Marquette Law School – Page 151 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Professor Lindsey Honored for VITA Work

Post author:Lisa A. Mazzie
Post published:March 23, 2012
Post category:Marquette Law School Pro Bono Public

Professor Vada Waters Lindsey today was honored by the United States Postal Service as a one of fourteen “Women Putting Their Stamp on Metro Milwaukee.” Professor Lindsey was honored in the Government Service or Law category for her tireless work on the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which program has served more than 1,000 people in six years at Marquette University Law School. Aside from coordinating the program, Professor Lindsey also trains all the student volunteers who assist with the tax preparation. The MULS VITA site has a 100 percent accuracy rate.

Professor Lindsey received her award today at a luncheon at the Country Inn in Waukesha. Congratulations, Professor Lindsey.

Prof. O’Meara on Stand Your Ground

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:March 22, 2012
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Marquette Law School Public

With the Trayvon Martin case drawing national attention to self-defense law, our own Professor O’Meara has a New York Times op-ed on Stand Your Ground laws. He argues that the laws are unnecessary because traditional self-defense law provides ample protection for defenders who use lethal force appropriately. He observes:

In my home state of Wisconsin, a large group of criminal prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges could come up with only one case in which any homeowner was prosecuted when he shot someone who entered his home illegally. That conviction was later overturned.

Stand Your Ground laws may thus add little to the protection of individuals who act reasonably, but they risk impeding the prosecution of others who are too quick to resort to deadly force.

Don’t Be Afraid to Go to Law School, Minority Students Told

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:March 15, 2012
Post category:Legal Education Marquette Law School Milwaukee Public Schools Public Speakers at Marquette

Lovell Johnson recalls a guy he looked up to in high school, a guy he thought could really succeed in life. Several years later, he ran into the guy. The guy was driving a cab. Nothing wrong with driving a cab, Johnson said as he counted the anecdote. But the guy said to him he could have gone to law school and made more of himself. And he didn’t.

Johnson decided he didn’t want to be like that guy. That guy was afraid to apply to law school; he was afraid to fail. So was Johnson. But Johnson overcame that, took the plunge, became a lawyer, and has been a well-known and successful Milwaukee County assistant district attorney for years.

“Don’t be afraid,” Johnson told about 150 Milwaukee high school students Thursday at a Youth Law Day conference at Eckstein Hall. “Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do it.”

That was one of the strong underlying themes as the students from a half dozen schools got a dose of knowledge about what it’s like to be a lawyer and a lot of encouragement to pursue that possibility.