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Class Of 2005 Incoming Il Law Students, St. Mary's University School Of Law, St. Mary's University School Of Law

Incoming 1L Photos (Facebooks)

Photographs of incoming law students for the St. Mary’s University School of Law, class of 2005

Reflections Of The Founding Members., The Founding Editorial Board

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

America And The World: Human Rights At Home And Abroad., Joe W. (Chip) Pitts Iii

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Multiple provisions in the Bill of Rights appear gutted around the last year. While abroad, Mr. Pitts received an outside perspective on American news which provided him with a new outlook on current events. The United Nations Social Forum brought voices into the United Nations which are not typically heard, such as poor and vulnerable populations not represented elsewhere. Concurrently, the Johannesburg Summit addressed similar issues. However, as of late, the American government suppresses the voices of the American people. The Patriot Act includes provisions which deter dissent, freedom of speech, and assembly. This Act also purported to give the …

Crossing The Divide: Why Law Schools Should Offer Summer Programs For Non-Traditional Students., Jean Boylan

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Gagging On A Bad Rule: The Mexico City Policy And Its Effect On Women In Developing Countries., Yvette Aguilar

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The mortality rate of women living in developing countries is often higher due to lack of family planning services and unsafe abortions. The United States has been providing foreign assistance and financial aid since the conclusion of World War II. One example is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which focuses on providing long-range economic and social development support to developing countries. Many nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rely on this aid to fund their programs. However, in 1984, restrictions introduced at the International Conference on Population in Mexico City forbade international planning services which provided or advocated …

Truth Vs. Justice: Promoting The Rule Of Law In Post-Apartheid South Africa., Cassandra Fox Charles

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Strict adherence to the rule of law provides the strongest protections against gross human rights violations. The aftermath of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, demonstrates how few protections exist without the rule of law. By exchanging truth for justice, the Commission harmed, and continues to harm, the true victims of apartheid and failed to achieve the national unity and reconciliation promised. Truthful confessions based on voluntary disclosure cannot equalize the overarching systematic disparities required for reconciliation to take root and grow. Instead of amnesty in exchange for voluntary disclosure, South Africa should follow the traditional notions of justice …

Pharmacogenomics: A Brave New World In Designer Drugs., Dee Marlo E. Chico

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

A License To Exploit: The Need To Reform The H-2a Temporary Agricultural Guest Worker Program., Laura C. Oliveira

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Roi’S Can Validate Your Library’S Value, Robert H. Hu

Faculty Articles

The Return-On-Investment (ROI) rate, when determined and positively proven, may be the most effective tool for marketing a library. ROI is a cost-and-benefit analysis that determines whether money spent on the library produces a positive return. Proving and communicating a library's value to its governing board or constituents is increasingly necessary for law libraries to survive and flourish. A ROI analysis may be difficult to undertake if the library works in a not-for-profit setting, and requires a set of criteria different from those used for libraries in the for-profit setting. Although the ROI is a time-consuming and difficult analysis, libraries …

2002-2003 School Year (Incomplete), St. Mary's University School Of Law

The Witan

No abstract provided.

One View To Add To The Many, Bill Piatt

Faculty Articles

The United States offers its citizens the opportunity to participate in the legal and political system through which it governs. The Constitution ensures that its citizens may engage, participate, and represent the body politics in government and the application of its laws. The recent attacks on America and the failure of the immigration system in monitoring its applicants has resulted in more restrictive immigration laws and policy.

The country’s legal education system must continue to improve its efforts in diversifying the nation’s law schools. More minorities should be represented as students, professors, and deans. Accomplishing a more diversified legal education …

Teaching Tips From The Lotus Sutra, John W. Teeter Jr

Faculty Articles

The Lotus Sutra reveals that everyone has the potential for unlimited spiritual growth and each of us should aspire to be a bodhisattva; one who assists others on the road to enlightenment. Applying ancient Buddhist tenets to the law school classroom, the Lotus Sutra exhorts professors to challenge and befriend their students through the use of “expedient means” inspired by Buddhist thought. The poetic beauty and idealism of the Lotus Sutra transcend denominational differences to inspire the way we conceptualize legal education and the professorial mission.

