The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic successfully settled ALCEDO CIUDAD et al v. GARLAND et al., a lawsuit filed on behalf of two domestic violence survivors in 2023 against the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The complaint was primarily drafted by second-year students Alexandra Smolyar and Jake R. Shatzer under the supervision of Associate Dean & Community HeLP Clinic Director Jason A. Cade and Staff Attorney Kristen Shepherd. Students assisting with the underlying immigration cases included Thomas A. Evans (J.D.'22), Ailen Data (LL.M.'22) and Luis G. Gomez Chavez (J.D.'22).
Brumby Distinguished Professor in First Amendment Law Sonja R. West received the Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research on Media Law and Policy for her co-authored article "The U.S. Supreme Court's Characterizations of the Press: An Empirical Study" in the North Carolina Law Review (with R.A. Jones). The award is presented annually by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication to recognize the "best mass communications law research" with preference "given to research with a strong theoretical component that demonstrates the potential to have a lasting influence on freedom of expression scholarship." Notably, West received the award in 2017 for her article "The ‘Press,’ Then & Now" in the Ohio State Law Journal.
Congratulations to 2023 graduate Nicholas R. “Nick” Lewis for winning the Top Gun XIV National Mock Trial Competition. His effort created a historic win, as no school has won this tournament two times in a row. Lewis was undefeated throughout the tournament. 2023 graduate Emily P. Johnson served as Lewis’ co-chair/technical advisor and Associate Director of Advocacy Joe Lester served as coach. Top Gun is an invitation-only event for law schools that have excelled at mock trial competitions during the past year or otherwise distinguished themselves in their dedication to trial advocacy training.
Congratulations to the School of Law's American Constitution Society student group for receiving a programming award from the national organization. The award is presented to the "strongest chapters who have conducted at least 18 substantive and compelling events during the school year." Notably, in March, the law school's ACS chapter was named Student Chapter of the Week.
On May 25, the Supreme Court issued its decision on Sackett v. EPA, No. 24-454 (2022). Assistant Professor Adam D. Orford, whose interdisciplinary research investigates legal and policy approaches to environmental protection, has shared his thoughts on the implications of this decision: “Today, the Supreme Court significantly curtailed the scope of the federal government's regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, excluding millions of acres of previously regulated wetlands from federal oversight, and potentially reducing the number of surface water bodies under federal protection. This decision, which is consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent reading federal environmental laws very narrowly, shifts the decision about whether to protect newly non-federal wetlands and other waterbodies over to the states, many of which will favor real estate development over environmental protection. Lacking further federal legislation, the decision will significantly reduce U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory oversight of land-disturbing activities.”