Combating Microbial Terrorists: How to End Our Preparedness Stalemate

April 13, 2017, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm

From anthrax to Zika, the new millennium has challenged us with an ongoing lineup of new and re-emerging infectious disease threats. Each outbreak prompts a reactive response, short-term resource investments, and eventual codification of "lessons learned." Unfortunately, our retrospective analyses of opportunities to improve preparedness have not translated into the meaningful long-term investments and actions necessary for success, and we remain highly vulnerable to the next threat. Dr.

1.5 Standard CLE credits have been approved; Event Code #231145

Ending the Pandemic Era: Science at the Animal-Human-Environmental Interface

February 7, 2017, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm

The frequency of epidemics arising from viruses spilling over from animal hosts to people is increasing, driven by surging human populations, environmental change, and globalized trade and travel. Recent catastrophic viral disease outbreaks and the dramatic responses to the pandemic threat illustrate that we are ill-prepared to mitigate the impact of viral threats. In an effort to establish a model to move from the current reactive disease response paradigm to one of prevention and preparedness, the USAID’s PREDICT Consortium, led by Prof.

1.5 Standard CLE credits have been approved; Event Code #231143

The Dynamics & Evolution of Emerging Pathogens: Insights from Californian Salt Marshes, House Finches & Zika Virus

January 24, 2017, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm

Professor Dobson will provide quantitative estimates of levels of pathogen diversity in natural communities, illustrating the relative insignificance of ‘discovering’ new viruses, and will describe the factors that determine successful emergence and subsequent evolution in a well-studied avian pathogen. He'll conclude with an analysis of the current and future dynamics of Zika virus and its response to potential control methods.

1.5 Standard CLE credits have been approved; Event Code #231142

On October 27, 2016, President Obama granted 98 prisoner commutations, bringing to 872 the number of federal inmates who have benefited from his expansive use of presidential pardon power. Among them was Antonio Hood, an inmate at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., who is serving a life sentence for his low-level role in a crack distribution conspiracy. Mr. Hood was represented by local Minneapolis defense lawyer Paul Engh and Taylor Cunningham (’17), as part of the Law School's Clemency Project, under the supervision of Professor JaneAnne Murray.

Professor Claire Hill was quoted in an article in the American Banker discussing the reputational and other consequences for Wells Fargo stemming from the recent revelations of the millions of "ghost accounts" Wells Fargo employees created without customers' knowledge or consent. Hill discussed the negative effects on the bank's reputation, and the difficulties in changing the bank culture that permitted and indeed encouraged the creation of the ghost accounts.

Judge Michael J. Davis (’72) Wins Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award

The Federal Bar Association has announced that Senior Judge Michael J. Davis (’72) of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has been honored with the 2016 Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award. Named for the first woman to serve on the federal bench in Texas, the award is presented each year to an attorney or judge whose career achievements have made a difference in advancing the causes that were important to Judge Hughes, who was a pioneer in the fight for civil rights, due process, equal protection, social concerns, and the rights of women.

Judge Michael J. Davis (’72)

Professor Tom Cotter discussed the possible effects of a proposed $85 billion merger between telecommunications giant AT&T and content provider Time-Warner, for a story on KSTP-TV Channel 5 Eyewitness News. "People should care about the merger because if the anti-competitive risks of possibly higher prices or less choice in terms of programming, if those risks were to play out, people would be negatively impacted by that," said Prof. Cotter.

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has been elected to the American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. The institute’s membership—consisting of eminent judges, lawyers, and law professors from the United States and around the world—is limited to 3,000, excluding life, honorary, and ex-officio members.

Sotomayor Is Informal, Insightful in Law School Appearance

Judges can appear aloof. After all, they don black robes, are perched on high platforms, and make rulings that are rarely overturned.

Sonia Sotomayor, an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, is not that kind of judge.

As the featured speaker at the 2016 Stein Lecture, sponsored by the Law School, Sotomayor wandered the aisles of Northrop Memorial Auditorium, shaking hands and sometimes embracing audience members while answering questions.

“My mother called me ají, which is ‘jumping pepper’ in Spanish,” she explained.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Professor Robert A. Stein (’61)

Professor Jill Hasday was featured on WCCO’s "News and Views with Roshini Rajkumar," a CBS Radio program. She discussed the Supreme Court’s role in American life and law.

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