Professor June Carbone was quoted in the Minnesota Daily about how the Comstock Act could be used to restrict availability to abortion in all states. Democratic senators are pushing for a repeal of the law. The Comstock Act is an anti-obscenity law created in 1872 which bans the mailing of obscenity, including pornographic material and contraceptives. Prof. Carbone said the act was created in response to growing moral outrage during the Victorian era.
Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic Files a U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Curiae Brief about Citizens’ Spousal Rights in Visa Matters
Appearing at the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador in 2015, American citizen Sandra Muñoz and her husband, Luis Ernesto Asencio-Cordero, applied for a visa that would allow him to immigrate to the United States and become a lawful permanent resident. In short order and without explanation, they learned that the consular official denied Asencio-Cordero’s visa. Asencio-Cordero was forced to remain in El Salvador while Muñoz returned home.
Minnesota Law Advances to the Quarterfinal National Rounds of National Moot Court Competition
Back in November, we reported that two teams of Minnesota Law students performed extraordinarily well in the regional competition of the National Moot Court Competition held in Cleveland, Ohio.
Both teams advanced to the semifinal rounds and the team representing Petitioner/Respondent advanced to the national rounds of the competition, which was held in New York City in January 2024. The team that advanced to New York had an outstanding showing, reaching the quarterfinals of the national round.
Professor Ilan Wurman to Join Minnesota Law Faculty
The University of Minnesota Law School is thrilled to welcome Ilan Wurman to our faculty as an associate professor of law, with tenure, beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
Professor Richard Painter was quoted in the Associated Press about Donald Trump’s New York trial now underway. While Trump faces charges in two cases over whether he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and remain in power, it’s the New York case centered on payments to an adult film actor that might provide the only legal ramifications this year. The lead prosecutor said the payments amounted to a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. Prof.
Alumni News: Court of Appeals Judge Theodora Gaïtas ’94 Appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court
Governor Tim Walz appointed Minnesota Law alum Court of Appeals Judge Theodora Gaïtas ’94 to the Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday, April 22.
Walz also appointed Stearns County Chief Judge Sarah Hennesy to the state Supreme Court. Gaïtas and Hennesy will fill the seats held by retiring Justices Margaret Chutich and G. Barry Anderson, returning the court to a female majority for the first time since 1994.
Professor Matthew Bodie was quoted in the New York Times and USA Today about Starbucks asking the U.S. Supreme Court to require a stricter test for when courts can step in and protect union organizers who are fired or punished. Labor sympathizers see the case as part of a corporate backlash to the success of the National Labor Relations Board and to a rise in union organizing. The case comes about two months after Starbucks and the union organizing its U.S. workers agreed to begin discussing potential collective bargaining deals.
Minnesota Law’s Mock Trial Team Reaches Quarterfinals in the 2024 National Trial Competition
After sweeping the Upper Midwest regional tournament in February and becoming one of only a handful of schools nationwide to qualify two teams for the national tournament, Minnesota Law's two mock trial teams achieved a school record-setting performance at the 2024 National Trial Competition earlier this month in Houston, TX.
Professor Kristin Hickman was a guest on the Bloomberg Tax podcast and discussed the upcoming decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on federal agency rulemaking power. Prof. Hickman provided background on the Chevron deference and how the Treasury Department and the IRS are expected to be largely insulated from the ruling, no matter the outcome.
Professor Richard Painter was quoted in a Washington Examiner article about U.S. senators who are investigating conservative activists over their ties to U.S. Supreme Court justices. The article states the senators themselves receive major donations which could lead to charges of hypocrisy. Prof. Painter said that the subpoenas the senators are issuing to investigate any conflicts of interest shouldn’t be “fishing expeditions in which members of Congress go after each other’s big donors or the nonprofit organizations they support.”