News // Law School

Prof. Nagle shares love of national parks with middle schoolers

2009-11-20T12:21:00-05:00

Notre Dame Professor of Law John Nagle spends Thursday afternoons in the classroom. That’s not unusual for a University professor—except that his classroom is at Covenant Christian School, and his students are in grades 5-8.

A specialist in environmental law, Nagle wrote a chapter on the law governing the management of national parks for his latest book, due to be published by Yale University Press in spring 2010. That expertise, combined with the timeliness of a recent PBS broadcast on the subject of national parks, convinced him to share his knowledge with this young group of budding environmentalists.

“These kids plainly, really care about the environment,” says Nagle, whose two daughters attend the school. “They have a keen appreciation for its importance.”

Nagle adds that, so far, the students have completed an assignment to identify the national park that they would most like to visit, and have suggested places that should be named national historic sites. “One student suggested that Ford Hood should be recognized as a national historic site in the aftermath of the tragic shootings there, which shows that the students understand how history unfolds before their very eyes,” Nagle observed. They also discuss topics such as national park land use and the conflicts that arise, such as wanting to snowmobile through Yellowstone versus wanting to maintain a more pristine landscape.

Nagle understands the impact that exposure to a subject early in life can have on one’s adult choices. “My family took a trip to Door County, Wisconsin, when I was about ten years old,” he explains. “My mom woke me up at 6:30 a.m. for a hike through the woods to see cedar waxwing birds. I wasn’t so happy about getting up early for a hike at the time, but it’s one of my favorite memories now.” He went on to study environmental policy at Indiana University before attending the University of Michigan Law School.

At Notre Dame, in addition to environmental law, Nagle teaches pollution law, biodiversity and the law, legislation, election law, constitutional law, and property. For more on Prof. Nagle, visit
http://law.nd.edu/people/faculty-and-administration/teaching-and-research-faculty/john-copeland-nagle.

Prof. Snead wins adult stem cell research grant

2009-11-20T11:34:00-05:00

Notre Dame Associate Professor of Law O. Carter Snead, along with Professor Philip Sloan in Notre Dame’s Program of Liberal Studies and Graduate Program in History and Philosophy of Science, was awarded a $50,000 seed grant from the University’s Initiative in Adult Stem Cell Research and Ethics. The money will fund a project entitled “Theological, Scientific, Ethical, and Legal Aspects of Alternative Stem-Cell Research.” The project will culminate in an interdisciplinary workshop to be held next summer at Notre Dame, and is meant to be a precursor to a permanent interdisciplinary center focused on this topic.

Snead was recently named to serve as an expert for the Initiative. Says Snead, “the Initiative takes a comprehensive approach to stem cell research, exploring not only the relevant scientific and engineering questions, but attending to the ethical and humanistic matters as well. The research aims at the common good, and is conducted in a manner that respects the equal dignity of all human lives from conception to natural death.”

Adult stem cell research is actively pursued at Notre Dame. Adult stem cells are found in different tissues and organs throughout the bodies of animals, including the nervous system. The two most well known sources of adult/non-embryonic stem cells are bone marrow and umbilical cord blood. Notre Dame commits itself to never using embryonic stem cells in research to cure human disease. The University opposes the use and destruction of embryos on the grounds that it constitutes the unjust taking of innocent human life for the benefit of others.

“The Notre Dame Adult Stem Cell Initiative is a tribute to the uniqueness of Notre Dame as the nation’s premier Catholic research university,” says Snead. “Notre Dame, like other elite schools, is committed to scholarly excellence, interdisciplinarity, and the pursuit of cutting edge research. At the same time, these aspirations are shaped by and grounded in the University’s mission. The Initiative reflects this synthesis.”

