Mary Berkheiser is the Joyce Mack Professor of Law and director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic at the Boyd School of Law. Professor Berkheiser and Boyd alumnus James Murphy ’03 were spotlighted in a May 19 article titled “Watchdog: Advocate James Dold” on UNLV’s News Center.
The article profiled UNLV alumnus James Dold, advocacy director for the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth in Washington, D.C., and his work to end life-without-parole for those who committed a crime as a juvenile but were tried as an adult. Currently, he is partnering with Boyd’s Juvenile Justice Clinic to organize the push in Nevada.
Professor Berkheiser, a champion of the cause, said Dold has “brought a national perspective to their efforts.”
“James also has the added benefit of being a Nevadan who understands the dynamics on the ground here,” she said. “The time and energy he has devoted here will be crucial to enacting legislation. Right now, those sentenced to life without parole will die in prison for crimes committed when they were just kids. New legislation will give them an opportunity to appear before the parole board and demonstrate their maturation and readiness for life outside the prison walls.”
In the article, Dold also credits Boyd alumnus and former UNLV history teacher Murphy for steering him toward law school, saying “He took me under his wing a bit because of my writing ability and the assignments I did for him. I think he probably stuck out in my mind in terms of a professor who encouraged my development down the legal path.”
Professor Berkheiser's areas of expertise include clinical legal education and teaching, criminal procedure, juvenile law, criminal law, and appellate law.
Murphy is a senior lawyer with the Las Vegas firm of Laxalt & Nomura.
