Professor Gregory Germain spoke with Newsweek about a recent criminal complaint filed by The Haitian Bridge Alliance against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. The Alliance claims that Haitian immigrants have received death threats after Trump said that they are stealing family pets in Springfield, OH.
“Knowledge of falsity is difficult to prove when politicians spread rumors. The Supreme Court would likely recognize that politicians have qualified immunity for lies under the First Amendment—otherwise, the bare-knuckle election process would be hampered,” says Germain. However, Germain said that highlighting Trump’s “reckless statements” may be the plaintiffs’ aim.
“Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Caring for Patients Under Guardianships”, co-authored by Professor Nina Kohn, has been published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Kohn’s co-authors are Dhrity Bhowmik, Sally Balch Hurme, Jasmine Sandhu, June Jeon, Syeda Sundus Mujahid, Latrice Pelissier, Eric Widera, Andrew B. Cohen, Mary Galvez, Vicki Alkire, Pamela B. Teaster, William E. Rosa, and Cynthia X. Pan.
“Clinicians working in the palliative care space frequently encounter patients for whom a court has appointed a guardian, but often are confused as to the implications for medical decision-making,” says Kohn. “I enjoyed working with this truly interdisciplinary team of co-authors to provide practical guidance that clinicians can use to better support patients under guardianship.”
Professor Suzette Meléndez was featured in Syracuse University’s Latine Heritage Month story, “Latine Voices Shape Campus Culture.” Her work in family law, domestic violence law, and the delivery of legal services to women and children have helped put the University on the multicultural map while giving a voice to marginalized communities.
Meléndez insists that the U.S. Latine community is a mosaic, not a monolith. “We must learn to appreciate the multiple representations of how we live and what we contribute,” says Meléndez, who recently concluded a faculty fellowship in the Office of the Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
A common thread of her work is the interplay between law and familia. “Family is a tremendous influencer, supporter, teacher and builder of community in Latine cultures,” Meléndez says. “Family law illustrates how parenting and familial bonding across cultures is complex, nuanced and emblematic of the human experience.”
Syracuse University College of Law recently welcomed the incoming class of J.D., LL.M., Exchange, and Advanced-Standing J.D. students during orientation and Convocation.
Dean Terence Lau L’98, presiding over his first Convocation as dean, shared with the students, “Over the coming months and years, we will challenge you. We will push you to your limits. But we will also nurture your intellectual curiosity, bolster your confidence, and help you unlock your full potential. This is our solemn commitment to you.”
Dean Terence Lau L’98 delivers a speech at the podium inside the Melanie Gray Ceremonial Courtroom.
James L. Kelly L’99, Partner, Chair, New York Private Equity at DLA Piper was the convocation speaker. Amongst his advice to the incoming students was “Long-term success is not so much about all the things you do right but more so your ability to continue onward in the face of a major setback. Stay calm when things don’t go well. But here is a bit of a twist to this. Stay calm when things go well, too – this is often more important. Being calm in these times will bring forth your virtue, make you someone that others want to be around, and eventually turn you into a leader.”
James Kelly L’99 delivers remarks to the 2024 incoming J.D. and LL.M. students
Syracuse Law welcomed 137 on-campus J.D. students from 22 states and seven countries and 106 students in the hybrid online J.D. program (JDinteractive) representing 25 states and two countries. In the J.D. class, 10% are veterans or military-connected and 24% are first-generation higher education students.
The 20 LL.M. students hail from Afghanistan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, and Taiwan with 12 holding advanced degrees. The class features Federal Attorneys, Federal Judges, human rights activists, and police investigators among other professions.
Incoming students stand and recite the Oath of Professional Education.
The eight Advanced Standing J.D. students come from three states and five countries. Syracuse Law also welcomes two exchange students from the University of Rome’s Tor Vergata in Italy and a Visiting Scholar from the University of Bialystok.
“This diversity enriches our community and enhances the collaborative learning environment that defines Syracuse Law, setting the stage for an extraordinary journey ahead,” says Dean Lau.
Syracuse Law recently held a swearing-in ceremony for on-campus and hybrid student attorneys participating in one of the six law clinics this fall.
The Hon. Kevin P. Kuehner L’99, New York State Supreme Court Judge in Onondaga County, was the guest speaker and administered the Student Attorney Oath, and Vice Dean Keith Bybee and Executive Director of Clinical Education Beth Kubala also spoke to the students.
