Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Jenkins Moot Court Competition Finalists Prepare for Final Arguments This Thursday, April 2

Post author:Jessica E. Slavin
Post published:March 25, 2009
Post category:Legal Education Marquette Law School

The semifinal round of this spring’s Jenkins Moot Court Competition took place last night. As previously described, sixteen top students from the Appellate Writing and Advocacy Class were invited to compete in the Jenkins Competition, in teams of two. Last week, that field of eight teams was narrowed to four. Last night’s arguments narrowed the competition to the final two teams. The finalists are Alyssa Dowse and Timothy Sheehey, arguing against Jessica Farley and Brent Simerson.

Congratulations and good luck to the finalists. The final argument will take place at the Milwaukee Federal Courthouse at 6 p.m. this Thursday, April 2. Join us to see two terrific oral arguments, and the exciting outcome of the year’s competition. More information about the competition and the schedule of the events on Thursday, including the argument and the reception afterwards, can be found here.

International Media & Conflict Resolution Conference

Post author:Andrea K. Schneider
Post published:March 25, 2009
Post category:Human Rights International Law & Diplomacy Media & Journalism Speakers at Marquette

Last weekend, we hosted a truly special gathering of scholars and practitioners in the areas of media, journalism, international relations, communications, psychology, law, and dispute resolution. I will be blogging a few more times about the conference, abstracts, and upcoming issue of the Marquette Law Review on the symposium, but wanted, for now, to post a couple responses to the conference that I received from attendees.

One of our alums who attended, Evelyn Ang, sent me this clip in light of what we had talked about regarding the impact of changing media. Truly an amazing video! Another alum, Amy Koltz, noted, “I found the speakers engaging and the presentations thought-provoking — I’m amazed at the group of presenters you were able to pull together and bring to Marquette.” She also provided a link to this article from Haaretz on media coverage of Israel and noted that it could have been a presentation in the conference. Our own program manager and conference planner, Natalie Fleury, heard this story on NPR Monday morning about Al Qaida’s training manual on the Internet, directly linking to Gabriel Weimann’s talk on Saturday.

And, from 2L part-time law student (and full-time veterinarian) Marty Greer, came this summary of the conference for those who missed it:

Wisconsin Supreme Court Accepts Three New Cases, Including a Case That Will Determine Whether a Crime with No Sexual Component May Trigger Sex Offender Registration Requirements

Post author:Jessica E. Slavin
Post published:March 25, 2009
Post category:Criminal Law & Process Tort Law Wisconsin Civil Litigation Wisconsin Criminal Law & Process Wisconsin Law & Legal System Wisconsin Supreme Court

Supreme Court seal Today the Wisconsin Supreme Court accepted three new cases for review, two criminal cases and one civil case.

One of the criminal cases, State v. Smith, 2008AP1011, asks the court to determine whether the sex offender registration statute, Wisconsin Statute section 301.45, is unconstitutional in its application to a defendant whose crime, false imprisonment of a minor, concededly had no sexual component whatsoever. The Defendant Smith was convicted of falsely imprisoning a minor in connection with a drug crime. That conviction triggered application of the sex offender registration requirements in section 301.45. Smith did not register, and was charged with failing to register as required. He argues that the sex offender registration requirement violates his due process and equal protection rights because his crime had no sexual component.