Law

How Law Students Are Keeping a Historic Water Distribution Tradition Alive in Southern Colorado

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

How Law Students Are Keeping a Historic Water Distribution Tradition Alive in Southern Colorado Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/04/2024 - 00:00

Sarah Kuta

Water is vital for life in the West. In Colorado’s San Luis Valley, it’s so essential that, for generations, some communities — called acequias — have treated it as a communal resource that’s meant to be shared.

For the past decade, Colorado Law students have supported the legal needs of these communities through the Acequia Assistance Project. The initiative is a collaboration between ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment with Colorado Open Lands, the Sangre de Cristo Acequia Association and several law firms in the state.

Through the project, law students work hand-in-hand with lawyers and professors to provide an estimated $300,000 worth of free legal services to the roughly 130 acequia communities in Colorado.

Not only does this pro bono work help keep a historic water distribution philosophy alive, but it gives students a chance to put theory into practice — and experience how natural resources law can affect real people.

“Water in the West is at a critical point right now, where climate scientists are predicting increased aridication in Colorado, which will likely result in less water,” said Mary Slosson (Law’24), one of the project’s student deputy directors. “It’s one thing to study these problems from a legal standpoint in the classroom, but it’s entirely another thing to talk about climate change with a small family farmer while walking their land.”

Acequia means “water bearer” in Arabic. The practice — which centers on a network of irrigation channels — originated in Northern Africa, then spread to Europe during the Middle Ages. From there, the Spanish brought the concept to the New World, where it took hold in Mexico and what is present-day New Mexico and Colorado.

But an acequia represents much more than just the physical infrastructure: It’s a way of life. In acequia communities, water is divvied up as equitably as possible — and landowners pitch in to help maintain the ditches.

This philosophy stands in stark contrast to the way water is distributed elsewhere in Colorado. The state’s water laws are based on “prior appropriation,” which means that whoever has the oldest water rights gets first dibs on water, according to Gregor MacGregor (IntlAf’12; Law’19), who participated in the project as a law student and now serves as its director. In times of scarcity, this approach — also known as “first in time, first in right”— means there may not be enough water for those with the youngest water rights, he added.

“In an acequia system, there aren’t shares — it’s one landowner, one vote,” said MacGregor. “The way they allocate water is more personal and values-driven. People on the acequia system are tied to the water and the land.”

For more than a century, Colorado’s legal framework did not recognize acequias. But in 2009, the state legislature passed a law that allowed acequias to incorporate while continuing to operate in their traditional way. To help acequias take advantage of this new recognition, Peter Nichols (MPubAd’82; Law’01) launched the project with Colorado Law professor Sarah Krakoff in 2012.

“The fact that we have this population that was more or less ignored for 150 years is a huge environmental justice issue,” said MacGregor. “This is a great way to use our very particular set of skills to right the wrongs of the past in a very meaningful way that empowers these communities to chart their own future.”

Law students help acequia communities by drafting bylaws and governance documents, representing them in water court and negotiating the sale of water rights. They also conduct extensive research to help acequias incorporate, as they did with the historic Montez Ditch in San Luis, Colorado.

“The Acequia Project has become part of our community,” said Charlie Jaquez, a former Montez Ditch commissioner whose ancestors were some of the original settlers of San Luis in 1851. “They have been very, very helpful — and very generous. Especially in areas like Conejos and Costilla counties, these communities just do not have a whole lot of money. The ditch would’ve just kept on going the way we did before, decade after decade, but now it’s been placed on solid legal footing.”

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Illustration by Sally Deng

For the last decade, Colorado Law students have supported the legal needs of acequia communities in Colorado's San Luis Valley through the Acequia Assistance Project.

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Spring 2024

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Colorado Law Student Inspires Change in CUPD

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Colorado Law Student Inspires Change in CUPD Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 01:00

Christine Mahoney

Growing up in Aurora, Colorado, ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� law school student Jemil Kassahun (IntlAf, PolSci, Soc’21; Law’24) was proud to be part of a diverse community with many cultural influences.

“Aurora is the most diverse city in the state of Colorado,” said Kassahun, 24. “I was involved in the African Student Association and Muslim Student Association [in high school], where I would work to help express our cultures and values to the rest of the community.”

