Journalist Alan Borsuk Joins the Law School

Alan BorsukAs announced today in this press release by the University, Alan J. Borsuk is joining the Law School as senior fellow in law and public policy. This appointment follows a search in which the Law School sought a journalist with experience and skills in investigating and reporting on matters vital to the community. Marquette Law School is becoming a powerhouse of education, ideas, and action, thanks in large measure to the support from the University, as has especially characterized the presidency, since 1995, of Rev. Robert A. Wild, S.J. To have attracted Alan—a seasoned reporter who gained an outstanding reputation for his work at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel—not only confirms but also expands the Law School’s role as a civic institution committed to gathering and communicating information and ideas about critical public policy concerns. Alan will work with faculty and others at the Law School, such as Mike Gousha, on matters such as criminal justice, water policy, health care, technology, and dispute resolution. Alan will also maintain his own portfolio of projects, particularly in the area of education policy. Alan’s appointment presents exciting opportunities to further advance our missions of research, teaching, and service.

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Justinians Honor Professor Blinka

rsz_danblinkaLast weekend, together with a number of colleagues (including Professor Emeritus James D. Ghiardi and Professors Irene Calboli and Thomas J. Hammer), I attended the Justinian Society’s annual Columbus Day dinner. The society consists primarily of Italian-American lawyers and their families and meets at the Third Ward’s Italian Community Center (which, former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Patrick T. Sheedy, L’48, once remarked, might well have been the “Irish Community Center,” if it had not been for the Lady Elgin disaster in 1860). The evening included the Justinian Society’s honoring our colleague, Professor Daniel D. Blinka, with its annual “Jurist of the Year Award.” The award was presented by Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge John J. DiMotto, with citations also presented by Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson and current Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Jeffrey A. Kremers. One who does not know Prof. Blinka can get a sense, from this outline of Judge DiMotto’s remarks, of the remarkable way that Prof. Blinka devotes himself to teaching, scholarship, and service (see also this article from a previous alumni magazine). It was a privilege to be at the event, as well as to be Prof. Blinka’s colleague.

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Legacies of Lincoln

legacies-of-lincolnThe Legacies of Lincoln Conference, a joint undertaking of the Law School and the Department of History, was an impressive event last week. It began on Thursday evening, with Allen Guelzo, Gettysburg College’s renowned Lincoln historian, delivering the History Department’s annual Klement Lecture. There then followed on Friday three panels, variously addressing “Lincoln and Politics,” “Lincoln and the Constitution,” and “Lincoln as Lawyer,” and respectively led by Heather Cox Richardson of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Michael Les Benedict of The Ohio State University, and Mark E. Steiner of the South Texas College of Law. The other panelists were James Marten and Alison Clark Efford of Marquette’s History Department (politics panel), Stephen Kantrowitz of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kate Masur of Northwestern University (Constitution panel), and two of our part-time faculty (for the Lincoln-as-lawyer panel): Joseph S. Ranney, III, of Dewitt Ross & Stevens and Thomas L. Shriner, Jr., or Foley & Lardner. Audio of the three panels is available on the Law School’s webcast page.  A number of the participants will permit the Law School to publish papers reflecting their remarks, and I expect that, as the different papers are ready over the course of the time to come, Dan Blinka or I will use this blog to share them with interested readers. A special thanks to Jim Marten and to Dan Blinka for their roles in putting this conference together.

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