Leslie Francis, Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, has been introduced as a regular contributor to Bill of Health, a Harvard Law Petrie-Flom blog that examines the intersection of law and health care, biotech and bioethics. 

Her introduction is available here.

Professor Francis is also a regular contributor to HealthLawProf and will be cross-posting her contributions to these blogs on the website for the Center for Law and Biomedical Sciences.

Terry Kogan, Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, has been selected to join the ranks of the Enlightened 50, or E-50, by The Community Foundation of Utah.

Established in 2008, The Community Foundation of Utah’s mission is to “harness Utah's entrepreneurial spirit in service to the common good through smart philanthropy.” According to its website, the foundation “serve[s] as a giving vehicle for over fifty-five donors who have collectively given over $780,000 to the communities they care about.”

On June 6, Kogan will be among the 2013 award recipients to be honored. A sampling of others include Christopher Thomas: Executive Director, HEAL Utah; Cindy Norton: Teacher and Mentor, Bonneville Elementary; Cynthia Buckingham: Executive Director, Utah Humanities Council; Fred Lampropolous: President & CEO, Merit Medical; Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman: Rabbi, Congregation Kol Ami; Robert Workman: CEO, Goal Zero; and Samira Harnish: President, Women of the World.           

On Friday, April 19, Sifuna Okwethu (We Want What's Ours), an award-winning short documentary about a South African family’s struggle to regain land that was stolen during Apartheid, screened at Chicago-Kent College of Law, as part of a larger conversation about land dispossession in South Africa. As part of that discussion, Erika George, Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and the director of the board of the non-profit organization Documentaries to Inspire Social Change (DISC), introduced human rights issues raised for black South Africans post-Apartheid concerning property and lending which has corporate social responsibility implications and access to justice for past injuries during the prior Apartheid regime. 

Prior to being screened in various festivals, including the Africa World Film Festival, where it won the Short Documentary Audience Choice Award, Sifuna Okwethu (We Want  What's Ours) was screened by George and a group of University of Utah human rights students, including Candace Gibson, Vivianne Elizabeth Api Mbaku, Jessica Ashley Samowitz, Cyrus Wiseman, Garreth Long, Laurie Evans Abbott, Victoria Ward, Samora Magadia, and Kurt David Reber, who provided comments to film editors as part of a focus group.

“I expect to continue to use my human rights class as a ‘co-lab,’ or space to collaborate on the use of documentary film in human rights education in order to raise awareness of issues and offer context to legal texts on human rights,” George said. 

Robert Keiter, Professor of Law at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law will read from and sign copies of his new book, To Conserve Unimpaired: The Evolution of the National Park Idea, on June 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the 15^th Street Gallery, 1519 South 1500 East, in Salt Lake City.  The reading will be preceded by a 6:00 p.m. reception. The event is free and open to the public. 

Each year, about 280 million people visit a national park, seeking everything from jaw-dropping beauty to breathtaking excitement, from a vacation to a livelihood. The park system is charged with conserving these special places unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. But what does this actually mean for today’s national parks, which are not, and have never been, isolated nature reserves? In To Conserve Unimpaired: The Evolution of the National Park Idea, Keiter explains how parks are changing to adapt to the environmental, economic, and demographic changes they face today.

Jody Hilty, North American Program Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, writes of Keiter’s new book: “Keiter offers a clear understanding of the origin of national parks and controversies that continue through today. How would parks balance wilderness values, enjoyment of visitors, science, and education? Making the case that parks are a central tenet of conservation, To Conserve Unimpaired offers key insights into today’s challenges to sustain the value of national parks into the future.”

 Keiter is the Wallace Stegner Professor of Law, University Distinguished Professor, and founding Director of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources, and the Environment at the University Of Utah S.J. Quinney College Of Law.  His other books include Keeping Faith with Nature: Ecosystems, Democracy, and America’s Public Lands (2003); Reclaiming the Native Home of Hope: Community, Ecology, and the West (1998); and The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America’s Wilderness Heritage (1991).

The reading is jointly sponsored by The King’s English, the Wallace Stegner Center, and the Southwest Regional Office of the National Parks Conservation Association. Funding is provided by the Cultural Vision Fund.

Panelists include [...]]]> On Thursday, May 23, the Stanford Club of Utah will host a panel discussion, “The Future: Terrorism and Law Enforcement,” at the Commander’s House at Fort Douglas, 1965 Trobriand Street in Salt Lake City. All College of Law faculty, staff and students are invited.  A suggested donation of $15 is requested at the door.

Panelists include General Brian Tarbet (ret.), Utah National Guard; Chris Burbank, Chief of Police, Salt Lake City; Brian Jenkins, authority on terrorism; and Pat Shea '70, lawyer and biology professor, chair.

Since 9/11 several trillion dollars have been spent to make our homeland secure. The panel will focus on whether this expenditure has succeeded and what measures might be necessary and prudent in the future.

A piece Brian Jenkins wrote on Iraq is HERE. Jenkins is a senior adviser to the president of the RAND Corporation and author of numerous books, reports, and articles on terrorism-related topics. National security is one aspect of the RAND Corporation’s mission of research and analysis to improve policy and decision-making.

Light refreshments served.  Please RSVP to Tay Haines.  Click here for directions and parking.