Sept. 17 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The Sept. 17 issue of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Leslie Griffin, student Janine Lee, and alumnus Matt Knepper '12.

Professor Griffin is Boyd's nationally known and widely respected expert on law and religion. In her books, law review articles, and briefs, she strives to give readers a different perspective on the Constitution's protection of religious freedom.

Lee, now in her final year in Boyd's part-time evening program, has kept busy the past three years studying and working full-time as a senior paralegal at the Las Vegas law firm Schwartz Flansburg PLLC.

Knepper is a member of Akerman LLP's Consumer Finance Litigation Practice Group, where he primarily defends federal causes of action brought under the Bankruptcy Code, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act, and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

To subscribe to Boyd Briefs, visit law.unlv.edu/BoydBriefs.

Boyd Professors Attend Law and Society Association Annual Meeting

Clockwise from top left: Ruben Garcia, Leslie Griffin, Francine
Lipman, Addie Rolnick, Ann McGinley and Elizabeth MacDowell

Boyd professors Ruben J. Garcia, Dr. Leslie C. Griffin, Francine J. Lipman, Elizabeth L. MacDowell, Ann C. McGinley, and Addie C. Rolnick attended the Law and Society Association Annual Meeting in Seattle May 28-31 where they presented papers, chaired discussions, and participated on roundtables.

Professor Garcia presented his paper “The Constitutional Right to a Minimum Wage,” chaired a panel on “Who is a ‘Worker’? Who is the ‘Employer’?” and co-chaired the activities of the Collaborative Research Network on labor rights. 

Professor Griffin participated on panels discussing a chapter of her forthcoming book Feminist Legal Judgments.

Professor Lipman presented her paper titled “Access to Tax Justice” on a panel.

Professor MacDowell presented her paper titled “Domestic Violence and the Politics of Self-Help.”

Professor McGinley presented her paper “We are All Contingent: Recognizing Vulnerability in a Global Workplace” on a panel on labor rights, and participated on a roundtable on the Feminist Judgments Project, edited by fellow Professor Linda Berger.

Professor Rolnick presented her paper, along with co-author Professor Kim Pearson from Gonzaga University, titled “Race, Gender, and Ideal Parenthood in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl” as part of a panel on children’s rights and best interests. She also participated on a roundtable discussing “Promise and Pathos in Indian Law.”

The Law and Society Association is an interdisciplinary scholarly organization dedicated to scientific, interpretive, and historical analyses of law across multiple social contexts. Annual meetings are an important part of the association’s activities and provide participants an opportunity to exchange ideas in multiple ways and socialize.

Professors Leslie Griffin and Stacey Tovino Give Presentations at Annual Conference on Law, Religion and Health

From left: Professors Leslie Griffin and Stacey Tovino

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

Stacey Tovino is the Lincy Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professors Griffin and Tovino recently attended the 2015 Annual Conference on Law, Religion, and Health in America, sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School May 8-9.

At the conference, Professor Griffin spoke on the topic of “What Would American Health Care Look Like if it Respected the Religion Clauses? How Would the Religion Clauses be Interpreted If They Valued American Health Care?” Professor Tovino presented her paper titled “Health Care Finance, Religion, and the HIPAA Privacy Rule.”

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Professor Tovino is a leading expert in health law, bioethics, and the medical humanities.

Professor Leslie Griffin Attends Hastings Law School Symposium

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

Professor Griffin was invited to speak at the “CLQ Symposium: The Religious Rights of Corporations in the Aftermath of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby” on Feb. 20 at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. On the symposium topic, Professor Griffin argued both the case and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act undermine religious freedom.

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Professor Leslie Griffin Writes About Opening of Supreme Court Term

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, a blog co-written by Professor Griffin, she has recently written about the opening of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 term.

On Sept. 29, Professor Griffin authored a blog entry about the "Top Ten Supreme Court Cases Hamilton and Griffin on Rights are Following this Term."

In the Welcome: The Supreme Court's 2014 Terms Begins blog entry, Professor Griffin writes, "What could be more ridiculous than letting a prisoner tell prison officials how long his beard should be? How about letting a model tell her employers what clothes she should wear to promote their brand? Welcome to the Supreme Court’s 2014 Term, which starts today, October 6. The Court will deal with those two scenarios, and many more ... "

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Women Leaders Visit Boyd School of Law, Meet with Faculty

Women dignitaries visit the Boyd School of Law on Sept. 22. Boyd faculty members pictured above
include: Fatma Marouf, Ann McGinley, Elizabeth MacDowell, Leslie Griffin, and Stacey Tovino.

A group of women foreign dignitaries from around the globe on Sept. 22 visited the William S. Boyd School of Law to meet with members of the Boyd community as part of a multi-regional project titled “Women Leaders: Promoting Peace and Security.”

Invited to the U.S. under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the visit was arranged by the World Affairs Council of Las Vegas to promote citizen diplomacy, learn about support for women leaders, and engage the Las Vegas community. The Boyd School of Law was one stop on the Las Vegas tour, which included visits to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Aid for Aids of Nevada, and Congress of Racial Equality, among others.