Despite having a deep pride for his community — especially after witnessing city residents unite after the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting — Kassahun also saw disparities in the treatment of his friends of color versus white friends at the hands of police officers and within the justice system.

The death of Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man who died days after Aurora police put him in a now-banned carotid hold and injected him with ketamine in 2019, helped ignite Kassahun’s decision to pursue an education that would allow him to provide support for historically marginalized communities.

“It was shocking for all of us in Aurora when it happened, because this is the same police force that took in James Holmes unharmed,” said Kassahun, referencing the white man convicted of murdering 12 people in the Aurora theater.

Kassahun, who earned an international baccalaureate diploma in high school and arrived at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� flush with academic credit, recognized that higher education could be used as a vehicle to help his community.

“I remember reflecting on why I hope to do what I hope to do,” he said. “The stories of Elijah and so many others drive me.”

He joined the CU Police Department (CUPD) in 2019 as an administrative assistant, and quickly began organizing community outreach events. By 2020, Kassahun was serving on CUPD hiring committees and supporting the department’s de-escalation training.

In the summer of 2020, after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Kassahun helped galvanize campus conversations focused on police reform. He assisted in organizing a Boulder Black Lives Matter march and invited ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� police chief Doreen Jokerst and Boulder police chief Maris Herold, who attended along with Boulder County district attorney Michael Dougherty.

“I think a lot of people were uplifted that members of law enforcement chose to come in solidarity and attend the march with us,” Kassahun said.

A monthslong collaboration among CUPD, student and campus leaders, and representatives of the campus’s shared governance groups — along with a hefty dose of reassurance to students of color that university police leaders would listen to their concerns and be open to change — led to more open dialogue. As a result, the ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Community Safety Task Force began, which evaluated campus policing policies, practices and training and recommended ways to ensure public safety on campus. One of the group’s key recommendations was to establish the Community Oversight Review Board, on which Kassahun was asked to serve.

“Working at CUPD has put me in a position to drive change in our campus community and the broader Boulder community,” he said.

Kassahun also has worked for state and regional offices, including serving as a law clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, interning with the Denver District Attorney’s Restorative Justice and Diversion Unit and taking part in Colorado Law’s immigration defense clinic. He also works with Colorado Law’s Korey Wise Innocence Project to serve incarcerated people with claims of innocence.

When the grind of law school leaves Kassahun in need of motivation to reach his goal of working within the U.S. Department of Justice, he reflects on the origins of his passion for public service.

“I always acknowledge the barriers that people in my community face,” he said. “I feel an obligation to find a way to give back. That empowers me.”

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Photos by Matt Tyrie

Jemil Kassahun’s life experiences fueled his study of social justice issues and his decision to work for ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Police.

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Five Questions with David N. Karpel

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Five Questions with David N. Karpel Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

Marty Coffin Evans

10,000 Miles a Month

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed David N. Karpel (Bus’81) district court judge for Colorado’s 18th Judicial District on Jan. 10, 2023. Prior to his appointment, he was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice in the criminal division’s organized crime and gang section. Karpel served 30 years in the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and retired in 2019 with the rank of captain.

What was your responsibility as a federal prosecutor?

My charge was to disrupt and dismantle the most significant regional, national and international gangs and organized crime groups. These cases involved utilizing a broad spectrum of federal criminal statutes, including Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)/Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR), extortion, murder, money laundering, narcotics and weapons offenses.

What case are you most proud of as a prosecutor?

I was the lead prosecutor in the six-year effort that led to the conviction and dismantling of 73 Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) leaders and violent offenders. My team was composed of federal agents and local law enforcement including several Texas Rangers. This was the first time the RICO/VICAR statutes were used to indict a prison-based gang. All 73 ABT defendants were convicted.

What led you to work in Mexico City?

As one of four federal prosecutors, we were assigned to investigate and prosecute members of the Los Zetas cartel for the murder of U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) special agent Jamie Zapata and wounding of ICE special agent Victor Avila during an attempted carjacking in Mexico. In 2011, I worked out of the U.S. Embassy for almost a year developing the case and pursuing evidentiary leads. Five defendants pled guilty and cooperated; two were convicted at trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.

