C-K Faculty Blog

Shared Ownership of Archeological Sites?

Just before the holidays my son returned from a Latin class high school trip to Italy (where were these marvelous excursions when we were kids?!). The trip focused on Rome and Sorrento, with the Sorrento portion providing a base for a range of archeological sites, including Pompeii. Coincidentally Pompeii was much in the news here at exactly the same time. Apparently Pompeii is crumbling – this time not under the weight of volcanic ash but mere human neglect. A recent article in Newsweek notes that since early November “ structures have been tumbling down at an astonishing rate.” The eye witness account of my son was “Pompeii was the most remarkable thing I’ve ever seen; an entire Roman city preserved! But it was sad some portions were off limits because the structures were unstable.”

Canadian Supreme Court Flexible on Mandatory Minimum Sentences

Every once in awhile a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada will catch my eye if it tends to buck legal trends on both sides of the border. This past week, in a remarkable 9-0 ruling, the Canadian Court decided in R. v. Nasogaluak that mandatory minimum sentences may be ignored in cases where there is a “particularly egregious form of misconduct by state agents in relation to the offence and to the offender” even if there is no related Charter of Rights (Canada’s Bill of Rights) violation. The decision by Mr. Justice Louis LeBel endorses a more flexible view of sentencing that marks a bit of a retreat from the Court's more rigid approach to mandatory minimum sentences in R. v. Ferguson decided in 2007.

Professor Birdthistle on Jones v. Harris

Morningstar just uploaded a video of our very own Professor William Birdthistle and Professor John Coates of Harvard Law School debating the issues in Jones v. Harris, which will be argued on Monday in the Supreme Court. It's currently at the top of their website.  Click here to view it.

And continuing his run with the press, Professor Birdthistle was heard yesterday discussing the same case on NPR's Markeplace. You can hear that interview here.

Student Brief: Sheldon Nahmod: Constitutional Torts, Over-Deterrence and Supervisory Liability After Iqbal

By student blogger Moshe Marvit

Recently Professor Sheldon Nahmod presented a talk to the Chicago-Kent College of Law faculty about the Supreme Court’s recent decision of Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (2009). Though the case is primarily a pleadings case involving §1983 pleading requirements after Twombly, the talk focused on the Court’s revisionist treatment of §1983 supervisory liability.

Professor Nahmod’s talk, entitled, “Consitutional Torts, Over-Deterrence and Supervisory Liability After Iqbal,” proceeded in three parts. First a primer on §1983 and Bivens actions was discussed, with particular attention paid to the purposes of §1983, the role of immunities, and the statutes so called “background of tort liability.” Next, Professor Nahmod discussed the role that deterrence, and perhaps over-deterrence, has played in the developing interpretation of the statute. Finally, a framework for understanding the different approaches that the Court has taken towards supervisory liability was provided, and an argument made for why the Court’s current approach in Iqbal is inconsistent with the statute’s purposes and prior precedent.

"An Unusually Good Eye for Talent"

Brian Leiter, in his infinite wisdom, has identified Chicago-Kent as one of the schools with an "unusually good eye for faculty talent." See here. Leiter's method for identifying these schools is the number of faculty who were snapped up by a "top 20ish law school." Leiter identified some of the key individuals but to his list we should add Anita Bernstein (Emory - since moved on) Tim Holbrook (Emory) Claire Hill (Minnesota) and Peggie Smith (Iowa) not to mention the number of faculty who have turned down offers (e.g. Mark Rosen). Some schools might bemoan such a large number of departures but we here at Chicago-Kent are always delighted to celebrate the individual successes and career aspirations of our terrific scholars, not to mention we appreciate the goodwill these individuals spread to other institutions.   Thanks Brian.