A significant portion of Snead’s research and teaching centers around the ethical, legal, and social questions associated with stem cell research and related questions (such as human cloning). He has published numerous articles, both for scholarly and general audiences on these matters including: The Pedagogical Significance of the Bush Stem Cell Policy: A Window into the Nature of Bioethical Regulation in the U.S., 5 YALE J. HEALTH POL’Y, L. & ETHICS 491 (2005); Preparing the Groundwork for a Responsible Debate on Stem Cell Research and Cloning, 39 NEW ENG. L. REV. 701 (2005) (Keynote address for 2004 Symposium, “Bioethics: The Current Stem Cell Research Debate”); A Comparative Analysis of E.U. and U.S. Funding Policies for Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Details, Aims, and Effects, 4 QUADERNI COSTITUZIONALI 834 (2007); Bioethics and Self-Governance: The Lessons of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND PHILOSOPHY, 34: 204-222, 2009 doi 10.1093/jmp/jhp024; Public Bioethics and the Bush Presidency, 32 HARV. J. OF L. & PUB. POL. 867 (2009); and Public Bioethics, Science, and the Problem of Integration, _ U.C. DAVIS LAW REVIEW _ (forthcoming 2010).

Aside from teaching and research, Snead’s professional service has also focused heavily on the question of stem cell research. Prior to joining the faculty of Notre Dame, he served as General Counsel to the President’s Council on Bioethics (a White House advisory body), where he advised the Chairman and Members on the legal and public policy dimensions of stem cell research and human cloning. From 2004 to 2005, he led the U.S. government delegation to the United Nations Educational, Science, and Culture Organization (UNESCO) in the negotiation of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (adopted in October 2005).

Currently, Snead serves as a member of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee, a 36-member body of independent experts who advise member states on bioethical questions. It is the only bioethics committee in the world with a global mandate.

Snead serves as Chairman for the Stem Cell Research/Bioethics Working Group of the New Federal Initiatives Project for the Federalist Society. Finally, he is a Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC.

To learn more about Professor Snead, visit his webpage.

NDLS hosts panel presentation on conscience clauses

2009-11-20T11:04:00-05:00

By: Michael O. Garvey, news and information

A panel discussion titled “What Would a Good Conscience Clause Look Like? A Catholic University’s Perspective” will be held Dec. 3 (Thursday) at 12:30 p.m. in the Patrick F. McCartan Courtroom of the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Hall of Law.

The discussion will concern how Catholic teaching and tradition, scholarship and legal developments might inform efforts to protect the rights of conscience of health workers, pregnant women, taxpayers and other citizens.

The panelists are Rev. Michael D. Place, chair of the International Federation of Catholic Health Institutions; O. Carter Snead, associate professor of law in the Notre Dame Law School; and Margaret F. Brinig, Fritz Duda Professor of Law in the Notre Dame Law School.

Father Place, who holds a doctorate in sacred theology from The Catholic University of America, is the former president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States. Snead, former general counsel to the President’s Council on Bioethics, was recently appointed by UNESCO to its International Bioethics Committee. Brinig, who co-chairs Notre Dame’s Task Force for Supporting the Choice of Life, teaches courses in family law and has written and lectured widely on issues arising from fertility, pregnancy, adoption and financial stresses on families.

The panelists hope that the discussion will launch a university-wide critical discussion and lead to a “white paper” addressing these and other issues of conscience, law, healthcare and public funding.

Sponsored by the Notre Dame Law School and the Task Force to Support the Choice for Life, the event is free and open to the public. More information is available at http://law.nd.edu/about/conferences/conscience-clause.

Legal Research beyond the 1L Year... try the Advanced class!

2009-11-17T08:15:00-05:00

Need a refresher of what was covered in the basic first-year Legal Research class? Want to learn more about searching for cases and statutes, as well as conducting research in legislative history and administrative law? If so, Advanced Legal Research is the class for you this spring semester. You will examine and gain experience researching all these materials using both print and online (Lexis, Westlaw, and free web sources). The advantages and disadvantages of online and print for each type of law will be examined as well.

The class is based on problems that are designed to represent the type of situations you will face in the work environment; we will discuss the best approach to solving the problems presented in each situation. We will also look at areas of the law outside the traditional categories (cases, statutes, and administrative law) and look at what the web has to offer the attorney in practice. Class grades are based on two graded projects and a final; each will require you to apply what you have learned to various situations.