Participating in the cultural exchange were several Boyd faculty members. The group discussed the challenges that women in the U.S. faced in terms of gender discrimination, and the legal protections that now exist to promote equality in employment and other sectors.

IVLP participants are selected by U.S. embassies to travel to the U.S. to meet and confer with their professional counterparts. The women dignitaries represented 14 different countries, including Azerbaijan, Burma, Cyprus, Egypt, Ghana, Hungary, India, Iraq, Kenya, Macedonia, Philippines, South Africa, Republic of South Sudan, and Suriname.

Professor Leslie Griffin to Present at UNLV Women's Council Event

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On Sept. 9, Griffin will present on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby at a UNLV Women's Council event to be held in the Student Union.

Griffin's presentation will be followed by talks by the planning dean of the UNLV school of medicine, the chair of the Department of Economics at the Lee Business School, and the director of health programs at The Lincy Institute. Stacey Tovino, Lincy Professor of Law and Lehman Professor of Law at the Boyd School of Law, will moderate the event.

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Professor Leslie Griffin Quoted in National Catholic Reporter

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On July 14, she was quoted in the National Catholic Reporter article Hobby Lobby supporters: Case was about owners' individual rights.

"I don't think anyone should forget about the gay rights issues. What about insurance for same-sex partners? The logic of Hobby Lobby says that if you own a restaurant, you can say you don't want my restaurant used for gay marriages. Then why wouldn't you win?" she said in the article. "The argument in the business context has always been that when you decide to become a business, you enter into a different world. The reasons you incorporate in the first place is precisely to get away from your personal identity -- you get certain benefits, but you also lose certain benefits."

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Professor Leslie Griffin Quoted in The New York Times

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On July 11, she was quoted in The New York Times article Among Justices, Considering a Divide Not of Gender or Politics, but of Beliefs. The article is about the Supreme Court's decisions in Greece v. Galloway and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, "two cases bearing extensively on the separation of church and state."

“How could Catholics say they are now opposed, that they’re a minority religion, when they’re a majority on the court?” said Professor Griffin in the article. “And now they’re reducing the barrier between church and state in a way that’s comfortable with their values.” 

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Professors Leslie Griffin, Mary LaFrance, and Jeffrey Stempel to Present at State Bar of Nevada Annual Meeting

Professors Leslie Griffin, Mary LaFrance, Jeffrey Stempel

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

Mary LaFrance is the IGT Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

All three professors will be presenting at the State Bar of Nevada Annual Meeting on July 10 in Newport Beach, Calif.

Professors Griffin and LaFrance will give a talk titled, “Whistleblower or Tattletale? The Debate over Wikileaks.”

Joined by several State Bar panelists, Professor Stempel will address “Hot Topics in Insurance Law.”

Professor Leslie Griffin Quoted in Las Vegas Review-Journal Article

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On July 2, she was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article Whatever else it is, Hobby Lobby ruling isn't narrow.

The article reads, "Professor Leslie Griffin of UNLV’s Boyd School of Law agreed. Using this case as precedent, why wouldn’t Catholic-owned, closely held corporations argue their belief that all contraception violates their sincerely held religious views and that they should be exempt from providing birth control entirely? 'The breadth of it is incredible,' Griffin said. Griffin added that one of the most disturbing passages is the ruling’s language saying courts should not question religious beliefs even in the process of determining whether a person’s religious freedom is actually burdened." 

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Hamilton and Griffin on Rights Blog Focuses on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

In March, Professor Griffin co-launched a blog with Marci Hamilton of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. The blog, named Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, focuses on the intersection of religion, feminism, and reproductive rights.

As such, posts on the blog in recent days have been focused on the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision. Articles include Some Thoughts from a Health Lawyer on Hobby Lobby, What’s Really Wrong With the Decisions in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood v. Burwell? (From Justia.com), Bishops’ Lobby Provides Win for Hobby Lobby, and more. To see all the coverage, click here. 

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Professor Leslie Griffin Featured on KNPR

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On June 26, she was featured on the KNPR segment Court Strikes Utah Same-Sex Ban.

"The 10th Circuit said that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, and it's the first court of appeals to do so. That's part of what makes it so important and why people are paying so much attention to it. The court gave a very strong opinion saying that there is a fundamental right to marry, and that fundamental right to marry protects both the people who want to get married in Utah as well as the couple in the case who had gotten married in Iowa and want to live in Utah," she said during the segment. "We know that the 9th Circuit will eventually make a ruling on same-sex marriage, and I think people would have thought that the 9th Circuit was the most likely to come out first for same-sex marriage. So it's a big signal that the first appeals court to reach this has said that there's a fundamental right to marry that includes the right to same-sex marriage."

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Associate Professor Michael Kagan Featured on SCOTUSblog

Michael Kagan is an Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Immigration Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

His June 10 article "Guest Blog: Professor Michael Kagan, Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio" on the Hamilton and Griffin on Rights blog - co-created by Boyd's Professor Leslie Griffin - was featured in the SCOTUSblog article "Wednesday round-up."

