attorney in Robertson v. Princeton, a case involving Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, said it’s important for donors to consider whether they will have the legal standing to enforce how a gift is used, and whether the recipient college has mechanisms in place to report on how money is being spent.
"More donors are demanding that kind of information and wanting to know what’s happening along the way with their gifts, said Anne Yastremski, an alumna of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (now the coed Randolph College) and executive director of Preserve Educational Choice, the alumna/student/donor organization supporting litigation against the college over its decision to admit men and to sell off part of its art collection.

"But Malone said donors who have specific ideas in mind for their gifts often fail to clearly articulate them when talks with colleges take place and papers are being signed.

“'It’s during that period of euphoria over the gift-giving process when donors need protection,' Malone said. 'Once that check clears, attitudes can change. [Those who handle the money at colleges] aren’t bad people; they are just asking the wrong questions,' he added. 'They’re saying, "What’s the best way to spend the money," rather than, "What covenant do we have with our donors. What did we agree to do with their money?"

"Craig Lerner, a law professor at George Mason University, said donors shouldn’t be surprised years later if a gift made with only general terms isn’t supporting something they approve of down the line, particularly if they are giving to sources they don’t know well. Instead, he said philanthropists should consider finding someone or something they truly believe in, limit a gift to five or 10 years and have enough trust so that strings don’t need to be attached.

"Added Ruff Fant, who identified himself as a donor to Vanderbilt University: 'The tendency toward highly targeted gifts isn’t good for higher education."

Read the article

Mason Graduates Achieve Highest Bar Pass Rate in Virginia [2007-12-05]

Mason Law alumni who sat for the July 2007 Virginia Bar Exam continued the school's tradition of passing by a greater percentage than the state average, posting July results that were far and away the best ever for the School of Law's graduates. Nearly 120 Mason Law graduates took the July exam, and the result was the highest pass rate of any Virginia law school.

Among all who took the exam, Mason Law graduates scored nearly 17 percentage points higher than the state average passage rate, with an overall passage rate of 88.8 percent versus a state overall passage rate of 71.9 percent.

Those alumni who took the the bar exam for the first time scored higher than the state average passage rate for first-time takers by 15 percentage points. Mason Law alumni taking the exam for the first time passed at a rate of 93.2 percent versus the state's first-time average passage rate of 78.2 percent.

November 2007

Read the Most Recent Issue of the Mason Law News (PDF) [2007-11-30]

The November 2007 issues of the Mason Law News cover the following stories:

High Cost of Learning

Alumni Challenge Met

Meese Visits

Law Firm Challenge

2007 JLR

Alumni Volunteerism

Law Students Volunteer

ISL Profi les

Capital Corner

Mark Your Calendar

Faculty News

A Message From the Dean

Law Alumni News

In Memoriam

Zywicki, Rotunda Bring to Five the Number of Mason Law Professors Advising Presidential Candidates [2007-11-19]

The 2008 presidential campaigns of Senator Fred Thompson and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have chosen Professor Todd Zywicki and Professor Ronald Rotunda, respectively, for positions on key campaign committees.

On November 16, the Fred Thompson campaign announced that it had chosen Zywicki for its Law Professors Committee within the Lawyers for Fred Coalition.

The same day, the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee announced the addition of Rotunda to its Justice Advisory Committee chaired by former Solicitor General Ted Olson.

Zywicki and Rotunda join Professors Michelle Boardman, Timothy Muris, and Peter Berkowitz as appointees to positions within the 2008 presidential campaigns, bringing the number of Mason Law professors serving as campaign advisors to five.

Thompson Campaign Announces Lawyers for Fred Coalition, US Federal News, November 16, 2007.

Rudy Giuliani Campaing Unveils Additional Justice Advisory Committee Members, US Federal News, November 16, 2007.

Berkowitz in WSJ: Insanity of Bush Hatred [2007-11-14]

Hatred tends to cloud judgment and therefore is a passion a citizen should not be proud of and should avoiding bringing to public debate says Professor Peter Berkowitz.

Berkowitz argues in the WSJ.com Opinion Journal that hatred of President George W. Bush subverts sound thinking and violates the hallmarks of the truly liberal spirit, ultimately compelling those driven by hatred to reduce complex issues to matters of good and evil.

The Insanity of Bush Hatred, WSJ.com Opinion Journal, November 14, 2007. By Peter Berkowitz.

Excerpt:
"Hating the president is almost as old as the republic itself. The people, or various factions among them, have indulged in Clinton hatred, Reagan hatred, Nixon hatred, LBJ hatred, FDR hatred, Lincoln hatred, and John Adams hatred, to mention only the more extravagant hatreds that we Americans have conceived for our presidents.

"But Bush hatred is different. It's not that this time members of the intellectual class have been swept away by passion and become votaries of anger and loathing. Alas, intellectuals have always been prone to employ their learning and fine words to whip up resentment and demonize the competition. Bush hatred, however, is distinguished by the pride intellectuals have taken in their hatred, openly endorsing it as a virtue and enthusiastically proclaiming that their hatred is not only a rational response to the president and his administration but a mark of good moral hygiene."

Read the article

Espinel Gives Keynote Speech for California Bar IP Conference [2007-11-09]

Visiting Assistant Professor Victoria A. Espinel delivered the keynote address at the State Bar of California's Intellectual Property Law Section Conference. Entitled the 32nd Annual Intellectual Property Institute, the event took place in Monterrey, California, in early November.

In her address Espinel discussed international IP-related issues, foremost among them international trade negotiations and agreements regarding protection and enforcement of intellectual property and their impact on the practice of intellectual property law.

Espinel is the former Assistant United States Trade Representative for Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Office of the United States Trade Representative. She will teach courses in international trade and in international intellectual property and policy at the law school in spring 2008.

Hayward Participates in "Dialogues in Democracy" [2007-11-09]

Assistant Professor of Law Allison Hayward was selected to participate in the culminating event of a collaboration between The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the "By the People" project team of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions to host a national conversation called "Dialogues in Democracy: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." The event participants were selected for the project as emerging leaders and thinkers of the 21st century.

The project examines how the democratic values of the founding generation connect with America in the 21st century and asks whether a nation that will grow to 400 million people in the next 35 years can achieve a shared commitment to citizen responsibilities and rights.

Dialogues involving the 45 selected individuals take place over a three-day period in early November in Colonial Williamsburg.

A "Dialogues in Democracy" television program, anchored by Jim Lehrer as part of his "By the People" series, will be broadcast on PBS in January 2008.

Read more about the event and Professor Hayward's comments in these related articles:

PBS filming in Colonial Williamsburg, Daily Press (Newport News, VA), November 10, 2007. By Bentley Boyd.

Experts: History guides us toward our future, Daily Press (Newport News, VA), November 11, 2007. By Bentley Boyd.

Much Ado About Commas: Lund on Second Amendment Grammar Debate [2007-11-08]

What was the intent of the founders when they drafted the Second Amendment?

That question has taken the form of a grammatical debate that may land in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, which should announce shortly whether it will rule on the constitutionality of the existing Washington, D.C., strict gun control ordinance. A ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit inadvertantly ignited this controversy over commas.

The one-sentence Second Amendment contains three commas, the first and last of which are not in dispute. The second comma, however, has given rise to an argument over the meaning of the clause that precedes it relative to the remainder of the sentence.

To those who view the opening clause as absolute, the Second Amendment is really about the right of militias, rather than individuals, to bear arms. That interpretation would save the D.C. gun ban and limit the force of the Second Amendment.

Nelson Lund, Patrick Henry Professor of Constitutional Law and the Second Amendment, disagrees with that interpretation, saying the militia portion of the sentence "is grammatically independent of the rest of the sentence." In his view, "The Second Amendment has exactly the same meaning that it would have had if the preamble had been omitted." Those following Lund's reasoning would conclude that the Second Amendment protected an individual's right to bear arms.

It remains to be seen how proponents of Constitutional originalism on the Court will view the argument, should the Court elect to hear the case.

A question of commas. Period., Legal Times, November 5, 2007. By Tony Mauro.

Excerpt:
"When Supreme Court justices sit down Nov. 9 to ponder whether they should rule on the constitutionality of Washington, D.C.'s strict gun control ordinance, they should be forewarned that they are stepping into a quagmire.

"No, not the political quagmire over gun control. Another suddenly intense debate is enveloping the case--this one over what all those commas in the Second Amendment meant in late 18th century America.

"It may sound way beyond trivial, but it's not.

"You can blame the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for igniting this esoteric debate. It ruled on March 9 that because of the Second Amendment's second comma, the first half of the amendment--the militia half-- is basically a throat-clearing preface that does not qualify the individual right to bear arms that the second half protects. Jedge Laurence Silberman, who wrote the 2-1 decision, went on to conclude that the District's handgun ban violates that individual right.

"Grammarians and gun control backers quickly pounced, saying the D.C. Circuit got it flat wrong. Gun rights advocates have hustled to counter that view."

Read the article

Read Professor Lund's related paper, D.C.'s Handgun Ban and the Constitutional Right to Arms: One Hard Question?

Katzen-Dyk Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee [2007-11-08]

Professor Sally Katzen-Dyk made a second trip to Capitol Hill in as many weeks to provide testimony for an oversight hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee. The subject of the hearing, the Congressional Review Act, allows Congress to review government agency-issued business regulations and to overrule those regulations by passage of a joint resolution.

Those testifying with Professor Katzen-Dyk at the November 6 hearing were John Sullivan, parliamentarian of the House of Representatives, and Mort Rosenberg, specialist in American public law at the Congressional Research Service.

Read Professor Katzen-Dyk's testimony.

Alumnus David Kaufman to Assume National Leadership Roles in ABA [2007-11-02]

At its recent annual meeting in San Francisco, the American Bar Association named George Mason Law alumnus David Kaufman (’91) as its 2007-2008 Chairman of the Litigation Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Technology Committee within the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division of the ABA.

Kaufman, founder of Kaufman Law, a Fairfax, Virginia, based boutique law firm, commented, "I am honored by the Bar Association's vote of confidence in me and will do my best to have a positive impact on our noble profession nationwide."

Kaufman holds doctorates in both law and economics and represents clients in everything from business negotiations to U.S. Supreme Court cases. His firm specializes in litigation, corporate/business law, appeals and cases involving allegations of unfair business practice.

Victoria A. Espinel to Join Faculty of George Mason University School of Law [2007-11-01]

Victoria A. Espinel, former Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, will join the faculty of George Mason University School of Law as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the spring 2008 semester. She will teach International Trade, as well as an International Intellectual Property and Policy Seminar.

In her capacity as the first ever Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation, Ms. Espinel was the chief U.S. trade negotiator for intellectual property and innovation, leading negotiations at the WTO, in U.S. free trade agreements and in bilateral discussions worldwide on a wide variety of intellectual property and innovation issues. She was chief policy advisor to the United States Trade Representative and the Administration agencies on intellectual property, innovation, and trade issues and developed and led United States trade policy on intellectual property and innovation, including the intersection between intellectual property and competition policy. Ms. Espinel also oversaw implementation and enforcement of intellectual property protection required under international trade rules, including intellectual property obligations under the WTO agreements and all U.S. free trade agreements.

Prior to becoming Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and Innovation, Ms. Espinel served as Deputy Assistant USTR for Intellectual Property and as Associate General Counsel at USTR. Before joining USTR, Ms. Espinel was with the law firms of Covington & Burling in London and Washington, D.C., and Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood in New York.

Ms. Espinel is the author of several published articles on international copyright issues. She holds an LLM from the London School of Economics, a JD from Georgetown University Law School, and a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

"Ms. Espinel is a splendid addition to our faculty," said Dean Daniel D. Polsby. "Her knowledge of international trade and international intellectual property issues would be difficult to replicate, and our law students will benefit greatly from the rich perspective she will bring to the classroom."

Katzen-Dyk Provides Hill Testimony on Cybersecurity [2007-11-01]

The House Committee on Homeland Security heard testimony this week from Professor Sally Katzen-Dyk, who participated in a panel before its Subcommittees on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology and on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection.

The topic of the October 31 hearing was "Enhancing and Implementing the Cybersecurity Elements of the Sector Specific Plans."

A webcast of the hearing is available online. Please scroll to the page bottom and click on the link.

Read Professor Katzen-Dyk's testimony.

October 2007

Final Round 2007 Upper Class Moot Court Competition, November 16 [2007-10-20]

The Moot Court Board would like to cordially invite the law school community to attend the Final Round of the 2007 Upper Class Moot Court Competition on Friday, November 16, 2007, in the Ceremonial Courtroom on the 6th Floor of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, located at 333 Constitution Avenue, NW. Oral arguments will begin precisely at 5:00 p.m.

Congratulations to the final two teams who will argue the LRWA III-Appellate Writing problem in the Final Round:

- Appellants: Elizabeth Bradshaw and Michael Petrino

- Appellees: Adeel Bashir and Lucas Kline

The final two teams will present their arguments before:

The Honorable A. Raymond Randolph
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

The Honorable Liam O'Grady
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

The Honorable Stephen Glickman
District of Columbia Court of Appeals

A reception will follow in the Judges' Dining Room at 6:15 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to arrive at least fifteen minutes early so as to allow time to pass through security (please note that camera cell phones are not allowed in the courthouse).

For additional information about the Upper Class Competition, please visit the Moot Court Board website at http://www.gmu.edu/org/mootcourt/ and click on the "UCC" tab.

Contacts:
Stephanie Arnold
Jessie Morales
2007 Upper Class Competition Chairs
GMUSL Moot Court Board

Hayward Testifies Before Federal Election Commission [2007-10-10]

Professor Allison Hayward recently appeared as a witness before the Federal Election Commission during its public hearings on October 17 and 18 concerning its proposed rules on electioneering communications.

Hayward participated in the first panel of the day at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, October 17.

Click to view a summary of the hearing agenda. Hayward's written comments are available here.

Former Mason Law Professor Kimberly Moore Named Rising Star by Washingtonian Magazine [2007-10-04]

Former Mason Law professor Kimberly Moore has been recognized in the October 2007 edition of Washingtonian magazine as a rising star in Washington power circles. The magazine published an article entitled "Super Power" listing 150 of the most influential people in business, culture, real estate, religion, education, law, and other areas. Included was a list of "Powers That Will Be: Rising stars who may be the heavy hitters of tomorrow." Judge Moore was featured in that section as someone to watch.

Moore, who at 39 is currently the youngest federal appellate judge in the nation, was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in September 2006. The court has nationwide jurisdiction in a variety of areas, including patent law, and hears appeals from all federal district courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of International Trade, and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, as well as certain administrative agencies.

Prior to assuming the bench, Judge Moore spent nearly a decade in academia, serving as an intellectual property law professor at Mason Law from 2000 until her appointment to the court.

Boardman Tapped as Advisor to Candidate Romney [2007-10-02]

A press release issued today by Governor Mitt Romney announces those selected as members of his Advisory Committee on the Constitution and the Courts and names Professor Michelle Boardman as one of those chosen.

Boardman joins a select group of legal professionals, scholars, and business leaders who will counsel Romney on judicial matters, the separation of powers, and issues of federalism.

With her selection by Romney, Boardman becomes the third Mason Law professor to be named an advisor to a candidate for election to the United States presidency in 2008. In June, presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani named Professor Peter Berkowitz part of his new foreign policy team, positioning Berkowitz as Senior Statecraft, Human Rights and Freedom Advisor. Giuliani's announcement was followed almost immediately by one naming Foundation Professor of Law Timothy Muris part of the economic policy team for Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Read the press release

September 2007

Hazlett in Financial Times: Liberal Spectrum Policies Invigorate Markets, Intensify Creativity [2007-09-25]

Consumers demonstrate a strong preference for network coordination says Professor Thomas Hazlett, citing the success of Apple's iPhone and DoCoMo's iMode as examples of how consumers benefit when decision makers compete for customers and answer to shareholders.

Commenting in the Financial Times, Hazlett contends that by rejecting network neutrality, both companies have produced custom products and business models that have proven highly successful, prompting change in the marketplace that has benefited consumers.

How the "walled garden" promotes innovation, Financial Times, September 25, 2007. By Thomas Hazlett.

Excerpt:
"Hosting this Apple party is a curious way for carriers to lock out innovation. It is even more remarkable that critics could configure Apple's entrepreneurship as an attack on creativity. They claim that only a device that is optimised for any application and capable of accessing any network is efficient.

"They are wrong. What works best for consumers is a competitive process in which independent developers, content owners, hardware vendors and networks vie to discover preferred packages and pricing. When decision-makers compete for customers and answer to shareholders, a sophisticated balance obtains. The alternative proposition, business models voted on by regulators, is a recipe for stasis.

"Apple could have offered its device as an 'open' platform, but instead chose (as with iTunes, iPods and Apple computers) to control how it builds, and how buyers use, its product. It aims for competitive superiority. Quashing its model bops the innovator on the head.

"Unbundling phones from networks is suggested as a policy fix in the US. European phones, working with different Sim cards across carriers and borders, are the model. Innovation in the European Union is said to flourish. But the iPhone came first to the US, as did the BlackBerry and advanced broadband networks using CDMA data formats. That is not surprising given that US networks are afforded wide latitude in designing their systems. Licences in the EU mandate a GSM standard. What is recommended as 'open' in fact deprives customers of a most basic cellular choice: technology."

Read the article (subscription required)

Profile of the George Mason Law School 2007 Admitted Class [2007-09-05]

George Mason School of Law received a total of 5184 applications for fall 2007 admission. Twenty-three percent received offers of admission, and on the 17th of August, 267 first-year J.D. students started class. The entering group of full-time students possessed a median LSAT of 164 and a median GPA of 3.62.

For more information, see Profile of the 2007 Admitted Class.

George Mason Law School Ranks 21st in 2007 Scholarly Impact Study [2007-09-05]

In a newly-released study of scholarly citations for tenured and tenure track faculty from U.S. law schools, George Mason Law School's faculty achieved a mean ranking of 21st among the top 35 law schools. This study was undertaken by Professor Brian Leiter, Joe A. Worsham Centennial Professor in Law at the University of Texas at Austin. Professor Leiter has published scholarly impact rankings since 2000-02. In a previous study issued in 2005, George Mason ranked 23rd in per capita citations.

In his scholarly impact studies, Leiter calculates the frequency with which other scholars refer to a faculty's publications in law review articles. This is an important measure in helping to determine the quality and influence of a law school's faculty. His current study counts citations from 2000 to July 2007.

Leiter also lists the "Ten Most Cited Faculty" for each of the ranked law schools. The George Mason faculty listed in alphabetical order are: D. Bernstein, E. Claeys, T. Hazlett, B. Kobayashi, N. Lund, T. Muris, D. Polsby, J. Rabkin, R. Rotunda, G. Tullock, T. Zywici.

For the complete study, see Top 35 Law Faculties Based on Scholarly Impact, 2007.

Alumnus Bud Albright ('80) Sworn In as Under Secretary for Energy [2007-09-04]

September 4, 2007

Secretary of Energy Administers Oath to Three Senior Officials

Secretary Bodman administers the oath of office to Under Secretary for Energy Bud Albright Jr., as his wife Ginger and children look on.

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today administered the oath of office to three newly confirmed and appointed senior officials: C.H. “Bud” Albright Jr., as Under Secretary, Lisa Epifani as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Kevin Kolevar as the Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

“I applaud the Senate for unanimously confirming Bud Albright as Under Secretary for Energy, and Lisa Epifani and Kevin Kolevar as Assistant Secretaries,” Secretary Bodman said. “I am pleased to have Bud, Lisa and Kevin on my leadership team and I am confident their respective backgrounds and unique expertise will be invaluable as the Department works aggressively to advance President Bush’s bold energy agenda.”

UNDER SECRETARY BUD ALBRIGHT
As Under Secretary, Albright will oversee the Department’s Energy and Environment programs, including: the Offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Environmental Management, Fossil Energy, Legacy Management, Nuclear Energy, and Radioactive Waste Management.

“Bud’s breadth of experience, record of leadership in government and the private sector, and proven understanding of energy issues will ensure the Department continues to carry out its energy and environment missions, particularly as we work to diversify our Nation’s energy supply and increase the use of clean, renewable energy,” Secretary Bodman said of Albright.

Albright comes to DOE from the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served as Republican Staff Director for the Committee on Energy and Commerce while working to address challenges facing the country’s energy, environmental, telecommunications, and health industries. Albright was previously Vice President of Federal Affairs at Reliant Energy, and has served as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Albright holds degrees from Presbyterian College in his home state of South Carolina and the George Mason University School of Law.

(The photograph and information above were obtained from a press release appearing on the Department of Energy website. Read more about Bud Albright in a Capitol Corner article from the July 2006 Mason Law News.)

Berkowitz in WSJ: Proper Liberal Education Forms Individuals Fit for Freedom [2007-09-04]

Progress depends on mastering the basics, Professor Peter Berkowitz states in his Wall Street Journal op-ed critical of what he calls the "compassless curriculum" widely offered today by universities.

"A university that fails to teach students sound mental habits and to acquaint them with enduring ideas handicaps its graduates for public and private life,"says Berkowitz, pointing out that it is the little in common that students take away from their college experience that has the greatest significance, allowing them to "acquire a common intellectual foundation that enables them to debate morals and politics responsibly, enhances their understanding of whatever specialization they choose, and enriches their appreciation of the multiple dimensions of the delightful and dangerous world in which we live."

Our Compassless Colleges, The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2007. By Peter Berkowitz.

Excerpt:
"Moreover, properly conceived, a liberal education provides invaluable benefits for students and the nation. For most students, it offers the last chance, perhaps until retirement, to read widely and deeply, to acquire knowledge of the opinions and events that formed them and the nation in which they live, and to study other peoples and cultures. A proper liberal education liberalizes in the old-fashioned and still most relevant sense: It forms individuals fit for freedom.