Past Exams Available at the Law Library

2009-11-13T15:51:00-05:00

Written by Anita Lutz

Socrates once proclaimed “the unexamined life is not worth living.” You may agree or disagree with Socrates regarding the worth of examination, however in law school final examinations are almost always a certainty. So if you have recently begun a quest for useful exam materials we hope you will consider utilizing those which faculty have made available to assist you in preparing for your final examinations. Past exams are currently available through the Kresge Law Library and are accessible in multiple online formats as well as in print collections on reserve depending upon each professor’s preference.

Past exams available online

The law library website provides a convenient way to link to past exams of current law faculty who have chosen to provide electronic access through the law library for their materials. Through individual faculty agreement a number of faculty have made past exams available and it is possible to directly view them online. Beginning from the library homepage (http://law.nd.edu/library-and-technology) you must first click the “STUDENTS” link and then the “EXAMS ON FILE” link to access the exam page listings. You can also visit the exam website directly at
http://law.nd.edu/library-and-technology/students/past-exams.

All exams are password protected so you will need to login with your university NetID and password as these exams are available for current students only. The exams are arranged by the name of the professor so in order to find an exam, select a faculty member’s name and then login using your NetID and password to retrieve the list of available exams by class.

The following faculty members currently have materials available online:
Joseph Bauer
Margaret Brinig
Lisa L. Casey
Fr. Coughlin
Lloyd Mayer
John Nagle
Charles Rice
John Robinson
Vince Rougeau
Jay Tidmarsh
Julian Velasco

If your professor’s name is not listed in the electronic collection, check with the circulation desk for print exam availability as hard copies may exist for that professor on reserve. (See below for details.)

Past exams available in print

The library also provides faculty approved exams on file for check-out for current law students. In order to view the full selection of current exams, stop by the circulation desk during operating hours. At the circulation desk a full listing of available
exams can be viewed from the blue reserve binder which provides an alphabetical list of professors by last name and exact information as to whether a professor provides practice exams or not. Also listed are the subject and year of past exams, because multiple exams are possible.Once you have identified that exam material is available you may request the complete folder for 2-hour check-out in order to make a photocopy. During occasions when student demand for exam materials is at its peak (usually immediately before and during exam week) extended access to past exams may be provided by the library to insure 24 hour access for photocopy purposes.

Socrates himself was known to propose many a question for his students but rarely provided an answer. However, you may be happy to know that both questions
as well as answers may be available to assist you in your preparation. If you have any questions about print exam access please check with the law library circulation desk for details.

Prof. Garnett invited to speak at Ethics and Culture conference

2009-11-10T16:29:00-05:00

The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture invited Professor of Law Rick Garnett to speak at the Center’s 10th annual fall conference, “The Summons of Freedom: Virtue, Sacrifice, and the Common Good.” The conference runs Thursday, Nov. 12 through Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. Garnett will present “Religious Freedom in America Today: Freedom From, Freedom Of, or Freedom For?”

Says Garnett, “James Madison once expressed his view that America’s distinctive commitment to religious liberty would add ‘lustre to our country.’ We, his successors, have for two centuries been struggling to work out the content and implications of that commitment. Although we do not always agree what religious freedom means, we agree that it matters. For us, the goal has been, and remains, not to use the law to achieve freedom from religion, but rather freedom of, and for religion.”

Garnett teaches courses on criminal law, criminal procedure, First Amendment law, and the death penalty. His areas of research interest and expertise include: school choice, Catholic social thought, Church / state relations, religion in the public square, free speech and expressive association, free exercise of religion, federalism and criminal law, and the death penalty.

Link to more about Garnett, including his CV and selected scholarship, at http://law.nd.edu/people/faculty-and-administration/teaching-and-research-faculty/richard-w-garnett.

For more on the conference, visit http://ethicscenter.nd.edu/events/fallconfs/sof/sof.shtml.

