Chilean Delegation Observes Criminal Trial Motion to Suppress Evidence

SchneiderOn Thursday morning, October 1,  the Chilean students participated in a mediation training on foreclosure hosted by MULS Professors Andrea Schneider and Natalie Fleury.  Afterwards, they met with Professor Schneider who, with the help of attorney and translator Cynthia Herber, did a great job keeping up with their many questions. The students found it remarkable that mediation has become a regular feature of the U.S. legal system, and asked how this came about. Professor Schneider explained that the participation of judges, who refer litigants to this resource, has made mediation a more regular feature of resolving conflicts.

In the afternoon, the students visited the Milwaukee Courthouse, and received a tour by Felony Court Coordinator Mary Jo Swider, including a stop to observe the intake court in action. Commissioner Julia E. Vosper came out to greet the group and give them a brief explanation of this first steps in the criminal justice process:  verifying the probable cause basis for the arrest, setting bail and scheduling a trial date. The students were stunned when one man was escorted into the courtroom handcuffed and wearing the orange prison garb. This condition did not seem to correspond to his crime for driving without a license.

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Questions of Professionalism

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I’ve been thinking about professionalism lately.  Two discussions in the past week or so have stuck with me.

The first discussion appeared in the Law Librarian Blog (thank you, Professor O’Brien, for forwarding it.)  In Florida, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Presnell issued an order denying a plaintiff’s motion for voluntary dismissal for

Failing to comply with Local Rule 3.01(g), for failing to secure a stipulation of dismissal from Defendant pursuant to FED. R. CIV. 41 (a)(ii), and for otherwise being riddled with unprofessional grammatical and typographical errors that nearly render the entire Motion incomprehensible.

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Why Did Chicago Lose Out in its Olympic Bid?

By now everyone has heard that Chicago has lost out in its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.  Not only was Rio de Janeiro chosen over the Windy City, but the American city was the first of the four finalists (Rio, Chicago, Tokyo, and Madrid) to be eliminated at the Copenhagen meeting of the International Olympic Committee.  The initial explanation offered by the U.S. press is that Chicago’s bid fell victim to still rampant anti-Americanism on the part of the IOC and the world at large.  Even though this decision means that for the first time Olympic games will held on the South American continent, the conventional wisdom is that the IOC would have chosen Chicago with its guarantee of much greater revenues over Rio and the other contenders had animus toward the United States not been such a powerful factor.  Obviously, personal appearances by President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey were not enough to stem the anti-U.S. tide.

Does everyone agree with this analysis?

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