Professor Ian Bartrum Quoted in The Sacramento Bee

Ian Bartrum is an associate professor of law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Bartrum on April 5 was quoted in The Sacramento Bee in an article titled, "Cliven Bundy helps renew old debate, but will things change?" The article talks about a measure in Nevada that "would lay claim to almost all federally managed public lands and water rights in the state."

The article reads, "To describe the bill moving through the Nevada Legislature, professor Ian Bartrum ... said, 'If there's a word beyond absurd, I would use that word.' He pointed to three clauses in the U.S. Constitution that pre-empt state-led efforts to claim land: The Supremacy Clause says federal law trumps state law; The Property Clause gives the federal government authority to own land; and the Enclave Clause provides another source of authority for federal land ownership."

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professors Kagan, Bartrum, and Marouf Quoted in Las Vegas Sun About Immigration

Michael Kagan is co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Ian Bartrum is an associate professor of law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Fatma Marouf is also the co-director of the Immigration Clinic and an associate professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Feb. 18, the Las Vegas Sun featured an article with comments from all three professors on the topic of immigration. Titled “Why Obama’s immigration plan is facing an uphill battle in Nevada,” the article discussed the recent injunction of President Obama’s newly announced deportation deferral plan by a federal judge, the resulting obstacles, and the uphill battle to reverse it.

“I think it’s entirely possible that within a week the injunction will be lifted, and it’s entirely likely it won’t be,” said Professor Kagan in the article. “I’m hesitant to make predictions because I wouldn't want to tell supporters it's going to go away at the risk of disappointing them. Litigation never makes for a neat and tidy press release.”

In addressing the decision made by the federal judge in which he placed blame on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Professor Bartrum added, “There is a legal sort of hook here in that the agency didn’t cross all the t’s and dot the i’s. That seems to be the strongest basis.”

These obstacles have undoubtedly confused and discouraged the many people affected by the plan.

“My sense is even fewer people will apply for deportation relief,” as a result of the recent executive actions said Professor Marouf.

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."

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Drawing on her extensive experience representing individuals before the Immigration Courts, Board of Immigration Appeals, and U.S. Courts of Appeals, Professor Marouf's research probes various problems involved in adjudicating immigration cases at all levels.

Professor Ian Bartrum to Speak at Hugh Darling Originalism Conference

Ian C. Bartrum is an associate professor of law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Bartrum will be attending the Sixth Annual Hugh & Hazel Darling Foundation Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference on Feb. 20-21 to present his paper titled “Two Dogmas of Originalism,” with commentary from Professor Lawrence Solum from Georgetown Law.

Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism located at the University of San Diego School of Law, the conference will feature presentations from a variety of scholars like Professor Bartrum on the topic of originalism.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Feb. 12 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The Feb. 12 issue of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Ian Bartrum, students Bailey Bortolin and Shaina Plaksin, and alumna Christina Mills '07.

Professor Bartrum is an expert on matters of Constitutional interpretation. Bartrum argues that it would be dangerous for a society to commit in advance to any theory of interpretation that would reduce the number and kind of interpretive tools that have emerged from the centuries of lived experience.

Bortolin and Plaksin are this year's Public Interest Law Association co-presidents. As a Boyd Public Interest Fellow, Plaksin has worked as an intern in the Fraud Unit of the Nevada Attorney General's Office. Additionally, she has served as a student attorney in our Immigration Law Clinic, a research assistant for Professor Fatma Marouf, and founding president of Boyd's Federal Bar Association Student Chapter. Also a Boyd Public Interest Fellow, Bortolin currently finds herself in beautiful Carson City, Nev., participating in Boyd's Legislative Externship Program -- she is working as a lobbyist for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada as well as Washoe Legal Services.

Mills currently serves as senior counsel at Aruze Gaming America. She provides primary legal support to Aruze's Sales Team and assists with other corporate transactions and gaming compliance matters.

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

Professor Ian Bartrum Quoted in Las Vegas Sun

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Bartrum recently spoke to the Las Vegas Sun about the same-sex marriage ban and the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage group’s request for a rehearing in an Oct. 13 article titled "Group trying to revive Nevada's same-sex marriage ban."

In the article, Professor Bartrum stated “… a rehearing by the full 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would require a majority vote of nonrecused, active judges… The number of judges who are recused may have an effect on the outcome of the rehearing vote.” In the end, however, Professor Bartrum still believed “the full appeals court will likely agree with last week’s decision.”

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Ian Bartrum Appears on Live And Local With Kevin Wall

Professor Ian Bartrum teaches at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Oct. 8, he appeared on KXNT's Live And Local With Kevin Wall to talk about the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriages in Nevada.

