Marquette Law School – Page 169 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Pro Bono: A Lot to Celebrate

Post author:Angela Schultz
Post published:November 3, 2011
Post category:Legal Practice Marquette Law School Public

Last week, as part of the American Bar Association’s coordinated effort to showcase the great difference pro bono makes, we hosted our third annual Pro Bono Celebration. This gave us opportunity to highlight some of our community partners. We celebrated with balloons and cake in the conference center and heard from Beth Cordes Thompson, Director of Wisconsin English Language Partners of Wisconsin and a recent beneficiary of the Marquette Legal Initiative for Nonprofit Corporations’ services; Gerri Sheets-Howard, Director of the House of Peace where the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic (MVLC) is in its tenth year of operation; Jim Duff, Director of Milwaukee County Veterans’ Service Office where the MVLC has hosted a clinic since 2009; Dr. Luis “Tony” Baez, Director of the Council for Spanish Speakers where the MVLC has operated a clinic since 2008; and John Barrett, Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts, where our clinic has run since 2009. These speakers are pictured from left to right in the photo accompanying this post. I heard from multiple attendees that they were refueled after hearing about the reach of the legal services our law students and a dedicated cadre of volunteer attorneys provide.

Marquette Law School Poll

Post author:Joseph D. Kearney
Post published:November 1, 2011
Post category:Election Law Marquette Law School Public

Marquette University Law School will undertake a substantial statewide polling initiative during 2012. This will be the most comprehensive polling enterprise in Wisconsin’s history, following public opinion through a number of polls over the year. The goal of the Marquette Law School Poll is to provide a balanced and detailed understanding of how voters on all sides view and respond to the issues of the 2012 campaigns. The initiative will build upon the work at Marquette Law School of Mike Gousha, distinguished fellow in law and public policy since 2008, and Alan Borsuk, senior fellow in law and public policy since 2009. Leading the effort will be Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin–Madison professor of political science, who will be with us throughout 2012 as a visiting professor of law and public policy. Franklin is a national expert on statistical methods, political polling, elections, and public opinion. With the national attention that Wisconsin will receive in 2012 and Marquette Law School’s growing reputation as a premier neutral site for debate and civil discourse on matters affecting the region and points beyond—and with Franklin, Gousha, and Borsuk, together with interested faculty at the Law School and the larger university—there can be little doubt that the time, place, and people are right for the Marquette Law School Poll. The announcement and the underlying reasoning are expanded upon in this press release and in this detailed project description.

Budget Cuts Haven’t Meant Prosecution Cuts Here, Santelle Says

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:October 19, 2011
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Eastern District of Wisconsin Federal Criminal Law & Process Marquette Law School Milwaukee Public Speakers at Marquette

In case any criminals reading this are hoping to avoid prosecution because budget cuts are reducing the reach of federal prosecutors, their hopes are ill-founded – at least for now, according to James Santelle, the U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin.

But down the road and even now in places other than eastern Wisconsin? Cutbacks in federal spending could and sometimes are translating into decisions not to prosecute cases, Santelle said.

Speaking Tuesday at an “On the Issues” session at Eckstein Hall, Santelle told Mike Gousha, the Law School’s distinguished fellow in law and public policy, that the staff he oversees in offices in Milwaukee and Green Bay, has been reduced from about 80 several years ago to about 70 now. More cuts may lie ahead, he said.

But so far, the reduction has been accomplished without affecting decisions on who to prosecute, Santelle said. That hasn’t been true in offices of US Attorneys in some places around the country, where decisions on matters such as “smaller” drug cases or white collar financial crimes are being shaped by whether the office has adequate resources. He said a $1 million bank fraud in some instances may be below the threshold a prosecutor has set for bringing a case to court, given practical limits on how much can get done.