Prof. Snead recognized as an expert by Adult Stem Cell Initiative

2009-11-09T15:41:00-05:00

It is one of the world’s most contentious debates, and Notre Dame law professor Carter Snead—along with seven other colleagues drawn from Notre Dame’s Colleges of Science, Engineering, and Arts and Letters — is at the heart of it as an expert on the University’s newly formed Initiative on Adult Stem Cell Research and Ethics. Says Snead, “the Initiative takes a comprehensive approach to stem cell research, exploring not only the relevant scientific and engineering questions, but attending to the ethical and humanistic matters as well. The research aims at the common good, and is conducted in a manner that respects the equal dignity of all human lives from conception to natural death.”

Snead recently concluded his service as Permanent Observer for the U.S. government at the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI), where he assisted in the development of international instruments and standards relating to stem cell research, among other things.
Currently, Snead serves as a member of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee, a 36-member body of independent experts who advise member states on bioethical questions. It is the only bioethics committee in the world with a global mandate.

To learn more about Professor Snead, visit his webpage.

For more on Notre Dame’s Initiative, visit http://adultstemcell.nd.edu/.

Yale Univ. Press Publishes Book by Prof. N. Garnett

2009-11-03T15:28:00-05:00

Find out more here http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300124941

Laptop Reservations for Exams

2009-11-02T02:30:00-05:00

Beginning Monday, November 23, the Circulation Desk will take reservations for laptops that are on Reserve. Reservations will be taken on a first come, first served basis. During the exam period- Friday, December 11 through Friday, December 18 laptops will be available only for Electronic Bluebook and there will be no overnight circulation of the laptops. Because of the limited number of loaner laptops available, we request that you do not reserve a laptop as back up for your personal laptop.

Controversial couple dominates U.S. medical tourism

2009-10-28T13:00:00-04:00

Reuters
Controversial couple dominates U.S. medical tourism

Reuters news service interviewed Notre Dame Professor of Law Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer about the legitimacy of a medical tourism nonprofit organization set up by a couple who also owns and runs a related for-profit company. Mayer’s areas of research interest and expertise include advocacy by nonprofit organizations and the role of nonprofits both domestically and internationally.

EXCERPT:
“It sounds like the non-profit is acting like the marketing arm of the for-profit companies,” says Lloyd Mayer, an expert in nonprofit tax law at Notre Dame [Law School]. “If that’s true, then it exists primarily to generate a profit for the companies and not primarily to promote the industry.”

Read the entire article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE59R23V20091028?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=11604

For more on Prof. Mayer, visit:
http://law.nd.edu/people/faculty-and-administration/teaching-and-research-faculty/lloyd-hitoshi-mayer

Prof. Cassel in Chicago Tribune: Return democracy to Honduras

2009-10-23T08:55:00-04:00

Return democracy to Honduras
(by: Doug Cassel)
Chicago Tribune, October 22, 2009

Prof. R. Garnett in NY Times, USA Today

2009-10-22T10:56:00-04:00

October 20, 2009
New York Times
Alito Troubled by Concerns Over Court’s Catholics

EXCERPT:
In a telephone interview, Notre Dame law professor Richard W. Garnett echoed Alito’s comment that the religion of qualified justices will not determine their views of pending cases, even if their experiences might shade it.

’’It’s not the calling of a Catholic judge to enforce the teachings of the faith. It’s the calling of a Catholic judge, as well as he or she can, to interpret and apply the laws of the political community,’’ Garnett said.

However, noting Sotomayor’s ‘’wise Latina woman’’ comment, he added: ‘’No one thinks the moral commitments of a judge are irrelevant. I don’t think anybody can completely put aside who they are.’’

Read the entire article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/20/us/AP-US-Alito-Catholic-Justices.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=garnett&st=cse

October 18, 2009
USA Today
Supreme Court’s Stevens Keeps Cards Close to Robe

EXCERPT:
Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett, a former law clerk to Rehnquist, says Stevens’ influence has not come from a consistent constitutional vision, as Scalia’s has, or by force of personality, as Brennan’s did.