"The nation benefits as well, because a liberal democracy presupposes an informed citizenry capable of distinguishing the public interest from private interest, evaluating consequences, and discerning the claims of justice and the opportunities for -- and limits to -- realizing it in politics. Indeed, a sprawling liberal democracy whose citizens practice different religions and no religion at all, in which individuals have family heritages that can be traced to every continent, and in which the nation's foreign affairs are increasingly bound up with local politics in countries around the world is particularly dependent on citizens acquiring a liberal education.

"Crafting a core consistent with the imperatives of a liberal education will involve both a substantial break with today's university curriculum and a long overdue alignment of higher education with common sense. Such a core would, for example, require all students to take semester courses surveying Greek and Roman history, Eruropean history, and American history. It would require all students to take a semester course in classic works of European literature, and one in classic works of American literature. It would require all students to take a semester course in biology and one in physics. It would require all students to take a semester course in the principles of American government; one in economics; and one in the history of political philosophy. It would require all students to take a semester course comparing Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It would require all students to take a semester course of their choice in the history, literature or religion of a non-Western civilization. And it would require all students to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language of their choice by carrying on a casual conversation and accurately reading a newspaper in the language, a level of proficiency usually obtainable after two years of college sudy, or four semester courses."

Read the article (available by subscription)

George Mason School of Law Welcomes New Faculty For Fall 2007 [2007-09-01]

For Fall 2007, George Mason School of Law welcomes two new full-time faculty members, two new visiting professors, and a new director of the Legal Research, Writing and Analysis (LRWA) program. In addition, three visiting faculty are returning.

New Full-Time Faculty

PROFESSOR OF LAW JEREMY RABKIN

Before joining the faculty in June 2007, Professor Rabkin was a Professor of Government at Cornell University for 27 years. Professor Rabkin is a renowned scholar in international law and was recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace. He holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Government at Harvard University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. from Cornell University.

His full-length books include Law Without Nations? (Princeton University Press, 2005), The Case for Sovereignty (AEI Press, 2004), Why Sovereignty Matters (AEI Press, 1998), Judicial Compulsions, How Public Law Distorts Public Policy (Basic Books, 1989). He also co-edited (with L. Gordon Crovitz) The Fettered Presidency, Legal Limitations and the Conditions of Responsible Policymaking (AEI Press 1989).

Professor Rabkin has also written numerous chapters in edited books, articles in academic journals, and essays. He will be teaching International Law in the fall and the Founders' Constitution in the spring.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF LAW ERIC CLAEYS

Prior to joining the George Mason Law School faculty, Professor Claeys taught at Saint Louis University School of Law for six years and was a Bigelow Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Law for two years at the University of Chicago Law School. Before teaching, he practiced appellate and tort litigation and clerked for the Hon. Melvin Brunetti, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Hon. William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States.

Professor Claeys’ scholarship focuses on American property and constitutional law, and particularly on the influence of American natural-law/natural-rights theory on the law. Professor Claeys received his J.D. from the University of Southern California where he also served at Editor-in-Chief of the Southern California Law Review and his A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton.

Professor Claeys will be teaching Property in the fall and the Founders' Constitution and Trade Secrets in the spring.

New Visiting Faculty

VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW LAURA BRADFORD

Professor Bradford is a graduate of Stanford Law School and clerked for the Honorable James L. Oakes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before coming to George Mason Law, she was a Visiting Associate Professor of Law and Interim Co-Director of the Intellectual Property Law Program at George Washington University. She previously practiced as an associate in the intellectual property law group at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York City, and as a reporter at Time Magazine writing in the areas of business and technology.

Professor Bradford will teach Trademark Law in the fall and the Intellectual Property in the spring.

VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW CHRISTINE KYMN

Professor Kymn comes to George Mason from the Green Green Bag Journal of Law, where she was a Green Bag Fellow. Professor Kymn received her law degree from George Mason University School of Law, where she was a Robert A. Levy Fellow. She was an articles editor for the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy and a member/associate editor of the Federal Circuit Bar Journal.

Professor Kymn also formerly taught at Washington and Lee University. Her current teaching interests are in American Legal History, Law and Economics, Public Choice and the Law, and Environmental Law.

Professor Kym will co-teach an American Legal History seminar with Professor Ross Davies in the fall and will teach Environmental Law in the spring.

New Director of Legal Research, Writing & Analysis

JENNIFER HODGE

Before returning to George Mason in a teaching capacity, Jennifer Hodge worked for the Department of Justice in the Criminal Division, as a Deputy Chief in the Electronic Surveillance Unit. Professor Hodge handled commercial and employment law matters as a litigation associate at Charlson Bredehoft & Cohen, P.C. and at Holland & Knight, LLP, and she managed a variety of civil matters serving as a law clerk for the former Chief Judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court.

Professor Hodge began her career by practicing criminal law, primarily as an Assistant Public Defender, first in Fauquier County, and then in Fairfax County, Virginia, where she represented clients in all stages of litigation before the General District and Circuit Courts for those jurisdictions, the Virginia Court of Appeals, and the Virginia Supreme Court.

Professor Hodge earned her B.A. in History and French from the College of William & Mary and her J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.

Returning Visiting Faculty

VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW NITA GHEI

Professor Ghei is returning to George Mason Law School for a third semester as a visiting professor. Professor Ghei previously taught Comparative Law at Northwestern University School of Law as a Searle Fellow. Professor Ghei received her law degree from George Mason School of Law, where she was a Robert A. Levy Fellow. She was also articles editor for the George Mason Law Review.

Professor Ghei was formerly a Judicial Clerk to the Honorable John C. Eldridge, Jr. for the Court of Appeals of Maryland. Her current teaching interests are in Comparative Law, International Trade, International Law, Law and Economics, Conflicts of Law, and Civil Procedure.

Professor Ghei will teach European Union Law and International Business and Economics Law in the fall semester.

VISITING PROFESSOR OF LAW SALLY KATZEN

Professor Katzen is returning to the law school as a visiting professor after having most recently taught as an Adjunct Professor and Public Interest/Public Service Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School. She has also taught administrative law courses at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Georgetown Law Center.

From ‘93-‘98, Professor Katzen served as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget (the senior adviser to the President on regulatory matters); she then became the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council in the White House (‘98-‘99), and returned to OMB in ‘99-2001 as the Deputy Director for Management. Before her government service, she was a partner in the Washington DC law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, specializing in administrative law and legislative matters.

Professor Katzen graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was Editor in Chief of the Law Review, after which she clerked for Judge J. Skelly Wright of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Professor Katzen frequently testifies before Congress on issues of administrative law and rulemaking and will be teaching Constitutional Law in the fall and Administrative Law in the spring.

VISITING DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF LAW AND ECONOMICS HANS-BERND SCHÄFER

Professor Schäfer returns for his seventh year as a visiting professor at George Mason Law School. He is also on the Faculty of Economics at the University of Hamburg. In addition, he is director of the Ph.D. Graduate College on Law and Economics. His main fields of interest are economic analysis of civil law and development economics. He is co-author of the textbook The Economic Analysis of Civil Law which was published by Edward Elgar, and he has authored a series of articles on law and economics. He also helped establish George Mason School of Law's Exchange Program in Law and Economics.

Professor Schäfer has his Ph.D. from the University of Bochum. He will be teaching a seminar on the Law and Poverty of Nations during the fall semester.

August 2007

Zywicki in WSJ: Lower Taxes May Decrease Likelihood of Bankruptcies [2007-08-17]

The answer to preventing bankruptcies may lie in part in the adoption of lower and flatter tax rates, says Professor Todd Zywicki in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he examines the impact that taxes have had on the earnings of Americans since the 1970s.

Citing information contained in the book, "The Two Income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke," by Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren and her daughter Amelia Tyagi, Zywicki demonstrates that the authors have overlooked taxes as the most important contributing factor in the family budget crunch.

Comparing expenditures of a typical middle class 1970s family to an equivalent family in the 2000s, Zywicki finds that while the 2000s family income rose 75% and expenditures for mortgage, car and health insurance rose less than that, the tax bill was subject to an increase of 140%. In short, the typical family in the 2000s pays substantially more in taxes than the combined expenses of their mortgage, automobile and health insurance as a result of the progressive nature of the American tax system.

The Two-Income Tax Trap, The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2007. By Todd J. Zywicki.

Excerpt:
"Despite the apparent prosperity of American families over the past several decades and the presence of two regular incomes, American households, on this view, are in a more precarious situation than ever before.

"The argument is developed in the book, 'The Two Income Trap: Why Middle Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke,' by Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren and her daughter Amelia Tyagi. In fact, using their own numbers, it is evident that they have overlooked the most important contributor to the purported household budget crunch -- taxes.

"Ms. Warren and Ms. Tyagi compare two middle-class families: an average family in the 1970s versus the 2000s (all dollar values are inflation-adjusted). The typical 1970s family is headed by a working father and a stay-at-home mother with two children. The father's income is $38,700, out of which came $5,310 in mortgage payments, $5,140 a year on car expenses, $1,030 on health insurance, and income taxes 'which claim 24% of [the father's] income,' leaving $17,834, or about $1,500 per month in 'discretionary income' for all other expenses, such as food, clothing, utilities and savings.

"The typical 2000s family has two working parents and a higher income of $67,800, an increase of 75% over the 1970s family. But their expenses have also risen: The mortgage payment increases to $9,000, the additional car raises the family obligation to $8,000, and more expensive health insurance premiums cost $1,650. A new expense of full-time daycare so the mother can work is estimated at $9,670. Mother's income bumps the family into a higher tax bracket, so that 'the government takes 33% of the family's money.' In the end, despite the dramatic increase in family income, the family is left with $17,045 in 'discretionary income,' less than the earlier generation.

"The authors present no explanation for why they present only the tax data in their two examples as percentages instead of dollars. Nor do they ever present the actual dollar value for taxes anywhere in the book. So to conduct an 'apples to apples' comparison of all expenses, I converted the tax obligations in the example from percentages to actual dollars.

"In fact, for the typical 1970s family, paying 24% of its income in taxes works out to be $9,288. And for the 2000s family, paying 33% of its income is $22,374.

"Although income only rose 75%, and expenditures for the mortgage, car and health insurance rose by even less than that, the tax bill increased by $13,086 -- a whopping 140% increase. The percentage of family income dedicated to health insurance, mortgage and automobiles actually declined between the two periods.

"During this period, the figures used by Ms. Warren and Ms. Tyagi indicate that annual mortgage obligations increased by $3,690, automobile obligations by $2,860 and health insurance payments by $620 (a total increase of $7,170). Those increases are not trivial -- but they are swamped by the increase in tax obligations. To put this in perspective, the increase in tax obligations is over three times as large as the increase in the mortgage payments and almost double the increase in the mortgage and automobile payments combined. Even the new expenditure on child care is about a quarter less than the increase in taxes.

"Overall, the typical family in the 2000s pays substantially more in taxes than the combined expenses of their mortgage, automobile and health insurance. And the change in the tax obligation between the two periods is substantially greater than the change in mortgage, automobile expenses and health-insurance costs combined.

"This suggests that the most important change in the balance sheets of middle-class households over the past three decades is a dramatically higher tax burden caused by the progressive nature of the American tax system. In turn it follows that the most effective way of alleviating the household budget crunch would be to adopt lower and flatter tax rates that would reduce the government's take. Another possibility, advocated by Prof. Edward J. McCaffery of the University of Southern California Law School, would eliminate the 'secondary earner bias' in the tax system, which causes all of the wife's income to effectively be taxed at a much higher marginal tax rate than the husband's. Any of these reforms seem sensible.

"Lower and flatter marginal tax rates generally are not advocated by those who dominate the American legal academy today. But for those who want to consider serious strategies for preventing bankruptcies, less money in Uncle Sam's pockets may mean more money in ours."

(Online article requires a subscription)

Army TJAG Visits George Mason School of Law [2007-08-10]

The Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) began in 2004. A needs assessment revealed that complementing legal services provided by the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps of military lawyers would be an important role for CLAS. Matters as to which JAG lawyers might not be admitted to practice, like litigation in local jurisdictions, or clients like family members who might not be eligible for JAG assistance, illustrate the opportunities for the clinic.

The CLAS practice would thus have a close relationship to JAG activities. Dean Dan Polsby and CLAS founder Joe Zengerle were invited to visit the Army JAG Center and School in Charlottesville during the clinic’s first term. Brigadier General Scott Black, Commander, provided the initial briefing, demonstrating the institution’s impressive capacity, including instructional and student body quality, curriculum scope, operational law counseling that had real-time contact with battlefield issues, and technology support.

BG Black was promoted to Major General and appointed the Army’s top lawyer, The Judge Advocate General. He and Professor Zengerle sat next to each other in the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2005 oral argument in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, in which Dean Polsby and Professors Lund and Zengerle had originated the only law-school brief supporting the Solomon Amendment, later upheld by the Court’s unanimous decision.
Last year, MG Black hosted Dean Polsby and Professor Zengerle for lunch at the Pentagon. Last month, MG Black was the guest of the law school for lunch here, after the nearby photograph was taken. The relationship reflects the law school’s strong support of the JAG Corps of all the armed services, especially in time of war.

July 2007

Hazlett in WSJ: World Without Fairness Doctrine Promotes More Discussion, Not Less [2007-07-30]

"The world without the Fairness Doctrine features exponentially more discussion of public issues from contrasting perspectives, much of it from new media outlets that were never subjected to the Fairness Doctrine," says Professor Thomas Hazlett in a Wall Street Journal commentary written with former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Dennis Patrick.

With some members of Congress calling for a return to a "fairness" mandate, Hazlett and Patrick defend the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine, pointing out that the need for a Fairness Doctrine has lessened since its abolition in 1987 because of the widespread growth of information sources since that time.

The Return of the Speech Police, The Wall Street Journal Online, July 30, 2007. By Dennis Patrick and Thomas W. Hazlett.

Excerpt:
"In the old days, the Fairness Doctrine was almost universally popular among the political class. Left-leaning champions of regulation sought rules to counter the slant of 'corporate' media. Simultaneously, conservatives sought to oppose the liberal establishment. Most troubling were those who privately conceded their true goal was retention of a federal 'club' with which to 'influence' reporters and their bosses. Potential Fairness Doctrine complaints made news editors timid champions of freedom of the press.

"Today, right-leaning politicians have recanted, as the explosion in talk radio has given their ideas a platform never before enjoyed. Brian Andersen's 2005 book 'South Park Conservatives' rejoices that free speech has proven far more hospitable to conservative views than GOP exponents of the Fairness Doctrine ever imagined.

"Many American liberals, seeing (or hearing) the same outcomes, support the reimposition of the Fairness Doctrine. These advocates of content regulation need to be reminded of the words of one great liberal, the late Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who wrote in Columbia Broadcasting v. Democratic Committee (1973): 'The prospect of putting Government in a position of control over publishers is to me an appalling one, even to the extent of the Fairness Doctrine. The struggle for liberty has been a struggle against Government.'"

(Subscription required.)

Zywicki Testifies Before Congress on Medical Debt and Bankruptcy [2007-07-19]

On July 17, 2007, Professor Todd Zywicki testified before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law on the topic of "Working Families in Financial Crisis: Medical Debt and Bankruptcy."

Professor Zywicki has testified a number of times before Congress on issues of consumer bankruptcy law and consumer credit. He is the author of more than 50 articles in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed economics journals and is a frequent commentator on legal issues in the print and broadcast media.

Excerpt:
"Perhaps some here think that medical care is too expensive these days. I express no opinion on whether that is the case or if so what should be done to address the problem. It does seem obvious however, that bankruptcy law is not the appropriate place to try to deal with the problem of an overly expensive health-care system. Bankruptcy law should be concerned with striking an appropriate balance between debtors and creditors, including those in the health care system. Current law accommodates these concerns well and there is no need for further consideration at this time."

Read Zywicki's testimony

Rabkin Participates in AEI Panel on the Law of the Sea Treaty [2007-07-19]

On July 17, 2007, Professor Jeremy Rabkin appeared on a panel hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and moderated by University Professor and Professor of Law Ronald Rotunda to discuss the proposed Senate ratification of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Other panelists included Susan Biniaz of the State Department and Rear Admiral John Crowley of the U.S. Coast Guard. Professor Rabkin recently co-authored an editorial in the Washington Post opposing ratification of the treaty on the grounds that it would hinder this country's anti-terrorism efforts by subjecting the U.S. Navy to the jurisdiction of international tribunals.

To view a webcast of the video, go the AEI’s website: The Law of the Sea Treaty: Help or Hindrance?

For more information on the Convention on the Law of the Sea, see the UN site: Oceans and the Law of the Sea.

Muris Named Economic Advisor to McCain Presidential Campaign [2007-07-13]

A second Mason Law professor this week has been named an advisor to a 2008 presidential candidate.

Foundation Professor of Law Timothy Muris has been selected by Senator John McCain of Arizona to be part of his economic policy team, which consists of a group of economists, professors, and prominent conservative policy leaders who will advise McCain in his bid for the White House.

A press release from McCain's presidential campaign noted that "Members of the economic policy team will use their combined years of experience and expertise with domestic and international economic issues to help guide and promote his call for greater economic freedom and more robust growth."

Muris served from 2000-2004 as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, creating the National Do Not Call Registry during his tenure there. His government service includes, in addition to three previous positions at the FTC, three years with the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget.
Muris joined the faculty of Mason Law as a Foundation Professor in 1988 and was interim dean of the law school from 1996-1997. A member of the American Bar Association's Antitrust Section, Muris has written widely on antitrust, consumer protection, regulatory, and budget issues. He teaches Antitrust, Consumer Law, European Union Law, and International Trade.
In addition to his current position at Mason Law, Muris is Of Counsel at the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers and is Co-Chair of the firm's Antitrust/Competition Practice.

Candidate Giuliani Names Berkowitz to Foreign Policy Team [2007-07-11]

2008 presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has named Professor Peter Berkowitz to his foreign policy team, positioning Berkowitz as his Senior Statecraft, Human Rights and Freedom Advisor.

In addition to his duties as a professor of law at Mason Law, Berkowitz also is affiliated with the Hoover Institution as the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow. His teaching focuses on the interplay of law, ethics, and politics in modern society.

Berkowitz is the cofounder and director of the Israel Program on Constitutional Government, has served as a senior consultant to the President's Council on Bioethics, and is a member of the Policy Advisory Board at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Berkowitz holds law and doctoral degrees in political science from Yale University and a master's in philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has written widely on the topic of conservatism in America, as well as intelligence and legal issues dealing with terrorism.

Rudy Guiliani's New Foreign Policy Team, American Thinker, July 11, 2007. By Ed Lasky.

Excerpt:
"Peter Berkowitz is, like Hill, affiliated with the Hoover Institution and also teaches at George Mason University School of Law, -both institutions highly regarded in Republican circles. Professors at George Mason School of Law have been pioneers in promoting the view that economics and the law often overlap and the government should consider economic impacts when developing and enforcing the laws. The school has become a nursery for hatching some of the most innovative (and conservative) legal theories in America. Berkowitz has written widely on the subject of conservatism in America; he has also taken up the subject of intelligence and legal issues dealing with terrorism.

"Giuliani has been very astute in his choices for his foreign team; they enhance his anti-terrorism and foreign-policy credentials. This is his strong suit - many on the right are able to overlook his social and cultural views because he is perceived to be a leader that will protect America. His team reflects a blend of experts: those who hail from traditional diplomatic fields (Hill); those who have military expertise (Rosen); intellectuals (Podhoretz); those how have experience dealing with Congress (Kasten); those who are concerned that our schools are not preparing our diplomats to deal with reality and who believe our diplomats should represent America (Kramer); and those whose legal experience will help America deal with opposition from those who choose to engage in Lawfare against American interests (Berkowitz). A theme runs through it: Rudy will not appease enemies.

"Giuliani seems to have a broad-spectrum approach toward the foreign policy challenges ahead. There will be a need for experts in a wide variety of fields. More importantly for the near-term, he seems to have crafted a team that will make conservatives in the Republican Party confident that his leadership is to be trusted as they pull the lever in November, 2008."

Read the article

Press Release

Rotunda Speaks at International Judicial Conference in Latvia [2007-07-11]

From left, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito,
Professors Kyndra and Ronald Rotunda, and U.S.
Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey

Professor Ronald Rotunda was one of a small and elite group of speakers at the July 2-3 International Judicial Conference in Riga, Latvia, at which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was guest of honor and keynote speaker.

Hosted by the United States Embassy, the Supreme Court of Latvia, and the Latvian Ministry of Justice, the conference drew over two hundred participants from seven countries and focused on issues related to ethics, reform, and transparency.

In addition to Rotunda and Alito, guest speakers were the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, and Minister of Justice of Latvia; Professor Jeffrey Hazard; and Professor Stephen Burbank.

While visiting Latvia, Rotunda and his wife Kyndra Rotunda enjoyed an intimate dinner along with Justice Alito at the home of U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey (photo above).

Rotunda teaches Constitutional Law and Legal Ethics and is the author of several treatises that are among the most widely cited modern authorities on constitutional law and procedure and professional ethics.

In Honor of July 4: WSJ Features Malcolm Op-ed on the Founders [2007-07-03]

'Wonderfully Spared'

By Joyce Lee Malcolm
3 July 2007
The Wall Street Journal

"You and I have been wonderfully spared," Thomas Jefferson wrote John Adams in 1812. "Of the signers of the Declaration of Independence I see now living not more than half a dozen on your side of the Potomak, and, on this side, myself alone." Jefferson and Adams were not merely signers of the Declaration. Both sat on the committee that drafted the document, and Jefferson wrote it. And while they later became bitter political opponents, they reconciled in their last years.