An Essay On The Tort Of Negligent Infliction Of Emotional Distress In Texas: Stop Saying It Does Not Exist, Charles E. Cantú

Faculty Articles

The injury of emotional distress is an interesting tort, which has long perplexed the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence. While, originally, allegations of this kind did not constitute a cause of action, today, there is no question that an injured plaintiff may recover for the infliction of emotional distress. The majority and minority positions differ now only on what must be alleged and proved.

Texas was the first jurisdiction in the United States to allow recovery for mental anguish. However, in 1993 in the case of Boyles v. Kerr, the Texas Supreme Court appeared to depart from the majority view when …

The Ethical Foundations Of American Judicial Independence, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Most lawyers and many citizens could recall the federal constitutional basis for judicial independence. Article III of the United States Constitution mandates that positions be filled through appointment by the President and confirmation by the Senate. That formidable selection process almost invariably ensures that federal judges are intelligent, well educated, and professionally experienced. Those qualities are conducive to judicial independence.

Additionally, federal judges enjoy the following constitutional guarantees: life tenure during good behavior, non-reducible compensation, and removal only through impeachment. These protections free federal judges from the need to behave in politically advantageous ways in order to keep their positions. …

Trial Rights And Psychotropic Drugs: The Case Against Administering Involuntary Medications To A Defendant During Trial, Dora W. Klein

Faculty Articles

This paper explores the legal problems that arise when the government undertakes to render a criminal defendant competent to stand trial, by administering involuntary psychotropic medications. Among these problems are the infringement of the defendant's trial rights, such as the right to receive assistance of counsel and to confront witnesses, as well as interference with the defendant's ability to testify and to present evidence of a mental illness. This paper explores these problems with special reference to the case of Russell Weston, who has been charged with murder in the deaths of two Capitol police officers and who spent more …

A Spurious Solution To A Genuine Problem: An In-Depth Look At The 1848 Import Drugs Act, Angela Walch

Faculty Articles

The Import Drugs Act has been relatively ignored by the academic community, and is most often relegated to a passing reference in a footnote. Yet the Act represents an important step in our nation's creation of a safe supply of drugs, and thus deserves some attention. In this paper, I give the Act that attention, and seek to place it in an historical context. In Chapter 1, I describe how Congressional action was prompted by medical conditions during the Mexican War and the belief that American soldiers were being given adulterated drugs. Chapter 2 describes the involvement of the professional …

Beyond Brown V. Board Of Education: The Need To Remedy The Achievement Gap, Dora W. Klein

Faculty Articles

Addresses the need to remedy the disparity in academic achievement of black and white students and examines why this disparity continues to exist in spite of the desegregation decrees issued under "Brown." Reviews how a court decides whether a school district has complied with a desegregation decree. Explains why schools are being released from desegregation decrees despite achievement gap.

Observations On The Evolution Of Minorities In The Law: From Law School To Practice, Charles E. Cantú

Faculty Articles

The St. Mary’s University School of Law has a rich history in promoting the representation of minorities in its faculty and student body. Moreover, its history in this area was a tradition long before the country found its social conscience, and before the American government, prodded by the civil rights movement, urged institutions of higher learning to engage in affirmative action. St. Mary’s and Hispanics led the way in this national movement. This year, as St. Mary’s University School of Law celebrates its seventy-fifth year, it is a perfect time to reflect upon the evolution of minorities in the Law …

Virtually A Minor: Resolving The Potential Loophole In The Texas Child Pornography Statute., Bill W. Sanford

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

In The Interest Of The Client: Why Reform Of Texas's Rules Regarding Referral Fees Is Necessary., Samuel V. Houston Iii