How much did you travel as a federal prosecutor?

During my 10 years, I traveled on average 10,000 miles a month. My travels took me from Washington, D.C., to Alaska, New York, Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Nevada, among other states, and overseas. I appeared in federal district courts around the country prosecuting white-supremacist, prison-based gangs.

What excites you about your new district judicial court position?

It’s a genuine honor to return to Arapahoe Country and Aurora, where I was born and raised. I will do my best daily to serve my fellow citizens while treating them with respect and providing justice for all.

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Photos courtesy David N. Karpel

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed David N. Karpel district court judge for Colorado’s 18th Judicial District on Jan. 10, 2023.

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Michelle Chostner Is Seeking Justice

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Michelle Chostner Is Seeking Justice Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Seeking Justice
Pueblo, Colorado, resident Michelle Chostner (Anth, Psych’04) is an attorney and mom of three children. She has been a prosecutor in four district attorneys’ offices since 2009. Before being appointed to the bench as a magistrate in August, she was chief of the country court division in Pueblo County’s 10th Judicial District. In April, she was featured on 20/20 for her work on the homicide case, People vs. Donthe Lucas.

What piqued your interest in law after graduating from CU?

My undergrad degrees were in things I found interesting. And then saw how psychology intersects with criminal justice. I was at a justice center with the kiddos and I thought, ‘Maybe I want to go into law.’ I took a year off from school and worked at a treatment facility in Pueblo for juvenile offenders, then took the LSAT before I went to DU for law school.

What was your early career like?

I graduated law school in 2008, and have been a prosecutor ever since. I started in [Colorado’s] Adams and Arapahoe Counties. My husband, who I met in law school, is a prosecutor as well. After we had our third kid, we moved to Pueblo to be close to family.

I’ve done a number of homicide cases. I’ve always been really interested in crimes against women, and crimes against children. I have lectured and taught extensively on child sexual and physical abuse as well as abusive head trauma in infants.

In 2018, what brought you recognition for “Prosecutor of the Year”?

I prosecuted a homicide concerning a female defendant who killed her roommate. It was a pretty gory case called People vs. Bonnie Pier-Danzey. She was sentenced to life in prison.

Tell us about the People vs. Donthe Lucas case that received national attention.

That was a cold case about a homicide. The female victim had been living in the Denver area and was romantically involved with Donthe Lucas. She drove down to see him and was never seen again. It had been a cold case for four years. My dad, Jeff Chostner (Hist’73) [10th judicial district attorney], put me and my husband on the case. We buckled down and started working with law enforcement in 2017 and followed up on every lead. We filed first-degree murder and went to trial last January. By March 8, there was a guilty verdict.

What else should we know about you?

I am switching gears. I applied for and got a position as a magistrate. I’d like to think I’m a lawyer secondarily to trying to just do the right thing in life. Now I’m trying to do that in a different way. I’m always just trying to do the right thing.

Do you have any career milestones you have yet to hit that you’d like to still?

I turned 40 in March, and I very much feel like I spent my 20s and 30s being a trial lawyer and cutting my teeth in the courtroom. Now I’m open to doing more than just being a litigator. I don’t know exactly what that looks like. Who knows — maybe in 10 years I’ll quit law entirely and become a high school teacher. I’m just keeping things open to see where life takes me.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I have three kids ages 10, 8 and 6. I’m a full-time mom, which really means a full-time Uber driver, getting them to all of their activities. Being a mom kind of defines me.

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Photo courtesy Michelle Chostner

Before being appointed to the bench as a magistrate in August, Michelle Chostner was chief of the country court division in Pueblo County’s 10th Judicial District, and was featured on 20/20 for her work on a homicide case.

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CU’s New Law Dean Is Ready for a Bold, New Future

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

CU’s New Law Dean Is Ready for a Bold, New Future Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Kelsey Yandura

A storied legal educator, author and researcher, Lolita Buckner Inniss began work as Colorado Law’s dean in July 2021. She is the first Black dean and second female dean in the law school’s history. Her book, The Princeton Fugitive Slave, was named one of five books white leaders should read. Though hailing from California, Inniss has strong family ties to Colorado.