Adams, the Yankee lawyer, revolutionary, Founding Father and ex-president, was 77 in 1812. Jefferson, the Southern aristocrat, revolutionary, Founder and ex-president, was 69. Both were mentally acute but frail. Jefferson spent three to four hours a day on horseback and could scarcely walk, Adams walked three to four miles a day and could scarcely ride.

They would never see each other again. But from a modest farm in Quincy, Mass., and a plantation in Virginia they corresponded and reminisced about the days when they were "fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right of self-government."

It's easy now, in a nation awash with complaints about what our Founders did not do, what imperfect humans they seem to 21st century eyes, to overlook how startlingly bold their views and actions were in their own day and are, in fact, even today. Who else in 1776 declared, let alone thought it a self-evident truth, that all men were were created equal, entitled to inalienable rights, or to any rights at all? How few declare these views today or, glibly declaring them, really intend to treat their countrymen or others as equal, entitled to liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Certainly not America's 20th century enemies, the Nazis and communists; certainly not today's Islamic radicals, who consider infidels unworthy to live and the faithful bound by an ancient and brutal code of law. We are fortunate that the Founders of our nation were enlightened, generous, jealous of their rights and those of their countrymen, and prepared to risk everything to create a free republic.

Breaking with Britain was a risky and distressing venture; could the American colonies go it alone and survive in a world of great European powers? If not, what better empire than the British? It took a year of fighting before the Continental Congress and the states were prepared to declare independence. "We might have been a free and a great people together," Jefferson sighed.

But if we were angry at British treatment, we were also lucky that Britain was our mother country. The British taught us respect for the rights of individuals, for limited government, for the rule of law and how such values could be realized. "An Englishman is the unfittest person on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery," Edmund Burke insisted, pleading our cause before Parliament in March, 1775.

Scores of distinguished British officers refused commissions to fight against us. Some, who were willing, were reluctant to press their advantage over our literally rag-tag army. The British parliament wrangled day after day over the fitful progress of the war. And when it was over and, thanks to French assistance, we had won, Britain was careful in negotiating the peace treaty for fear we would fall under the influence and control of the French or the Spanish. We would fight against Britain again, but over the centuries the common heritage that connects our two peoples has brought us together as close allies.

We were lucky in our generals. Unlike the commanders of nearly all revolutionary armies before and since, George Washington resisted the temptation to seize power. After England's civil war between King Charles I and parliament, Oliver Cromwell, Parliament's leading general, evicted what remained of parliament and made himself "Lord Protector." The great expectations of the French Revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup against the republican government and later crowned himself emperor.

Not only do victorious generals have a nasty habit of taking over, but once an army becomes entangled in politics it is extraordinarily difficult to remove it from public affairs. Numerous modern countries have tried to control their armies and failed.

Washington prevented a coup by his officers; and when the war was over, he bid a moving farewell to his men and staff before appearing before Congress to resign his commission: "Having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire from the great theatre of Action...and take my leave of all the employments of public life." Then he hurried off to spend Christmas with Martha and their family. Although it sounds sentimental, trite even, it happened that way.

In their correspondence, Adams wrote Jefferson that the future would "depend on the Union" and asked how that Union was to be preserved. "The Union is still to me an Object of as much Anxiety as ever Independence was," he confided.

He was right to worry. The union has always been difficult, from the first fears that the 13 separate states would behave as competing countries or bickering groups, through a brutal and painful civil war whose wounds have yet to entirely heal, to a vast, modern land whose residents, taking for granted the blessings bestowed upon them, are deeply divided and quick to vilify each other.

More tragically, some seem to enjoy vilifying America, everything it has been and stands for, seeking and finding fatal shortcomings. Adams and Jefferson were not blind to those shortcomings. "We think ourselves possessed or at least we boast that we are so of Liberty of conscience on all subjects and of the right of free inquiry and private judgment, in all cases, and yet," Adams admitted, "how far are we from these exalted privileges in fact." Recent moments of real unity after 9/11, when members of Congress stood together on the steps of the Capitol and sang "God Bless America," have been fleeting.

In 1825 Jefferson wrote to congratulate Adams on the election of his son, John Quincy to the presidency -- an election so close it was decided in the House of Representatives. "So deeply are the principles of order, and of obedience to law impressed on the minds of our citizens generally that I am persuaded there will be as immediate an acquiescence in the will of the majority," Jefferson assured him, "as if Mr. Adams had been the choice of every man." He closed, "Nights of rest to you and days of tranquility are the wishes I tender you with my affect[iona]te respects."

On July 4 the following year, as the nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, its two frail signers died within hours of each other. Their cause, "struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right of self-government," continues in the nation they launched, still fraught with aspirations and anxieties, flaws and divisions but, one hopes, with the ability to reconcile as they did, to work together for the joint venture.

Ms. Malcolm teaches legal history at George Mason University School of Law and is the author of several books, including "Stepchild of the Revolution: A Slave Child in Revolutionary America," forthcoming from Yale University Press.

Reprinted with permission of The Wall Street Journal © 1900/2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rabkin in Washington Post on Ratification of Convention on the Law of the Sea [2007-07-02]

American views of the law of the sea, even those pertaining to national security, would be put at risk should the U.S. ratify the Convention on the Law of the Sea, says Professor Jeremy Rabkin.

Rabkin commented on the issue in a Washington Post op-ed, condemning ratification of the treaty governing shipping, navigation, mining, fishing, and other ocean activities on the grounds that it would put America's naval counterterrorism efforts under the control of foreign judges, whereby international tribunals would have the last word in matters pertaining to permissible U.S. naval actions.

Professor Rabkin, formerly Professor of Government at Cornell University, joins the faculty of Mason Law this year as a Professor of Law.

A Treaty the Senate Should Sink, Washington Post, July 2, 2007. By Jack Goldsmith and Jeremy Rabkin.

Excerpt:
"Suppose the United States seizes a vessel it suspects of shipping dual-use items that might be utilized to build weapons of mass destruction or other tools of terrorism. It's not a wild supposition. Under the Proliferation Security Initiative, the United States has since 2003 secured proliferation-related high-seas interdiction agreements with countries such as Belize and Panama, which provide registration for much international shipping. If the United States ratifies the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the legality of such seizures will, depending on the circumstances, be left to the decision of one of two international tribunals.

"The first is the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, based in Hamburg. Some members of the Hamburg tribunal come from countries naturally suspicious of American power, such as China and Russia. Others are not allied with the United States. Even judges from Europe and South America do not always see things the way U.S. military authorities do.

"The second institution is a five-person international arbitration panel. The United States and the flag state of the seized ship would have input into the selection of some of these arbitrators. But the U.N. secretary general or the president of the Hamburg tribunal would select the crucial fifth arbitrator when, as would typically be the case, the state parties cannot agree. They must choose from a list of "experts" to which every state party to the convention -- not just China and Russia but other unfriendly nations such as Cuba and Burma -- can contribute.

"At minimum, these tribunals would pose awkward questions to the United States about the evidence behind a seizure, how we gathered it and who vouches for the information. At worst they would follow the recent example of the International Court of Justice and use a legal dispute to score points against American 'unilateralism' and 'arrogance' for a global audience keen to humble the United States. In every case, a majority of non-American judges would decide whether the U.S. Navy can seize a ship that it believes is carrying terrorist operatives or supplies for terrorists.

"It's true that the convention exempts 'military activities' from the tribunals' jurisdiction, but it does not define the term. The executive branch, worried about this ambiguity, has proposed a condition to ratification that would allow the United States to define the exemption for itself. But this condition amounts to a 'reservation' disallowed by the treaty. International tribunals would still have the last word on the validity of the U.S. condition and the resulting scope of permissible U.S. naval actions."

June 2007

Lund, Rao, and Somin Featured in Federalist Society Video Webcast [2007-06-28]

Professors Nelson Lund, Neomi Rao, and Ilya Somin were part of an expert panel analyzing the decisions of the 2006-07 Supreme Court in a June 28 live video webcast by The Federalist Society.

The speakers examined the most significant cases of the Supreme Court term just ending and looked at the impact of those cases on American law. Among the cases examined were Parents Involved In Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1; Morse v. Frederick; Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.; Gonzales v. Carhart; Wilkie v. Robbins; and Heim v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc.

Analyzing the Decisions of the 2006–07 Supreme Court (Event Video), The Federalist Society, June 28, 2007.

View the Webcast - Part 1: Statements
View the Webcast - Part 2: Discussion and Q&A

May 2007

Law School Awards 207 Degrees at 2007 Convocation [2007-05-20]

The George Mason University School of Law held its annual Convocation Ceremony on Saturday, May 19, 2007 on the Fairfax campus. A total of 207 students received a Juris Doctor degree, 5 students were awarded the Master of Laws degree and one student received a Juris Master degree.

Mason Law Moot Court Program Named #10 in Nation [2007-05-15]

A ranking system that measures a law school's performance in large moot court competitions has ranked Mason Law's moot court program tenth in the nation.

Bestmootcourtprograms.com awards points to moot court programs that earn the distinctions of winner, finalist, or semi-finalist (or quarter-finalist in the Jessup, ABA NAAC, or National Moot Court Competition) in competitions with 24 or more competing teams. The ranking is a moving ranking measured by performance to date in a given year. At year's end the results are finalized and archived.

Joining Mason Law in the top ten were the moot court programs of California Hastings, Washington, Georgetown, Chicago-Kent, South Texas, Georgia, Brooklyn, Lewis and Clark, and American.

School of Law Students Chosen as 2007 Presidential Management Finalists [2007-05-10]

Six George Mason students were recently named finalists in the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program run by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Two of the finalists will be graduating from the School of Law: Johna Ohtagaki and Meredith Steer. Two more will graduate with master’s degrees in public policy: Daniel Fraim and Christopher Harm.

The other students are Augustine Fahey, graduating with a master’s in conflict analysis and resolution; and Lindsay Irvine, graduating with a master’s in economics.

The PMF program looks for qualified master’s and PhD students who have either already completed their degrees or are expecting to graduate within the current academic year, and allows them to obtain paid internships and entry-level opportunities with the government.

Several of the finalists have already decided on what job they will take after graduation. Steer will soon be working as an attorney for the U.S. Air Force. Fraim will begin working with the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State. And Harm will take a position as program analyst with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To become a finalist for the PMF — one of the federal government’s most prestigious academic honors — each student had to undergo an intense and competitive application process that included interviews, presentations and essay writing.

Once selected as a finalist, each had a series of interviews at a job fair held in Washington, D.C. The finalists were competing for federal jobs specifically allocated for PMF fellows.

Some of the jobs allow the fellows to rotate to different positions during the two-year program. During that time, the fellows also participate in training and other activities to prepare them for leadership positions within the federal government.

To learn more about the PMF Program, visit the Presidential Management Fellows web site.

This story was carried by The Mason Gazette

Law Professor Creates Bobblehead Buzz among Journal Subscribers [2007-05-03]

By David Driver

Ross Davies
Ross Davies, associate professor in the School of Law, teaches the first-year course in contracts and advanced courses in legal history. He is also editor in chief of the Green Bag, An Entertaining Journal of Law.

The Green Bag published articles from 1889 to 1914 written by such legal scholars as Louis Brandeis, Roscoe Pound and Elihu Root. The new version of the Green Bag published since 1997 attempts to capture the spirit of the original.

The Green Bag web site explains, “There exists a gap in legal publishing. At the end of one spectrum, newspapers and news magazines report the legal events of the day; at the other, law reviews publish large-scale works of legal scholarship. But there is nothing in the middle – no place for scholars to toss out creative thought, or make an argument that merits more than a letter to the editor but fewer than 50 footnotes. The solution: resurrect the Green Bag.”

Through the Green Bag, Davies began to give away bobblehead dolls of Supreme Court justices. The dolls are made in Washington state at the same company, Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, that produces the popular bobbleheads of professional sports stars and other celebrities.

The Supreme Court bobbleheads often carry props related to one of their legal opinions.
Photo by Nicolas Tan

Some of the bobblehead dolls include former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Chief Justice William Rehnquist, as well as sitting justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia.

The Scalia bobblehead has the judge standing between a wolf and a pencil driven into a lemon. There is a reason for each prop. The wolf refers to Scalia's 1988 opinion on separation of powers and the independent counsel law in Morrison v. Olson: “Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep’s clothing: the potential of the asserted principle to effect important change in the equilibrium of power is not immediately evident, and must be discerned by a careful and perceptive analysis. But this wolf comes as a wolf.”

As for the pencil and the lemon? Scalia wrote a 1993 opinion in Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches School District: “As to the Court’s invocation of the Lemon test: Like some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried, Lemon stalks our Establishment Clause jurisprudence once again, frightening the little children and school attorneys of Center Moriches School District … Over the years, however, no fewer than five of the currently sitting Justices have, in their own opinion, personally driven pencils through the creature’s heart … and a sixth has joined an opinion doing so.”

Asked whether he had ever heard back from the judges, Davies says, “I got a thank-you note from Chief Justice Rehnquist in 2003, after we made one of him. We have never asked the judges permission to do this. These people have a real sense of humor about this. ”

About 1,000 to 2,000 bobbleheads are made for each judge, according to Davies. The bobbleheads are given away and are not sold. There are no promises about when the bobbleheads will be produced or who will get them.

"Some (but not all) subscribers to the Green Bag as of the date we announce the release of a bobblehead receive a certificate redeemable for a doll, and we arbitrarily and capriciously give certificates to some folks who are not subscribers (mostly law school public interest groups that auction the dolls at their annual fundraisers)," according to the Green Bag web site.

If you want to buy a bobblehead, the best bets are charity auctions and eBay.

Davies, who considers producing the Green Bag a hobby, joined Mason in 2002 after clerking for Judge Diane R. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He also practiced with the Washington, D.C., law firms of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Shea & Gardner (now Goodwin Proctor).

This article appeared in The Mason Gazette.

Krauss in Wall Street Journal: Federal Choice-of-Law Rule Would Respect State Sovereignty [2007-05-02]

Product liability law should be allowed to evolve as a partial expression of each state's view of the allocation it wishes to make of the risks of living says Professor Michael Krauss, writing in the Wall Street Journal of the dilemma today's product liability suits create for consumers.

Krauss explains that unlike early product liability suits that pitted local plaintiffs against local defendants, today's suits involve plaintiffs and defendants in different, and sometimes far-reaching, locations. A result of that disconnect is that juries are able to make large awards to plaintiffs without regard to the effect on the community's economy.

Krauss argues that a federal choice-of-law rule would leave product liability in the state's hands while also providing an incentive for the state to respond to its citizens' actual risk preferences.

The op-ed appearing in The Wall Street Journal was adapted from Krauss's longer article in The Brigham Young Law Journal.

Tort-Eating Contest, The Wall Street Journal Online, May 2, 2007. By Michael Krauss.

Excerpt:
"A manufacturer might want to charge higher prices in West Virginia to cover the legal 'premium' it must pay for unavoidable product-liability rules there. It wouldn't work. Mountaineers could simply purchase the product in neighboring Maryland and bring it back home -- and current jurisdictional rules essentially provide that West Virginia tort law will apply to all accidents occurring there, regardless of where the consumer bought the product.

"West Virginia consumers, in other words, obtain the same tort 'coverage' -- but for a lower premium -- if they buy the product in Maryland. As a result, manufacturers aren't able to lower the price of their products in Maryland to reflect that state's less onerous (or ridiculous) product liability rules, because they may end up incurring the higher liability costs of West Virginia. I believe this helps to explain the product liability mess in the U.S. We have more product liability than we want because of a beggar-thy-neighbor 'Byrd Effect.'

"Suppose, however, a federal law declared that the laws and rules governing product liability applicable to a given product are the rules of the state where that product was first sold at retail.

"Thus, if a West Virginian bought his lawn mower in Maryland, it would be Maryland law that determined product liability, even if an accident involving an alleged defect happened later in West Virginia. (Labeling is generally easy and would provide reliable identification of the state of first sale.) Manufacturers could now price goods in each state to reflect that state's liability rules -- allowing consumers to pay for the liability protection they wanted. Competition would provide consumers with knowledge of what this all means. West Virginia retailers would have a keen incentive to explain to consumers how they receive greater protection -- in return for a higher purchase price -- much as current retailers of name-brand products have an incentive to stress the reasons why the brand they sell carries a premium price as compared to generics.

"Of course, consumers might not want to pay for this extra protection. Suppose that the West Virginia retail price of a lawn mower includes a premium reflecting the outlays required by a product liability rule requiring full compensation to a consumer injured through his own misuse of a product. The consumer might say, 'Thanks but no thanks. I'll take my chances,' and buy his lawnmower in Maryland, where this 'misuse protection' is not bundled into the purchase price. West Virginia retailers lose sales; and if the losses became apparent, these retailers would be well placed to pressure political representatives to modify liability rules so as to better reflect consumers' actual preferences."

The article is available online through subscription.

April 2007

The Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III to be Graduation Speaker [2007-04-28]

The Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III will deliver the graduation address when Mason Law students meet on Saturday, May 19, for the 2007 School of Law Convocation at 2:00 p.m. at Mason’s Concert Hall on the Fairfax Campus.

Judge Wilkinson was nominated to the Fourth Circuit by Ronald Reagan, and his appointment was confirmed by the Senate in August 1984. He served as chief judge from 1996–2003 and continues to serve on the court today.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Judge Wilkinson graduated with honors in 1967 from Yale University, where he was president of the Yale Political Union. After service in the United States Army, Judge Wilkinson began his legal studies at the University of Virginia School of Law, graduating in 1972. He was a member of both the law review and the Order of the Coif.

After graduation from law school, Judge Wilkinson was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. from 1972–73. Subsequently he returned to academia as an assistant professor, and later an associate professor, at the University of Virginia School of Law, positions that he held for a total of five years before becoming editorial page editor of the Norfolk, Virginia, newspaper The Virginian-Pilot. He later returned to UVA’s law school as a full professor. In 1982 he joined the United States Department of Justice as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division.

Judge Wilkinson has served on the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia and as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves. He holds a variety of honorary degrees as well as appointments to the boards of The Federal Judicial Center and the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. In 2004 the University of Virginia awarded Judge Wilkinson the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar, the Virginia Bar Association, and the American Law Institute, as well as the author of four books.

Graduation information for students and faculty, including a timetable for the graduation events, is available online.

Zywicki Provides Hill Testimony on Credit Card Practices [2007-04-26]

Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee hearing on "Credit Card Practices: Current Consumer and Regulatory Issues," Professor Todd Zywicki told legislators that the relevant issue for regulation should be to determine whether the resulting complexity in credit card terms was warranted in light of the regulatory action's actual benefit to the consumer.

Zywicki's April 26 testimony was one of numerous trips to Capitol Hill to testify before lawmakers.

Excerpt:
" Available evidence indicates that the credit card market is competitive and responsive to consumer choice. Understanding the economics of the credit card market therefore raises serious challenges for any proposals to heighten regulation of the credit card market. In fact, misguided regulation can have serious unintended consequences that will end up reducing consumer welfare; thus, any proposal for additional regulation should be studied carefully to ensure that the benefits of any such regulation exceed the costs, including any unintended consequences that such regulation is likely to spawn. In addition, it would be wise to examine the continuing relevance and utility of existing regulations before proposing new regulations. There are three basic manners in which credit can be regulated: substantive regulation, disclosure regulation, or market and common law 'regulation.' Each has costs and benefits."

Read Zywicki's testimony

Message from Dean Polsby on the Virginia Tech Tragedy [2007-04-19]

From Dean Dan Polsby

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the members of the Virginia Tech community who are hurting because of last Monday's terrible events. Our students and staff should know that we are reviewing our security plans and procedures, and are doing all that is feasible and appropriate to ensure the safety of members of our community.

More information about Mason's response to the events of this week can be found on University and law school's web pages.

Virginia Tech Outreach
George Mason has organized various outreach efforts in response to the tragic events at Virginia Tech. You can find information about these efforts and about counseling services at http://ur.gmu.edu/specialevent/vatech. The events include a University-wide Vigil Service on Thursday, April 19, 2007, on the North Plaza of the Fairfax Campus, and on Friday, April 20, 2007, Orange and Maroon Effect Day on which people can show support for he families of Virginia Tech students by wearing orange and maroon.
In addition, a memorial message board will be in the law school atrium to provide the Mason community with the opportunity to express condolence wishes to Virginia Tech students, faculty, staff, and families.

Governor Kaine Announces Statewide Day Of Mourning

Governor Timothy M. Kaine has declared Friday, April 20, 2007 a statewide day of mourning for the victims of Monday’s tragedy at Virginia Tech.

On Friday, Governor Kaine will participate in a service of remembrance at Monroe Park on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. He has encouraged other communities in Virginia and across the nation to hold their own simultaneous observances, beginning with the ringing of bells at noon, eastern daylight savings time. "As our Commonwealth begins the long and difficult healing process, I am filled with images of a Virginia Tech community that is resilient and unified," said Governor Kaine. "I ask that everyone in Virginia pause at noon on Friday to offer their support for the victims, their families, and for all those affected by this tragedy."

The Governor encourages employees to participate in noon hour gatherings being held around the Commonwealth that are near their work sites. The Richmond observance will take place at Monroe Park, Belvidere and Main Streets, and will begin at noon eastern daylight savings time.

Funds Established for Virginia Tech Survivors

In response to many inquires about opportunities to assist survivors, please take note of the following funds that have been established:

United in Caring Fund - United Way of Montgomery, Radford & Floyd Counties has established the "United in Caring Fund" for victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Contributions may be made via the internet or by mailing gifts to UWMFR, P.O. Box 6202, Christiansburg, Va., 24068. Please indicate that your donation goes specifically to this fund. For more information call (540) 381-2066 or email the organization.