St. Mary's Law Journal

Texas needs to reform its policy concerning referral fees. In Texas, an attorney is permitted to receive a fee for providing a referral to another attorney. In Brewer & Pritchard, P.C. v. Johnson, for example, the forwarding attorney received a referral fee for $3 million dollars. Proponents of referral fees argue that clients are better represented because referring attorneys have a greater economic incentive to seek out more capable attorneys. On the other hand, referring attorneys may also have the incentive to seek out attorneys who pay higher referral fees rather than those most qualified. In the end, the referred …

“C” Is For Communication, Robert H. Hu

Faculty Articles

Public relations is essentially about communications—projecting a favorable image to the public. To reach this goal, the organization carrying out the public relations campaign will often use several communication vehicles to market, promote, and advertise itself to the public it serves. Libraries tailor many of these media strategies to communicate with their specific users and publicize their services.

Sometimes, one particular marketing strategy will achieve the desired outcome; at other times, a combination of strategies may be required to be successful. To assist libraries in identifying which marketing strategy or strategies is most appropriate or beneficial and how best to …

Pr For Academic Libraries: Focus On The Faculty, Robert H. Hu

Faculty Articles

The faculty is the driving force of most law school libraries. Instituting a public relations campaign that caters to faculty needs will illustrate the fundamental importance of the library. A successful faculty-centric public relations strategy not only solidifies the library’s position within the law school, but also generates buzz and recognition among the university-wide community. In order to better assist academic libraries in establishing a successful public relations campaign, it is helpful to consider in depth some particular ideas for accommodating and incorporating the faculty. However, ultimately, the best public relations initiative will be tailored to the uniqueness of the …

The New Thought Police: Inside The Left’S Assault On Free Speech And Free Minds (Book Review), John W. Teeter Jr

Faculty Articles

Attacks on political correctness have grown both plentiful and rather tiresome. Such tomes occasionally score valid ideological points, but one grows weary of the bitter repetitiveness of it all. The New Thought Police might seem to offer a little novelty to the litany. Bruce is undeniably bright, impassioned, and edgy. Her book, however, is decidedly a mixed bag. The best parts center on her controversial role as a feminist spokeswoman during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Bruce cogently emphasized that the case was a tragic paradigm of domestic violence rather than a racist conspiracy against a black cultural icon.

Bruce’s …

Legal And Policy Implications For A New Era: The War On Terror, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

The attacks on September 11, 2001 marked the beginning of the War on Terror. A conclusive body of evidence pointed directly to al-Qa’eda’s terrorist organization as the perpetrators of the arrack and to Afghanistan’s Taliban as the State-supporter of the terrorist organization. Al-Qa’eda terrorists use religion, most often radical Islamic fundamentalism, to justify the mass murder of innocent individuals–demonstrating they have no regard for human life, let alone the human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. Armed with the Congressional Joint Resolution, United Nations (“U.N.”) Resolution 1368, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) Resolution, the United States and its …

Storm Clouds On The Horizon Of Darwinism: Teaching The Anthropic Principle And Intelligent Design In The Public Schools, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

Professor Addicott’s article addresses the future legal ramifications that the fledgling intelligent design movement and the scientific concept known as the Anthropic Principle will have on the teaching of Darwinian evolution in public schools. Both ideas are associated with the concept that an “unnamed” intelligent designer is responsible for the creation and sustainment of life. Predicting that the Supreme Court will ultimately allow, for instance, school boards to incorporate intelligent design in the science curriculum, he believes neither of the two ideas violate the Establishment Clause and cannot be “dismissed as yet another back door attempt by creationists to get …

Observation On The Evolution Of Minorities In The Law: From Law School To Practice, Charles E. Cantu

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming

Legal Implications Of September Eleventh: A Question Of Security And Civil Liberties, David Dittfurth

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming

Federal And State Law Encroachment On Individual Rights, William Clark Harrel

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming

The Erosion Of Criminal Norms And Procedures And The Police Abuse Of Authority, Gerald Goldstein

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming

Legal And Policy Implications For A New Era: The "War On Terror", Jeffrey F. Addicott

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming