Lisa A. Mazzie – Page 19 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Bill O’Reilly & Fox News: Does Money Matter More Than Doing the Right Thing?

Post author:Lisa A. Mazzie
Post published:April 20, 2017
Post category:Civil Rights Feminism Human Rights Media & Journalism Public Tort Law

Yesterday, Fox News ousted Bill O’Reilly, who for two decades was the top-rated host with his show, The O’Reilly Factor. O’Reilly’s blustery on-air persona—which inspired Stephen Colbert to create ultraconservative pundit Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Show—minced no words, ever.

As a result, he often said outrageous, offensive, if not downright inaccurate things on the air. For example, he said that the slaves who built the White House were “well-fed and had decent lodging provided by the government.” He called child hunger “a total lie,” and said that feminists should not be allowed to report on Trump “because Trump is the antithesis of” feminism. He’s also been known to make inappropriate comments to women on the air.

O’Reilly’s personal conduct (like that of his former boss Roger Ailes before him) apparently has been similarly offensive. Over the course of his time at Fox News, O’Reilly has been accused of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior involving both women at the network who worked for him and women who appeared as guests on his show.

Equal Pay Day, Rhetoric, and Reality

Post author:Lisa A. Mazzie
Post published:April 4, 2017
Post category:Civil Rights Feminism Labor & Employment Law Public

Image by: Pictures of Money, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Today was Equal Pay Day, the date that indicates how much longer a woman had to work to earn what a man earned in the previous year. More than 20 years ago, the National Committee on Pay Equity started selecting one day a year—always a Tuesday in April—to highlight the continued disparity between men’s and women’s wages.

Now, you can quibble with me about the precise numbers or you can try to explain to me that there isn’t really a gender gap (both of which have been done and probably will be done again); however, as the Pew Research Center noted last summer, though some groups of women have narrowed the gap, there in fact remains some gap in wages between white men and all groups of women.

Much of that gap in wages can be explained by differing levels of education, workforce experience, or occupation. But even when you control for all of those more concrete and measurable variables, there remains an unexplained gap that may—may not—have to do with gender discrimination.

NAAC Team Advances to Octofinals in Boston

Post author:Lisa A. Mazzie
Post published:March 7, 2017
Post category:Marquette Law School Public

After three rounds of oral argument at the National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) regional in Boston this past weekend, Marquette University Law School students Tamara Johnson (3L) and Henry Twomey (3L) (pictured) were 2-1 and seeded ninth out of 32 teams. Johnson and Twomey advanced to the octofinals, but unfortunately lost a close match to another team. Attorneys (and former NAAC competitors) Lucas Bennewitz (L’15), Hiriam Bradley (L’16), Jesse Blocher (L’06), Michael Cerjack (L’08) coached the team.

Barry Braatz (3L), Alexandra Klimko (3L), and Brianna Meyer (3L) also competed in the Boston regional, facing tough competition each round. Their team was coached by attorneys Elleny Christopolous and Kate Maternowski, both of whom were former NAAC competitors for their law schools, and Zach Willenbrink (L’11). Professor Lisa Mazzie is the faculty advisor for both teams.

The NAAC is sponsored by the American Bar Association Law Student Division.