Professor Michael Kagan Publishes Article on Israel's Refusal of Syrian Refugees

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

His article, "Must Israel Accept Syrian Refugees?" was recently published in Volume 50 of the Texas International Law Journal at The University of Texas School of Law.

Israel stands alone as the only country bordering Syria that has refused to accept a single Syrian refugee. By contrast, Lebanon hosted close to 1 million as of March. Israel has long followed a policy of refusing asylum to "enemy nationals," and early this year, the Israeli High Court turned back an appeal by a teenage Syrian girl to apply for asylum in Israel.

The article reads, "Long before Syrians took to the streets against Bashar al-Asaad, Israel's policy was to refuse asylum to 'subjects of enemy or hostile states.' Even if Israel never receives the kind of refugee influx seen by Syria's other neighbors, this policy deserves new legal scrutiny." 

In his article, Professor Kagan shows that Israel's policy is illegal under international law, and Israel's courts must ensure that the country does not send Syrians fleeing from the turmoil back to a country where they would be persecuted.

He concludes, "Israel has latitude to screen out individuals who reasonably may be considered to pose a security threat. Israel may also take specific measures against individuals who may pose a security threat while their cases are being examined. But it cannot legally bar Syrians per se from seeking asylum."

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 Rebecca Scharf to Present at Western Regional Legal Writing Conference

Rebecca Scharf is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Scharf will attend the Western Regional Legal Writing Conference at Stanford Law School on Sept. 20.

She will give a presentation entitled, “The Importance of Increasing Student Autonomy in the Classroom.”

The conference invites legal writing professors, clinical professors, academic support professionals, and legal research professors to discuss their methods of how to teach and inspire students to do their best work.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel to Present at Conference on Relationship Between Insurance and Legal Regulation

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

On Sept. 19, Professor Stempel will attend the UC Irvine Conference on the Relationship Between Insurance and Legal Regulation: Normative, Theoretical, and Empirical Perspectives.

He will present a paper titled, “Enhancing the Socially Instrumental Role of Insurance.”

The symposium brings academics, lawyers, and regulators together to offer varying perspectives on how the relationship between insurance and legal regulation impacts consumers, insurance companies, regulators and society at large.

Professor Anne Traum to Present at The Taslitz Galaxy: A Gathering of Scholars at Howard

Professor Anne Traum is Associate Dean for Experiential Legal Education and Director of the Appellate Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Traum will attend The Taslitz Galaxy: A Gathering of Scholars at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 19.

She will deliver a talk titled, “Plea Pricing in the Modern Era.”

The conference is held in honor of prolific law scholar Andrew Taslitz. Panelists will speak on a variety of subjects, including mistaken identification and innocence, evidence, morality and ethics, and criminal procedure.

Sept. 4 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The Sept. 4 edition of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Fatma Marouf, student Stephen Jackson, and alumnus Kyle Conder '08.

Professor Marouf is the co-director of Boyd's popular Immigration Clinic. Her expertise in immigration law draws both national and international attention to the law school.

Jackson is a third-year student at Boyd. This past summer, he worked as an intern for the Whatcom County Public Defender in Bellingham, Wash.

Conder '08 currently works as the senior associate athletics director for compliance at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. His responsibilities include educating the SMU community about National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) legislation, interpreting NCAA bylaws, and monitoring the SMU Athletics program.

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

Professors Garcia, McGinley and Sternlight to Present at Ninth Annual Labor and Employment Law Scholarship Colloquium

Ruben J. Garcia is a Professor of Law at the Boyd School of Law.

Ann McGinley is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

Jean Sternlight is the Michael and Sonja Saltman Professor of Law and the Director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at the Boyd School of Law.

Professors Garcia, McGinley and Sternlight will attend the Ninth Annual Labor and Employment Law Scholarship Colloquium in Boulder, Colo. from Sept. 11 to 13. The colloquium attracts scholars from around the country who gather each year to discuss works, progress, and ideas in the field.

Professor Garcia will be speaking on the topic of how the politics of minimum wage affect low-wage nonunion workers.

Professor McGinley will present her paper, “We Are All Contingent.”

Professor Sternlight will present a paper, “Disarming Employees: How American Employers Are Using Mandatory Arbitration to Deprive Workers of Legal Protection.”