You started as dean at CU Law in July 2021. What drew you to this position and ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��?

I would have to say the outstanding faculty and students. I have been familiar generally with ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� over the course of my career. Colorado Law is, in my view, one of the nation’s great law schools. I’ve always really admired it.

Tell us about your book. What prompted you to write it?

The Princeton Fugitive Slave was a labor of love. When I was a first-year student at Princeton, I was sitting around in the library plaza and this older gentleman walked up to me. He told me the story of a man named James Collins Johnson, an escaped slave who was working at Princeton University in 1843 when he was arrested and tried as a fugitive.

I thought it was such a cool story. It sounded like a fairy tale. Years later, after I had completed my PhD, I finally felt like it was time to write it down. I spent about eight years digging into archives and newspaper articles. The story that I was able to flesh out is what became the book.

What are some of your main research interests?

Shortly after I started on The Princeton Fugitive Slave, I began hearing about other universities studying the roles that slavery had played in their pasts. Schools all over the country are discovering their roots in slavery, or at least their relationship with it — even lots of schools founded after the Civil War are based on the profits from slavery.

Tell us about a few more of your upcoming projects.

One of them is a forthcoming book that I’m writing with Professor Bridget Crawford at Pace Law comparing and contrasting the social and legal norms around the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements. The core question is: How is it that Black Lives Matter received and receives so much social pushback, whereas the Me Too movement has, relatively speaking, blossomed? Another project is work that I’m doing with an International Comparative Law Society regarding contemporary slavery.

The pandemic has impacted education and work as we know it, and in this issue we’re examining student resilience. How has the pandemic impacted Colorado Law students and legal education at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��?

I have been delighted, encouraged and proud to see how Colorado Law students have managed this crisis. Many students have had family members who grew ill, many have lost jobs — all sorts of difficulties. And yet the students I have met in person so far, they are thrilled to be back. They are ready to meet the challenge.

I think also in terms of resilience, a big part of student and staff resilience involves embracing the concept of grace. Grace means giving yourself permission not to be perfect and giving yourself permission to do things differently than you have in the past.

"Grace means giving yourself permission not to be perfect and giving yourself permission to do things differently than you have in the past."

You mentioned your interest in college history and slavery. Do you have any information about CU's historical ties to slavery?

That is one of my fledgling projects. You typically have to drill down and ask: Who are the donors? Where do they come from? Where did their wealth come from? How do law and society play a key role? And what you find is often slavery. I haven’t been able to find a lot of evidence yet, but certainly a lot of the figures and the wealth that helped to start these endeavors likely had wealth with ties to slavery.

You had familial ties in Colorado. How does it feel to be back?

One of my great-great-grandfathers served in the Civil War. He came to Colorado after the war was over because he heard that this was a great place with lots of opportunity.
The closest ancestor of mine that I knew was here is my grandmother. They lived in Five Points in Denver when she was a child. She says it was so vibrant. I’ve visited since I’ve started the job, and it's been amazing. When you grow up hearing stories about a place you’ve never been, there is something frankly mythic about it. I was walking down the same street where my grandmother and her siblings played and attended school. That’s incredible.

In an interview with ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Today, you expressed excitement about helping to lead ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� “into a bold new future.” What does this mean to you?

I would start by saying a key aspect of the work that I want to do is sustaining the excellence that was already here to begin with. I want to continue the work that the former dean did around inclusive excellence, diversity, equity and inclusion. I also want to sustain and heighten many of our international connections while also encouraging students to embrace the local scene. Interview BY Kelsey Yandura. condensed and edited for clarity.

Interview condensed and edited for clarity.

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Photo courtesy Lolita Buckner Inniss

Lolita Buckner Inniss, the first Black dean and second female dean in the law school’s history, discusses student resilience, her research on college history and slavery and the new era of CU Law.

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New Name for NFL’s Washington Team

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

New Name for NFL’s Washington Team Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/10/2020 - 23:00

In July, after 87 years, Washington, D.C.’s, professional football team announced a search for a new name and logo.

The NFL franchise, formerly known as the Washington Redskins, will assume the name Washington Football Team until a permanent name is chosen.
A Colorado Law professor helped make the historic change happen.