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund - Virginia Tech has established the "Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund" to aid in the healing process and generate financial support for expenses, including grief counseling, memorials, communication expenses, comfort expenses and incidental needs. Contributions can be made online.

March 2007

Mason Law Climbs to 34th in U.S. News Rankings [2007-03-30]

George Mason University School of Law advanced to 34th in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report ranking of U.S. law schools released today, up three spots from last year. Mason Law has moved steadily up the ranks since first cracking the top 50 in 2001. Mason remains the youngest law school ranked in the U.S. News top 50.

"We are pleased to have the accomplishments of the Mason Law community recognized and realize the rankings are important to applicants," said Dean Daniel Polsby. "But at the end of the day, our educational mission and efforts to fulfill that mission are relatively unchanged by this or any other ranking."

Each year, U.S. News evaluates graduate programs in five major disciplines: business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. Programs are ranked using measures such as entering students' test scores, faculty/student ratios, and reputation ratings drawn from inside and outside academia.

Mason Law is one of four Virginia law schools that were ranked in the top 50. For more information on the rankings, visit the U.S. News website.

CIPP Research Subject of WTOP News Story [2007-03-20]

Research being conducted by Mason Law's Critical Infrastructure Protection Program (CIPP) into open government laws was the subject of a recent story by the Washington area's top news radio station, WTOP FM. CIPP Legal Research Associate and Mason Law alumna Maeve Dion ('06) was interviewed for the story.

The federally funded CIPP project will examine state statutes barring the release of certain types of sensitive information with the goal of aiding state governments in the protection of our critical infrastructures while ensuring compliance with federal laws and maximizing public access to information.

Since 9/11, numerous non-release provisions have been enacted by state governments in the interest of homeland security. At the same time, questions about the effectiveness of these statutes and their impact on public access to information have arisen, leading Congress to commission a broad study of the new measures. CIPP's partner in the project is St. Mary's University School of Law in Texas.

Listen to the story here and here.

Alumnus Levy Profiled in Washington Post for Role in Landmark Case [2007-03-19]

Mason Law distinguished alumnus Robert A. Levy ('94) was the subject of a front page Washington Post story on Sunday, March 18. Levy made news earlier this month as the driving force behind a civil lawsuit in which the District of Columbia's 31-year-old ban on firearms was struck down by a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

As one of three lead plaintiffs' attorneys in Parker v. District of Columbia, Levy explains that his motivation for bringing the suit was grounded in a desire to protect personal liberties, which he believes the D.C. law violated, noting that he has never and does not plan ever to own a firearm. He also shares insights into how his legal team was assembled and how the plaintiffs were selected.

Lawyer Who Wiped Out D.C. Ban Says It's About Liberties, Not Guns, Washington Post, March 18, 2007. By Paul Duggan.

Excerpt:

"To Levy the libertarian, though, the effectiveness of the law -- its success or failure in curbing crime -- isn't the core issue. What matters most to him is whether the statute unjustly infringes on personal liberties. He doesn't dispute that 'reasonable' gun controls are permissible under the Second Amendment. But the District's law amounts to 'an outright prohibition,' Levy said, and 'that offends my constitutional sensibilities.'"

Read the article

Related Links:

Lund Comments on Overturn of DC Firearms Ban

Distinguished Alumnus Robert A. Levy on Second Amendment Rights

Mason Student Claims First Place in ABA Writing Competition [2007-03-14]

Sarah Graves (4E) was recently named the winner of the ABA Public Contract Law Journal Writing Competition. Graves' first place paper will be published in the June edition of the Public Contract Law Journal and also has earned her a generous monetary award.

As winner of the national competition, Graves also was invited to present her paper at the 13th Annual Federal Procurement Institute attended by government contractors, private firms, government lawyers, and judges involved with the government contracting industry.

Of her participation in the Federal Procurement Institute, Graves said, "Overall, it was an incredible experience. It was amazing to have the opportunity to present my paper to a prestigious industry audience, and it gave me the chance to meet people with whom I hope to practice (and even argue before) as I progress through my career."

Graves' article, entitled "'Winstar Wars' Revenge of the Thrift: A Viable Model to Right a Decade of Wrongs," examines the federal government's role in and response to the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s with an eye toward the impact of United States v. Winstar Corp.

Rotunda in WSJ: Libby Conviction Sets Disturbing Precedents [2007-03-07]

Just as the president has the authority and discretion to decide whether to prosecute a case, so has he the power to pardon; and that is what Professor Ronald Rotunda argues for in his Wall Street Journal commentary on the perjury conviction of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Rotunda points out that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald never charged anyone with violating the Intelligence Protection Act of 1982. "The whole court case was about memories, not about the importance of classified information, or whether the government properly classified information in the first place. That is because Mr. Fitzgerald never charged anyone with the leak itself," said Rotunda. "Mr. Fitzgerald never even introduced any testimony that Ms. Plame's employment was classified."

The Case for a Libby Pardon, The Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2007. By Ronald D. Rotunda.

Excerpt:
"But if testimony differs, the law allows the jury to look witnesses in the eye and believe one and not the other, even if there is no documentary evidence. That is why perjury is a powerful prosecution tool -- one that was abused here.

"Among the unhappy precedents if the Libby verdict stands: Executive branch officials will hide from the press, which is unfortunate because 'leaks' can be an important check on all three branches of government. And even innocent officials will not be forthcoming when it comes to cooperation with future prosecutors. ('I don't recall . . .')

"Perhaps the worst precedent would be normalizing the criminalization of policy differences. Many of those who loudly demanded Mr. Fitzgerald's appointment -- and who applauded yesterday's verdict -- offered no more compelling reason than that somebody should pay for the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq.

"The late Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, when he was attorney general, warned that if the 'prosecutor is obliged to choose his case, it follows that he can choose his defendants. Therein is the most dangerous power of the prosecutor: that he will pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than the cases that need to be prosecuted.'"

To read additional comments by Professor Rotunda on the Libby conviction, please visit these links:

USA Today
Los Angeles Times (free registration required)

Law Students Lend a Hand to Katrina Recovery Efforts [2007-03-06]

With spring break fast approaching, many area law students' thoughts are turning to warmer climates, sandy beaches, and days free of lectures and laptops. However, not all students will be relaxing surfside this spring break. Students from three area law schools, including Mason Law, will be embarking on "alternative spring breaks" to provide free legal assistance as part of the ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region.

Law Students Aid Gulf Coast Residents, Legal Times, March 5, 2007. By Tifany Williams.

Excerpt:
"Through the Student Hurricane Network, law students, not just from the District but from across the nation, will be paired with law firms and local legal-aid agencies in the Gulf Coast to provide support on issues such as criminal displacement and to assist homeowners in clearing their property titles in order to receive federal benefits and rebuild their homes.

"Last year, Howard sent about 30 students to the Gulf Coast area. This year, students from UDC and George Mason will be making the trip for the first time.

"For Andrea Loveless, a third-year law student at George Mason, the wait to go down to Louisiana and start helping is a source of excitement but also nervousness.

"'I expect to be very moved by the day-to-day actions of the people while I'm down there, and I expect it [to] be shocking. But I'm ready to go,' Loveless says."

Read the article (subscription required)

Mason Moot Court Completes "Hat Trick" with Win in Albany [2007-03-05]

The Mason Law Moot Court Board claimed its third major victory in as many weeks as members Melanie Fett, Andrea Loveless, and Pete Whelan took first place in the 19th Annual Domenick L. Gabrielli Family Law National Moot Court Competition held at Albany Law School.

The team of 3Ls argued six times in the course of the three-day competition and defeated a team from George Washington University Law School to win first place. In all, 18 teams participated in the national contest established in 1989 in honor of the late Domenick L. Gabrielli, Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.

The win in Albany comes on the heels of Mason victories at the 17th Annual National First Amendment Moot Court Competition and the 57th Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York City.

'California Dreamin': Paper Earns 3L Trip to GRAMMY Awards [2007-03-01]

Who knew that drawing a parallel between Hernando de Soto's concept of dead capital and the Supreme Court's "substantial, non-infringing" use doctrine could be so rewarding?

That's what Josh Carpenter (3L) asked himself when he learned that he was named a runner-up in The GRAMMY Foundation's Entertainment Law Initiative 2007 Writing Contest. In addition to a monetary prize, Carpenter's paper earned him a trip to Los Angeles where he attended a number of GRAMMY week events, culminating in the star-studded awards show on February 11.

Four other law students joined Carpenter in Los Angeles where they were recognized for their writing at the GRAMMY Foundation's Entertainment Law Initiative Luncheon. The contest finalists also attended the MusiCares Foundation Person of the Year Dinner honoring Don Henley.

In addition to experiencing the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Carpenter said the opportunity to network with music industry lawyers made the trip "invaluable."

Carpenter's winning paper argues that the U.S. Supreme Court's "substantial, non-infringing use" doctrine has stunted innovation in the music industry by creating an uncertain legal climate that discourages industry investment. Titled "Defending Artistry by Deleting 'Dead Capital': Sony, Grokster and the Supreme Court's Lost Opportunity to Eradicate the 'Substantial, Non-Infringing Use' Doctrine," it will be published in the forthcoming Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law.

February 2007

Berkowitz: Need for Rediscovery of Common Ground [2007-02-23]

While many prominent conservatives have been quick to disagree with Dinesh D'Souza's "The Enemy at Home," Alan Wolfe's scathing New York Times review of D'Souza's book and his call for excommunication of the conservative intellectual has met with little reaction from the left, says Professor Peter Berkowitz, writing for The Weekly Standard.

"Wolfe, it would seem, believes that one set of standards applies to conservative intellectuals, and another to intellectuals, like himself, who are on the left," writes Berkowitz, arguing that political disagreements in America are "not over rival conceptions of the political good but rather over competing ideas of what policies best serve individual freedom and equality under law."

Excommunication for Thee...; Alan Wolfe's self-incriminating attack on Dinesh D'Souza, The Weekly Standard, February 26, 2007. By Peter Berkowitz.

Excerpt:
"To claim that by promoting, among other things, abortion, gay marriage, pornography, and atheism, the cultural left presents a threat to America as grave as that posed by radical Islam is seriously wrong and foolishly divisive. To make such an argument while America is at war with a fanatical adversary who regards all Americans as combatants and who seeks not concessions or reforms but America's annihilation is to blur critical issues when the rediscovery of our common ground is what is urgently called for.

"So Wolfe is on solid ground with his hard-hitting criticism of The Enemy at Home and certainly has plenty of company on the right. Prominent and widely read conservative websites including HughHewitt, Power Line, FrontPageMagazine, and National Review Online have found severe flaws in the book, as has D'Souza's and my Hoover colleague, military historian Victor Davis Hanson, at Townhall.com and Real Clear Politics.

"Wolfe's attack, though, is distinguished by his demand that decent and honorable conservatives 'distance themselves, quickly and cleanly' from D'Souza. Apparently, conservatives who fail to promptly and unambiguously pronounce anathema are tainted by and complicit in D'Souza's errors and excesses. This is more than ironic coming from a writer who, like D'Souza, darkly proclaimed that America is menaced by an enemy at home. For Wolfe, as it happens, the enemy within does not arise from the cultural left but rather springs from Republicans and the right. His thesis no more withstands scrutiny than does D'Souza's, but by comparison has received very little."

Read the article

Mason Law Team Wins National First Amendment Moot Court Competition [2007-02-23]

Mason Law's moot court team of Al Clarke and Samantha Mortlock surpassed 34 other law school teams to be declared winner of the 17th Annual National First Amendment Moot Court Competition held at the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University on February 22 and 23, 2007. Clarke and Mortlock return to Mason Law with the competition's top prize of $2,000.

The competition, jointly sponsored by the First Amendment Center and Vanderbilty University Law School, requires participants to have a thorough understanding of First Amendment law. This year's teams submitted appellate briefs and were subject to challenging legal questions from the judges, who were drawn from the ranks of the federal judiciary and the Tennessee Supreme Court for the semi-final and final rounds.

This year's question involved the constitutionality of state regulation of attorney advertising, with teams arguing both sides of the complex issue.

A First Amendment Center news release quoted Clark as saying, "It was an intimidating experience but also it was a truly great honor to argue in front of a panel of such distinguished judges." Mortlock added, "I'm taking a First Amendment class this semester and next week we are discussing commercial speech -- I think I'll be ready to talk in class on the subject."

Runner-up in the competition was Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, with Brooklyn Law School and the University of Georgia School of Law finishing as semi-finalists. The University of Georgia also was awarded Best Brief, with Ryan Faulconer of the University of Virginia School of Law named Best Oralist.

Read the news release

Read the Legal Times blog post: GMU Law Rules!

Read the news analysis: George Mason Team Wins in a Tricky Case

Law Alumnus Takes Helm of Virginia Bar Association [2007-02-19]

Glenn C. Lewis (JD '77) will be sworn in as the 107^th president of the Virginia Bar Association this weekend at the association's annual meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Lewis is the chairman and founder of The Lewis Law Firm based in Washington, D.C., and specializes in family law. As one of the nation's most sought-after divorce lawyers, he has tried cases in more than 25 states and the District of Columbia.

A cum laude graduate and former adjunct professor, Lewis has been honored with the Mason Law Distinguished Alumnus Award for his service in private practice as well as to the law school. Last fall Governor Tim Kaine appointed Lewis to George Mason University's Board of Visitors.

Lewis has a long history of involvement with the bar at the national, state and local levels. He is the first person ever to have served as president of both the Fairfax and Virginia Bar Associations.

Green Bag Announces Exemplary Legal Writing Honorees [2007-02-12]

ARLINGTON, VA – The Green Bag, a quarterly journal dedicated to good writing about the law housed at George Mason University School of Law, announced today its 2006 honorees for Exemplary Legal Writing. The awards, now in their second year, are selected by the journal's esteemed board of advisers, which includes members of the state and federal judiciary, the news media, private law firms and academia. The honored works will be republished in the forthcoming Green Bag Almanac & Reader 2007.

"The Green Bag exists in large part to promote entertaining, useful and high-quality legal writing of all shapes and sizes," said Ross Davies, the journal's editor-in-chief. "Recognizing exemplary legal writing is a natural extension of that function which we hope will engender even more good legal writing."

Notable among the honorees is Chief Justice John G. Roberts, who was recognized for his opinion in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, which was his first constitutional opinion. Judge Richard Posner of the 7^th Circuit, Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals Judith Kaye, former Solicitor General Seth Waxman, and Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh are also among those honored. In total, 24 works were recognized in six categories: judicial opinions, books, short articles, long articles, briefs and motions, and miscellany. A complete list of honorees is attached.

Nominees for Exemplary Legal Writing 2006 honors were submitted to the Green Bag throughout the selection cycle (October 31, 2005 through October 31, 2006) by the board of advisers. These texts were then compiled, categorized and distributed en masse to the board for review and balloting.

About the Green Bag

Originally published from 1889-1914, the tradition of the Green Bag was revived in 1997 when publication of the journal's second series commenced. The journal seeks to create a forum for useful and entertaining legal writing, and bridge the gap in legal publishing between news reporting and large-scale works of legal scholarship. For more information, please visit www.greenbag.org.

About George Mason School of Law

Founded in 1979, Mason is the youngest law school recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 50 law schools in the United States. Its faculty boasts many former government officials, a Nobel Prize winner and a number of the country's leading scholars. Mason's innovative and demanding curriculum is known for its emphasis on the economic analysis of law. For more information, please visit www.law.gmu.edu.

Complete list of Green Bag Exemplary Legal Writing 2006 Honorees

Judicial Opinions

Jay S. Bybee, Amalgamated Transit Union v. Laidlaw Transit Servs., 448 F.3d 1092 (9^th Cir. 2006)

Alex Kozinski, Jespersen v. Harrah's, 444 F.3d 1104 (9^th Cir. 2006)

Richard Posner, Cecaj v. Gonzales, 440 F.3d 897 (7^th Cir. 2006)

John G. Roberts, Jr., Rumsfeld v. FAIR, 126 S. Ct. 1297 (2006)

Ronald A. White, Green v. Bd. Of Comm'rs, 450 F. Supp.2d 1273 (E.D. Okla. 2006)

William G. Young, U.S. v. Kandirakis, 441 F.Supp.2d 282 (D. Mass. 2006)

Books

Bruce Ackerman, The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshal and the Rise of Presidential Democracy (Belknap 2005)

Jack Goldsmith & Tim Wu, Who Controls the Internet: Illusions of a Borderless World (Oxford 2006)

Geoffrey Robertson, The Tyrannicide Brief: The Story of the Man Who Sent Charles I to the Scaffold (Pantheon 2006; Chatto & Windus 2005)

Benjamin Wittes, Confirmation Wars: Preserving Independent Courts in Angry Times (Rowman & Littlefield 2006)

Short Articles

Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Smackdown!, N.Y. Times, March 12, 2006

Duncan MacDonald, The Story of a Famous Promissory Note, 10 Scribes J.L. Writing 79 (2006)

Jeffrey Rosen, Judicial Exposure, N.Y. Times, Jan. 29, 2006

Jonathan M. Starble, Gimme an 'S': The High Court's Grammatical Divide, Legal Times, Oct. 9, 2006

Stuart Taylor, Jr., Something's Rotten at Duke, Nat'l. J., May 29, 2006

Diane P. Wood, Original Intent versus Evolution: The Legal-Writing Edition, The Scrivener, Summer 2005

Long Articles

Harold Hongju Koh, Can the President Be Torturer in Chief?, 81 Indiana L.J. 1145 (2006)

Pierre N. Leval, Judging Under the Constitution: Dicta About Dicta, 81 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1249 (2006)

J. Harvie Wilkinson III, The Rehnquist Court at Twilight: The Lures and Perils of Split-the-Difference Jurisprudence, 58 Stan. L. Rev. 1969 (2006)

Briefs and Motions

Aaron M. Panner et al., Amicus Brief in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

Seth P. Waxman et. al., Amicus Brief in Smith v. Texas

Miscellany

Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Restyled Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Judith S. Kaye, The Best Oral Argument I (N)ever Made, 7 J. App. Prac. & Process 191 (2005)

Mark L. Movsesian, Samuel Williston: Brief Life of a Resilient Legal Scholar, Harv. Mag. (Jan-Feb. 2006)

Mason Team Wins Best Brief at National Moot Court Competition [2007-02-02]

The Mason Law moot court team of Kim Bierenbaum, Rocky King and Tony Schiavetti won the award for Best Brief this week at the 57th Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York City.

Bierenbaum, King and Schiavetti bested 27 other elite teams from around the country for top honors in the brief competition. Previous winners of the award include teams from Duke, Fordham, and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

The Mason team also advanced to the round of 16 in the oral event before being eliminated.

Coached by Ernie Isenstadt and Suzzette Rodriguez Hurley (JD ’04), the students earned their trip to the national competition last November by finishing in the top two teams in its regional qualifying round.

The National Moot Court Competition is sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the New York City Bar Young Lawyers Committee.

January 2007

Law Library Purchases Historical Collection of U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs [2007-01-31]

The George Mason University Law Library is pleased to announce the purchase of the U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978. This is a major new digital collection of historical legal materials published by Thomson Gale, and the second installment in a collection of primary legal documents entitled The Making of Modern Law. Last year the Law Library purchased the first series, The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926.

The U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs collection covers approximately 150,000 Supreme Court cases from the final years of the court’s fourth chief justice, John Marshall, through the first ten years of the court’s 15th chief justice, Warren Earl Burger. The collection features a fully searchable database of 350,000 documents which are presented as digital facsimiles and can be printed or saved as PDFs. The collection also provides browsable lists of case names and authors. Document types include Appellant’s Brief, Appellee’s Brief, Appendix, Application for Review, Oral Transcript, Petition for Writ of Certiorari, and Trial Transcript, among many other sources.

Some of the landmark cases covered in this collection are Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Miranda v. Arizona (1966), New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), Roe v. Wade (1973), and United States v. Richard M. Nixon (1974).

More recent U.S. Supreme Court briefs are available online from several sources including Lexis/Nexis, January 1979 to date; Westlaw, October 1990 to date; FindLaw (free), October 1999 to date; and the American Bar Association (free), October 2003 to date.

Click Here to Access U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs. Off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your GMU e-mail userid and password in order to access the collection.

Wright Appointed FTC Scholar-in-Residence [2007-01-22]

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras has announced the appointment of Professor Joshua D. Wright to the newly created position of Scholar-in-Residence in the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission.

In his new role, Wright will function as an on-staff academic expert on the law and economics of antitrust, working closely with the Bureau of Competition's investigative and policy staffs to ensure the Commission has the benefit of the latest and best thinking on competition issues as it undertakes its enforcement agenda.

Wright's current research focuses on the the competitive process for product distribution, such as slotting allowances, and contractual relationships in retailing. His teaching and interests include Antitrust, Contracts, Law and Economics, Quantitative Methods, and Corporate Finance. He has taught courses in the areas of law and economics at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Public Policy and UCLA.

A graduate of the UCLA School of Law, Wright was a managing editor of the UCLA Law Review. He later served as a law clerk to the Honorable James V. Selna, United States District Court, Central District of California. In addition to his law degree, Wright holds MA and PhD degrees in Economics from UCLA.

Wright will remain at Mason Law on a full-time basis through the spring 2007 semester and will take a leave of absence from the faculty for the 2007-08 academic year to fill his appointment.

Off the Clock: Professor Finds Puppy Love [2007-01-06]

Reprinted from The Mason Gazette

By David Driver

Michael Krauss
At the time it was an unfortunate incident for Michael Krauss, professor in the School of Law, and his family.

