Alan J. Borsuk – Page 65 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

NEWaukee and How to Create the Most Awesome City on the Planet

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:April 8, 2015
Post category:Milwaukee Popular Culture & Law Public Speakers at Marquette

Angela Damiani has a clear goal: “To make this the most awesome city on the planet.”

Note that we didn’t say “an easy goal,” we said “a clear goal.” But don’t tell Damiani that it can’t be pursued and there can’t be progress in getting there. In the six years since it began, NEWaukee, the organization she leads as president, has become a fast-growing energizer and catalyst for community-building activities, particularly among young professionals.

At an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall on Wednesday, Damiani said the jargon term for NEWaukee is that it is a social architecture firm. What does that mean? In short, NEWaukee is an organization aimed at consciously designing ways to shift a population toward a goal – and that goal is to make Milwaukee a place people think is attractive and appealing. Which is where the ”awesome city” ambition comes in.

Conferences Focuses on Fighting Human Trafficking and Repairing the Harm to Victims

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 22, 2015
Post category:Public Speakers at Marquette

“I want to believe that this can end,” Sharmere McKenzie said. “Let’s do this together. Let’s do this together. Are you with me?”

Yes, a capacity audience in the Appellate Courtroom of Eckstein Hall was with her. That was because of far more than the riveting personal stories told by McKenzie and several others at a day-long conference, “Restorative Justice and Human Trafficking – from Wisconsin to the World.”

The people at the conference were with McKenzie because of their commitment to dealing with the entirety of the issue of human trafficking, starting with understanding the realities of it and expanding to include prevention, prosecution, and repair of the lives of those who are victimized by it.

The emphasis at the conference was particularly on the “restorative justice” aspects of responding to trafficking. Janine Geske, a retired professor at Marquette Law School, continues to be a central figure in restorative justice work at the Law School and far beyond. She led the conference and set the tone of focusing on what harm is done by human trafficking and what can be done to repair the harm.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh Calls for “Rules of the Road” for Separation of Powers Issues

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 5, 2015
Post category:Congress & Congressional Power Federal Law & Legal System Political Processes & Rhetoric President & Executive Branch Public Speakers at Marquette

So Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys leaps for a pass as the playoff game with the Green Bay Packers is about to end. He comes down with ball on the one-yard line. Or does he? Or course, you know the answer—he doesn’t, the referees rule, a call that is hotly debated nationwide (and helps the Packers to victory in the Jan. 11 NFL playoff game).

The referee’s call required making a decision on the spot under great pressure and scrutiny. But to Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit, a big reason the call was made in a way that stood up to later scrutiny was that the rules for deciding what was a legitimate catch were established ahead of time, with thought and clarity.

And that is, in substance, much of the message Kavanaugh delivered in the 2015 Hallows Lecture at Marquette University Law School on Tuesday. The lecture, titled “Separation of Powers Controversies in the Bush and Obama Administrations: A View from the Trenches,” examined five different policy areas where controversies over separation of powers at the top of the federal government have arisen in recent years. In all five areas, Kavanaugh said, it pays off when “the rules of the road” are developed before a crisis comes.