“Stevens’ influence comes in a third way,” Garnett says, pointing to the justice’s long tenure and senior status — which includes the power to assign which justice writes the court’s opinion when Stevens is in the majority and the chief justice is on the other side.

Garnett says that on disputes over Guantanamo detainees, gay rights and the death penalty, Stevens has worked with “swing” justices to take “a lead role in shaping how these opinions are reasoned and written.” When the court is closely divided, justices who control the majority usually try to craft an opinion as narrowly as possible so that they do not lose the key swing vote.

Read the entire story at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2009-10-18-stevens-supreme-court-justice_N.htm

Prof. Cassel participates in a briefing to the U.S. Congress

2009-10-21T11:08:00-04:00

Notre Dame Law Professor Doug Cassel, Director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, continues to be a leading voice in the national and international debate over the recent coup d’etat in Honduras. This week he debates prominent Honduran American lawyer Miguel Estrada at Georgetown Law School on Wednesday, while on Thursday he participates in a briefing in the U.S. Congress, together with José Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch and former Honduran Foreign Minister Ernesto Paz Aguilar.

The specific details for each event are as follows:

The Crisis in Honduras: Constitutional Regime Change or Coup?, Panel discussion with Miguel Estrada, sponsored by the Center for Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, October 21, 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
> Read More

Honduras: More than a Coup, a Challenge to U.S. Policy in Latin America, Briefing for Members of Congress, Senior Congressional Staff, and the Press, with José Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch and former Honduran Foreign Minister Ernesto Paz Aguilar, co-sponsored by the Washington Office on Latin America, Center for Democracy in the America, and the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, 2103 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 22, noon to 1:00 p.m.

Prof. O’Brien Delivers Hesburgh Lecture

2009-10-21T11:07:00-04:00

Notre Dame Law Professor Sean O’Brien will deliver the 2009 Hesburgh Lecture for the Notre Dame Club of Houston on October 27, 2009 at 7 p.m. The lecture is titled “Human Rights in the Americas” and is presented by the Notre Dame Club of Houston, the University of St. Thomas’ Center for International Studies and the William J. Young Social Justice Institute. The location for the event is at the University of St. Thomas, Crooker Center.

Since 1986, the Hesburgh Lecture Series has brought a taste of Notre Dame’s academic excellence to alumni and their local communities. The lectures, hosted by Notre Dame Clubs, have perpetuated the example of President Emeritus Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., as a lifelong learner.

Prof. O’Brien is Assistant Director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights and Concurrent Assistant Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. He joined the Center in 2005, bringing with him his experience in international and domestic human rights work. He holds three degrees from the University of Notre Dame, most recently graduating summa cum laude from the Center’s LL.M. program in 2002. His experience includes work with the Belfast law firm of Madden & Finucane before the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in Derry, Northern Ireland and litigation with the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) in the Inter-American System for the Protection of Human Rights. Immediately prior to his return to Notre Dame, he served as Chief Counsel for Immigration and Human Rights at the Center for Multicultural Human Services (CMHS) in Falls Church, Va., directing a legal services program for survivors of torture and war trauma.

NDLS Alum Receives Humanitarian Award

2009-10-21T11:02:00-04:00

On Friday, October 16, the Notre Dame Law Association (NDLA) Board of Directors honored Notre Dame Law alum and longtime NDLA Board member Robert Michael Greene with the Father William Lewers, C.S.C. Award. The award recognized Greene for his contributions in the areas of civil and human rights, social justice, and international humanitarian service, including his efforts to help the people of Haiti. Father Lewers was a longtime and outstanding faculty member of Notre Dame Law School who also directed the Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Greene is a 1969 graduate of Notre Dame Law School, and practices law as a partner in the firm of Phillips Lytle LLP, Buffalo, New York.

Greene began participating in medical missions to Haiti in 2001, and continues to visit the impoverished nation about twice each year. The medical missions typically last ten days and are sponsored by Philadelphia based Global Health Volunteers. He has assisted in the establishment of new clinics, traveling to Haiti to evaluate potential sites for Medicines for Humanity which operates out of Boston.

