On Wednesday, the Chilean students began their day with Professor Irene Calboli, who spoke to them about the experience of being trained in a civil law tradition only then to work in a common law system. The students also discovered a common interest in patent law and the conversation soon turned to that topic.
The Hurtado students then met individually with professors on their research topics.
Yesterday was another full day for the Chilean students visiting from Hurtado University Law School. In the morning, alumn Reyna Morales gave a talk in Spanish on criminal procedure and law. Afterwards, MULS Professors Tom Hammer, Michael O’Hear, Chad Oldfather, Dan Blinka, and Greg O’Meara, S.J., participated in a Q&A panel. The Chilean students came prepared with a range of questions dealing with the types of legal defenses available to defendants, the rights of juveniles, and issues of due process in Guantanamo, among other topics.
In the afternoon, we drove to Madison to visit Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson at the State Capitol, accompanied by former Supreme Court Justice and MULS professor Janine Geske. The Chief Justice greeted the delegation in the hallways of the Capitol, and then invited the members to sit in the Supreme Court Hearing Room to offer an overview of the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s work. With warm humor, the Chief Justice then answered the many questions that the Chilean students posed.
One student asked if the justices are ever influenced by their political affiliations when they write their decisions. The Chief explained that they do not work as Democrats or Republicans, but rather as “reasonable” people. That said, the students were curious about the election process and how judges are selected. The Chief Justice noted that she has sat on the bench for more than 30 years and joked that she plans on running in 2019, but unopposed. She clarified that, unlike other political campaigners, the judicial candidates only promise to uphold the law. She then turned to point to the mural above the bench of the founding fathers signing our national Constitution. The image is there to remind us that the justices take an “oath of office” to uphold the highest law. The Chief escorted the group to the conference room, where she shared the process for selecting who would write the majority opinion: chess pieces!
The Wisconsin Law Journal covered the event, so stay tuned for pictures.
![PRIMER_DIA_DE_ACTIVIDADES_EN_MARQUETTE_081[1]](http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/PRIMER_DIA_DE_ACTIVIDADES_EN_MARQUETTE_08111-150x150.jpg "PRIMER_DIA_DE_ACTIVIDADES_EN_MARQUETTE_081[1]")
This week MULS is hosting a delegation of students and faculty from Alberto Hurtado University School of Law, Chile’s only Jesuit law school located in the capital of Santiago (Five students will participate in a week-long program, conducted in Spanish, to gain a first-hand look at the U.S. legal system as their country implements significant legal reforms.
Today Dean Kearney hosted a welcome reception for our guests in Eisenberg Hall in which he recognized the significance of this academic exchange. In particular, he noted an unique opportunity to contribute to Chile’s ongoing criminal justice reforms designed to replace an inquisitorial criminal justice system inherited from Spanish civil law with an adversarial one more like that found in the United States. Such an undertaking is, in the words of Hurtado’s Dean for International Relations Rafael Blanco and his colleagues, “a complete paradigm shift and can be understood as almost revolutionary.” (Rafael Blano, Richard Hutt, Hugo Rojas, The Reform to the Criminal Justice in Chile: Evaluation and Challenges, The Loyola University Chicago International Law Review )(2005)
In fact, the faculty of HULS are credited for taking a leading role in spearheading this judicial reform following the end of the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in 1990 as part of Chile’s “transition to democracy”, but which took up special momentum after 2000. At that time, the government promulgated a new code of criminal justice that began as a pilot program in selected cities, and is being gradually implemented throughout the country. Since then, these legal reforms have become a model for all of Latin America.
Dean Kearney also recognized that HULS and MULS share the same educational mission and identity grounded in a long Jesuit tradition that recognizes lawyering as a ‘helping profession.’ At the same time, as legal professionals, we understand that social justice is grounded in a solid respect for the rule of law. Certainly, Hurtado University Law School’s founder Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga embodied this spirit through his work as a Chilean Jesuit priest, lawyer, and social worker. His important work led to his being was canonized on October 23, 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI, becoming his country’s second saint.
Today kicked off the week-long program with an orientation led by our MULS students Juan Amado and Sara Grill, who helped translate presentations by: Professor Tom Hammer on MULS’ Internship program; Editor and Chief Marvin Bynum on Marquette Law Review and Associate Justice of Administration, Rachel Helmers on Moot Court; and finally, Assistant Dean for Public Service Daniel Idzikowski and Lori Zahorodny on the pro bono legal clinics and the public service office. In the afternoon, they received a tour of our law library by librarian Julia Jaet followed by a talk on legal research by Reference Librarian, Elana Olson, all interpreted with the help of Yolanda Toral-Zeider. They also listened to lectures by Professor Ed Fallone on Constitutional and Immigration Law and Professor Scott Idleman on Federal Indian Law.
The rest of the week will be equally packed with informative lectures by faculty and alumni, as well as a meeting with Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and a trip to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to observe a trial. The students will learn about Marquette Law School’s Restorative Justice Initiative, led by Distinguished Professor of Law Janine Geske, and its “Safe Streets” project to reduce gang and drug crime in Milwaukee neighborhoods. They will also hear from Professor Andrea Schneider, leader of Marquette Law School’s nationally ranked Alternative Dispute Resolution program, which trains legal practitioners in the art of resolving disputes outside of legal adjudication. In addition, the students will meet with lawyers from non-profit organizations working with the Milwaukee’s Hispanic community, including Centro Legal, Catholic Charities and Voces de la Frontera.
Due to the generosity of our faculty, students, alumni as well as members of the MU and Milwaukee community, we will be able to offer the Hurtado delegation an exceptional week of activities.