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Son honors veteran father with law school scholarship
No full textAs we remember those who have served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice, the University of Georgia School of Law is pleased to share that Johnson J. “Jay” Cooper and his wife, Hillary, have initiated a scholarship fund honoring Jay’s father, Frederick E. “Fred” Cooper (J.D.’67), who also served our country, according to Dean Peter B. Bo Rutledge.
Consistent with the School of Law\u27s commitment to veterans, the scholarship will support outstanding law students, especially those who are veterans, who have plans to join or continue to serve in the armed forces, who have worked in the school’s Veterans Legal Clinic or similar initiatives during law school and/or who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to veterans or active service members.
Fred, a native Georgian from Thomasville, enlisted in the U.S. Army as a captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps after earning his law degree. Following his service to our country, he became a leader in the baking industry. Initially, he spent 16 years at Flowers Foods in varying capacities – general counsel, executive vice president, president and vice chair. During his tenure, the organization went public, transitioned from a regional southern bakery to a national food company and landed on the Fortune 500 list. In 1990, he founded CooperSmith, a small bread business that grew in six years to be the 13th largest private employer in Atlanta before being sold to Earthgrains in 1997. Fred was also active in the commercial baking industry’s largest organization, the American Bakers Association, and served as its chair.
I would like to thank Jay and Hillary for allowing the School of Law to play a role in creating a lasting legacy for Fred – one that honors his military service, Rutledge said.
As our law school seeks to redefine what it means to be a great national public law school, it is important we keep a world-class, hands-on and purpose-driven legal education affordable. This new scholarship will help to make our vision a reality, he concluded
Former chief justice follows in the Footsteps of UGA trailblazers
No full textRetired Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Benham will receive the 2024 Footsteps Award.
Each year, alumni who demonstrate a significant positive impact in their community are honored with the award, named to recognize three UGA trailblazers that helped to integrate the university: Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Hamilton Holmes and Mary Frances Early. Winners are chosen by a committee of University of Georgia faculty, staff and students.
“Justice Benham’s career is inspirational for students, fellow alumni and communities all over Georgia,” said Lee Zell, president of the UGA Alumni Association. “He has given so much to his community, his state and his university. It’s an honor to be able to recognize his service in this way.”
Benham, a 1970 graduate of UGA’s School of Law, is no stranger to breaking barriers. He was the first African American member of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and he was the longest-serving justice when he retired in 2020 after more than 30 years. Among his many other achievements, Benham was also the first African American to establish a law practice in Cartersville; the first Black president of the Bartow County Bar Association; and the first African American to win a statewide election since Reconstruction.
In addition to his illustrious public service career, Benham also continues to give back to the UGA community. He was the keynote speaker at the 2020 Holmes-Hunter Signature Lecture, which is sponsored by the UGA Office of the President and is designated as a Signature Lecture. It has been held annually since 1985.
The Justice Robert Benham Scholars Program Fund was created to support UGA School of Law students in the Benham Scholars Program who have overcome significant adversity and demonstrated an intent to return to and serve rural or legally underserved communities. The program provides support for law students in four key areas: recruitment, preparation for law school, academic support and career planning.
Benham has received numerous accolades over the years, including some from other esteemed Georgia institutions. The Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, the organization responsible for ensuring that Georgia lawyers are enlisted in the service of the client and the public good, established the Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service, which now enter their 24th year of honoring outstanding community and public service by judges throughout the state of Georgia.
“Justice Benham embodies the values that the University of Georgia hopes to instill in our alumni: courage, compassion and a dedication to public service,” Jill Walton, vice president for development and alumni relations at UGA said. “We are excited to be able to celebrate his involvement with UGA and his community with this award.”
This year marks the third year of the UGA Footsteps Award. Previous honorees include Richard Dunn and Xernona Thomas in 2023, and Eugenia Harvey as the inaugural honoree in 2022.
Benham will be honored during the annual 1961 Club Celebration on June 14 in Atlanta. The 1961 Club is a giving society named for the year of desegregation at UGA. Members support the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund, which seeks to remove barriers to education for students.
Written by UGA Marketing and Communications\u27 Rachael Andrew
UGA continues to strengthen campus security
No full textFrom new technology to campus escorts, enhancements will be highly visible to the campus community
Athens, Ga. – When new and returning University of Georgia students come to Athens for the fall semester, they will notice a series of highly visible initiatives to further strengthen campus security — from new signs and perimeter fencing to lighting upgrades, emergency call stations and automatic license plate readers.
Students, faculty, staff and visitors also will see more uniformed personnel — including a new unit of Campus Safety Ambassadors, who will augment the efforts of UGA Police by serving as student escorts and providing extra “eyes and ears” across campus during evening hours.