Greene has also worked to raise funds for Centre Notre Dame de Lourdes, an orphanage for girls and a neighborhood clinic in Port-au-Prince. Greene learned about the orphanage during one of his medical missions, and has been involved in fundraising for the Centre ever since. All told, he has raised tens-of-thousands of dollars to complete an OB/GYN clinic, purchase equipment for the clinic’s laboratory, and install a water purification system for the Centre.

Prof. O’Connell in Belgium for armed conflict conference

2009-10-19T09:14:00-04:00

Mary Ellen O’Connell, the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution—Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame, will speak at the 10th annual Bruges Colloquium in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, Oct. 22. The Bruges Colloquium brings together academics, practitioners and experts to discuss current developments in International Humanitarian Law.

O’Connell, who also chairs the Committee on the Use of Force of the International Law Association, will deliver a presentation on international armed conflict, titled, “Saving Lives Through a Definition of International Armed Conflict.” For O’Connell defining international armed conflict requires discussing the term’s two components: “international” and “armed conflict”. Of these two, she finds the “armed conflict” component the more important because of the combatant’s privilege to kill without warning which applies in both international or non-international armed conflict but not outside of armed conflict. Outside of armed conflict, the use of lethal force by police or other authorities is only permitted in situations of necessity. She concludes: “When humanity reaches the point where all force is governed by necessity, we will not need a definition of armed conflict. But we are not there yet. There is still a need, if a diminishing one, to be able to distinguish armed conflict situations from peacetime ones.”

O’Connell is an expert on the international law governing the use of force. She is the author of the leading American law school casebook on the subject: International Law and the Use of Force, Cases and Materials (Foundation 2d ed. 2009). She is the lead author of the next edition of The International Legal System (Foundation 6th ed. 2010) as well as the author of The Power and Purpose of International Law (OUP 2008) and International Law and the “Global War on Terrorism” (Editions-Pedone 2007) among many other books and articles.

O’Connell teaches a number of courses in the international law area including international law, international law and the use of force, international art law, international dispute resolution, and international environmental law, as well as the law of contracts.

She is a member of the American Society of International Law, the International Law Association, the Germany Society of International Law, and the International Institute for Humanitarian Law.

For more on Professor O’Connell, visit her faculty profile web page.

Library Profile: Carmela Kinslow

2009-10-17T13:19:00-04:00

Written by Susan Hamilton

Carmela (“Carm”) Kinslow, a faculty member since 1990 and Associate Librarian with the Kresge Law Library since 2000, earned her B.S., M.L.S. and M.S.A degrees from Indiana University (Bloomington) and Notre Dame in 1987, 1989 and 1991 respectively. As Head of Access Services her responsibilities include Circulation, Reserves, and Document delivery. Carm’s service to Notre Dame and the law library profession extend well beyond these duties, however. She also serves on the Administration Team determining policies and procedures for the law library, and over the years has been involved in many committees both at the Notre Dame Law School (including the Law Library Renovation Working Group, Law Library Web Page Committee, University Affirmative Action, and Juridical Review Committee) and through the American Association of Law Libraries (serving on the Diversity Committee, Mentor Committee, Awards Committee, as Chair of the Annual Meeting of the Ohio Regional Association of Law Libraries, and more). Carm has also authored articles entitled Kathy Farmann: An Inspiring Woman Remembered 1 and Bridging the Gap: Electronic Document Delivery and Networked Information Sources.2

Carm recalls being introduced to the world of libraries when she visited the Free Library of Philadelphia as a 6th grader to write a book report. Her concept of library patron service began with that experience; an introduction to the library as a place for accessing information, social interaction around desired materials, and being with friends all wrapped up in one. She continued to immerse herself in this environment during high school by volunteering in the school library, shelving books. At St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, Carm worked in the Library’s Technical Services Department as a student assistant processing materials, filing catalogue cards, and labeling, but it was at the Circulation Desk where Carm met Ken, her husband of 40 years.