"My guess is that what Clark County is holding out for now is to see what happens with this petition from the coalition for the protection of marriage, this private group. They're trying to see if they can get a stay in Nevada even though the Nevada government won't file an appeal. They're just waiting to see if the Court is sympathetic to that petition. I anticipate that they will not be. And then it'll be totally cleared up and I would think that then Clark County would start issuing licenses, but that may be a day or two down the road," he said during the segment.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Ian Bartrum Appears on Live And Local With Kevin Wall

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On May 2, he appeared on on KXNT's Live And Local With Kevin Wall to talk about a case in New Jersey claiming the right to bear arms only extends to the front door of your home.

"It is going to be a state-by-state deal. In this case, it's actually a circuit-by-circuit deal," he said during the segment.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Ian Bartrum Writes Op-Ed Piece for Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On April 27, Professor Bartrum's op-ed piece Bundy doesn't understand Constitution ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"In this particular case, however, the actual text of the Constitution is of no help to Bundy — in fact, it is one of the primary obstacles to his cause. That is because it is the Constitution that called into being the very federal government that Bundy now hopes to disempower," Professor Bartrum wrote.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Ian Bartrum Appears on Live And Local With Kevin Wall

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On April 17, he appeared on KXNT's Live And Local With Kevin Wall to talk about cattle rancher Cliven Bundy's dispute with the Bureau of Land Management (Hour 2, 2:20-minute mark).

The Bureau of Land Management is "allowed to regulate their land in whatever ways the federal government deems they should. They have a court order telling them they can get Bundy's cattle off the land, and certainly they're allowed to protect themselves if they feel they're in danger," he said during the interview. "I think it's a fair question to ask whether or not they sort of provoked further danger by coming in in a heavy-handed way. And maybe if they had to do it again, they'd do it a different way. I think that's sort of the reality of the situation. It escalated pretty quickly into a conflict that I don't think they were ready to handle."

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Ian Bartrum Appears on KSNV News 3

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On April 9, he appeared on KSNV News 3's segment Range Showdown (0:30 remaining mark) about a dispute between the Bureau of Land Management and a Clark County rancher.

"The government restricts the time, the place, or how a person is speaking, and doesn't regulate the content of the speech at all," he said during the interview.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Jan. 9 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The Jan. 9 edition of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Ian Bartrum, student Virgilio "Bing" Longakit, and alumna Siria L. Gutiérrez '10.

Since arriving at Boyd in 2011, Professor Bartrum has become one of the law school's most prolific young scholars. He is currently developing a national reputation for his highly regarded work that centers on theories of constitutional interpretation.

After working on his family farm and attending university in the Philippines, Longakit is now a second-year, part-time evening student at Boyd. During the day, he oversees the Unclaimed Property Division of the Nevada State Treasurer's Office where he works as a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Public Manager.

Gutiérrez currently works as an associate at the Las Vegas firm of Phillips, Spallas and Angstadt where she focuses in the area of tort litigation defense, specializing in premises liability. She is also a founding and current member of La Voz's award-winning mentorship program Huellas ("Footprints"), which is designed to encourage minority students to enter the legal profession. Gutiérrez will serve as the President of the Las Vegas Latino Bar Association in 2014. 

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

Professor Ian Bartrum Appears on Live And Local With Kevin Wall

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Aug. 29, he appeared on KXNT's Live And Local With Kevin Wall to talk about the Constitutional hurdles the President faces in order to declare war on Syria (Hour 2, 5:00-minute mark).

"The president obviously is the commander in chief, whatever that implies. The Congress is authorized to declare war and to make all the rules for the Army, and Navy, and maintain them, etc. So it's never been really clear exactly where the boundary is between the two branches in terms of war-making power," he said during the program.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Ian Bartrum Appears on KSNV's The Agenda

Ian Bartrum is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Aug. 20, he appeared on KSNV's The Agenda to talk about executive orders (12:07 remaining mark). 

"You'll see if you have your list of presidents with executive orders, many of those with the most executive orders served during war time. There are basically three kinds of situations when you have an executive order that has the force of law. One, when you direct something to the agencies. Two, when there's some statute that's specifically authorized to the president. And third, the sort of catchall area, is the commander in chief powers. So when the president's conducting war, there is a lot of room there to make strategic decisions, etc. I think, in particular, the issue with drones and those other sorts of really controversial issues being cited at the executive levels does present a number of troubling questions."

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Ian C. Bartrum is Associate Professor of Law at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

On June 27, he was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun article Nevada same-sex couples still in limbo after Supreme Court rulings. "The ruling says across the board, all kinds of federal benefits now apply to people who got married in another state but now live in Nevada. And the huge neighbor to the West just legalized same-sex marriage ... within a couple of weeks, we may see more people transplanting to Nevada who have California same-sex marriages. So the state may end up having to administer benefits to married couples it doesn't actually recognize. It's a pretty interesting mess," he said.

Professor Bartrum's research interests are in constitutional history and theory, the Establishment Clause, and constitutional education.

Professor Bartrum Publishes Two New Articles; Has Two Additional Articles Forthcoming

The Boyd School of Law is pleased to announce that Professor Ian Bartrum has two articles that recently went to press and two additional articles that are forthcoming shortly.

