February 6, 2017 - First Monday

We welcomed students, faculty and staff back to campus for the spring semester with some particularly challenging winter weather. The Boise location saw two days of canceled classes due to snow and ice and Moscow had one rare closure day due to impassable road conditions. As we enter into February, I am definitely looking forward to the coming spring. Here is an update from the College of Law.

ABA Law School Accreditation Committee Meeting

In mid-January, Associate Dean Lee Dillion and I attended the American Bar Association’s Accreditation Committee meeting. The meeting to discuss our first-year program for Boise was an important step in our efforts and went very well. The next step is with the ABA Council on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. That group will meet mid-March. Our request also goes to the Idaho State Board of Education in February for approval.

The process is moving forward smoothly and I am hoping to have a final, positive report to you soon.

2017 Denton Darrington Annual Lecture on Law and Government

I am pleased to announce the speaker and topic for the 2017 lecture. Our speaker is Chief Justice Charlie Daniels of the New Mexico Supreme Court and he will discuss “Pretrial Justice Reform: Promoting Public Safety and Constitutional Rights Through Evidence-Based Release and Detention”.

The lecture will be held on Thursday February 9th in the Lincoln Auditorium in the Idaho State Capitol Building. The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. MST followed by a reception at 5 p.m. MST. The event is free and open to the public. The lecture also will be live-streamed by Idaho Public Television at http://idahoptv.org/insession. There will be a viewing of the live-stream in the courtroom of the College of Law in Moscow

This is a very timely topic for Idaho, the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission has been addressing related issues concerning pretrial release and detention decision-making. I hope you will join us in person or watch the live webcast of the program. You can find out more about the event here.

Immigration Clinic Provides Resources on Emerging Issues

Professor Kate Evans, director of our Immigration Clinic and expert in immigration law, has been providing post-election information and resources to advocates and immigrant communities across the state and in Eastern Washington. She has also been working with our students to engage in community outreach to immigrant and refugees communities including participation in a Citizenship Drive organized by Catholic Charities and a state-wide coalition of related organizations. On Citizenship day, five UI students volunteered their time alongside volunteer attorneys and immigrant advocates to assist 69 individuals complete their naturalization applications.

The Immigration Clinic developed a resource for reporting bias and hate crimes in conjunction with the Idaho U.S. Attorney's office, for use by the Boise mayor's office and other groups. This and other resources are available here. Professor Evans was also featured on Idaho Public Radio after a community outreach event. An excerpt from the interview can be heard here.

I am proud of the work Professor Evans and our students are doing to support vulnerable immigrant and Refugee communities.

College of Law named to National Jurist Public Service Honor Roll

I am pleased to share that the College of Law has been named to National Jurist Magazine's public service honor roll by being one of the law schools with the greatest community impact. Some of the factors considered for the recognition were clinic hours, pro bono work and externships. During the past academic year, our students contributed on average 148 hours each to public service. This is one of the highest number of hours for our community size in the nation. I am very proud of the College of Law’s long history of commitment to public service.

Have a great February.

Upcoming Events

Denton Darrington Annual Lecture on Law and Government
February 9, 2017
4 p.m. PST
Lincoln Auditorium – Idaho State Capitol

2017 Spring Break
March 13-17

Spring Law Advisory Council Meeting
April 21, 2017

Boise, Idaho
Idaho Law and Justice Learning Center