While living in Canada several years ago, Krauss and his wife, Cynthia, boarded their prized yellow Labrador retriever while they attended a conference for a few days.

“We came back and found out our dog was pregnant,” says Krauss.

Another dog at the boarding facility had managed to scale a 10-foot-high fence and impregnate their yellow Lab.

The result was a litter of eight puppies, something the Krausses were not happy about at the time.

Yet today, Krauss and his wife and two children operate a small breeding operation, Blue Ridge Labradors LLC, based at their home in North Potomac, Md.

Blue Ridge Labradors produces one or two litters each year. The family raises the puppies until they are seven weeks old, then sends them off to adopting families who have been waiting on average 18 months for their “baby.” The average litter is about eight puppies.

Krauss says the at-first problem that came from their Yellow Lab’s litter was actually one key that led them to start their own business.

The family does not advertise, but relies on word of mouth. Krauss estimates they have sold about 75 puppies in the past five or six years to adopting families from Rhode Island to California to Texas.

“We are very particular about who we sell the puppies to.”

There are very few operations like theirs in the country. One reason, Krauss says, is there is very little money to be made, unless a company tries to focus on quantity. “It is a labor of love,” he says of Blue Ridge Labradors. The family doesn't lose money on the side business, but they aren't getting rich either. Hundreds of man hours are spent on socializing each pup before adoption.

Blue Ridge Labradors LLC photo
According to the Blue Ridge Labradors web site, the family expects a new litter in March. That litter, like every one they breed, has been fully reserved for months.

Krauss does the training and marketing of the labs, while his wife handles most of the socializing of the puppies in their first seven weeks, before they are handed over to their new owners.

While on business trips, Krauss sometimes will stay in town for an extra day at his own expense to visit with friends who have bought puppies from them. “We have made wonderful friends all across the country.”

Law School Gets a Facelift [2007-01-04]

As Mason commences its spring semester, the law school has begun a design project that will create a more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment within Hazel Hall. This project is in response to feedback shared over the past two years at town halls, SBA meetings and other events that improvements to the look and feel of the building were needed.

Dean Price spearheaded an effort to consult students, staff, professors and alumni to identify the most critical concerns and develop workable solutions.

The facelift began over the winter break with the painting of the Levy Atrium. Painting in other areas will continue in the coming months. Throughout the semester, new plants and furnishings will arrive in the common areas. Most of the project should be completed this summer, and every effort will be made to minimize disruption to classes and school events.

The resulting sleeker surroundings will allow the law school to put its best foot forward to prospective students and other visitors while creating a more comfortable and functional space for current students, faculty and staff to enjoy.

If during this renovation project you encounter doors, furniture or equipment in need of repair, please alert Karen Newman, the law school's Director of Administrative Services, at knewman2@gmu.edu.

December 2006

Mason Law Exporting Soldiers' Clinic Concept [2006-12-24]

ARLINGTON, Va. – The George Mason University School of Law today announced that its Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) will be working with Missouri interests to establish a pro-bono legal services program in the state modeled after CLAS. The effort is backed by Governor Matt Blunt's Chief of Staff Ed Martin, key state legislators, the Missouri Federalist Society and several of the state's leading law firms.

CLAS, founded in 2004, is a pro-bono clinic where supervised law students represent active duty servicemembers and their families who would be unduly burdened to retain legal counsel. The civil disputes in which CLAS has represented clients run the gamut from consumer affairs to landlord-tenant, family law, and military disability cases. CLAS is the first clinic of its kind in American legal education and receives funding from Congress and private donors.

"Encouraging and assisting others to follow our example has been a goal of CLAS from the outset," noted Mason Law Professor Joseph Zengerle, executive director and founder of the clinic.

"No one has done more than CLAS to provide pro-bono assistance to our troops at a time when they need it most," said Bill Placke, an attorney with Charter Communications who leads the Missouri organizing committee. "We are eager to learn from this one-of-a-kind clinic and to replicate its success."

Dean Polsby's End of Year Letter to Alumni [2006-12-23]

Day by day and week by week, our job at Mason Law is to do all in our power to increase the value and prestige of your law degree. I want to share with you a number of reasons why 2006 was a great year for Mason Law – and a great year for you, too, as a valued member of our community.

CLAS Featured in Military News Publications [2006-12-23]

The Mason Law Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) was the recent subject of news stories by Stars and Stripes and the Military Times Media Group (publishers of the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times).

Jeff Schogol's Stars and Stripes piece delivered a broad overview of the clinic and its mission. It highlighted the story of CLAS client Neil Schalk, an injured Marine corporal whose application for insurance benefits has been denied twice. The Military Times article by Karen Jowers focused more specifically on CLAS' efforts to aid a Missouri group interested in starting a legal clinic for soldiers modeled after CLAS.

Law Students Help Servicemembers and Families Pursue Civil Cases, Stars and Stripes, December 23, 2006. By Jeff Schogol.

Excerpt:
"Tamar Nedzar, 29, is one of the George Mason law students representing Schalk.

"The West Hartford, Conn., woman said it is 'rewarding' to represent people like Schalk, who may not have other resources.

"Schalk, who has undergone 13 surgeries at the Navy hospital in Bethesda, Md., since being injured, said he would not have been able to press his case if he had to pay his own legal fees.

"'It allows me to definitely pursue the case without having the stress of having to pay for it,' he said."

Legal Assistance Program for Troops Expands, Military Times Media Group, December 22, 2006. By Karen Jowers.

Excerpt:
"A free legal assistance program for service members in Virginia is being exported to Missouri, and is expected to catch on in other states.

"Dozens of service members and their families have received legal representation from George Mason University Law School's Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) since the program was founded in 2004 by Joseph Zengerle, a Vietnam veteran. Zengerle, executive director of the clinic, also developed and teaches a seminar on homeland security and the war on terror at the law school.

"Representatives from George Mason's CLAS program will be working with interested individuals in Missouri to establish a pro-bono legal services program for service members modeled after CLAS. The effort is backed by Missouri's governor and key state legislators, the Missouri Federalist Society and some of the state's leading law firms, according to Ginny Smith, spokeswoman for George Mason University School of Law."

Read the article

Supreme Court Economic Review Earns High Ranking [2006-12-18]

The Mason Law-based Supreme Court Economic Review (SCER) is ranked second among economics and law journals, according to the new Washington & Lee Law School Journals Ranking. The rankings are based on the number of citations to current scholarship a journal receives and are weighted for impact (a detailed explanation of the methodology is available here).

Only The Journal of Legal Studies fared better, and the SCER ranked ahead of numerous prestigious journals, including the Journal of Law and Economics and the American Law and Economics Review.

The SCER was founded in the early 1980s by Mason Law Dean Emeritus Henry Manne, one of the principal founders of law and economics. Under the able editorship of the late Peter Aronson, the SCER provided a much-needed outlet for sophisticated economic analysis of the work of the United States Supreme Court.

After two very successful volumes, the SCER did not publish again until 1993, when it was revived with the help of UCLA economist Harold Demsetz, the late Ernest Gellhorn of Mason Law, and Mason Law Professors Nelson Lund and Bruce Kobayashi. In later years, several other Mason Law faculty members helped to reestablish the journal as a premier forum for peer-reviewed law and economics scholarship. These editors have included Larry Ribstein (now at the University of Illinois), Daniel D. Polsby, Todd Zywicki, Francesco Parisi (now at the University of Minnesota), and Lloyd Cohen.

The new Washington & Lee rankings provide objective confirmation of the SCER's high quality and extraordinarily strong scholarly influence, which will no doubt continue under the new editors, Mason Law Professors Ilya Somin and Todd Zywicki. To learn more about the journal, click here.

Read the press release from the University of Chicago Press regarding the rankings.

Mason Law Students Recipients of NBLSA Awards [2006-12-11]

The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) has announced the selection of Mason Law students Rex Flynn and Ryan Dickson as scholarship recipients.

Flynn, a third-year evening student, received the Rodney Pulliam Memorial Scholarship in the form of a $500 BarBri certificate for his essay on the past and future of affirmative action as it affects African-Americans. He served on the 2005-06 NBLSA Mid-Atlantic Board as the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Chair and is currently serving as the American Bar Association’s Lt. Governor of Diversity for the 11th Circuit. Flynn is a 2005 and 2006 recipient of NBLSA’s Nelson Mandela and Sandy Brown Memorial Scholarships, respectively, as well as the 2004 recipient of the Glenn Lewis scholarship and the Lillian Caldwell CLEO Book award. Additionally, Flynn is a CLEO 2004 Fellow and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated.

Dickson, who began his first year of legal studies as a full-time student in August 2006, has been awarded the Nelson Mandela Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 for his essay on the role of the U.S. government in eliminating genocide in Darfur.

The National Black Law Students Association is the largest student-run organization in America, with 200 chapters at law schools nationwide representing law students in 48 states and Puerto Rico.

November 2006

Law Student's Rise to Success Chronicled in USA Today [2006-11-15]

Second-year evening student Anna Escobedo Cabral is the subject of a recent USA Today feature chronicling her inspirational story of success. According to the article, Cabral credits education for taking her from humble beginnings in Southern California to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where she currently serves as treasurer of the United States. Nominated by President Bush, Cabral was confirmed by the Senate on November 20, 2004, and her signature now appears on currency worth nearly $249 billion.

Treasurer Promotes Value of Education, USA Today, November 14, 2006. By Barbara Hagenbaugh.

Excerpt:
"As the U.S. treasurer, a position that dates back to the Continental Congress in 1775, Cabral, 47, is the main adviser to government agencies charged with producing the nation's money. She is also a key spokeswoman for the administration on financial literacy and the economy.

"Cabral has made financial literacy a focus of her job, and travels three or four days a week around the country to promote smart management of money. She says she especially likes to speak to kids, believing the earlier you start, the better.

"Cabral remembered when she first had to sign her name for the engravers who would be creating the plates for the money. Every time she brought her hand to the page, it would shake.

"'I couldn't do it,' she says.

"But she was finally able to sign when she thought about where she and her family had come from. Cabral says she never wants to forget her past and wants to help others in similar situations. Part of that help is by teaching people to be responsible with their money. She also tries to use herself as an example that people can, if given the right opportunity and support, thrive."

Read the article

October 2006

Mason Law Bar Passage Rates Soar [2006-10-24]

The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners has reported that Mason Law alumni who sat for the state bar exam in July 2006 passed the test in record numbers.

Among all takers, 83.2 percent of Mason graduates passed the bar, bettering the state average passing rate by more than 11 percentage points.

First-time bar takers from Mason passed the exam at the rate of 85.4 percent—nearly 10 points higher than the 76.8 percent state average for first-timers.

These unprecedented results follow on the heels of a strong performance by Mason Law grads who sat for the bar exam in February, when the Mason first-time passage rate was 71.4 percent. The state average was 65.2 percent for first-time takers.

Since 2003, Mason's bar passage rates for first-time takers have been consistently higher than the state average.
"We're very encouraged by our students' fine performance on the Virginia Bar Exam, which is one of the toughest in the country," said Dan Polsby, dean of the law school. "What we're seeing is a reflection of stronger and stronger classes working their way through the law school's unique and demanding curriculum."

School of Law to Host Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition [2006-10-18]

By Jessie Morales
Reprinted from The Mason Gazette, October 16, 2006

The George Mason School of Law has been selected to host the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Regional Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, one of the largest and most prestigious moot court competitions in the world.

The competition will take place Feb. 23 to 25, 2007; and the Final Mid-Atlantic Regional Round will take place Sunday, Feb. 25. The competition is open to the public. Each year, more than 500 teams from approximately 80 countries participate.

Mason's team for the competition consists of third-year students Jesse Coleman, Joe Folio, Elizabeth Bailey and Marian Lawson, and second-year student Lucy Jewett. Since Mason will be hosting the Mid-Atlantic Regional Rounds, the team will compete in another region.

Mason's Moot Court Board (MCB) will manage the regional rounds. Thomas Julian, cochair of the MCB Competition Committee, says the competition is expected to attract leading judges, lawyers and law professors in the international law realm who may never have been to Mason before.

Samantha Mortlock, MCB Fundraising Committee chair, secured the sponsorship of top international law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Round’s Welcome Reception and Awards Dinner.

The Jessup competition gives participants the opportunity to develop and improve their written and oral appellate advocacy skills, become familiar with the operation of the International Court of Justice and learn about the procedure and substance of international law in the context of dealing with timely and difficult international law issues.

The 2007 Jessup problem raises issues of state membership in international organizations. Each team will be required to submit a written brief and argue in appellate argument style competition.

The competition is broken down into national and international rounds. Teams first compete in a regional round; the winning team represents the region at the International Rounds, which will take place in Washington, D.C. The winners of the International Rounds compete for the Jessup Cup in the World Championship Round, which will take place March 31 at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Arguments are held before three-judge panels meant to resemble the International Court of Justice. These panels are comprised of judges, attorneys, law professors and public servants.

The Jessup competition, which recently celebrated its 40-year anniversary, is cosponsored by the International Law Students Association and the American Society of International Law.

The Moot Court Board is looking for international law lawyers who are interested in serving as judges for the competition. For information, e-mail mootct@gmu.edu.

Alumnus William E. Moschella Named New Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General at Department of Justice [2006-10-03]

The Justice Department has announced the appointment of Mason Law alumnus William E. Moschella (’95) as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice effective immediately.

"Will has been a valuable member of my team since day one," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales in a press release dated October 2. "Since his confirmation in 2003, Will has aided the passage of every single piece of significant anti-terror legislation. He has provided both Attorney General Ashcroft and me with expert guidance and unmatched negotiation skills in his role as Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs," Gonzales added.

Moschella worked on Capitol Hill from 1990 to 2003, including service as Counsel to the House Committee on Government Reform, General Counsel to the House Committee on Rules, and Chief Investigative Counsel and Parliamentarian to the House Committee on the Judiciary prior to his nomination by President Bush in 2003 to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, a position he held until his appointment as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.

In assuming his new position, Moschella succeeds Mason Law alumnus William Mercer (’93), who was nominated in early September to serve as Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice.

September 2006

Law Alumnus Glenn Lewis Appointed to GMU Board of Visitors [2006-09-19]

Governor Tim Kaine has appointed Glenn C. Lewis (JD '77) to a four year term on the George Mason University Board of Visitors. The 16-member corporate body exercises its authority principally in policymaking and oversight of the University.

Lewis is the chairman and founder of The Lewis Law Firm, P.C., a national practice emphasizing family and matrimonial law based in Washington, D.C. As one of the nation's most sought after divorce lawyers, Mr. Lewis has tried cases in more than 25 states and the District of Columbia. Many have involved the distribution of billions of dollars in assets, complex issues of child custody, novel issues of conflicts in law, forensic disputes in sexual abuse or custodial evaluations, and matters involving parties and issues of particular novelty or significance, some leading to landmark decisions in family law.

He has chaired numerous legal and family law organizations and by designation of his peers, has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Among the many honors he has received, Lewis was the youngest recipient of the Virginia State Bar Family Law Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also been honored with the Mason Law Distinguished Alumnus Award for his service in private practice as well as to the law school.

Renowned Economist Tullock Featured in National Review [2006-09-14]

With the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Economics due in early October, George Mason Professor of Law Gordon Tullock is the subject of a recent National Review article honoring his life's work in law and economics, specifically his pioneering research on public-choice theory and rent-seeking behavior.

The non-Nobelist: But Gordon Tullock, maverick economist, deserves one, National Review, September 25, 2006. By John J. Miller.
Excerpt:
"Tullock is the author of one of the most groundbreaking economics papers ever published: 'The Welfare Costs of Tariffs, Monopolies, and Theft.' It explained that when individuals or groups try to gain economic advantages through the manipulation of government policy — lobbying to build trade barriers or legal monopolies, for instance — the costs of their activities are both high and hidden. They not only discourage competition, but also drive talented people into non-productive activities, as skilled managers devote themselves to winning new favors from government or defending the ones they already have. Today, this behavior is called 'rent-seeking,' and it is of course deeply embedded in Washington's political culture of earmarks and subsidies. In his paper, Tullock mischievously likened the whole enterprise to theft. 'I try to raise eyebrows in everything I write,' he says."

"Tullock never married and he has no kids, so what he will leave behind is his work. There's an awful lot of it, and it covers a vast range of subjects: income redistribution, political revolutions, and even biology (he once wrote a paper on a bird called the coal tit). The Liberty Fund recently put out The Selected Works of Gordon Tullock, a ten-volume set that spans more than 4,000 pages. 'I can't complain about my career being blighted,' he says. 'I've done very well.' He's also done a great deal of good, for which the world should be grateful, regardless of what they say in Stockholm."

Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner Speaks at Mason [2006-09-11]

From: The Docket, posted 9/11/2006
By: Tracy Hartman
Former Governor of Virginia and presidential hopeful for 2008 Mark Warner visited GMU Law on Tuesday, to speak about national security on the eve of the five-year 9/11 anniversary.

The speech, sponsored by George Mason University's Critical Infrastructure Protection Program, laid out a plan to reform the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Warner gave specific examples of DHS failures, evoking images of the days after 9/11 as well as the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to point out that America is not well-equipped to handle such disasters.

Warner described in detail his personal experience on September 11, 2001 and suggested that all Americans hold on to their personal memories of that day as well.

Warner explained that most of our air and shipping cargo goes unscreened, and that our chemical plants are still not secure. He also mentioned that FBI counter-terrorism agents only receive an hour of Arab culture training. The lack of information sharing between law enforcement and intelligence is another glaring hole in our national security, according to Warner. Sharing relevant information would enable local police to act on possible threats that are detected by intelligence overseas.

The political divisions in America today are hurting our safety as well, according to Warner. "Americans are sick of division… of the politics of Republican versus Democrat, liberal versus conservative, Red versus Blue," he said. He criticized the Bush administration for telling Americans to "go shopping," instead of "tapping that yearning to serve the common good."

Warner urged the American people to "move forward together in a renewed spirit of unity… in the greatest struggle of our generation."

Mark Warner is the honorary chair of Forward Together, a Democratic political action committee located in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Program (CIPP) is housed in the George Mason University School of Law. Critical infrastructures are defined by the CIPP as "the complex and highly interdependent systems, networks, and assets that provide the services essential in our daily life." These resources include transportation systems, banking and telecommunications systems. According to its website, the CIPP's research focus areas include cyber security, physical security, information sharing, and privacy concerns.

Alan Merten, the President of George Mason University, thanked Mark Warner for his support. He remarked, "the CIP Program has benefited from the encouragement of Mark Warner. It was a pleasure and an honor to have him visit us and address our community on homeland security and critical infrastructure protection."

Mason Law Alumnus Mercer Nominated to No. 3 Job at DOJ [2006-09-06]

Mason Law alumnus Bill Mercer ('93) has been nominated by President Bush to serve as associate attorney general, the third-highest ranking position at the Department of Justice.

As the associate AG, Mercer would be a principal member of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' senior management team, advising the attorney general and deputy attorney general on DOJ programs and policies. The Civil, Civil Rights, Antitrust, Tax, and Environmental and Natural Resources divisions of the department would fall under his purview. Other duties would include oversight of the offices of Justice Programs, Community Oriented Policing Services, Tribal Justice, Dispute Resolution, Information and Privacy, Community Relations Service, and Violence Against Women.

Mercer is currently serving as the U.S. attorney for Montana and the principal deputy attorney general at DOJ in Washington. He was an assistant AG for Montana from 1994-2001 and previously served as a policy analyst in the Justice Department.

In addition to his Mason Law degree, Mercer holds degrees from the University of Montana and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Mason Law Professor Kimberly Moore Confirmed as Federal Circuit Judge [2006-09-05]

Arlington, Va. -- George Mason University School of Law today welcomed the Senate confirmation of faculty member Kimberly A. Moore's appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Senate voted 92-0 in favor of Professor Moore's appointment to the court, which hears nationwide appeals in the areas of patent law, trademarks, international trade and other specialized areas.

“It is an honor to have been appointed by the President, and I thank the Senate for their vote of confidence,” said Professor Moore.“I am pleased to have this opportunity to serve the public and look forward to working with the distinguished panel of judges on the Federal Circuit.”

Professor Moore joined the Mason Law faculty in 2000 and teaches courses in patent litigation and strategy, patent law and intellectual property law. A book she co-wrote, Patent Litigation and Strategy, is considered the leading textbook on patent law. Moore is editor-in-chief of the Federal Circuit Bar Journal and in 2006 was named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by The National Law Journal. She practiced intellectual property litigation at Kirkland and Ellis prior to her academic career.

"Once again, the president has turned to the George Mason Law faculty for a sensitive appointment," said George Mason School of Law Dean Daniel Polsby. "Globalization and our growing reliance on technology place increasing importance on the outcomes of patent and intellectual property cases," continued Polsby. "No one is better equipped than Professor Moore to sort out these complexities, and no one more committed to upholding the rule of law."

President Bush nominated Professor Moore on May 18 to fill the vacancy left by retiring Judge Raymond C. Clevenger III.

August 2006

Meet Annamaria Nields, Director of Student Academic Affairs [2006-08-30]

As they began their studies in August, new and returning students had the opportunity to meet a number of new staff members. One of them is Annamaria Nields, who joined the Mason Law staff in August 2006 as Director of Student Academic Affairs, a new position created to provide students with additional support in a wide variety of academic areas and to foster the sharing of information between members of the student body and the law school's administration.

A graduate of Colgate University, Ms. Nields is no stranger to Mason Law, having received her JD from the law school in 2000. While studying at the law school, Ms. Nields was active in student affairs, serving as Vice Justice of the Moot Court Board and a Dean's Scholar.