For over 15 years, Carla Fredericks, director of ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� American Indian Law Clinic, has campaigned for the name change, most recently as director of First Peoples Worldwide, a joint CU law and business program addressing the social and environmental impacts of development in Indigenous communities.

“I just remember seeing that mascot, and thinking ‘that doesn’t look like me,’” Fredericks told ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Today.

First Peoples Worldwide organized a group representing more than $640 billion in assets and, on June 26, sent letters to the heads of the Washington team’s sponsors, including Nike, FedEx and Pepsi calling on them to cease use of the name, deemed by the group to be racist, dehumanizing and inhibiting to Native people.

Days later, Nike pulled the team's apparel from its online store; July 2, FedEx publicly called for Washington to change the team's name. The franchise launched a review the next day.

“This is part of a much larger movement going on that Indigenous peoples are situated in, and it is a long time coming,” Fredricks told The Washington Post in July. “I think that for anyone who is associated with the movement for racial justice this is a significant gain, and this is a significant moment.”

Photo courtesy of the Washington Football Team

��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� law professor helps champion the change

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Wine Absurdities

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Wine Absurdities Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/01/2019 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

In 2018, Denver attorney Jordan Lipp (Econ, PolSci’00) and his wife Heather wrote Is There Apple Juice in My Wine?: Thirty-Eight Laws that Affect the Wine You Drink, detailing some of the odd, unique and unknown facts about wine.

Why did you write about wine laws?

Several years ago, while wine tasting in the Sta. Rita Hills [in Santa Barbara], we were looking at the alcohol by volume on the back of a wine bottle, and the wine pourer told us we shouldn’t bother, as the number was more or less made up. We didn’t believe him. In response we told him we had learned in our sommelier class that wineries could put fermented apple juice in their wine. He didn’t believe us.

The next morning, as my wife and I were discussing these two stories, we thought, I’m a lawyer so I could look it up to see what is true and what is not. We came up with a list that morning of 20 or so wine “facts” we wanted to find out if they were true or not. Those 20 items from that morning of brainstorming ultimately became 20 of the 37 chapters of the book.

Where did you get your information for the book?

Fortunately as a lawyer, it was quite easy to do the legal research to look up what are the actual laws governing wine making, wine sales and wine consumption.

As many of these laws are so ridiculous that we’d have trouble believing that they were true had I not done the research myself, we made sure to footnote virtually every statement in the book so readers can easily verify every detail for themselves.

What’s the most absurd law you discovered?

It’s easy to start in our home state. By Colorado law, although not enforced, bars must serve sandwiches (as opposed to just serving pizza or burritos) if they want to serve alcohol. Perhaps the funniest law we found while researching the book is this: South Carolina has a law that wine cannot get you drunk.

Do some wines actually contain apple juice?

Yes, some contain apple juice, or to be more technically correct, fermented apple juice. If the wine label on the bottle lists either a state or smaller location from which the wine came (e.g., Oregon, Napa Valley, etc.), or if it lists the varietal (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc.) you do not need to worry. But, if you look at your local liquor store, you’ll probably notice some cheap wine bottles or wine cans that do not have either a location or a varietal listed on the container, and it says in small print: “With Natural Flavors.” For those wines, we hope you like apple juice, because odds are that is what you are drinking.

Why is the U.S. drinking age higher than most of the world?

Our country went through a strong neo-Prohibitionist movement in the 1980s Reagan-era. In 1984, the federal government — under the pretense of keeping teenagers from driving from one state to another to buy alcohol — tied highway funding for states with the obligation for states to raise their drinking ages to 21 years old.

What wine fact do you like to share most?

When discussing wine tasting, one of our favorite facts is that it is hard to distinguish a red wine from a white wine when you’re drinking it in a black glass. When discussing what we learned from writing the book, we love to point out that under certain conditions, wineries are legally allowed to water down their wine up to 35 percent (That’s more than a glass of wine per bottle that can legally just be water.).

What should people do first when looking to buy a decent bottle of wine?

Our first rule of choosing a wine is to choose a bottle of wine that won’t give us a (chemically induced) headache the next morning. That can be tricky as there are no ingredient labels on wine, so you cannot tell what additives are in any particular wine bottle. As my wife and I have had so many different wines, we have a good sense of which producers we can trust and which ones we cannot.

