Faculty News
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Prof. Cotter Quoted in Bloomberg Law on Proposed Change to German Patent Law
January 24, 2020A January 24, 2020 article on Bloomberg Law, entitled “Pressure Grows to Stop Automatic Product Bans in EU Patent Rows,” discusses a proposed amendment to the German Patent Act that would, among other things, grant German courts greater flexibility to deny or delay the entry of injunctive relief in patent infringement actions. The amendment also would require the German Patent Court—the forum that challenges to patent validity, which are “bifurcated” from, and typically much slower than, infringement actions, to issue a preliminary assessment of patent validity within six months. The article quotes Professor Tom Cotter—who has written about the proposed amendment on his blog, Comparative Patent Remedies—who states that the proposed amendment might “lead to the German courts being more receptive to entering these delayed injunctions in certain types of cases.” Cotter also states that the proposed six-month rule may help to close the “injunction gap”—the delay between the resolution of an infringement and a related validity action—which arguably has given “patent owners undue leverage over implementers.”
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Prof. Kitrosser Talks Impeachment on “Chicago Tonight”
January 24, 2020Professor Heidi Kitrosser was featured in a roundtable interview on WTTW Chicago’s program, “Chicago Tonight.” During the 10 minute roundtable, Kitrosser answered questions about, among other things, the constitutional requirements for impeachment proceedings and the meaning of the term, “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
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Prof. Vaaler Authors Op-Ed in the Johannesburg Star on President Trump’s Senate Impeachment Trial
January 16, 2020Professor Paul Vaaler, who is currently studying and teaching in South Africa on a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, authored an op-ed in the Johannesburg Star on President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, set to start later this week or next. In the op-ed, Professor Vaaler touches on the history of impeachment trials in the U.S., the legal process of an impeachment trial, and how a trial—regardless of the outcome—supports the essence of democracy.
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Prof. Reitz Quoted in The New York Times Magazine Regarding Parole for Inmates Serving Life Sentences
January 10, 2020Professor Kevin Reitz was quoted in a New York Times Magazine article entitled “Can You Talk Your Way Out of a Life Sentence?” He explained that, as an inmate “[y]ou have about 3 percent of the procedural rights before a parole board as you would in a courtroom. The parole board has more power over a state’s prison population than all the judges in that state, but they have no job security. So they’re extremely vulnerable politically, but they have extreme power over incarceration policy. To me that’s a terrible combination—they live in an atmosphere of fear and risk-aversion.” Prof. Reitz added that he favors a system with diminished parole board discretion that would “put prisoners in control to some degree of their release date.”
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Prof. Hickman Quoted By Tax Notes Regarding Decision in Silver v IRS
January 9, 2020Professor Kristin Hickman was quoted extensively in a January 9 Tax Notes article (subscription required), “Silver Strikes Gold for Tax Administrative Challenges,” regarding issues raised by a federal district court opinion and order in Silver v. IRS, Civil No. 19-cv-247 (APM) (Dec. 24, 2019), rejecting the government’s motion to dismiss a taxpayer’s challenge to Treasury regulations implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The taxpayer challenged the regulations for failing to include an adequate evaluation of the impact on small businesses as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act. The article quoted Prof. Hickman extensively regarding the court’s analysis and conclusions that the taxpayer had standing to challenge the regulations and that the Anti-Injunction Act did not bar the litigation, as well as potential remedies in the event the court ultimately resolves the case in the taxpayer’s favor on the merits.
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Prof. Feld Receives Another Outstanding Book Award
January 6, 2020Centennial Professor of Law Emeritus Barry C. Feld’s most recent book, The Evolution of the Juvenile Court: Race, Politics, and the Criminalizing of Juvenile Justice (2017), has received the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ 2020 Outstanding Book Award, which will be presented in San Antonio, Texas, on March 27, 2020. This is Prof. Feld’s third book to be honored by the ACJS, following his earlier Kids, Cops, and Confessions: Inside the Interrogation Room (2013) and Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court (1999), which also received the American Society of Criminology’s Hindelange Outstanding Book Award.
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Prof. Kitrosser Quoted in The Washington Post on Bolton Testimony
January 6, 2020Professor Kitrosser was quoted in a Washington Post column entitled “John Bolton’s Big Announcement on Testifying—and What it Means.” She explained that Bolton’s recent announcement to the effect that he would testify if subpoenaed in a Senate impeachment trial “effectively waive[s] any argument against testifying should the House subpoena him.” She elaborated, “Bolton had no plausible claim for absolute immunity from showing up to testify in the first place. But even if he previously had such a claim, there is no plausible basis on which it would apply only against a House subpoena and not against a Senate subpoena.”
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Prof. Hickman Quoted by Bloomberg Regarding 2020 Tax Law Issues to Watch
December 31, 2019Professor Kristin Hickman was quoted by Bloomberg’s Daily Tax Report in an article regarding tax law issues to watch in 2020. The article highlighted ongoing litigation and a pending petition for certiorari in CIC Services, LLC v. IRS—a case concerning the Anti-Injunction Act as a limitation on judicial review of tax regulatory actions in which Prof. Hickman has participated as amicus curiae. Although identified as a case to watch, Prof. Hickman declined to speculate whether the Supreme Court would grant certiorari or the case would merely inspire additional circuit court litigation.
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Prof. Hickman’s Essay Recognized Among Top of 2019
December 31, 2019Professor Kristin Hickman’s essay entitled Gundy, Nondelegation, and Never-Ending Hope was recognized by The Regulatory Review as among its top contributor essays of 2019. In the essay, Prof. Hickman described, analyzed, and offered commentary on the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Gundy v. United States regarding the nondelegation doctrine.
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State Courts Cite Prof. Feld
December 21, 2019Within the past few months, two state supreme courts have cited Centennial Professor of Law Emeritus Barry Feld’s scholarship on juvenile justice:
State (Iowa) v. Draine, 2019 WL 6633859 (Dec. 6, 2019) (citing and quoting Professor Feld, Competence and Culpability, 102 Minn.L.Rev. 522 (2017). on the need for special procedural safeguards for youth);
State (Washington) v. B.O.J., 449 P.3d 1006 (Wa. Sup. Ct. 2019) (citing and quoting Professor Feld, Evolution of the Juvenile Court (2017)).