Minnesota Law Mourns the Passing of Julian Edward Collins ‘78, Retired Florida Circuit Court Judge

Julian Edward Collins ‘78, a retired circuit court judge, died on December 1 at the age of 78.

Collins was elected to the bench of Columbia County in Florida in 1988. After 11 years on thje Columbia County bench, he was appointed a Circuit Court judge. Collins held that seat for the next 14 years, until he reached the state’s mandatory judicial retirement age of 70. He served about four of those years as chief judge,

Julian Edward Collins ‘78, a retired circuit court judge

Minnesota Law School to Launch Gun Violence Prevention Clinic  

Minnesota Law School will launch a Gun Violence Prevention Clinic in January 2023. The clinic is believed to be the first in-house law school clinic in the nation with a focus on promoting gun violence prevention through strategic litigation.

Megan Walsh

Professor Mathew Bodie was quoted by Bloomberg Law in an article discussing the push by Wells Fargo workers to unionize. This could be a potentially unprecedented shift within the banking industry, which has historically not been unionized. Success could set a template for other to follow within the industry, but the road ahead it still fraught with difficulties.

Professor Charlotte Garden was quoted by the Star Tribune in an article regarding the employment of teenagers by Packers Sanitation Services Inc. to clean out slaughterhouses. Professor Garden stated, "It's hard to think of a worse set of child-labor violations than very young kids working overnight in a hazardous environment."

The Star Tribune quoted Professor Paul Vaaler in a piece on arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving a 1991 agreement giving the now defunct retailer Sears a 100-year lease at $10/ month for space at the Mall of America. The case turns on whether an appellate court has jurisdiction to review bankruptcy court decisions. 

In the past, some circuit courts have found that federal courts can review bankruptcy court decisions.

Visiting Professor David Schultz and Professor Myron Orfield co-wrote an op-ed in the MinnPost about the recent Cruz-Cuzman v. Minnesota Court of Appeals decision, and how it is a direct reverberation of a decision in 1998 made by the Attorney General's office, led by Hubert "Skip" Humphrey III. Defending a lawsuit against the state contending schools were racially segregated, his office asserted that voluntary integration through open enrollment was illegal, allowing charter schools to become exempt from the responsibility to integrate.

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin was quoted by TRT World on Israel's deportation of French-Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer Salah Hammouri to France. Weighing in on the matter, special rapporteur on the protection of human rights, Professor Ní Aoláin shared, “Such unilateral, arbitrary measures taken by Israeli authorities in retaliation against Mr Hammouri as a human rights defender violate every principle and the very spirit of international law.”

Prof. Alan Rozenshtein was quoted by CNN, Reuters, and the BBC on the guilty verdict of seditious conspiracy for Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes. The BBC reported that this was the first conviction of seditious conspiracy in the United States since 1995. Rozenshtein said the conviction of Rhodes was significant because it shows that a seditious conspiracy charge is "a viable and legal path for punishing the most serious anti-democratic conduct in the country." 

Professor Jill Hasday discussed the Respect for Marriage Act on WCCO’s Adam and Jordana Show, and what it means for the future.

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