The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota has named the Law School’s Center for New Americans as its 2016 National Advocate of the Year. In announcing the award, ILCM executive director John Keller said that the Center’s “commitment to immigrant and refugee issues over the past year was tremendous,” citing its U.S. Supreme Court victory in Mellouli v.
On Aug. 3, President Obama commuted the sentences of 214 federal inmates, most of them imprisoned for nonviolent drug-related offenses. Among them was Bernard Gibson, 66, who was represented in his clemency application by Professor JaneAnne Murray and David Blevins (’15).
Jonathan Estes, Dara Johnson-Ayodele, and Hal Spott, all members of the Law School’s class of 2016, have been named Star of the North Fellows by the state of Minnesota. Each will spend the next year in a salaried position at a state agency that aligns with their educational background and professional interests—Estes at the Department of Transportation’s aeronautics office, Johnson-Ayodele in purchasing and service delivery at the Department of Human Services, and Spott in fleet and surplus at the Department of Administration.
Wendell “Wendy” Anderson (’60), whose term as governor in the 1970s was marked by landmark legislation known as the “Minnesota Miracle” and by his appearance on an iconic Time magazine cover, has passed away at the age of 83. He had suffered with Alzheimer’s disease in recent years, and died July 17 of pneumonia at Our Lady of Peace hospice in St. Paul. Memorial service preparations are pending.
Tammy Merkins (’99) has been appointed county attorney of Becker County, Minn., effective July 8. She will fill the remaining two and a half years in the term of Gretchen Thilmony, who has been named a judge in the state’s 7th Judicial District. Becker County is located in northwestern Minnesota; its county seat is Detroit Lakes.
