The University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog

Alison Siegler Guest Edits the Federal Sentencing Reporter

Over on the Sentencing Law and Policy blog, Douglas Berman discusses the latest issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter, which was guest edited by Assistant Clinical Professor of Law Alison Siegler. Berman writes:

As explained in Alison's Guest Editor’s Observations, which can be accessed at this link, the goal of this FSR Issue was to describe the history of fast-track sentencing programs, as well as to illuminate the current debates over whether and when judges have discretion to consider fast-track disparities when sentencing defendants who quickly plead guilty in non-fast-track districts.  To this end, this Issue reprints a variety of difficult-to-obtain primary sources that reveal the dynamic and diverse nature of fast-track sentencing programs in federal districts across the nation.

The Table of Connects for this latest FSR issue can be accessed at this link, and all the articles are available electronically here.

Update: Our original post neglected to mention that rising 3L Tom Gorman contributed an article to this issue about the history of the fast-track disparity.

Audio: Abner Mikva and Jason Huber on the Appellate Advocacy Clinic

It's been an exciting year for clinical education at the Law School, with two new programs being added (the Exoneration Project and the recently announced Federal Criminal Justice Project) and the Mandel Clinic celebrating its 50th anniversary. We plan to bring you much more clinic-related content in the near future, including audio and video of the Mandel Clinic's 50th Anniversary Symposium; in the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy a brief podcast of Judge Abner Mikva and Clinical Instructor Jason Huber discussing the work and  history of the Appellate Advocacy Project. This talk was recorded on April 14, 2008 as part of the Goodwin and Procter Clinics in Action Lunch Series, and also featured current students discussing their experiences working in appellate advocacy (though these are not included in the recording).

Video: Maria Woltjen on the Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project

The Research at Chicago site is currently featuring a video interview with Maria Woltjen, Director of the Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project, one of the Law School's four highly-regarded legal clinics.

The Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project is a human service and policy advocacy program dedicated to advocating for the best interests of immigrant and refugee children who are alone in the United States. Through the Immigrant Children's Advocacy Project, law students and bilingual volunteers are trained to serve as Advocates -- to get to know the children, help sort out their stories and help identify their eligibility for asylum or special protective visas. The video is embedded below, and if you'd like to learn more about the Project you read this recent article from the The University of Chicago Magazine or this 2006 article from the University of Chicago Chronicle.

On the Air: Clinical Professors Stone and Futterman Give Radio Interviews

Clinical Professors of Law Craig Futterman and Randolph Stone were recently featured on Chicago radio stations discussing some of the issues that drive their clinical programs.

Stone (right), who directs the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic's Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project, appeared on WBEZ's 848 program last week to discuss a report by the Illinois Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Children that argues against sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders. You can listen to Prof. Stone and the rest of the program on WBEZ's website.

Futterman (left), leads the Mandel Clinic's Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project. He appeared in a report from WGN's "Higher Standards" series, discussing the investigation of abuses by Chicago police officers and the city's recent ordinance that moves the Office of Professional Standards out from under the control of the Police Department itself. You can listen to the report or read a transcript on the WGN Radio website.

Video: Mark Heyrman on Involuntary Commitment to Mental Hospitals

Back in November, we brought you a podcast of Clinical Professor of Law Mark Heyrman giving a Chicago's Best Ideas talk entitled "Why the Legal Standard for Involuntary Commitment to Mental Hospitals Doesn't Matter (Much)." Today, we present the video of that talk. This is the first round of what we hope will be a significant increase in our use of video on this blog.

Prefer to watch the video offline, or want to download it so you can watch it on an iPod or other portable media player? A Quicktime movie file is available here.

Futterman Releases Study of Chicago Police Department's "Broken System"

"The Use of Statistical Evidence to Address Police Supervisory and Disciplinary Practices: The Chicago Police Department’s Broken System," a study authored by Craig Futterman, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project at the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, Clinical Lecturer Melissa Mather, and Melanie Miles, a recent law graduate, was released yesterday. The study presents a comprehensive statistical analysis of the Chicago Police Department’s "broken system" for investigating complaints of civilian abuse. Among other findings, the study notes that:

• Excessive force complaints are 94 percent less likely to be sustained by the CPD than they are by other large municipal police departments across the country.
• In more than 85% of cases, the accused officers are not even interviewed beyond filling out a brief form.
• A relatively small percentage of the force is responsible for most of the abuse complaints. During the period May 2001 - May 2006, 10,387 officers had 0 to 3 complaints. Another 2,451 officers had 4 to 10 complaints. 662 officers had more than 10 complaints. These 662 "repeaters" were named in 10,733 complaints.

The study has received a good deal of media attention, with articles in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune and stories on Chicago Public Radio and Fox News Chicago.

You might also want to read this profile of Futterman and the project he leads from The University of Chicago Magazine.

A Mark Heyrman Podcast: "Why the Legal Standard for Involuntary Commitment to Mental Hospitals Doesn't Matter (Much)"

Clinical Professor of Law Mark Heyrman delivered this lengthily titled CBI on November 6, 2007. His description of the talk is below:

"In the 1970's most states tightened their standards for involuntary commitment. During the past fifteen years the movement has been in the opposite direction--relaxing those standards. This talk will apply ideas developed by former Law School Dean Norval Morris to explore the effects (if any) these changes have had and will have on the number of persons involuntarily confined in psychiatric hospitals and why other institutional arrangements are substantially more important in explaining past and future fluctuations in the number of such commitments."