Ken and Carm married in 1968. Right after their August honeymoon, they arrived at Notre Dame in their 1957 Chevy towing a brimming U-Haul truck behind them, in pursuit of Ken’s Ph.D in English-American Literature. Soon after, Carm was hired towork for Angie Durso, the Notre Dame Life Sciences librarian. Carm left Notre Dame to teach fourth grade at St. Thomas grade school in Elkhart, Indiana from August 1969 to January 1970. Then life abruptly changed for the young couple when Ken was drafted just a few weeks before their son Kenny was born, in February 1970.

During Ken’s four year stint, the Kinslows were transferred to San Angelo, Texas; Monterey, California; and Berlin, Germany. After completing his tour, the family returned to Notre Dame in August 1974. Carm accepted a position in the Reference Department at the Hesburgh Library and worked there until 1979. It was during this time that her love for interlibrary loan work began.

With her outgoing personality coupled with a desire to serve, Public Services is Carm’s forte. To date, the most rewarding aspect of Carm’s current position as Head of Access Services is “the feeling of satisfaction and pride in providing patrons, whether students or faculty, with needed materials for their research, cite checking, or course work. I love working with people. I want the patrons to want to come back. In making the patron the focus of our attention and establishing rapport, a relationship is developed in giving them what they need.” And that is what is most important. One of her specialties and favorite aspects of public services is Inter-Library Loan (ILL), which she first began in 1974 at the Hesburgh Library. Since then, Carm has experienced the evolution of ILL services, from manual searches to the present day electronic searching in OCLC. “Being a part of the
evolution in ILL services, along with the explosion of technology and resources, has been truly amazing” she says.

When a position opened at the Kresge Law Library that addressed the need for ILL activities and broader patron service, Carmela applied. Kathy Farmann, the Law Library Director at the time, hired Carmela to provide those services. In 1979, when Carm transferred to the Law Library, there were virtually no Inter-Library Services offered at the time. Prior to Carmela’s arrival ILL statistics amounted to: 7 items loaned and 2 items borrowed. That is, 7 items were loaned out to other libraries, and 2 items were borrowed from other libraries for patrons. When the Library directorship changed hands to Roger Jacobs in 1985, patron service became a primary focus, as did data collection. This change was reflected in the ongoing incremental growth in ILL service and statistics. In 2008-2009, the ILL statistics were 1,456 borrowing requests and 1,221 lending requests.

Carm, a surviving twin of triplets at birth, grew up in South Philly, Pennsylvania where she was the only girl in an Italian family of boys. She is known to be tenacious, outspoken, direct, passionate, compassionate, sensitive, and a person born with the desire to get things done and to make people happy. Being 100% Italian, she says “I like people to be as direct with me as I am with them. I like people with a sense of humor and I love to make people laugh.” But her real passion, she says, is food: from shopping for it and cooking it to serving it to her family and friends. When asked about the future and her aspirations, Carm’s face lit up with a broad smile as she said, “I look forward to stepping into my ‘June Cleaver’ role. I already have the pearl necklace and the apron!” On a more serious note, she reminisced about going back to her volunteer work with Hospice of Saint Joseph County. And more immediately, she is looking forward to raising the new black lab puppy she and Ken just adopted and will be bringing home in November!

What is Carm most proud of? “Being married to a good man for 41 years, my son, and working here at Notre Dame for 35 years!! I love Notre Dame and I am always proud to say that I am a librarian at the University of Notre Dame. Every fall, when I hear the marching band chant ‘We are ND’ or ‘Here come the Irish,’ I get teary eyed and I feel so very proud to be a part of it all.”

1. Kinslow, Carmela. “Kathy Farmann: An Inspiring Woman Remembered,” Notre Dame Lawyer (Spring 2002): 26.
2. Kinslow, Carmela. “Bridging the Gap: Electronic Document Delivery and Networked Information Sources,” Notre Dame Lawyer (Spring 1998): 21.

2009 Summer Research Experience Survey Results

2009-10-16T15:21:00-04:00

One hundred sixty-four Notre Dame Law School (NDLS) 2Ls and 3Ls responded to the 2009 Summer Research Experience Survey conducted from September 28 through October 9 by the Research Department. The annual survey helps the legal research instructors assess whether our students have the research skills to successfully compete with other law students in summer jobs.

