Welcome May Bloggers

Please join me in welcoming our guest bloggers for the month of May: Michael Anspach and Anthony (Tony) Cotton.

Our Student Blogger for May is Michael Anspach.  Michael just completed his second year at Marquette Law.  He has been elected Editor in Chief of the Marquette Law Review for Volume 101 and he is also Founder of the Law School’s Organization for Student Wellbeing.  He was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, and he received his B.A. from Boston College with a Major in Philosophy and a Minor in Music.  Shortly after graduating from Boston College in 2012, Michael began studying the Eastern traditions, specifically Hatha yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda (the traditional Hindu system of medicine).  He became a certified yoga, meditation, and Perfect Health: Ayurvedic Lifestyle instructor through Deepak Chopra’s school in Carlsbad, California.  Since that time, Michael has been a daily yoga and meditation practitioner.  While in the process of starting his own yoga business, Michael came to realize two things: First, he did not want to turn his spiritual practices into a money-making endeavor, and, second, he enjoyed the contract work, negotiation, and intellectual stimulation, that goes along with any startup business.  Shortly after coming to this realization, Michael made the decision to attend law school.  This summer, he will work at the firm of Anspach Meeks Ellenberger LLP, based out of Toledo, Ohio, where he will focus on civil litigation defense, specifically the defense of nationally-based, long-term care facilities.

Tony Cotton is our Alumni Blogger for May. Tony was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for two years before transferring to UW-Madison. At Madison, Tony majored in Political Science and was twice elected to student government.  Tony the attended Marquette University Law School, where he focused heavily on criminal and international law. During his second year of law school Tony was awarded a grant from the Public Interest Law Society so that he could investigate human rights abuses in Eritrea, East Africa. In the summer of 2004, Tony traveled throughout Eritrea to interview civilians and prepare claims for people who had suffered damages as a result of the Eritrean-Ethiopian war. 

While still in law school, Tony secured an internship with the Federal Defender’s Office in Milwaukee. AS a law clerk, Tony helped draft a habeas brief to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and he was invited to Washington, D.C. to help the attorneys prepare arguments for one of the most significant criminal cases in United States history: United States vs. Booker (2005).  After graduation in 2005, Tony began working at Kuchler & Cotton, S.C. in Waukesha. All of Tony’s practice involves defending those accused of crimes.

Tony was elected to the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL) and has served as President of that organization. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL).  Tony has been recognized by Super Lawyers, every year since 2008, and was selected by The Wisconsin Law Journal as an “Up and Coming Lawyer” in 2010. He also writes a monthly column for the Wisconsin Law Journal.

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What President Trump’s “Budget Blueprint” Could Mean For The Great Lakes

At a recent Law School event, several panelists (including me) discussed the potential for the Trump administration to make important changes to the law in our respective areas of concentration. I said at the time that environmental law has proven quite resistant to previous efforts that would have weakened or erased it. Part of this resiliency is due A photo of a wetlandto the lengthy time horizon typically involved in repealing and replacing statutes and rules; another major factor is longstanding public opposition to such changes. With that said, major attempts are underway that, if implemented, would seriously undermine bulwarks of environmental law such as the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Antiquities Act. The Trump EPA has also recently begun the long process of repealing and replacing the Clean Water Rule, under direction from President Trump to rewrite it in a manner consistent with one of Justice Scalia’s previous opinions.

Whether or not those efforts succeed, the executive branch has a major impact on the day-to-day operation of environmental law even in the absence of major statutory or regulatory reforms. The most direct avenues for this are through budgeting decisions and enforcement discretion. With debates over spending engulfing Washington, it’s worth examining the potential impact of President Trump’s recent “America First – Budget Blueprint” on the Great Lakes region. Several features of the proposal have generated controversy and may be especially significant in the Great Lakes region:

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Israel Reflections 2017–The Truth(?) of Masada

MULS group photo at the Masada in IsraelFrom student J.J. Moore, here is a reflection on how the story that is told depends on the storyteller.

I have always loved ruins. Ruins tell a story and bring an appreciation of the past. However, a forgotten aspect of ruins is the stories that surround them. The combination of beauty and history converge at the ruins of Masada. The utter beauty of the sight, whether it was the preserved ruins or the breathtaking views atop the rock cliff, brought me to a place of deep peace.

Let me provide a brief (Roman) summary of the siege of Masada. Following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, roughly in 70 BCE, a small band of Jewish zealots maintained a stronghold atop the rock cliffs. The Romans surrounded Masada setting up camps, which are still preserved today, and built a siege ramp to break into the fortress. When the Jewish rebels realized that they would not be able to hold off any longer, they killed their families, and since Judaism prohibits suicide, drew lots to determine the final man to commit suicide. Additionally, the men destroyed everything except the food supplies to show the Romans that they could have withheld, but decided to choose death over slavery.

History is written by the victors, and Flavius Josephus was the only historian to detail the account of the siege of Masada. As with any story, there might be exaggerations or altering of the details. But, over time, more questions have been raised about this version. 

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