The Office of Clinical Legal Education provides a practical educational experience to second and third-year student attorneys while delivering much-needed, otherwise unavailable legal resources to the communities and people of Central New York.
The clinics are:
Bankruptcy Clinic
Betty & Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic*
Criminal Defense Clinic
Disability Rights Clinic
Housing Clinic
Sherman F. Levey ’57, L’59 Low Income Taxpayer Clinic*
Transactional Law Clinic
*Clinic is offered online for the Fall 2024 semester.
Professor of Law Emeritus William Banks spoke via video with CBC News on the explosion of pages amongst members of Hezbollah. He spoke about the rules of armed conflict and how they do not apply in this conflict.
“There’s no kind of a road map that tells us who can do what, who can get away with what, where this might end, how an agreement might be reached,” Banks said. “This is, of course, the broader Middle East dilemma that we are all witnessing all the time.”
While he said UN charters or NATO treaties may help regulate conflicts between states, Banks noted they don’t exist between Israel and Iran, or Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas, and therefore, “the traditional rules of armed conflict simply aren’t going to do us any good. They aren’t going to even apply in a situation like this.”
University Professor David Driesen provided feedback to The Guardian on Donald Trump’s support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and other autocratic leaders.
“Viktor Orbán is known for destroying Hungarian democracy using techniques Trump has tried to copy,” said Driesen. “It was surreal to hear Trump cite Orbán’s praise as validation of his own leadership.”
University Professor David Driesen’s article, Does the Separation of Powers Justify the Major Questions Doctrine?”, is now published in the University of Illinois Law Review. The article is at Vol. 2024 No. 4 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1177 (2024.)
In summary, Driesen writes: In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court announced the arrival of the major questions doctrine and used that doctrine to limit the EPA’s ability to address the global climate crisis. It held that judges should resolve major questions—extraordinary questions of economic and political significance—through application of a clear statement rule forbidding major new applications of general policies embodied in legislation.
The West Virginia Court claimed that the separation of powers justifies the major questions doctrine but failed to explain why. The major questions cases, however, strongly suggest that when the Court decides a major question itself rather than letting the executive branch do so, the Court preserves congressional authority to legislate on major questions.
This Article shows that this assumption is wrong. Judicial resolution of major questions interferes with the prerogatives of the enacting Congress and does nothing to preserve the authority of current and future Congresses. Indeed, this Article shows that in cases employing the clear statement rule announced in West Virginia v. EPA the Court usurps the powers of Congress by, in effect, amending legislation. It also interferes with the President’s authority to execute the law. Accordingly, the major questions doctrine undermines, rather than supports the separation of powers.
Professor Shubha Ghosh, director of the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute, spoke with Ars Technica about the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) monopoly trial against Google that challenges its ad tech dominance.
In terms of potential remedies sought by the DOJ, Ghosh told Ars that “if this case goes against Google as the last one did, it could set the stage for splitting it into separate search and advertising companies.”
In the DOJ’s complaint, prosecutors argued that it “is critical to restore competition in these markets by enjoining Google’s anticompetitive practices, unwinding Google’s anticompetitive acquisitions, and imposing a remedy sufficient both to deny Google the fruits of its illegal conduct and to prevent further harm to competition in the future.”
Ghosh said that undoing Google’s acquisitions could lead to Google no longer representing both advertisers’ and sellers’ interests in each ad auction—instead requiring Google to either pick a side or perhaps involve a broker.
(Syracuse, NY – September 9, 2024) James P. Domagalski L’90, Partner at Barclay Damon LLP, has been named to the Syracuse University College of Law Board of Advisors, effective September 1, 2024.
Domagalski is an experienced trial lawyer in federal and state courts and before administrative agencies. He is also Barclay Damon’s Construction & Surety Practice Area chair. Domagalski primarily concentrates his practice on large construction disputes, complex commercial and municipal litigation, employer defense, and counseling on labor, employment, and discrimination matters. In addition to his practice, Domagalski previously served as a long-time member of the firm’s management committee and is currently the co-marketing partner.
“I welcome James to our Board and thank him for his dedicated leadership to our Alumni Association. He is an enthusiastic supporter of Syracuse Law who will bring new perspectives to the Board as we strive to deliver the best legal education possible to our students,” says Dean Terence Lau L’98.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame University and a law degree from Syracuse University College of Law where he participated in the Moot Court program.