Prior to joining Mason's staff, Ms. Nields practiced labor and employment law at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Washington, DC, from 2003 to 2006 and at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, LLP, from 2000 to 2003. She is a member of the Virginia and DC Bars.

Ms. Nields' services include advice on course selection; assistance with changes in status, leaves of absence, and withdrawal from courses; and help with most other issues that pertain to academic life at Mason Law. Her office is part of Career, Academic and Alumni Services (CAAS) in Room 370 (formerly Career Development and Alumni Services). Students are encouraged to call, email or stop by to see Ms. Nields as the need arises. Her contact information appears below.

anields@gmu.edu
703-993-8174

George Mason School of Law Welcomes New Faculty [2006-08-24]

For Fall 2006, George Mason University School of Law welcomes four new faculty members and one visiting assistant professor. Joyce Lee Malcolm is a Professor of Law with a strong background in legal history and constitutional rights, who will teach a seminar entitled "Common Law and American Rights."

We also welcomes three assistant professors of law: Allison Hayward is active in the area of election law, and she will teach Professional Responsibility this term. Neomi Rao has specialized in public international law and commercial arbitration, and she will teach Constitutional Law I this term. Samson Vermont writes frequently about intellectual property issues, and he will teach Torts.

The law school also welcomes Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Randall B. Clark, who has written about politics, philosophy and the law, will teach Health Law this term.

Alumnus Appointed to Chair Transportation Agency [2006-08-17]

George Mason Law alumnus Charles D. "Chip" Nottingham (JD '94) has been sworn in as chair of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The 140-employee agency is responsible for resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. Nottingham was nominated by President George W. Bush in June 2006 and confirmed by the Senate on August 4, 2006.

Nottingham brings a wealth of transportation experience to the STB, most recently serving as associate administrator for policy and governmental affairs at the Federal Highway Administration. He led the Virginia Department of Transportation and served as assistant secretary for transportation under Governor Jim Gilmore. Nottingham has also held several key staff positions within the U.S. House of Representatives.

The STB was created in 1995 as the successor to the former Interstate Commerce Commission. Nottingham is the Board's fourth chairman, serving a term of office ending in December 2010.

Bush Nominates Alumnus Liam O'Grady to U.S. District Judgeship in Virginia Eastern District [2006-08-10]

U.S. Magistrate Judge and George Mason law alumnus Liam O'Grady (’77) has been nominated by President George W. Bush to a U.S. District judgeship in Virginia's Eastern District, where he is slated to succeed Judge Claude M. Hilton,who recently assumed senior status.

Virginia's statewide bar associations gave O'Grady the highest level of support among the five candidates whose names were proposed by United States Senators John Warner and George Allen.

O'Grady's legal career prior to assuming the bench includes 10 years in practice with a Washington intellectual property firm, six years' service as a federal prosecutor, and four years spent as an assistant commonwealth's attorney. Before becoming a prosecutor, O'Grady was in private practice and served as a clerk and advisor to an administrative law judge in the U.S. Department of Labor.

Alumnus Wins Senate Confirmation to Key Transportation Post [2006-08-07]

(Reprinted in part from The Mason Gazette, July 13, 2006)

Sean Connaughton

George Mason University School of Law alumnus Sean Connaughton (JD ’92) was confirmed by the Senate on August 4 to lead the U.S. Maritime Administration. President George W. Bush nominated Connaughton in June to head the agency that has a budget of more than $500 million and a staff of nearly 1,000 people. He is expected to be sworn into office by the end of the month.

Accepting the post, Connaughton leaves a maritime and environmental law practice at the Washington law firm Troutman Sanders LLP and will step down from his position as chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

A 1983 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Connaughton served on active duty in the Coast Guard from 1983 to 1986. After leaving active duty, he briefly worked for a defense contractor in Arlington, Va.

He then returned to the Coast Guard as a civil servant in the Office of Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. During this time,Connaughton attended Georgetown University part time and graduated with a master’s degree in 1988.

In 1988, Connaughton began working at a trade association representing companies involved in the energy and marine transportation industries. He attended George Mason University School of Law at night and passed the Virginia State Bar in 1992.

Connaughton embarked on a career as a lawyer in private practice specializing in maritime and international law. He and a colleague appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 to argue a case involving the constitutionality of laws imposed on the marine transportation industry. They won that case in a unanimous decision.

He was elected chairman-at-large of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 1999. He was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2004.

Connaughton is on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the chief elected official of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board, a member of the Board of Directors of the Skillsource Group Inc. of the Northern Virginia Workforce Investment Board, and a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

In addition, he is a member of the Prince William Campus Advisory Board of George Mason University and the Woodbridge Campus Advisory Board of Northern Virginia Community College.

CIPP Director John McCarthy Interviewed in August ABA Journal [2006-08-04]

John A. McCarthy, Director and Principal Investigator of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Program was interviewed in the latest issue of the ABA Journal, a monthly magazine sent to all members of the American Bar Association. This article presents some of the major issues and concerns arising when the government and private sector try to coordinate efforts to respond to natural disasters.
Preparing for the Worst: Working Together Will Help Both Government and Private Companies to Weather Disasters. ABA Journal, By Siobhan Morrissey, August 2006, p. 52-58.
Excerpt:
John A. McCarthy, another member of the ABA’s Katrina task force subcommittee, agrees that some legislative retooling is probably in order, going all the way back to the Cold War disaster response laws.

“We need to rethink our basic authorities,” says McCarthy, director of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Program at George Mason University School of Law in [Arlington, Va.] “It doesn’t mean we necessarily have to rewrite them. But we have to update them in the context of newer and broader technologies.”

Without stronger legal authority for including private companies in disaster response efforts, McCarthy says, cooperation can be tenuous, sometimes even relying on the strength of personal commitments.

“Think of the logistical capabilities of a company like FedEx,” McCarthy says. “They rival the military. How do we work with an organization like that in a time of disaster? They are there and are willing to help. But a lot of it is ad hoc. We should move beyond the trusted individual, no matter who the CEO is. There has to be a good process in place for the CEO and the government to link up.”

The reach of the Stafford Act also should be reconsidered, McCarthy says.

“The threats and scale and scope of disasters have changed, so we need to think who we need to include in that,” he says. “Can you extend this to an Internet provider? We know we can buy water and mattresses. Can you buy Internet time? Who sets priorities on who gets fixed first? Who does that during a technological event?”

George Mason Professor Jon Gould Selected as Supreme Court Fellow [2006-08-02]

George Mason University today announced that associate professor of administration of justice, Jon Gould, has been selected as the 2006-2007 Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the Federal Judicial Center. Gould also teaches at Mason’s School of Law.
As the fellow at the Federal Judicial Center, Gould will provide assistance with the Center’s research and history programs. His fellowship begins in the fall and continues through 2007. Gould will take a leave of absence from the University to pursue the fellowship.

The Supreme Court Fellows Program was created in 1973 by the late Chief Justice Warren E. Burger to provide promising individuals with a first-hand understanding of the federal government, in particular the judicial branch. In the words of Chief Justice Roberts, the program offers "a unique opportunity to learn about and contribute to the administration of justice at the national level."

Each year, fellows work with top officials in the judicial branch of government. With assignments at the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission, fellows have been involved in various projects examining the federal judicial process and seeking, proposing and implementing solutions to problems in the administration of justice.

Prior to joining the faculty at George Mason in 1999, Gould was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, at the Institute of Governmental Studies from 1996 to 1999. He was a fellow and later acting assistant director from 1991 to 1996 at the International Human Rights Law Institute at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. From 1992-1994 he was college counsel and special assistant to the president of Beloit College. He first entered academe in 1991, when he served for a year as a Harry A. Bigelow Fellow and lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School conducting research on corporate political speech while teaching first-year law students legal advocacy. Gould was a practicing attorney at Mayer, Brown & Platt in Washington, DC from 1989 to 1991. He currently serves as chair of the Innocence Commission for Virginia, a project that analyzes wrongful convictions and recommends reforms. He is a member of the advisory boards for the American Judicature Society and the International Judicial Academy. He is the author of numerous books and journal articles on law and justice, expecting publication next year of Upon Further Review: Inside Wrongful Convictions, from NYU Press.

Gould earned an A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1985, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1989, a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1989, and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago in 1999.

The Supreme Court Fellows are selected by a commission comprised of nine members selected by the Chief Justice of the United States.

July 2006

Bush Nominates Professor Susan Dudley to OMB Post [2006-07-31]

On July 31st, President Bush nominated Adjunct Professor Susan Dudley to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget. In addition to teaching courses on regulation at GMU Law, Dudley directed the Regulatory Studies Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Pending her confirmation, she will remain a Distinguished Senior Scholar in the Regulatory Studies Program.
Dudley's distinguished career includes over 15 years experience in the government and non-profit organizations, examining regulations from the perspective of the public interest. A respected scholar, Dudley has authored more than 25 scholarly publications on regulatory matters ranging from e-rulemaking, to electricity, health care, the environment, and occupational safety. She serves on the boards of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics.

Of the nomination, GMU School of Law Dean Daniel Polsby stated, "If confirmed as administrator of OIRA, Susan Dudley's exceptional background in research and regulatory affairs will serve the nation well towards fostering a more efficient and effective regulatory climate."

Los Angeles Times Features Story on Green Bag's Supreme Court Bobbleheads [2006-07-07]

A Washington lawyer recently paid $2,100 to purchase one of the coveted Green Bag Supreme Court bobbleheads (former Chief Justice Rehnquist) from an eBay listing, according to a Los Angeles Times article about the collectible figurines produced exclusively for random distribution to subscribers of the Green Bag and selected others. The same lawyer also paid over $800 for a John Paul Stevens bobblehead.

Professor Ross Davies, Editor-in-Chief of the Green Bag, calls the bobbleheads "one of those 'in-the-shower ideas'" and says that the real justices, each of whom receives his or her own bobblehead through a mysterious desktop delivery, are good natured and able to laugh at themselves. The bobbleheads include detail that captures the justices' special interests and signature opinions.

The Green Bag, which began as a monthly legal journal in 1898 and was published for 25 years, was revived in 1997 by Davies and two fellow University of Chicago law graduates as a quarterly publication. The Green Bag is billed as "an entertaining journal of law" and endeavors to take a lighter look at legal issues. Its subscription numbers have more than doubled since the introduction of the popular bobblehead figures in 2003. The latest member of the Supreme Court bobblehead family, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, should arrive in the next month or so.

Bobblehead Justices Help Journal Promote the Lighter Side of Law, Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2006. By Heather Gehlert.

Read the article

June 2006

Kathleen Casey Confirmed by Senate as Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission [2006-06-26]

The Senate has voted to confirm Kathleen Casey ('93) to succeed Cynthia Glassman for a seat on the five-member Securities and Exchange Commission. Casey will be sworn in to join the SEC for a term that will run through June 5, 2011.

Casey has served as staff director and counsel of the Senate Banking Committee, where she was a top aide to Banking Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), for whom she has worked for the duration of her legal career prior to her SEC appointment. She served as Shelby's chief of staff and legislative director prior to assuming her duties as with the Senate Banking Committee.

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Casey received her JD from Mason Law in 1993 has been an active member of the Capitol Hill Alumni Group.

George Mason Law School Receives a Gift of $1 Million From Robert A. Levy [2006-06-24]

In what George Mason President University Alan Merten characterizes as a “remarkable succession of leadership support,” the university has received three gifts totaling $3 million in private support. One of these gifts will benefit the School of Law.

Robert A. and Diane Levy have committed $1 million to the law school. In recognition, the atrium in the school’s John T. Hazel Jr. Hall has been named the Robert A. Levy Atrium. A 1994 graduate of the law school, Levy is a senior fellow in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. In 1995, he became the first alumnus to ever contribute $1 million to the university, creating the Robert A. Levy Endowed Fellowships in Law and Liberty.

For more information on Mr. Levy and his contributions to the George Mason School of Law, see "A Biography of Robert A. Levy."

Professor Kimberly Moore Receives Judicial Nomination [2006-06-16]

On May 18, 2006 the White House announced the nomination of Professor Kimberly A. Moore to be United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit to succeed Judge Raymond C. Clevenger, III, who is retiring. Professor Moore has been a member of the George Mason law faculty since 2000, where she has taught Intellectual Property and Patent Law.

Dean Emeritus Henry Manne Examines the Logic of Behavioral Finance in Wall Street Journal Series [2006-06-14]

School of Law Dean Emeritus Henry Manne takes a look at the logic of behavioral finance, "a developing field of academic research that emphasizes investor irrationality (and ignorance) and the inefficiency of markets" and which has been "hailed by defenders of the SEC as offering a solid economic rationalization for our vast scheme of federal securities regulations" in the first of a two-part series in The Wall Street Journal.

Efficient Markets: The Welfare of American Investors, The Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2006. By Henry G. Manne.

Excerpt:
"The literature on prediction markets makes clear that the more participants in a contest and the better informed they are, the more likely is the weighted average of their guesses to be the correct one. That is true, ironically, even though the additional participants have even less knowledge than the earlier ones. The only requirements for these markets to work well are that the various traders be diverse and that their judgments be independent of one another. Clearly, there is still a lot more work of a statistical and mathematical nature to be done before the idea of the wisdom of crowds is turned into a full-fledged theory of price formation, but at least we have identified the problem and made a start towards a solution.

"The implications of what we already know of this 'wisdom of crowds' approach to price formation, as against the traditional marginal pricing/arbitrage approach, are apt to be startling. We should rethink any current policies based on a view of pricing in which we exclude the best-informed traders and discard the wisdom of the many. For instance, we now have a new and more powerful argument than we had in the past for legalizing most insider or informed trading.

"Since such trading clearly makes the market process work more efficiently, it aids capital allocation decisions and informs business executives through market-price feedback of the best predictions about the value of new plans. Furthermore, the Supreme Court's 'fraud on the market' theory of civil liability under the federal securities laws and Congress's ideas of correct civil damage claims for insider trading no longer have any intellectual merit. The same is true of any other part of our securities laws implicitly based on the notion of the marginal trader as a rational arbitrageur of price.

"The new approach would suggest that it is undesirable to have laws discouraging stock trading by anyone who has any knowledge relevant to the valuation of a security. Thus, assembly-line workers, administrative assistants, office boys, accountants, lawyers, salespeople, competitors, financial analysts and, of course, corporate executives (government officials are another story) should all be encouraged to buy or sell stocks based on any new information they might have. Only those privately enjoined by contract or other legal duty from trading should be excluded. The 'wisdom of crowds' can do far more for the welfare of American investors than all the mandated disclosures and insider trading laws that the SEC and Congress can think up."

The Green Bag Unveils New Bobblehead Justice Kennedy [2006-06-02]

By Tony Mauro
It's Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's turn to be depicted as a bobblehead doll.
A prototype of the newly minted doll has already been delivered to the justice's chambers, and soon it will be available free and exclusively to subscribers of Green Bag, the offbeat law review published at George Mason University School of Law.
As he did with the four previous bobble-justices, editor-in-chief Ross Davies infused the Kennedy doll with imagery specific to his jurisprudence. His shoes sport a pair of asterisks -- used by Kennedy in one-footnote opinions -- and his cufflinks display the mathematical symbols for "congruence and proportionality," a Kennedy phrase from City of Boerne v. Flores. The doll stands on a topographical map of Glacier Bay National Park, at issue in his 2005 ruling Alaska v. United States. And Kennedy is holding Volume 505 of the U.S Reports, which includes Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 case that saw Kennedy taking a key pro-abortion rights stance.
Even the packaging for the doll will have significance, says Davies. It is modeled after the cargo containers discussed in one of Kennedy's more obscure decisions, Itel Containers v. Huddleston from 1993.
Because the whole package is fragile, Green Bag is not shipping them directly, but sending subscribers coupons to redeem in person. A similar arrangement for the Antonin Scalia doll drew howls from out-of-town subscribers, leading the entrepreneurial members of GMU Law's Phi Alpha Delta fraternity to offer to wrap and ship the bobbleheads for a $25 fee. The same offer will be available for the Kennedy doll.
Davies has designed and issued the dolls according to seniority on the Court -- William Rehnquist, then John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor and Scalia. Next up: David Souter, even though by Court rules, new Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. has instant seniority. "Not enough of a record yet," says Davies of Roberts, explaining that Roberts' few rulings so far would not give him enough symbolic fodder.
Only 1,710 of the Kennedy dolls have been made and they are much coveted by Court buffs. A Scalia bobblehead sold for $502 on eBay May 26.
© 2006 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. This article is reprinted with permission from Legal Times, a publication of American Lawyer Media. (1-800-933-4317,subscriptions@legaltimes.com www.legaltimes.biz).

May 2006

Alumnus Will Consovoy Chosen as Supreme Court Clerk [2006-05-24]

Will Consovoy, Class of 2001, has been selected to serve as a law clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, of the United States Supreme Court. Will becomes the first graduate of the School of Law to be selected for a clerkship on the Supreme Court. "Will was a wonderful law student, has been an energetic alumnus and will be a superb law clerk for Justice Thomas," said Dean Daniel Polsby.

Will earned his B.A. in Political Science from Monmouth University in 1996. As a student at Mason Law, Will graduated in the top 10% of his class and was a leader in many student activities. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the George Mason Civil Rights Law Journal and as a Writing Fellow in the law school's Legal Research, Writing & Analysis program. In addition, Will volunteered for numerous admissions and career services programs and served as an Associate Justice on the Moot Court Board. As a graduate Will remains involved at the law school by volunteering for career mentoring programs and by serving as an adjunct professor.

After graduating from Mason Law, Will clerked on the Arlington Circuit Court and joined McGuireWoods in its Tysons Corner, Virginia office. From 2003-2004, he completed a one-year clerkship with Judge Edith H. Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Following his clerkship with Judge Jones, Will joined the appellate practice group at Wiley Rein & Fielding, where, among other things, he has drafted several briefs to the Supreme Court and was among lead counsel on the brief filed in behalf of the George Mason amici in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Individual Rights.

Will has published several articles, including pieces in the George Mason Civil Rights Law Journal and the Utah Law Review.

Neomi Rao to Join Law Faculty in Fall [2006-05-24]

Neomi Rao, currently serving as Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to the President, will be joining the George Mason Law faculty this fall as assistant professor of law. Ms. Rao is a 1999 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as Comment Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. Following her graduation, she served as law clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the following year as law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court.

Allison Hayward to Join Law Faculty in Fall 2006 [2006-05-24]

Allison Hayward, formerly chief of staff to Chairman Bradley Smith of the Federal Election Commission, will be joining the faculty this fall as assistant professor of law. She served as law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge Danny Boggs and practiced with the law firms of Bell, McAndrews, Hiltchak & Davidian and Wiley Rein & Fielding. A 1994 JD graduate of the University of California (Davis) School of Law, Ms. Hayward is the author of many articles on election law and on executive power.

Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm Joins Law School Faculty [2006-05-16]

Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm, one of the world's leading authorities in American and British constitutional history, will permanently join the George Mason faculty this fall as Professor of Law. She will teach Legal History, Constitutional History, and other courses in the several areas of her expertise.

Professor Malcolm has served for the last year as Director of the Division of Research Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities on leave from Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts, where she had been a member of the history faculty since 1988. She has written extensively about the rise of individual rights in the legal order. Among her many published works are Guns and Violence: The English Experience (Harvard University Press 2002); To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right (Harvard University Press 1994), and Caesar's Due: Loyalty and King Charles, 1642-1646 (Royal Historical Society Monograph Series, London, 1984). She is currently completing Stepchild of the Revolution: A Slave Child in Revolutionary America (Yale University Press), and Null and Void: The Origins of American Judicial Review (submitted to New Forum Books, Princeton University Press).

Professor Malcolm is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Bye Fellow of Robinson College in Cambridge University since 1989, and in 2003-2004 held a visiting appointment in the Princeton University Department of Politics. She is the recipient of many honors, awards and distinctions. She holds the PhD and Masters degrees in History from Brandeis University and the BA, with Distinction in History, from Barnard College.

"Joyce Malcolm's breadth and depth of learning in constitutional history will enrich the law school and the university," said Dean Daniel Polsby. "She is a prolific scholar, a gifted teacher and a superb colleague. We are very fortunate that she has chosen to join us."

Law Library Purchases Major Database of Historical Legal Treatises [2006-05-15]

The George Mason University Law Library is pleased to announce the purchase of a major new digital collection of historical legal materials, entitled The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926. This is a full-text database of more than 10.5 million pages and more than 22,000 works of United States and British law published from 1800 through 1926. The Making of Modern Law was chosen by the American Association of Law Libraries as Best New Product 2005. This collection is the most comprehensive full-text database of Anglo-American legal treatises of the period.

The database allows users to search in full-text for all available materials, which can be viewed as individual page images. Users can also browse books by author, title, and legal subject. In addition, there are options to search for works containing charts, maps and other types of illustration. Users can also print up to fifty pages of materials at a time. On The Making of Modern Law, you can find everything from ABC of Taxation (1909) to Zoline on Appellate Jurisdiction and Procedure (1917).

Click Here to Access "The Making of Modern Law". Off campus, you will be prompted to enter your GMU e-mail userid and password in order to access the collection.

Following are a few titles and associated images from treatises in the collection:

Notes on the state of Virgina : with an appendix.   By Thomas Jefferson. 3rd American ed. Newark, 1801. 394pp. American Law: Constitutional and Political Theory. (below)

The humor of the court room, or, Jones vs. Johnson : a lawful comedy : with illustrations by Prescott Toomey. By  Philip Lindsley. Dallas, Tex., 1899. 82pp. American Law: Biography.
Defendant's Attorney addresses the Jury(left) and Plaintiff's Attorney addresses the Jury (right)

March 2006

Law School Alum Brito and Current Student Dooling Write Op-Ed for Wall Street Journal [2006-03-29]

Law School alumnus Jerry Brito ('05)and soon-to-be alumnae Bridget Dooling (May 2006) are the cowriters of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece on the effect difficulty in obtaining copyright permissions has on our ability to preserve our cultural history (also known as the orphan works problem).