The first new article, titled "Originalist Ideology and the Rule of Law," contends that one of the basic tenets of the "New Originalism," the so-called "contribution thesis," compromises our underlying commitment to the rule of law. A copy of this article, recently published in volume 15 of Heightened Scrutiny, the official online companion of the University of Pennsylvania's Journal of Constitutional Law, is available here.

The second new article, titled "The Ministerial Exception and the Problem of Religious Sovereignty," explores potential theoretical limits on the jurisdictional independence of religious sovereignty in the context of the ministerial exception. A copy of this article, recently published in Where Law & Religion Meet – Online Journal of the Emory Center for Law & Religion, is available for download here.

Professor Bartrum also has two forthcoming articles. The first of these, "Religion and the Restatements," forthcoming in volume 79 of the Brooklyn Law Review (2013), is an interstitial examination of religion and the Restatement project; that is, it outlines the places that issues of religious freedom come up in the existing Restatements, and then makes some recommendations for future editions.

The second article, "Constitutional Value Judgments and Interpretive Theory Choice," forthcoming in volume 40 of the Florida State University Law Review and downloadable here, applies lessons from Thomas Kuhn’s work on scientific paradigm changes to constitutional practice and derives a list of four overlapping and sometimes competing "constitutional values," including constraint, flexibility, representation, and identity, from texts in the constitutional canon.

Congratulations, Ian!

Professor Bartrum's Latest Essay Published in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law

Congratulations to Professor Ian Bartrum on the publication of his latest essay ("Originalist Ideology and the Rule of Law") in volume 15 of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law.

Professor Bartrum's essay contends that "one of the basic tenets of the 'New Originalism' -- the so-called 'contribution thesis' -- compromises our underlying commitment to the rule of law. By locating some binding substantive content of constitutional language in a historical record beyond the text itself, originalism undermines the fundamental concepts of formal legality and public accessibility. With these issues in mind, th[is] essay concludes that originalism is not a philosophical account of how the Constitution has meaning in our legal system, but is instead a judicial ideology intended to promote the constitutional policy judgments of an earlier generation."

The full text of Professor Bartrum's essay may be downloaded from SSRN.

Professor Bartrum joined the faculty in 2011, bringing expertise in constitutional law, constitutional theory, constitutional history, and law and religion. He taught previously at Drake Law School, Vermont Law School, and at Yale Law School as the Irving Ribicoff Fellow.

Boyd Faculty Members at SEALS

The Boyd School of Law was well represented by Professors Ian Bartrum, Linda Berger, Ann McGinley, and Stacey Tovino at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) 2012 Annual Conference in Amelia Island, Florida.

Professor Ian Bartrum (right) served as an invited participant in the Junior Faculty Workshop. Professor Linda Berger served as a facilitator for the Legal Writing Institute's Writers' Workshop held in conjunction with the conference. Professor Ann McGinley participated in a discussion group on "Contemporary Issues in Gender and Law" and spoke on "Masculinities Theory Meets Feminist Theory" as part of a "Masculinities, Manliness, and Law" panel. Professor Stacey Tovino presented "The Rhetoric of Health Information Confidentiality" as part of a "Health Care, Health Law, and Rhetoric" panel and discussed the implementation of the essential health benefits ("EHB") provision within the Affordable Care Act as part of a discussion group on the Supreme Court's recent opinion upholding most of the health care reform bill.

Professor Bartrum's Latest Article to Be Published in the Florida State University Law Review

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Ian Bartrum's latest article will be published in Volume 40 of the Florida State University Law Review.

The abstract for Constitutional Value Judgments and Interpretive Theory Choice provides: "Philip Bobbitt's description of the six modalities of constitutional argument has had broad influence among constitutional theorists. Bobbitt, however, has struggled to account for the choice between modalities in close and difficult cases where that choice is likely to determine the outcome. This paper addresses that problem by drawing an analogy to the work of Thomas Kuhn, who provided some account of the similar choices that scientists must make between competing theoretical paradigms during moments of scientific revolution. I suggest that, as is true of scientific practice, constitutional lawyers share a broad set of constitutional values, in terms of which they can and should justify their choices between interpretive modalities in outcome-determinative cases."

The article's full citation is: Ian Bartrum, Constitutional Value Judgments and Interpretive Theory Choice, 40 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2013). Congratulations, Ian!

Boyd Welcomes Five New Faculty Members

The Boyd School of Law is pleased to welcome five new faculty members.

Professor Linda Berger, one of the nation's leading figures in Legal Writing and Law and Rhetoric, comes to Boyd after serving on the faculties at Mercer University School of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and the University of San Diego School of Law.

Professor Michael Kagan, an expert in immigration law, asylum law, international human rights, and evidence law, served on the faculties of Tel Aviv University and the American University in Cairo and brings with him a decade of experience building legal aid programs for refugees throughout the Middle East and Asia.