The SCOTUSblog article reads, "At Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, Michael Kagan weighs in on the Court’s decision in the immigration case Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio. He suggests both that '[t]he important point here is that the judiciary is not the only institution that can overrule the Board of Immigration Appeals' and that '[t]he questions that should [now] be asked . . . are more political than doctrinal.'"

Professor Kagan has written several of the most widely cited articles in the fields of refugee and asylum law. His research on credibility assessment in asylum cases has been repeatedly relied on by federal appellate courts and, according to a 2012 commentary, has "guided most subsequent research and analysis on the topic."

Professors Anne Traum, Leslie Griffin, and Jean Sternlight To Attend 2014 District Court Conference

Professors Anne Traum, Leslie C. Griffin and Jean Sternlight will attend the 2014 United States District Court Conference on May 8 in Reno, Nev.

The conference provides members of the Bar with the opportunity to interact with federal judges, while learning more about federal practice.

Professor Traum is attending as a Lawyer Representative who has also served on the Conference's planning committee.

Professor Griffin will be speaking at the conference on the subject of important Supreme Court cases of 2013.

Professor Sternlight will speak on the issue of unethical behavior in the legal profession. She'll  provide insight into why attorneys are often able to resist substantial pressure to act unethically, and will additionally explore steps that lawyers and organizations can take to guard against unethical missteps.

Professor Leslie Griffin Featured in National Catholic Reporter

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On April 28, she was featured in the National Catholic Reporter article Contracts that define teachers as ministers raise labor questions.

"It's about churches trying to do everything they can to avoid the anti-discrimination laws, because they don't want to be held to gender equality, sexual orientation equality, racial equality or equal pay," she said in the article. "They want to do their best to get outside all of these laws."

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion. 

April 17 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The April 17 edition of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Leslie Griffin, student Alissa Cooley, and alumna Margo Chernysheva '09.

For decades, Professor Griffin has been deeply engaged in the relationship between law and religion. As one of Boyd's most respected scholars, she is in very high demand. This semester, she is teaching as a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

Cooley has spent the past four years as both a part-time law student and full-time worker. While at Boyd, she's worked as a student attorney in the Immigration Law Clinic, and has also participated in the school's Street Law and Partners in Pro Bono programs.

Chernysheva was the first in her 2009 graduating class to be offered a partnership in a law firm that was not owned by a family member. She currently works at her own firm, MC Law Group, where she concentrates on business and investment immigration visas.

To subscribe to Boyd Briefs, visit law.unlv.edu/BoydBriefs.

Professor Leslie Griffin Launches Blog, Writes Article

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On March 16, she wrote an article titled Scandal at Notre Dame (Justia.com). The article was posted on a new blog, Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, launched recently by Professor Griffin and Marci Hamilton, the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University.

Filling a much needed gap in the coverage of constitutional law, the blog focuses on the intersection of religion, feminism, and reproductive rights.

In the Scandal at Notre Dame article, Professor Griffin wrote, "I am disappointed to see my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, leading the litigation charge against the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The mandate requires employer health care plans to contain preventive care coverage that includes FDA-approved contraceptive methods and sterilization procedures. The ACA originally exempted purely religious employers like houses of worship from its requirements, but otherwise applied the contraceptive regulations to religious employers like Notre Dame."

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

The mission statement for the Hamilton and Griffin on Rights blog is: We are two constitutional law professors who want to bring women’s voices and issues to the forefront of constitutional law and law and religion debates. We celebrate the diversity of faith and non-faith in the United States and support laws that promote and protect such diversity. We challenge the accepted orthodoxy in constitutional law that too frequently keeps entrenched power structures in place at the expense of women, children and minorities. We seek to advance legal discourse that promotes religious toleration and brings the healthy separation of church and state back into the academic and political arena to ensure that the United States remains the peacefully diverse country it is. We recognize that the First Amendment protects beliefs absolutely, but subjects conduct to the rule of law. 

Professor Leslie Griffin Writes Article for U.S. News

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On Jan. 9, she wrote an article for U.S. News titled Little Sisters of the Poor Try to Turn Obamacare Upside Down.

"The Little Sisters of the Poor are an order of Catholic nuns who oppose the use of sterilization, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs and devices. Nothing in the Affordable Care Act requires the nuns to practice sterilization, contraception or abortion," her article reads. "Nonetheless, the nuns filed a lawsuit – now involving the Supreme Court – to prevent other women from receiving insurance that covers those services. 

The article continues, "It is upside down to let the Sisters determine the law of reproductive freedom. It is right-side up for the courts to confirm Congress's power to authorize all employers to obey the law and protect women's health."

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion. 

Professor Leslie Griffin to Participate in Yale Law School Conference

Leslie Griffin has accepted an invitation to participate in a conference at Yale Law School sponsored by their Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice.

The conference, to be held in April, is titled Perspectives on Abortion, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, and Judicial Review.

Professor Griffin's paper, which is about abortion, assisted reproduction technologies, and religion-based laws, will also appear in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.