In the article, which is adapted from the current issue of the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, Brito and Dooling examine the problems inherent in attempts to preserve old or archival materials such as films, photographs, or writings for which the original ownership is untraceable when archivists fear an infringement action if they copy or distribute the works.

Jerry Brito is a legal fellow with the Mercatus Center and Bridget Dooling is editor in chief of the Federal Circuit Bar Journal and a final-semester student at the School of Law.

Who's Your Daddy?, Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2006. By Jerry Brito and Bridget C.E. Dooling.

Excerpt:
"The Copyright Office recently issued a report about the orphan works problem, rekindling the legal debate and opening a precious window of opportunity for Congress to solve this problem. The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property has also begun to hold hearings on orphan works. That's the good news -- but there's unfortunately a real chance that nothing will happen unless Congress keeps its focus narrow and resists being drawn into a broader copyright debate.

"This larger debate looms because some of the proposed solutions to the problem of orphan copyrights appear to target the U.S. copyright system generally. Congress has slowly increased the term of copyright protection from a maximum of 28 years when the founders wrote the first copyright act, to today's unwieldy life-plus-70 years. The longer the copyright term, the greater the number of works that can be orphaned. Additional, works today do not need to be registered to be copyrighted; your notepad doodlings are automatically protected. This means, however, that there is no central register in which to look up copyright owners."

US Treasurer and Mason Law Student Anna Cabral Values the Patriots [2006-03-29]

Anna Escobedo Cabral, who is the current Treasurer of the United States and a second year evening student at George Mason University School of Law, is counting on the George Mason University Patriots to go all the way in the final rounds of this year's NCAA tournament.

U.S. Official Treasures Basketball. Deseret Morning News, March 29, 2006. By Lee Benson.

Read the article

Virginia Attorney General McDonnell to Visit Law School April 4 [2006-03-28]

Virginia Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell will visit the School of Law on Tuesday, April 4, 2006. At 3:00 p.m. in Room 221, McDonnell will speak to the law school community and will be available to answer questions from members of the audience.

Before his election as Attorney General in November 2005, McDonnell represented the 84th District in the Virginia House of Delegates for 14 years. While serving in the House of Delegates, McDonnell served as Chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, which acts upon nearly twenty percent of the legislation introduced in the House.

Criminal justice and victims' rights issues, welfare, taxation, and family policy were all areas of particular interest to McDonnell during his legislative tenure. He was Chief Patron of Governor Allen's Juvenile Justice Reform Initiative, Chief Patron of Virginia's Welfare Reform legislation, Chief Co-Patron of legislation in the 2003 General Assembly to abolish the death tax in Virginia, Chief Patron of legislation to create a transportation trust fund, and Chief Patron of legislation to rewrite Virginia's Public Private Partnership Act. He also was author of legislation and secured funding for the creation of Virginia's first Judicial Performance Evaluation Program to assist the General Assembly in reappointing judges.

McDonnell has served on many major policy reform commissions, including the 2005 Crime Commission Taskforce on Sexuallly Violent Predators (Chair), Governor Allen's Commission to Abolish Parole, the Attorney General's Task Force on Youth and Gang Violence, and the Governor's Commission on Environmental Stewardship.

The event is open to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

NY Times Reviews Solomon and Notes Unique Stand of Mason Law Faculty [2006-03-12]

In an article on the the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in favor of military recruiters in the Solomon case (Rumsfeld v. FAIR), The New York Times discusses how hundreds of faculty from the most prestigious law schools ended up on the losing side. The dean and two professors from George Mason School of Law were the only law faculty in the country to file an amicus brief in support of the military.

Supreme Court Smackdown! The New York Times, March 12, 2006. By Adam Liptak.

Excerpt:
Peter H. Schuck, a Yale law professor who thought the law schools' legal position was misguided, said that many professors were so indignant about the military's treatment of gay men and women and so scornful of the military itself that their judgment became clouded.

"There is often a feeling that if something is morally wrong it must be legally wrong and that clever arguments can bring those two things into alignment," Professor Schuck said.

The elite law schools have for decades been overwhelmingly liberal, Professor Schuck said, and that may have blinded professors to problems with their arguments. Only one law school brief, organized by members of the faculty of George Mason University School of Law, supported the military.

"If you put together a Vietnam legacy, a gay rights ideology, the idea that courts can solve all problems and the legal academy's echo chamber, you get this result, " said Joseph Zengerle, an adjunct professor at George Mason who helped write the brief.

Read the article

Read about George Mason's Amicus Brief

Unanimous Supreme Court Upholds Solomon Amendment [2006-03-07]

March 6, 2006: By an 8-0 margin, the Supreme Court decided that Congress can give the military a statutory right to recruit prospective lawyers at law schools whose universities receive federal aid, grants or contracts. Rumsfeld v. FAIR, No. 04-1152.

The Court's decision closely follows the amicus brief filed by members of the George Mason law school community -- the only members of the national community of law schools to brief the case in behalf of the armed services. Many amicus briefs were filed on the losing side (including briefs in behalf of the professors at Yale University, Harvard University, Columbia University, New York University, the University of Chicago, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania), arguing that the Solomon Amendment's requirement of equal access for military recruiters was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

The George Mason brief was signed by Dean Daniel Polsby and Professors Nelson Lund and Joseph Zengerle in behalf of six other George Mason professors, seven George Mason law students, and some eighty professors and students from other law schools. Lead counsel on the George Mason brief was Will Consovoy, ’01, along with Andrew McBride, Seth Wood and Wiley, Rein & Fielding.

A unanimous constitutional opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court, written by the Chief Justice and uncompromised by any concurring opinion, is the strongest possible American legal authority.

Arlington Campus: Location, Location, Location—and a Lot More [2006-03-01]

With its proximity to the nation's capital, George Mason"s Arlington Campus has always been able to tout its prized "location, location, location.” The campus is only four Metro stops from Washington, D.C., and less than five miles from the White House. With several building projects well under way or scheduled to begin in the next year or so, the campus can boast of even more.

When redevelopment plans for the Arlington Campus are completed, the 5.2 acre site will have 750,000 square feet of space and many new facilities to accommodate a projected 7,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

February 2006

Representative Tom Davis to Speak at May 2006 Graduation [2006-02-21]

Representative Tom Davis to Speak at May 2006 Graduation

By Jessica Schweer, Docket Editor

Rep. Tom Davis, the Congressman for the 11th Congressional District of Virginia, which spans most of Fairfax and Prince William Counties, has agreed to serve as this year’s graduation speaker. Davis, a Republican who was initially elected to Congress in 1994, currently chairs the United States House of Representatives Government Reform Committee. Davis also serves on the Homeland Security Committee.

Davis was born in North Dakota, but moved with his family to Fairfax County, Virginia at a young age. He served as a United States Senate Page for four years and graduated as President of his class at the U.S. Capitol Page School. Davis received a B.A. in Political Science, with honors, from Amherst College in 1971 and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1975. Davis also attended Officer Candidate School and served on active duty in the Army. He also spent several years in the U.S. Army Reserves.

January 2006

Law Students Compete by Counseling Clients [2006-01-24]

Last Saturday morning, January 21, 2006, 24 George Mason School of Law students met Mr. Davis, a hypothetical client, as part of the annual Client Counseling Competition. The topic of this year's competition, hosted by the Law School's Trial Advocacy Association, was "Employers and Employees."

The competitors, organized into 12 two-person teams, received a brief description of the client's problem and then proceeded to interview the client and conduct a post-consultation meeting with one another.

The judges selected two teams, Elizabeth Bradshaw and Alexis Conway and Derek Bottcher and Hugh Rosen, to advance to the Client Counseling Regional Round on Feb. 11 in Richmond.

Adjunct Professor William Roberts Sworn in as New Copyright Royalty Judge [2006-01-11]

George Mason University Adjunct Professor William J. Roberts was sworn in today as one of three individuals to serve as the first copyright royalty judges. The Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004, which became effective on May 31, 2005, phased out the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel system and replaced it with the Copyright Royalty Board made up of three permanent copyright royalty judges. The duties of the judges include determining and adjusting the rates and terms of the copyright law’s statutory licenses and determining the distribution of royalties from the statutory license royalty pools administered by the Library of Congress.

George Mason Law School Welcomes Visiting Professor Sally Katzen [2006-01-06]

George Mason University School of Law is proud to welcome Sally Katzen as a visiting professor beginning in Spring 2006. She will be teaching Administrative Law this semester, an area in which she has extraordinarily broad-based experience. She most recently has been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School where she has taught administrative law and information technology policy courses. She has also taught administrative law courses at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Georgetown Law Center (the latter with Judge Laurence Silberman). [more...]

Green Bag Announces “Exemplary Legal Writing 2005” Honorees [2006-01-03]

The Green Bag, a quarterly journal dedicated to good writing about the law, has announced its first annual list of outstanding legal writing from the past year. The honorees were selected by the journal’s special Board of Advisers on good legal writing, which includes distinguished members from the state and federal judiciaries, private law firms, the news media, and academia.

For more information on the selection process and the Board of Advisers, please see the excerpts from the Green Bag Almanac & Reader 2006 (PDF) — the forthcoming book in which the Green Bag will be republishing the “Exemplary Legal Writing 2005” honorees listed here.

December 2005

Dean Polsby's End of Year Letter to Alumni [2005-12-16]

Just a short note at year’s end to let you know what we are doing and to ask that you consider us in your end-of-year giving plans. Many thanks to all the many of you who continue to support the law school. This has been an outstanding year for us, and with your continued support we’ll make more extraordinary steps forward.

A Reflection on the Passage of the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791 [2005-12-15]

The name George Mason is not one that many Americans outside our region would recognize, but his place in our nation’s history is of immeasurable importance, especially on December 15 of each year when we recognize Bill of Rights Day.

Mason was a plantation owner who made his home at Gunston Hall, one of Northern Virginia’s loveliest historic homes, which stands in close proximity to Mount Vernon, former home of George Washington. Mason and Washington were neighbors and close friends for most of their lives until political differences drove them apart late in life. [more...]

Professor Joseph Zengerle Participates in Debate Over Solomon Amendment [2005-12-05]

Joseph Zengerle, Executive Director, Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers and Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason continues to participate in debates and coverage on the Solomon Amendment, which is implicated in a case before the Supreme Court this term. Recently Zengerle participated in a debate on the Solomon Amendment that is broadcast as part of the Boston-based NPR program "Justice Talking." A full description of the broadcast can be found here: The Power of the Purse: Can Congress Use it to Control Speech?

Joseph Zengerle was also interviewed as part of a CBS-News story on the future of military recruiting from reporter Randall Pinkston entitled Recruiting Faces Legal Hurdles. Here, Zengerle states that the military is simply complying with a statute in following their "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The video can be viewed directly here.

November 2005

Dean Dan Polsby Debates Professor William Eskridge on Solomon Amendment [2005-11-29]

The American Constitution Society's Blog (ACSBlog) is hosting an online debate on the Solomon Amendment between George Mason Law School Dean Daniel Polsby and Yale Law Professor William Eskridge. William Eskridge is a board member of FAIR (Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights), and he will present arguments against the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment. Dean Polsby has helped file an Amicus Brief to support military recruitment, and he will argue in favor of the amendment.

On Tuesday, December 6, 2005, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in FAIR v. Rumsfeld. The question presented in this case is whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the Solomon Amendment (which withholds federal funds from institutions of higher education that deny military recruiters access to campuses and students) likely violates the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.

Hazel Hall Dedication Ceremony Held [2005-11-08]

John T. ("Til") Hazel, Jr. spoke on Sunday, November 6 when the Law School building at the Arlington Campus was officially named John T. Hazel, Jr. Hall in his honor. Hazel, a prominent attorney and real estate developer, led the effort to help Mason acquire a law school in 1979.

October 2005

Supreme Court Justice Scalia Visits the George Mason Law School as a Guest Lecturer [2005-10-20]

On Wednesday, October 26, 2005, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia visited a law school class at George Mason as a guest lecturer and then delivered an address on the Constitution to a standing-room only audience of students, faculty, and staff.

The class that Justice Scalia addressed is a seminar on communications policy and law and is co-taught by Distinguished Visiting Professor Clay T. Whitehead and Adjunct Professor Lisa Sockett. The seminar features distinguished guest lecturers who have played a significant role in the development of communications policy.

Attorney General Gonzales Speaks to the Mason Law School Community on the Judicial Nomination Process [2005-10-19]

On Tuesday, October 18, 2005 United States Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales addressed the law school community on the judicial nomination and confirmation process. His speech was entitled "Respecting the Constitution -- In Judicial Debates and Judicial Nominees" and was followed by a question and answer session with an audience of over 200 students, faculty and staff.

The text of Gonzales' speech is available on the web: Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales at George Mason University.

Mason Law to Host Symposium on Law of Self-Defense - Saturday, November 5 [2005-10-19]

On Saturday, November 5, 2005, a group of eminent scholars will examine the modern law of self-defense in a symposium sponsored by George Mason University School of Law in Arlington.

The symposium is entitled “Bessie Jones Day Symposium – Modern Issues Involving the Law of Self-Defense” and will take place in classroom 221 of Hazel Hall (the law school building). Presentation of papers will begin at 8:45 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. The program features presenters who are recognized scholars from the United States and Great Britain.

The event is open to interested observers. To attend the symposium, please RSVP to Leah Spoelman (703-993-8085 or lspoelma@gmu.edu).

Professor Charles S. Robb Named to FBI Advisory Board [2005-10-07]

Federal Bureau of Investigations Director Robert S. Mueller, III, today announced that the Science and Technology Advisory Board will be renamed the Director's Advisory Board. Director Mueller also named four additions to the board. These members are George Mason Professor of Law and Public Policy Charles S. Robb, Lee H. Hamilton, Richard L. Thornburgh, and James Q. Wilson.

Director Mueller said, "I am gratified that these four distinguished individuals have agreed to serve on the Advisory Board. Each brings a wealth of experience and knowledge and a proven track record of accomplishment in government service and the private sector. I look forward to working with them and getting their insights on a wide range of issues. We will be discussing where the FBI should be going in the short and long term, how to adapt to a changing mission, and the FBI's role in a shrinking world. They will be a tremendous asset to the Bureau."

September 2005

Law School Alumnus William Consovoy to Participate in Debate on Rumsfeld v. F.A.I.R. [2005-09-23]

On Tuesday, September 27, 2005 the First Amendment Center, a non-partisan and non profit educational organization located in Arlington, Virginia, will host a meeting of the Freedom of Expression Network, a coalition of diverse groups concerned about First Amendment freedoms. Professor Chai R. Feldblum (of Georgetown University Law School) and William S. Consovoy (of Wiley Rein & Fielding) will address the group on the topic of an important case soon to be argued before the United States Supreme Court, Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights.

Professor Lund Dissents in Part in Report on Federal Election Reform [2005-09-20]

In the spring of 2005, Nelson Lund, George Mason University Patrick Henry Professor of Constitutional Law and the Second Amendment, was named to a private, bi-partisan Commission on Federal Election Reform which was tasked with studying the federal election system and recommending changes to Congress. The Commission, which was co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker, issued its final report on September 19, 2005. The report makes 87 specific recommendations that aim to modernize and raise confidence in the federal electoral system.

In the report, Professor Lund offers his support for the major recommendations of the Commission, "especially those dealing with improved registration systems and the prevention of election fraud" but details his reservations about aspects of several other proposals.

Visiting Professor Brings ‘Old Friends’ to Law School Class [2005-09-16]

When Brian Lamb comes to your house, he brings the entire federal government with him. Via television, that is. Founder and CEO of C-SPAN, Lamb won the support of key cable industry executives in 1979 for a channel that delivered unedited, "gavel-to-gavel” coverage of the U.S. Congress. Today C-SPAN is the nation's eighth-largest cable network.

Thanks to Mason Professor Clay T. Whitehead, who is teaching a course this fall on Communications Policy and the Law, Lamb visited his class on September 14 and then gave a 50 minute talk to the larger law school community.

On Oct. 26 at noon, another “old friend” of Whitehead"s will visit the law school to meet with the class and also to speak to the wider community. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will talk about how constitutional interpretation on telecommunications issues has affected society.

Profile of the George Mason Law School 2005 Admitted Class [2005-09-12]

From a total of 6019 applications, offers of admission were extended to 916 individuals, or just 15% of the applicants, making George Mason's selectivity comparable to that of many of the most highly-ranked law schools across the country. The George Mason Law School entering class for fall 2005 was drawn from122 different undergraduate institutions. The average age of entering students is 25.7 years.

Just Published: The Origins of Law and Economics, Edited by Francesco Parisi and Charles K. Rowley [2005-09-09]

Edward Elgar Publishing, together with the Locke Institute, has just announced the publication of The Origins of Law and Economics: Essays by the Founding Fathers , co-edited by Francesco Parisi, Professor of Law and Director of the Law and Economics Program, George Mason University and George Mason University’s Duncan Black Professor of Economics Charles K. Rowley. [more...]

August 2005

George Mason Law School Faculty & Students File Brief with Supreme Court Supporting Military Recruitment on Campus [2005-08-26]

A number of members of the George Mason community have filed a brief amicus curiae with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioner (Rumsfeld) in the case of Rumsfeld v. F.A.I.R. Oral arguments are scheduled for December 6, 2005.

The brief supports the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, a federal statute that withholds federal monies from law schools (and their parent institutions) if the law schools don't give military recruiters the same opportunities that other prospective employers are given to participate in law school job fairs or on-campus interview days with law students. Following is a Q&A on the brief.

George Mason Ties for First Place Among Top Law Schools in Study on Empirical Legal Scholarship [2005-08-25]

In a new study on legal scholarship, George Mason University School of Law ties for first place, along with University of California, Berkeley and Northwestern University, in the area of empirical legal research. The study, which is entitled "An Empirical Study of Empirical Legal Scholarship: The Top Law Schools," was written by Vanderbilt University law professor Tracey E. George and will be published in the "The Next Generation of Law School Rankings” Symposium, Indiana Law Journal (2005). The paper is currently available from the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).

George Mason School of Law Welcomes New, Visiting and Returning Faculty [2005-08-21]

For Fall 2005, George Mason University School of Law welcomes back three senior faculty members: Professor William H. Lash, who served as Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance in the U.S. Department of Commerce for the last 4 years; Professor Ronald D. Rontuda, who served as Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense for the last year; and Professor Todd Zywick, who served for a year as Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission and then visited for a year at Georgetown Law Center.

George Mason University Names Law School Building for John T. Hazel, Jr. [2005-08-19]

Fairfax, VA—George Mason University's Board of Visitors voted unanimously to name the building which houses its School of Law after John T. Hazel, Jr., commonly known as "Til,” a long-time university supporter and visionary advocate for Northern Virginia.

Hazel, a prominent attorney and real estate developer, led the effort to help Mason acquire a law school in 1979. The building, located on Mason"s Arlington campus, will be known as John T. Hazel, Jr. Hall.

"Til fought hard for the acquisition and accreditation of the law school in the face of considerable opposition throughout the state,” says Sidney Dewberry, rector of Mason’s Board of Visitors. “Over the years he has worked diligently in support of higher education. His influence among business leaders has resulted in a boon for George Mason and all of Virginia.”

July 2005

Law School Bids a Fond Farewell to Dean Fred Wintrich [2005-07-27]

On Thursday, July 28, the School of Law community bids farewell to Assistant Dean Fred Wintrich as he leaves the law school to enter the field of defense contracting. Wintrich, who retired at the rank of colonel after a long career in the U.S. Army, should feel right at home as he joins Anteon, Inc., a Fairfax-based systems integration company that provides mission, operational, and IT enterprise support to the U.S. government.

Justice Scalia to Lecture in Communications Law Seminar [2005-07-26]

On Wednesday, October 26, 2005, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will be a guest lecturer at Mason Law for a seminar entitled "Communications Policy and Law" (Law 614-001, Fall 2005). His classroom lecture will be followed by an address to the law school at noon that day.

ABA's Business Law Today Features Article on Mason's Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) [2005-07-11]

The law school at George Mason University in Arlington, Va., is close enough to the Pentagon that smoke on Sept. 11, 2001, was visible from the school's front entrance. A number of George Mason's law students were in the Pentagon when it was struck. When a law student who was mobilized from the classroom and deployed to Iraq wrote that his wife's landlord was threatening to evict her from their residence in the Washington metropolitan area, the law school secured the assistance of a graduate who resolved the dispute.

That's the environment in which the idea was born to create the Clinic for Legal Assistance to Service members (CLAS) and their families. Under the aegis of CLAS, members of the bar in all fields supervise George Mason law students in assisting our men and women in uniform and their families. The need for help can be particularly acute among the families left behind by those deployed abroad. They, and their uniformed sponsors, can require intervention for a range of problems that corporate lawyers are equipped to deal with: financial disputes with creditors, landlord-tenant matters, consumer rights and bankruptcy. Other lawyers supervise in matters involving estate planning and domestic relations.

Professor Nelson Lund Talks About Sandra Day O’Connor and the Future of the Supreme Court [2005-07-06]

Nelson Lund, PhD, professor in the School of Law, served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court. Following his clerkship with O"Connor, Lund served in the White House as associate counsel to the president from 1989 to 1992. He also held positions at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of the Solicitor General and the Office of Legal Counsel. He earned a BA from St. John’s College, an MA from Catholic University, an MA and a PhD from Harvard University, and a JD from the University of Chicago.