The university’s 16 million in campus security measures enacted during the past eight years — bringing UGA’s total investment in safety and security enhancements during that time to more than $23 million.
“There is no higher priority at the University of Georgia than the safety and security of our campus community,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “We continually evaluate our safety programs in close collaboration with our partners. Our ongoing investments are strengthening virtually all aspects of campus security.”
Funding for the new security initiatives, in addition to previously approved campus safety measures, has been provided from state resources as well as private contributions from the UGA Parents Leadership Council, the UGA Foundation, the President’s Venture Fund, the UGA Athletic Association and other internal and external partners.
“In addition to enhancing security, these investments demonstrate the depth of our commitment to protect our campus community,” said P. Daniel Silk, the university’s associate vice president for public safety, who is overseeing the implementation of enhanced security initiatives across campus.
Campus Safety Ambassadors
Silk said he is particularly excited about the new Campus Safety Ambassadors, who began working on campus in June. Though they are not police officers, their after-hours presence in areas in which students often walk and congregate on campus will magnify the impact of other campus safety efforts.
Campus Safety Ambassadors also can escort students to their housing and other locations on campus as they walk back from student events or studying, and they will have radio communications with police personnel in the event of an emergency or incident that requires police officers to respond.
Funding for the new ambassadors is part of a permanent 20% increase to the UGA Police Department’s budget, which will enable the department to bolster its recruitment and retention efforts and increase the number of campus safety personnel.
“The university has focused on continuing to recruit and retain police personnel who are exceptional. In that spirit, UGA’s compensation for police is among the best in the state,” Silk said.
These additions to the safety and security team will provide an enhanced security presence where students regularly study and congregate at night, including the Miller Learning Center, the UGA Libraries, the Tate Student Center and the Ramsey Student Center. Augmented security personnel at the UGA Libraries will ensure a security presence in all library facilities, while access to the UGA Main Library and McBay Science Library has been limited to UGA students, faculty and staff during evening hours.
UGA Safe app
UGA students, parents, faculty and staff are encouraged to sign up for the UGA Safe App, which includes a series of robust security features such as: Mobile BlueLight, which immediately calls UGA Police and shares the user’s location in real time. Friend Walk, which displays a student’s location to select friends. Contact Police, which allows students to immediately report concerns to UGA Police.
Subscribers to the UGA Safe app also receive emergency notifications from UGA Police. To date, nearly 17,000 members of the university community have downloaded the UGA Safe app.
Enhanced lighting
Lighting upgrades, which began over the summer, include more crosswalks, particularly near residence halls with high foot traffic, augmenting the university’s ongoing effort to evaluate lighting across campus. In addition, nearly 400 lights on campus are being converted to LED technology, which produces a much brighter light at night.
Members of the university community are already noticing.
“The implementation of enhanced lighting on campus has already begun contributing to student safety by improving nighttime visibility and creating safer environments for those traveling on campus,” said Rock Rogers, incoming president of the Student Governing Association and a rising fourth-year student from Dublin, Georgia. “This enhanced lighting initiative is one of several new safety measures that are helping students feel safer and more confident as we commute across campus.”
Automated license plate readers
This summer, the university began installing the first of 20 automated license plate readers (ALPR) in strategic locations on campus. This system of sensors will work in conjunction with UGA’s existing Campus Safety Camera System (CSCS) to provide an important additional technological resource for police investigating crimes.
UGA currently has more than 500 camera views that are captured by CSCS, and in many instances they can also record license plates. The ALPR system, however, is designed specifically for that purpose and will be positioned across campus to maximize the likelihood that drivers entering or leaving the UGA community will have their license plates recorded.
Emergency call stations
Emergency call boxes with cameras are being added to select sites throughout campus.
The new call box systems will offer multifunctional capabilities that also incorporate security cameras, additional lighting and Wi-Fi, which will facilitate calls using the internet and a cross connection with the PAWS Secure wireless network. These call box systems will be located in areas of campus identified to benefit from additional camera coverage and enhanced lighting.
New signs and perimeter fencing
New perimeter fencing is being erected in several sections of campus, and new signage emphasizes that the entire campus is protected by robust security camera coverage.
UGA Ride Smart
The UGA Ride Smart program, which provides a 50% discount on Lyft rides for UGA students, has been extended four hours per day and will now operate from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“Many students have utilized the Ride Smart program to travel safely across campus and the greater Athens area. It offers a secure travel option, and with the extended operation hours, students now have more convenient access to this resource,” Rogers said. “This initiative has significantly contributed to the safety of students traveling on and off campus.”
