School of Law
Research Projects Explore Meaningful Public Discourse
The Humanities Institute has funded 12 projects probing the nature of meaningful public discourse and identifying barriers to achieving it.
Same-Sex Marriage and the Law
In a cross-national study, two UConn sociologists found that policy outcomes on same-sex marriage were closely tied to the courts.
Study Shows Public Support for Laws Against Weight Discrimination
The findings have practical implications for policy makers in the U.S.
Panel Examines Voting Rights 50 Years After the Voting Rights Act
Voter suppression and racial discrimination were the focus of panel discussion on Nov. 19 about the Voting Rights Act of 1965, sponsored by UConn School of Law and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. Voting Rights PanelThe panel included Professor Douglas Spencer, who has a joint appointment to UConn School of Law and the university’s Department of Public Policy; Justin Levitt, deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; and Sarah P. Karwan ’00, an assistant U.S. attorney and deputy chief of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Unit […]
Experts Bring Death Penalty Disparity Debate to UConn Law
Two experts with conflicting views on the existence of racial disparity and arbitrariness in the Connecticut death penalty debated their positions in an intense exchange at UConn School of Law on Nov. 20, 2015. The event, co-sponsored by the Connecticut Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Foundation, featured Stanford Law Professor John Donohue and Dr. Stephan Michelson of Long Branch Research Associates in North Carolina. Donohue had testified for the plaintiffs and Michelsen for the state in the state Supreme Court case In Re Claims of Racial Disparity, a consolidated habeas appeal filed by death row inmates in Connecticut. The […]
PILG Auction Crowd Bids to Raise Funds in the Public Interest
The Public Interest Law Group’s 23rd Annual Auction on Nov. 13 raised more than $28,000 from an enthusiastic crowd that filled the Reading Room in William F. Starr Hall and bought everything on offer. The most sought-after items were the three Barbri Bar Review Course scholarships, which raised a total of $6,700. Various vacation trips also proved popular, with Professor James Stark’s generous donation of a vacation in Mexico selling for $1,300, and other adventures also greatly contributing to the total. As always, students were eager to compete for chances to socialize with the faculty. A bidding war arose over […]
Gov. Malloy Proposes Major Initiative at Law Review Symposium
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, speaking at the largest symposium ever hosted by the UConn School of Law, proposed a groundbreaking series of reforms to the criminal justice system of the state, and indeed the nation. In an address at the annual Connecticut Law Review Symposium on Nov. 6, 2015, “The Other One Percent: Prison Reform from Sentencing to Parole,” Malloy announced his proposals for first-in-the-nation initiatives to improve the effectiveness and the fairness of Connecticut’s treatment of prisoners and arrestees held on bond. Malloy, a lawyer who started his career as a prosecutor in New York, outlined a bold expansion […]
Law Professors Contribute to Supreme Court Briefs
UConn Law professors Bethany Berger and Brendan Maher have contributed to separate amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dollar General v. Mississippi Choctaw, which concerns the jurisdiction of Indian tribal courts over civil claims against non-members. Dollar General Corporation operates a store on land held in trust for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, pursuant to a lease and business license agreement with the tribe. A 13–year-old member of the tribe sued the company and a store manager in tribal court, alleging that the manager molested him while he participated in an internship program. The defendants filed a […]
Conference Explores the Future of Historic Preservation
Preservationists gathered Oct. 16 on the historic campus of UConn School of Law to chart the future of Connecticut’s historic cities, towns, mill villages and rural landscapes. They assembled at a day-long conference, “Old Roots / New Routes,” sponsored by the Center for Energy & Environmental Law at UConn School of Law and the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. It was an appropriate setting the law school’s five buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Keynote speaker Claire Lanier, the outreach and creative content editor for History Colorado Preservation Programs, told the audience that it’s critical for […]
State Supreme Court Visits UConn Law
The Connecticut Supreme Court brought a question of marital privilege in a murder case and another about real estate recording fees to UConn School of Law on Wednesday. The session was part of the Judicial’s Branch’s “On Circuit” program, established to educate the public, especially students, through live court proceedings outside the courthouse. After oral arguments in each case, the justices left the room and members of the audience asked the lawyers involved about their arguments and strategies. About 200 people were present for each case in the Reading Room in William F. Starr Hall. In opening the session, Chief […]