Regarding the retirement of O’Connor, which was announced last week, Lund said O'Connor "has been an extraordinarily influential member of the Supreme Court. Throughout her career, she was a deciding vote in many prominent cases dealing with issues such as abortion, affirmative action, school vouchers, religious displays in public places, and the death penalty. President Bush's decision about her replacement, therefore, has the potential to profoundly affect the development of the law for many years to come.”

June 2005

Thomas Hazlett, Former FCC Chief Economist, Comes to George Mason Law School [2005-06-30]

Thomas W. Hazlett, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and former Chief Economist of the Federal Communications Commission, joins the George Mason University faculty in fall 2005 as a professor of law and economics, teaching Economic Foundations of Legal Studies for first-year law students in the 2005 fall semester. In spring 2006, he will teach a communications course at the law school. In addition to his duties as a professor, Hazlett will bring his talents to the National Center for Technology & Law, where he will assume a leadership role in its research program. [more...]

School of Law Fields Team in Race for the Cure [2005-06-13]

Thirty-one people—School of Law students, faculty members, and their family and friends—participated as a team in the annual Komen National Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C., on June 4. The team's efforts netted more than $5,500.

Libby Phelps, a third-year student who graduated from the Law School this spring, organized the team and held a bake sale and Trivial Pursuit tournament that raised about $600. Sponsorships of the participants made up the balance.

Professor Michelle Boardman to Serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General [2005-06-06]

Assistant Professor of Law Michelle Boardman is taking a leave of absence from the law school to join the United States Department of Justice as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel. In her new position, Professor Boardman will be responsible for assisting the Attorney General in his function as legal advisor to the President and all the executive branch agencies.

University Counsel and Adjunct Law Professor Jeffrey Brandwine Dies [2005-06-01]

University Counsel Jeffrey Brandwine, who joined Mason in 1989, died Sunday from complications of pneumonia. He was also an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law where he taught education law.

Brandwine's funeral will be held on June 1 in Royal Oak, Mich. The family has asked that no flowers be sent. Donations in his memory may be made to the George Mason University Foundation for the Jeffrey A. Brandwine Scholarship Fund.

May 2005

A Letter to George Mason Law Alumni from Dean Dan Polsby [2005-05-25]

Dear Law Graduates,

As the new Dean of your law school, one of my most important responsibilities is to ask you to make a difference in our continued success. Our plans for the law school depend on the hard work of students, faculty and staff. But we cannot fulfill our promise without the financial support of our alumni.

In the past few years, we have succeeded in securing George Mason’s place among America’s finest law schools. However, as I noted in the April alumni newsletter, the more prominent we become, the steeper the slope to further improvement. We have the location, the faculty and the esprit de corps to become an even more prominent law school. But we need to increase scholarship dollars available for incoming students in order to keep pace with our competition. [more...]

Law School Awards 249 Degrees at 2005 Convocation [2005-05-21]

The George Mason University School of Law held its annual Convocation Ceremony on Saturday, May 21, 2005 on the Fairfax campus. A total of 232 students received a Juris Doctor degree, 7 students received a Juris Master degree, and 10 students were awarded the Master of Laws degree.

In Memory of Professor Ernest Gellhorn [2005-05-09]

George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law Ernest Gellhorn died on Saturday, May 7, 2005 in Washington, D.C. Professor Gellhorn was an internationally recognized authority on antitrust and administrative law who joined the law school faculty in 1995.

George Mason Law Students Win National Telecommunications Moot Court Competition [2005-05-08]

George Mason law students Vincent Gaiani and Helenanne Pellinger won first place and best brief in the 11th Annual National Telecommunications Moot Court Competition. The competition, which was co-sponsored by the Federal Communications Bar Association, was held at the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, on February 18 and 19, 2005.

April 2005

Professor Tullock's New and Collected Works Published [2005-04-20]

George Mason Professor of of Law Gordon Tullock is one of the most well-respected scholars in the area of public choice and law and economics. He has been writing in these fields since 1954, and he continues to publish highly-regarded scholarship. Earlier this year, Edward Elgar published a new work by Tullock entitled Public Goods, Redistribution and Rent Seeking. As a testament to Professor Tullock's long publishing history, the Liberty Fund recently began a 10 book series of The Selected Works of Gordon Tullock, covering writings from 1954 to 2002 . This series is edited by George Mason University’s Duncan Black Professor of Economics Charles K. Rowley, and the first five volumes have already been published. [more...]

APIL Auction Raises Over $17,000 for Public Interest Scholarships [2005-04-11]

After months of planning and preparation, the Association for Public Interest Law (APIL) held its 8th Annual Auction, on Thursday, March 31. Students, faculty and staff gathered at the Hilton Arlington and Towers in Ballston to attend the Auction, which raised over $17,000 for a Summer Scholarship Program to support GMUSL students who will spend their summers working in unpaid public interest positions.

APIL auctioned off the approximately 100 donations the organization generously received from faculty, students, and businesses throughout the Washington, D.C. area. The attendees had the opportunity to bid on items ranging from a golf outing with Former Senator Chuck Robb and Assistant Dean Fred Wintrich to gift certificates for local restaurants. [more...]

The Green Bag Unveils Justice Scalia Bobblehead [2005-04-08]

Scalia Is Everywhere -- Even as a Bobblehead

By Tony Mauro, Legal Times, April 7, 2005.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is everywhere these days –- speaking on C-SPAN, flying off to conferences, and, coming soon, appearing as his very own bobblehead doll. The Scalia doll is the latest in a series of highly prized, limited-edition dolls created by Green Bag, the irreverent law review published at George Mason University School of Law. [more...]

Article © 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. Reprinted with permission from Legal Times, a publication of American Lawyer Media.

March 2005

Professor Nelson Lund Named to New Election Reform Commission [2005-03-26]

George Mason University Patrick Henry Professor of Law Nelson Lund has been named to a new commission to study the federal election system and recommend changes to Congress. The Commission on Federal Election Reform is a private, bi-partisan panel that is co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James A. Baker and includes former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, former House Minority Leader Bob Michel, former U.S. Representatives Lee H. Hamilton and Susan Molinari, as well as, university presidents, scholars, and community leaders.

Law School Welcomes New Intellectual Property Law Director [2005-03-24]

The School of Law welcomes Stephen G. Kunin, Senior Counsel for Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., as Director of the JD and LLM Programs in Intellectual Property Law. Professor Kunin, former Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, brings to the law school over 30 years of expertise in intellectual property rights protection, as well as 24 years of organizational management and leadership experience.

Law and Economics of Irrational Behavior Published by Prof. Francesco Parisi and Vernon E. Smith [2005-03-09]

Stanford University Press has recently published a collection of essays titled The Law and Economics of Irrational Behavior. This book was edited by George Mason University School of Law Professors Francesco Parisi and Vernon E. Smith. The collection of more than twenty essays explores the most relevant development at the interface of economics and psychology, with special attention to models of irrational behavior, and draws on the relevant implications of the models for the design of legal rules and institutions.

The book contains contributions from numerous influential scholars in the area of law and economics, including several members of the George Mason School of Law faculty. George Mason faculty who contributed to this work include: F.H. Buckley, Terrence Chorvat, Kevin McCabe, Michael O'Neill, Francesco Parisi, and Vernon Smith. Other contributors include Robert Cooter, Mark F. Grady, Eric A. Posner, Cass R. Sunstein, and Thomas S. Ulen.

GMU Moot Court Board Hosts Third Law & Economics Competition [2005-03-08]

The Moot Court Board and the Law & Economics Center hosted the Third Annual Henry G. Manne Moot Court Competition for Law & Economics at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Saturday, February 26. Named in honor of former Dean Henry G. Manne, a pioneer in the use of economics principals to explain legal and regulatory norms, the competition promotes GMUSL as a premier center for the study of law and economics. The event gave law students from around the country an opportunity to make legal and economic arguments on the merits of a complex antitrust price fixing problem.

By Elizabeth Ryan & Greg Goldberg
From: The Docket Online, March 8, 2005

George Mason Students Make Final Round of Jessup Regional [2005-03-08]

While the rest of the law school community was dancing the night away at the Barrister's Ball, four students were at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, representing GMUSL at the regional rounds of the Phillip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Jeremy Wilson (3D), Brendan Lynch (3D), Jill Maguire (2D) and Shejal Desai (2D) competed against 16 other teams, advancing all the way to the final round.

The Jessup Competition was founded at Harvard Law School in 1959 and is the world's largest moot court competition. Last year, teams from 539 law schools, representing 83 countries, participated. Shearman and Sterling, LLP, a global law firm, with more than 1,000 lawyers around the world, sponsored the competition.

By Jennifer Clarke
From: The Docket Online, March 8, 2005

Adjunct Law Professors Marsh and Rosenzweig Named to Homeland Security Privacy Committee [2005-03-04]

On February 23, 2005, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the appointment of George Mason Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law John Marsh and Adjunct Professor Paul S. Rosenzweig to the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee (DHS Privacy Advisory Committee). This new federal advisory committee will provide expert advice to the Secretary of DHS and the Chief Privacy Officer on programmatic, policy, operational, and technological issues that affect privacy, data integrity, and data interoperability in DHS programs. According to the DHS press release announcing the formation of this committee, the 20 members "have diverse expertise in privacy, security, and emerging technology, and come from large and small companies, the academic community, and the non-profit sector. The members also reflect a depth of knowledge on issues of data protection, openness, technology, and national security". The first Privacy Advisory Committee meeting will be held on April 6, 2005 in Washington, DC. Additional information on upcoming events will be posted on the DHS Privacy Office website, http://www.dhs.gov/privacy.

February 2005

George Mason Takes Third At NTC Regional Competition [2005-02-22]

George Mason's commitment to build a first-class trial program paid big dividends this past year when Jeff Harper (2D) and Joanna Faust (2D) presented a murder case that powered past former title-holding schools, such as Georgetown, Catholic, and Howard. Their efforts won them third place from among 22 teams at the National Trial Competition Regionals, held at Fairfax Circuit Court, February 10-12. [more...]

Dan Polsby Named New Dean of Law School [2005-02-07]

Daniel D. Polsby, Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason since 1999, has been named the university’s new dean of the School of Law. “We are very grateful to Dan for his stewardship in years past and for his willingness to take on this new assignment. I believe he offers a stimulating vision of change and continuity for the school,” Provost Peter Stearns said in announcing Polsby’s appointment.

New Online Directory for GMU Law School Alumni [2005-02-01]

We are excited to announce that there is now a new George Mason University School of Law Online Alumni Directory. The new directory includes information on over 5,000 alumni, and it is completely free for law school alumni to use. This is the most comprehensive and detailed alumni directory that the law school has ever done. In a related context, all George Mason alumni have the option of getting a permanent email alias.

January 2005

Law School Mourns the Loss of Professor Henry Span [2005-01-31]

On Sunday, January 30th, 2005 former George Mason law professor Henry Span passed away at his home in New Jersey. Professor Span had been in cancer treatment for the past thirty months. The law school community and his friends and family mourn the loss of this remarkable individual.

Mason Law Student Anna Escobedo Cabral Sworn in as U.S. Treasurer [2005-01-26]

Anna Escobedo Cabral, a second year student at the George Mason University School of Law, was sworn in on January 19, 2005 as treasurer of the United States. She has taken a leave of absence from the law school. Cabral serves as director of the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Latino Initiatives. Previously, she was president and CEO of the Hispanic Corporation on Corporate Responsibility. Her career includes service as deputy staff director for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cabral received her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Davis, and a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

George Mason Named to National Jurist 'Technology Honor Roll' [2005-01-21]

In the January 2005 issue of the National Jurist, George Mason University School of Law is ranked eighth in a law school technology survey entitled "Top of the Technology Class." This annual survey looks at various factors in law school spending and technology infrastructure to calculate which schools have strong technology resources for classroom activities and research.

Previous surveys focused on the "most wired" law schools. This year the emphasis has obviously shifted towards wireless access, as this is the first category noted in their survey. All but two of the fifty schools on the list have wireless networks.

Almost two years ago, George Mason School of Law was one of the first departments within the 30,000 student university to implement a wireless network. Since then, wireless access has been expanded throughout the law school and across the university. At the end of December 2004, the university upgraded major elements of the law school's technology infrastructure, and the school continues to invest in and improve its technology resources. In addition to this, the law school has offered students the option to take computer-based exams during the last three academic years.

Prof. Muris named to Tax Code Reform Panel [2005-01-10]

Professor Tim Muris has been selected by President Bush to serve on a Tax Code Reform Panel. The panel of experts has been given until July 31, 2005 to issue a report. Full information on the appointment is found on our site here: Professor Muris Selected by Bush to Serve on Tax Code Reform Panel.

O'Neill appointed to Senate Judiciary Committee [2005-01-06]

Professor Michael O'Neill has been selected to be the lead legal counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, to begin his term in January 2005. Read the full news story on our site here: Professor O'Neill Named Chief Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committeee.

December 2004

Berkowitz Publishes Books on Conservatism, Progressivism [2004-12-15]

The Hoover Institution Press has recently published a pair of companion books edited by Professor Peter Berkowitz. These books focus on the history of conservatism and progressivism in the United States. Click here to read the full story on our website.

November 2004

Law School Clinic Provides Free Legal Counsel to Members of the Armed Services [2004-11-04]

After being deployed to Iraq, a George Mason School of Law student wrote to law school administration to say his landlord in the United States was threatening to evict his fiancée from their residence. The law school rose to the challenge and secured an alumni's assistance to resolve the dispute. This and related events spurred creation of a law school clinic to provide free counsel to military personnel and their families who cannot afford it.

Launched in January 2004, the Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) is now formally operational. It has received recognition in a FY 2005 Department of Defense appropriation, and the five armed forces—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard—support it. Private foundations and prominent law firms have contributed operational funds. Moreover, the American Bar Association has identified the clinic as a model for a possible nationwide pilot program for Military Consumer Law Clinics.

Davies Unearths Influential 1912 Supreme Court Decision [2004-11-02]

A 1912 Supreme Court In-Chambers decision unearthed by Professor Ross Davies involving review of federal election questions was recently analyzed in a story in the Legal Times. Read the story on our website: The Case That Could Have Altered 'Bush v. Gore', By Tony Mauro, In: Legal Times, November 2, 2004.

Professor Ilya Somin Discusses Voter Ignorance and Related Study Receives National Attention [2004-11-01]

Assistant Professor of Law Ilya Somin recently published a study on political ignorance which looks at some critical statistics on voter knowledge of politics and participation in elections. The study is: When Ignorance Isn't Bliss: How Political Ignorance Threatens Democracy, Policy Analysis No. 525 (Cato Institute, Sept. 22, 2004). In addition, on October 26, 2004, Professor Somin discussed aspects of his research in an event sponsored by the Cato Institute. Video and audio versions of the discussion entitled "What's Wrong With the Voters?" are available online. With the current elections and the focus on the undecided voter, Professor Somin's study has received national news coverage.

October 2004

Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Hassell Speaks on Brown v. Board of Education [2004-10-14]

On Thursday, October 14, 2004, the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court spoke at an event at George Mason School of Law. The Honorable Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. delivered an address about the impact and importance of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

September 2004

New Anti-Spam Solution Now Available to Law School Community [2004-09-30]

George Mason University has adopted a new software program to fight junk e-mail called Mail Frontier. This anti-spam program has been up and running since June 2004 and is now available to any students, faculty, or staff who wish to start using it. The University's Technology Systems Division (TSD) plans to automatically subscribe all GMU e-mail users to this program on September 27, 2004, but those who need immediate relief can choose to "opt-in" to the system now. With almost 64 percent of the mail coming to Mason being spam, this is a welcome solution," says Walt Sevon, executive director, TSD. According to Tracy Holt, Manager of GMU's Enterprise Messaging, Mail Frontier was choosen as the university's spam solution for a number of reasons. It easily integrated with Mason's mail system; it is very fast in terms of the number of messages being moved and does not slow down the university mail system; the user interface is simple, easy to navigate, and does not have a lot of confusing extra settings; and users can make their own settings and have it perform the way they want.

June 2004

Fairfax Bar Association Recognizes Domestic Relations Clinic with President's Award [2004-06-07]

On June 7, 2004 at their annual luncheon meeting, the Fairfax Bar Association presented a 2003-04 President's Award to George Mason School of Law's Domestic Relations Legal Clinic for "Promoting Access to Justice in the Northern Virginia Community." The Domestic Relations Legal Clinic was established by Distinguished Adjunct Professor Judge Stanley P. Klein of the Fairfax County Circuit Court with the assistance of Valerie Hughes, a 2004 GMUSL graduate. During the 2003 fall semester, Judge Klein and Ms. Hughes worked out the scope and many details of the clinic including obtaining the approval of the Fairfax County Circuit Court Committee. In January 2004 the clinic enrolled its first class of 10 students. After a very successful first semester, which included a caseload of 55 clients, the clinic will continue in the 2004 fall semester under the supervision and direction of Judge Klein and Ms. Hughes.

May 2004

FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris to Return to George Mason School of Law [2004-05-11]

Timothy J. Muris has announced that he is stepping down as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission this summer to return to teaching at the George Mason University School of Law. Muris begin his term as FTC Chairman in June 2001 and is best known for creating the highly popular National Do Not Call Registry that has allowed millions of consumers to stop receiving unwanted telemarketing calls. In a May 11, 2004 press release announcing his resignation, Muris says that "Serving as Chairman of the Commission has been the greatest honor of my professional career. I deeply appreciate the trust that President Bush placed in me by providing this opportunity to serve. As I have said repeatedly, the mission of the agency is vital; the issues are fascinating; and the people are outstanding."

April 2004

And O'Connor Makes Three... The Green Bag Unveils another Supreme Court Justice Bobblehead [2004-04-26]

The third in a series of ceramic Supreme Court bobble-head dolls has just been delivered to its creators at The Green Bag, the unorthodox law review that is published at George Mason University School of Law. The latest rendition is of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, third in Court seniority, and the doll is the first "double" bobble-head in the series. Resting at O'Connor's feet is a polled Hereford cow -- the precise kind of livestock she grew up with at the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona. The cow replica displays the Lazy B brand and earmarks.

Final Oral Arguments Conclude in First-Year Moot Court Competiton [2004-04-02]

The final rounds for the first-year moot court competition were held on Friday, April 2nd in the ceremonial courtroom of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The two finalists Gwen Rogers and Bernard Tomsa argued a trade secrets case before a distinguished panel of federal appellate court judges. The panel included Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Pauline Newman of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and A. Raymond Randolph of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

March 2004

George Mason Law’s We Help Each Other Fund for Student Assistance [2004-03-01]

George Mason University School of Law is a special law school community. We pride ourselves not only on our academically gifted faculty and students, but also on our commitment to working together and helping one another. In many ways, our law school feels more like a small town than a high-powered educational institution.
A shining example of the spirit we enjoy at George Mason Law is the We Help Each Other Fund. This fund was established in 2002 by one of our students (anonymously) in response to an unexpected tuition in increase imposed in the spring 2003 semester. This generous student contributed an amount sufficient to pay the tuition increase for 100 of his fellow classmates.
As word of our student’s generosity spread, other students and alumni stepped up and contributed to the fund. We even received contributions from local bar associations and law firms who wanted to share in this spirit of giving.

Second Annual Manne Moot Court Competition for Law & Economics Held [2004-03-01]

The George Mason University School of Law recently hosted the second annual Manne Moot Court Competition for Law & Economics on Saturday, February 28, 2004. Named for Henry G. Manne, former Dean of George Mason School of Law, the competition is sponsored annually by the George Mason Law & Economics Center and the Moot Court Board. For the past two years the competition has been held in downtown Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This year's problem involved antitrust law and the proposed merger of nonprofit hospitals.

George Mason Moot Court Members Win It All at National Security Law Competition [2004-03-01]

On February 28-29, 2004, George Washington University Law School hosted the 2004 National Security Law Moot Court Competition. Members of George Mason's Moot Court Board competed with students from across the country and swept the competition. Brett Buick (2D) and Michelle Powers (2D) won the final round of the competition and were also awarded the team Best Brief. Kate Crosby (3D) and Jodi Wilderman (3D) came in second place in the competition. Brett Buick also won the award for Best Oralist. Congratulations to the winners and to the George Mason Moot Court Board!

February 2004

George Mason Named One of the "Best Value" Law Schools by National Jurist [2004-02-01]

In the February 2004 issue of the National Jurist, George Mason University School of Law is rated one of the "best value" public law schools in the nation. In order to calculate the "best value" rankings, the National Jurist looked at private and public schools separately according to the following six criteria: tuition, bar passage rates, unemployment rates, median grants awarded to students, clinic slots, and faculty-student ratio. Among the six criteria, the tuition and bar passage rates were weighted more heavily. According to Associate Dean Dan Polsby, "People around the country are just beginning to wake up to the realization that George Mason is the real deal, a tough program with a visible, active faculty in the most sought-after location in the U.S. at a reasonable price. And for Virginia residents the price is downright cheap."

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Secretary Bodman administers the oath of office to Under Secretary for Energy Bud Albright Jr., as his wife Ginger and children look on.

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From left, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Professors Kyndra and Ronald Rotunda, and U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey

'Wonderfully Spared'

Reprinted with permission of The Wall Street Journal © 1900/2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

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From Dean Dan Polsby

Virginia Tech Outreach

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Funds Established for Virginia Tech Survivors

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copyright © 2004 last updated: May 17, 2005

From left, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito,
Professors Kyndra and Ronald Rotunda, and U.S.
Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey

copyright © 2004
last updated:
May 17, 2005