If you don’t know the producers, here’s perhaps the easiest trick, though it only works for Italian wines: We have never had a headache from drinking Italian DOCG or DOC wine, which is the Italian government’s stamp of approval for certain wines. If we see the DOCG/DOC stamp on an Italian wine (usually placed on the neck of the bottle), we know we’re drinking a wine we can trust.

Your favorite glass of wine and food pairing?

Not to be contrarian, but I’m skeptical of wine and food pairings. I love the wines I love. And, I love the foods I love. If I have them together, I try to keep them from conflicting too much, but my goal is to always choose my wines based upon my mood and what wines I love, not what I am eating.

From a science perspective, Cornell University flavor chemist Professor Terry Acree had a great quote about wine and food pairing. Based upon years of research, he explained that wine and food pairing is: “completely contextual, and almost entirely individual.” From my lay experience, I could not agree more. I love Vin Santo and Sauternes, and would happily have either of them with a steak – which is something that would leave many wine lovers and sommeliers simply aghast.

That said, if I could have anything tonight, it would probably be a bottle of wine from the left bank of Bordeaux, France from the 2009 vintage (perhaps a Chateau Lagrange or a Chateau Kirwan) paired with Mimolette and aged Gouda cheeses and crackers.

Who would you love to share a bottle of wine with?

My wife and I have read that astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a wine connoisseur. We wrote a blog on trying to make wine understandable to everyone in the same way he makes physics understandable. We would love to have a bottle (or two) of wine with him.

Anything else we should know about you, your book or your career?

The wine book was my third book. My first book was on my other major passion – skiing. While a student at ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ��, I was a volunteer ski patroller at the old Berthoud Pass Ski Area, and after the ski area closed I wrote the backcountry skiing guidebook to the region: Backcountry Skiing Berthoud Pass. My second book was a legal treatise applicable to my day-to-day job: Product Liability Law & Procedure in Colorado.

Note: A condensed version of this Q&A appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of the print Coloradan.

Photo courtesy Jordan Lipp/@iStock/eli_asenova (wine glass)

In 2018, Denver attorney Jordan Lipp wrote Is There Apple Juice in My Wine?: Thirty-Eight Laws that Affect the Wine You Drink, detailing some of the odd, unique and unknown facts about wine.

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Her Kind of Case

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 16:21:07 +0000

Her Kind of Case Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/24/2018 - 10:21

By Jeanne Winer (Engl’72; Law’77)
(Bancroft Press, 320 pages; 2018)

Buy the Book

Her Kind of Case is a legal drama that centers on Lee Isaacs, a female defense attorney on the cusp of turning 60, who, out of curiosity, determination, and desire for a big, even impossible, professional challenge, chooses to take on a tough murder case in which a largely uncooperative young man is accused of helping kill a gay gang member. The plot takes place in Boulder and Denver.

Jeanne Winer was an attorney in Colorado for 35 years, specializing in criminal defense. During that time, she represented hundreds of people accused of murder, kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, drug offenses and other serious crimes.

A long-time political activist, Jeanne Winer received the Dan Bradley Award from The National LGBT Bar Association for her trial work in Romer v. Evans, a landmark civil rights case that preceded and paved the way for the Obergefell decision in 2015, which legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States. Her first novel, The Furthest City Light, won a Golden Crown Literary award for best debut fiction.

Her Kind of Case is her second novel. Like the heroine in her book, Winer is a martial artist who holds a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She lives mainly in Boulder, Colorado with her partner and cat, but spends a number of months each year writing in Taos, New Mexico.

Her Kind of Case centers on Lee Isaacs, a female attorney who defends a young man accused of helping kill a gay gang member.

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Then and Now: Guggenheim Geography

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Then and Now: Guggenheim Geography Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/30/2018 - 00:00

Name: Guggenheim Geography

Year Built: 1908

Architect: James Murdock

Today: Home of the Department of Geography

Once Upon a Time: The building, which served as the Law School until 1958, was a gift from Senator Simon Guggenheim and was the first privately-funded building on campus. Located in the Norlin Quadrangle Historic District at CU, the building was donated to commemorate the birth of Simon and his wife Olga’s second son, George. In 2017, CU’s Board of Regents approved $24.7 million to renovate the Guggenheim Geography building.

