Legal Scholarship Repository (University of Tennessee College of Law)
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An Upward Trend in Jailhouse Cooperation with ICE: A report on detainers issued by ICE and 287(g) agreements in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee from 2016 to 2020.
No full textThis report analyzes information received in response to Freedom of Information Act requests to ICE about 287(g) agreements and detainer requests issued between fiscal year 2016 to 2020 in those states. This report concludes with specific recommendations for local, state, and federal governments to end LLE-ICE collaboration and repeal anti-immigrant policies
The Futures of Law, Lawyers, and Law Schools: A Dialogue
No full textOn April 19 and 20, 2023, Professors Bernard Hibbitts and Richard Weisberg convened a conference at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law titled “Disarmed, Distracted, Disconnected, and Distressed: Modern Legal Education and the Unmaking of American Lawyers.” Four speakers concluded the event with a spirited conversation about themes expressed during the proceedings. Distilling a lively two days, they asked: what are the most critical challenges now facing US legal education and, by extension, lawyers and the communities they serve? Their agreements and disagreements were striking, so much so that Professors Hibbitts and Weisberg invited those four to extend their conversation in writing. The University of Pittsburgh Law Review graciously agreed to publish the result
ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions)
No full textThe Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) founded in 1983 is a United States-based organization that develops technical and operational standards for the global telecommunications industry. ATIS has been a key player in the development and implementation of innovative communication technologies and solutions to drive the evolution of networks and services. ATIS is governed by a Board of Directors, which is composed of representatives from leading telecommunications companies, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and US Cellular, among others. The organization operates through various committees, working groups, and forums, focused on specific areas of interest within the information and communications technology sector
California settled the no-fault divorce question decades ago. Why is it back in the news?
No full textInterim Associate Dean Michael Higdon was quoted extensively in a recent article in the L.A. Times entitled “California Settled the No-Fault Divorce Question Decades Ago: Why is it Back in the News?” The article focuses on criticisms some politicians have recently levied against the availability of no-fault divorce, including calls to abolish the practice
A Low-Carbon Future for America\u27s Smaller Legacy Cities
No full textProfessor Stein’s article reviews a report entitled Greening America’s Smaller Legacy Cities, authored by Joseph Schilling, Catherine Tumber, and Gabi Velsasco and published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Their report argues that an equitable and sustainable low-carbon future is essential for smaller and midsize legacy cities to thrive. The path to this type of ‘green regeneration,’ they suggest, requires a focus on three areas: (1) climate resilience; (2) environmental justice and equity; and (3) green economic development
Mastering Legal Analysis and Drafting
No full textMastering Legal Analysis and Drafting seeks to emphasize the fundamental structure and methods of legal drafting, grounded in the surprisingly few elemental rules and techniques of legal analysis. It is designed to (1) help the legal drafters identify those elemental rules and techniques, and (2) show how they are used to prepare effective legal writing in different formats, most of which share common elements and structures.
The book begins with a discussion of legal analysis, followed by a discussion of general drafting principles and rules, and then proceeds to apply these concepts to specific forms of legal writing, including client letters, demand letters, research memoranda, motions and supporting documents, appellate briefs, contracts and instruments, and legislation. It closes with a chapter on writing to build a record that reprises the other chapters and highlights the key concepts.
The second edition has been updated to reflect recent developments in legal practice, research, citation, and technology.https://ir.law.utk.edu/utk_lawfacbooks/1065/thumbnail.jp
Trouble’s Bruen: The Lower Courts Respond
No full textNew York State Rifle & Pistol Ass\u27n v. Bruen revolutionized the understanding of how Second Amendment cases are to be adjudicated. Rejecting the tiered-scrutiny analysis around which the lower courts had coalesced since the 2008 Heller decision, the Court instructed courts to look to history and tradition after it was determined that state or federal regulations limited activities that fell within the protections afforded by the Second Amendment\u27s text. Justice Thomas\u27s opinion, however, left open significant questions about how the history-and-tradition method is to operate in practice. The Court recently held oral arguments in United States v. Rahimi, in which the justices will have an opportunity to provide answers to some of those questions, should it choose to do so. In many ways, Rahimi is a good vehicle for the Court to fill in the lacunae created by Bruen, which the lower courts have struggled with in the last two years. Using Rahimi as our point of departure, we will summarize the case, highlight what we think are the significant open questions the Court should address, and then look at how the courts of appeals have answered those questions. While our approach here is largely descriptive, we do include some opinions about what the correct answers to those open questions are
Tapping Into the Talent Pipeline While Repairing the Leaky Pipe
No full textDiversity in the legal profession matters. It helps legitimize our legal system, giving everyone confidence that they will be treated fairly. Diverse legal teams make it more likely that the team will understand different perspectives and avoid “group think.” Having diverse groups make, enforce, and interpret laws leads to better outcomes. And yet, the legal profession is one of the least diverse in the country. The vast majority of lawyers are White men even though women constitute half of the population and about 40% of the U.S. population is not White. The percentage of Black lawyers has remained virtually unchanged in the last decade. Demographics besides race and gender are also telling. For example, only about one of every four law students are first-generation college students as compared to over 50% of undergraduate students. Law schools must redouble their efforts, particularly after the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard and University of North Carolina and anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) laws in several states, to prevent falling further behind.
This Essay proceeds in four parts. Part I seeks to address one argument made by anti-DEI activists who claim that diversity efforts are discriminatory because they are rooted in equity, which they see as incompatible with equality, which is what the law requires. Part II explores the idea that equality must include equal opportunity, given that a person\u27s value largely depends on their family lineage. Part III provides a few suggestions for neutralizing the accident of our births, where advantage--and disadvantage--are meted out based largely on the families we are born into. Part III also describes two pipeline initiatives that the University of Tennessee College of Law is undertaking to help diversify law school and the legal profession. Part IV recognizes the role that public and private virtue play in diversity efforts.
We continue to fall short of our country\u27s ideals. “Our nation still works to secure, in its laws and culture, the respect for all persons our founding convictions require.” The Black population is underrepresented in the legal profession. Even though about 14.2% of the U.S. population is comprised of Black people, only about 5% of lawyers are Black. Hispanic people are also underrepresented in the legal profession. In 2022, approximately 5.8% of lawyers were Hispanic whereas Hispanic people comprise 18.5% of the U.S. population. Part of the explanation for these disparities could be underperformance on the LSAT entrance exam and lower law school admission rates. Those disparities, in turn, might be explained by disadvantages that create opportunity gaps. Treating people equally in a country where the destinies of children are largely determined by the accident of their births, coupled with unequal public school funding, and a huge wealth and income gap, hardly seems equitable. Law schools should act to fix the leaky talent pipeline to ensure underrepresented students are exposed to law school and the legal profession and that interested students receive appropriate mentoring and skill-building to be successful in law school and beyond. The legal profession, and the legal system more broadly, depend on it