Legal research instructors, Ed Edmonds, Patti Ogden, Chris O’Byrne, Warren Rees, and Dwight King, are proud that, over the years, NDLS students have reported confidence in their research skills, with many rating them as being better than those of students from other schools.

Highlights from the 2009 Survey:

How much research did you do last summer?
Large amount: 53%
Small Amount: 9%

How do your research skills compare to those of your peers?
Much Better: 16%
Better: 42%
Same: 38%
Worse/Much Worse 3%

Did you use Lexis or Westlaw?
Westlaw: 45%
Lexis: 13%
Both: 40%
Discouraged from using them: 10%

What percentage of your research was done electronically?
Electronic (at least 70% of the time): 82%
Electronic exclusively: 21%

Did you use print sources?
State Statutes: 50%
Digests: 24%
Federal Statutes: 26%

Were you offered a permanent position by your summer employer?
Received an offer: 23% (37 respondents)

Were your research skills an important factor in getting the offer?
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Two NDLS profs featured in Chicago Tribune

2009-10-14T14:25:00-04:00

October 14, 2009
Chicago Tribune

EXCERPT:
Free speech battle pits mom vs. Web
Since there have been relatively few cases like this in U.S. courts, University of Notre Dame law professor Patricia Bellia said there is a strong probability the court proceeding will become an important part of emerging case law.

“Recent court rulings have tended to side with anonymous posters and against those who want their identities revealed, Bellia said. And judges are more likely to set a higher threshold when ruling on identifying anonymous sources in newspaper stories, although in this case the newspaper was merely hosting an online forum, not providing the content, Bellia said.”

Read the entire article at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-buffalo-grove-web-fightoct14,0,4615421.story

EXCERPT:
How to go after corporate fraud:
“Notre Dame Law School Prof. Lisa Casey has some advice for obtaining justice in the latest corporate crime wave: Don’t wait for the Supreme Court.

“The Obama administration has made prosecuting fraud a top priority in the aftermath of last year’s financial crisis, she says, though few cases have been brought so far.

“One way Congress could help, she writes in a new research paper, is by specifically criminalizing fraud on the board of directors. As it stands, top executives lying to the board of their public companies are not necessarily covered by securities fraud or other statutes.”

Read the entire post at:
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/burns-on-business/2009/10/how-to-fix-corporate-fraud.html

ND Expert: Direct link between rise in Taliban power and private funding

2009-10-13T14:31:00-04:00

The Taliban are in much stronger financial shape than al Qaeda, and their emergence over the last two years as a formidable military force is directly tied to funding by private benefactors, according to Jimmy Gurulé, University of Notre Dame professor of law and one of the world’s leading experts on terrorist financing.

“The good news is that al Qaeda has been weakened by military strikes killing top al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan,” Gurulé said. “These military efforts have further denied the terror group a safe haven to plan and launch major terrorist attacks against the West. As the result of al Qaeda’s decline, donors have been reluctant to fund the terrorist organization. No one wants to donate to a losing cause.

“The bad news is that the Taliban are growing in strength both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and are perceived by many as winning the war in Afghanistan. As the result, there is no shortage of private donors willing to finance the Taliban’s efforts.”

According to Gurulé, the Taliban receive approximately $100 million annually from the opium trade in Afghanistan – a narco-state which is keeping the Taliban flush with funds to purchase military weapons and recruit fighters. Further, the U.S. government’s efforts to stem the flow of funds from the sale of heroin in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere around the world back to Afghanistan have been largely ineffectual.

Media advisory: Jimmy Gurulé’s comments may be used in whole or in part. He is available for interviews and can be reached at 574-631-5917 or Gurulé.1@nd.edu. Additional information on Gurulé, including video, is available at http://newsinfo.nd.edu/for-the-media/nd-experts/faculty/jimmy-gurule.

Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on October 13, 2009.