Did You Know: Nearly identical buildings can be found on both the CSU campus in Fort Collins and the UNC campus in Greeley.

Have a Memory to Share? Email editor@colorado.edu.

Check out our other building posts here.

Information and historic photos courtesy of CU Heritage Center; photo by Amanda Clark

The Guggenheim Geography building served as the Law School until 1958 and was the first privately-funded building on campus.

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Talking Immigration with Ming H. Chen

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 23:05:10 +0000

Talking Immigration with Ming H. Chen Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/07/2018 - 16:05

Lauren Price

Ming H. Chen, associate professor at Colorado Law, directs the CU Immigration Law & Policy Program and serves on the Colorado Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

You’re working on a book titled Constructing Citizenship for Noncitizens. What’s it about, in a nutshell?

For the last decade, U.S. immigration policy has focused nearly exclusively on enforcement: Stopping unlawful entry, stopping criminal aliens and stopping foreign terrorists. My book argues that this is a mistake, and that immigration lawyers, scholars and policymakers concede too much when they focus all their energies on responding to immigration enforcement. Instead, I argue that they need to advance a conversation about immigration and citizenship that includes integrative goals alongside enforcement and moves away from the fixation on formal status to the exclusion of other forms of membership.

How did you decide to focus your career on immigration law and civil rights?

I attended a California public high school in the 1990s. California is thought of as a refuge for immigrants, with inclusionary immigration policies, but voters there have approved ballot initiatives to restrict public benefits for undocumented immigrants, affirmative action for racial minorities and bilingual education in public schools. My first political experiences were community organizing and voter registration to oppose those initiatives.

Although some of those initiatives would later be overturned in court, essentially, we lost. That left me feeling two things that continue to shape my career: One, there is a lot of important work still to be done, and, two, non-majoritarian institutions like courts or agencies play an important role in shaping public policy. We cannot rely on the principle of ‘whoever gets the most votes, wins’ to achieve just results, especially when we’re talking about immigrants and minorities who lack equal footing.

Are domestic political events changing the way you teach or what you research?

Mostly in the sense of urgency rather than in core content. There was a time when race and immigration were seen as marginal issues in the academy, and those studying them had to strive for respect. There is no longer any doubt that these subjects are critical to established subjects like Constitutional law and American politics. My students are extremely motivated, and know that learning about these subjects matters to the world. My colleagues and the university, too, are seeking expertise and guidance. If there is a silver lining to all the strife, it is that we have opportunities to teach and learn on a daily basis.

Have many CU students or DACA recipients come to you seeking advice?

My interactions have been primarily with DACA students and international students. It’s been challenging to level with students who want comfort and encouragement about how uncertain our legal environment is right now and to tell them that, like them, the experts are wondering what happens next. The law school hypotheticals are now realities. What used to be a question of ‘what if’ is now a question of ‘what now.’

If you could make one major change to current U.S. immigration policy, what would it be?

To broaden the dialogue around immigration policy and our conception of who are immigrants in the U.S. There is the danger of falling into the ‘illegality trap’ that sees immigrants as lawbreakers and the purpose of policy as enforcement. It is vital that folks engage on the front lines when children and community members are being deported. It’s also important to recognize that there are many kinds of immigrants and that they’re all vulnerable.

Where are you from originally and what brought you to Colorado?

I was born in the United States to immigrant parents who migrated as international students to a western public university (Montana State) and have now lived in the U.S. longer than in their native countries of China and Taiwan. We lived largely in California with significant time on the East Coast before I began this faculty position at CU.

CU has been an interesting place to work on civil rights and immigration. I really appreciate that CU is a flagship public university that draws students from all over the nation and is the first choice of so many students in the western U.S. and increasingly abroad. It is for that reason that it needs to be thoughtful and engaged about immigration and civil rights.

Condensed and edited.

Photo by Glenn Asakawa (top); courtesy Ming H. Chen

Ming H. Chen, an associate professor at Colorado Law, directs the CU Immigration Law & Policy program and serves on the Colorado Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

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