Since its launch in December 2021, Ride Smart has provided more than 85,000 rides to UGA students.
Emergency preparedness
The university recently invested in additional resources to enhance the ability of the Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) to provide support to faculty, staff and students on campus. Available assistance from OEP includes: Training and other products to help students plan for emergencies. Development of and training about building emergency plans for employees, which are required for all facilities. Development of and training about business continuity plans. In-person training, including tabletop exercises and active-shooter response training, on request by individual units, divisions and departments
Rutledge and Gowen publish article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No full textDean Peter B. Bo Rutledge and third-year student Anna E. Gowen published Law school has become unaffordable. At UGA, we are trying to change that in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on 8/16/24
Hellerstein featured in the Savannah Morning News
No full textDistinguished Research Professor & Shackelford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law Emeritus Walter Hellerstein was featured in the Savannah Morning News regarding state ballot measures on taxation. The article titled “What to know about this year’s ballot measures on tax courts, property exemptions” was written by Maya Homan and published 10/18/24. The article was republished by other media outlets
They\u27re Cops, Too
Get PDFCaseworkers or child protective workers are government officials tasked with investigating allegedly endangered children and their parents or guardians. They work for state agencies and exercise police power, but this kind of police power intrusively interferes with the life of an individual more than police power wielded by other law enforcement agencies. The Fourth Amendment provides individuals with protections against illegal searches and seizures of bodies and private spaces by the government, and police officers, as well as caseworkers, are required to respect these constitutional protections. Caseworkers, who are state actors, are dedicated to public safety in that they have a governmental interest in protecting children from dangerous caregivers, but their service must abide by the constraints of the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unlawful searches and seizures. unlawful searches and seizures. Many agree that law enforcement encompasses more than one group of governmental actors dedicated to keeping the public safe. Police officers, sheriffs, air marshals, border patrol agents, and state troopers all fall under this umbrella of law enforcement. There are other groups that qualify as cops, too. Many people would include Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents on the list, but few may realize that child protective caseworkers are cops, too. These state actors fall under the category of law enforcement because they investigate offenses against children. However, many people do not see them as such. Much of the public considers child protective workers to be “social workers” who strive only to protect children from unfit caregivers, and this view excises them from the category of law enforcement. Because of this perspective, caseworkers get away with too many uncontested rights violations. They violate families’ constitutional rights and suffer no consequences most of the time. Dedicated to maintaining the safety of children, these agents exercise a kind of police power that allows them to regulate family life,asserting an authority to control the life of a parent and child, and meddling with family privacy. Caseworkers get away with this illegal conduct because they believe, like many of us, that the rules governing law enforcement officers do not apply to them because they do good or fall under an exception to the rule. However, they are not exempt from this restriction, and their unreasonable invasions of privacy against the home and body do more harm than good, especially when they have weaponized the Fourth Amendment against families of color. This provision of the United States Constitution imposes a burden on racially marginalized parents and children when it ostensibly guarantees protection from illegal governmental activity. The family policing agency’s failure to abide by the constraints of the Fourth Amendment stems from the refusal to recognize the constitutional rights of parents and children of color, which, in turn, burdens these families. Whether caseworkers realize it or not, their commission of Fourth Amendment violations against communities of color is a tool of white supremacy, which society should resist
Griego featured in The National Jurist
No full textRecent graduate Jonah Dalton Chadwick Griego (J.D.’23) was featured in The National Jurist regarding the need to research future legal career paths. The article titled “Salaries: How much will you earn?” was written by Donna Campbell and published in the fall 2024 issue
Ringhand featured on Macon\u27s WMAZ
No full textHosch Professor & Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor Lori A. Ringhand was featured on WMAZ, Macon\u27s CBS affiliate, regarding campaign canvassers. The segment titled Yes, it is legal for campaigns to pay people to make calls about a candidate was reported by Kamilah Williams and published 10/30/24
Milot featured in The Detroit News
No full textStanton Distinguished Professor in Canine Welfare Law & Practicum in Animal Welfare Skills Director Lisa Milot was featured in The Detroit News regarding small-scale dog breeding. The article titled “Two local cases shed light on underground dog breeding operations in Michigan” was written by Max Reinhart and Hannah Mackay and published 11/20/24
Ringhand featured on Bloomberg Law
No full textHosch Professor & Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor Lori A. Ringhand was featured on Bloomberg Law regarding historic tendencies of potential U.S. Supreme Court justices. The article titled James Ho’s Post-Election Remarks Fuel Supreme Court Speculation was written by Jacqueline Thomsen and published 12/17/24