Amicus Spring 2020

Called to Service

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 19:28:58 +0000

Called to Service Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/25/2020 - 13:28

Before attending law school, Amanda Bishop ('20) didn’t know much about public service or the fact that she wanted to do public interest work. What she knew was that she wanted to go to law school to help people—"public interest without the label yet," she said.

"My decision to come to Colorado Law largely was based on the Innocence Project and our criminal defense clinic. I knew I wanted the real-world, hands-on experiences that Colorado Law had to offer and that those resources would help me find the perfect avenue of law for me," said Bishop, who serves as co-president of the Public Interest Students Association. She has accepted a postgraduate position with the Colorado State Public Defender.

Public service at Colorado Law includes faculty-led service projects, which offer opportunities for students to teach high school students about the Constitution, help low-income farmers in southern Colorado assert their water rights, and mentor incarcerated people on business plans. Students are also involved in outside opportunities, such as the Colorado Name Change Project and citizenship renewal clinics.

In addition to programs designed to educate and prepare students for public service opportunities, Colorado Law provides financial support to students and alumni interested in public service through scholarships, summer and postgraduate fellowships, and the loan repayment assistance program (LRAP).

In 2019, Colorado Law awarded 62 public service summer fellowships to students who took unpaid or low-paying positions at offices of attorneys general, public defenders’ offices, federal agencies, nonprofits, and more. The school has been able to provide funding to every qualified student who applied on time.

"We don’t want any of our students to forgo pursuing public interest career paths because of the financial burden."

"Fellowships, scholarships, and LRAP are critical ways that Colorado Law shows its commitment to supporting its students who want to do this type of work, and an example of how we back up our commitment to public service. We don’t want any of our students to forgo pursuing public interest career paths because of the financial burden," said John McKee, director for government and public interest in our Career Development Office, who assists students seeking public interest careers and graduates seeking career transitions into public interest positions.

Below, meet a few Colorado Law students who are engaged in public service.

Adrian Untermyer: Public Service Summer Fellowship

Adrian Untermyer ('20) was on track to his recent internship with New Jersey Transit from an early age.

It started with his grandfather, who grew up between two major Chicago rail lines, taking Untermyer train watching as a kid.

"And we always finished up at the Choo-Choo Restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, where meals were served via model railroad," Untermyer said.

Untermyer continued to be enthralled with transportation as he chugged along in his academic career. Through connections he made as an undergraduate and graduate student, Untermyer did something big to make transportation a little better: He organized an arts complex in New York’s Port Authority bus terminal.

"Its 250,000 daily commuters now begin and end their days with music and art instead of just misery and drudgery," Untermyer said.

So, when he learned of an internship opportunity with the New Jersey Transit section of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and received a Public Service Summer Fellowship from Colorado Law, Untermyer was full steam ahead.

"During the summer I worked there, New Jersey Transit was struggling to provide daily service to its 750,000 daily riders. A chronic staff shortage meant canceled trains and buses. A crumbling Hudson River tunnel meant any day could mean disaster," he said. “It was a set of challenges too appealing to pass up.”

Through taking the system into work and eating lunch in the employee cafeteria, Untermyer got a ground-level view of the problems he was trying to solve. With access to board meetings and similar events, he got the big-picture view. All of that came in handy with the actual work of keeping the trains running.

"From Transit Police disciplinary cases, to bus crashes, to massive infrastructure projects, and everything in between, I researched, wrote, and investigated to support New Jersey Transit’s mission," Untermyer explained.

"We simply cannot depend on anyone other than ourselves to achieve social, racial, economic, and yes, transportation justice in our society. If we are to build a better world, we must be the ones to do it."

He’s explored other angles of public service while at Colorado Law, working in jails by day and editing University of Colorado Law Review articles by night. But to Untermyer, they’re all part and parcel.

Ariel Amaru: Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project

Shaky and stumbling, a Pomona High School student earnestly fought to deliver his best legal argument. He’d prepared all semester, but the gauntlet of public speaking appeared to be taking its toll.

Ariel Amaru ('20), his teacher and a Colorado Law student, smiled, trying her best to encourage him. This is what she had been working toward this semester, too: a moment to create a spark of passion in someone else.

She’d received that spark on a volunteer trip to Ghana while she was in high school. That has helped her stay grounded through law school.

"It’s important to engage with experiences outside of ourselves and to give back to communities in need when we are in the midst of a very privileged experience," she said.

"It’s important to engage with experiences outside of ourselves and to give back to communities in need when we are in the midst of a very privileged experience."

Amaru started working at Pomona High School in Arvada in fall 2019 as a Marshall-Brennan Teaching Fellow, part of the Colorado chapter of the national Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, run by the law school’s Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law.

The project partners upper-level law students with high schoolers. Law students like Amaru teach constitutional literacy and introduce their pupils to the U.S. legal system, while coaching them on public speaking.

Though he’d learned all that, Amaru’s student squeaked through his oral argument on nerves alone. “A few hours afterwards, he found me and asked if he could do his oral argument again, because he didn’t feel he’d done well enough,” Amaru remembered. “I said of course, and I sat and judged him again."

This time: lights out.

"He was tremendous the second time around—so much confidence was apparent in his demeanor. I was incredibly proud to see one of my students put forth so much effort,” Amaru said.

Each spring, interested high school students participate in a statewide moot court competition at Colorado Law hosted by the White Center. Six finalists, chosen by justices of the Colorado Supreme Court, judges from the Colorado Court of Appeals, and other lawyers and volunteers, go on to a national competition.

At the statewide competition hosted at Colorado Law in February, one of Amaru’s students was awarded the Best Oralist prize and will represent Colorado in the national competition this spring.

"Teaching students constitutional issues and the law served as a jumping off point to discuss cultural, political, and societal issues," she said. "I hope I’ve left my students with the faint twinkling of a spark."

Josiah Cohen and Maura Guaderrama: Criminal/Immigration Defense Clinic

If you work in the Criminal/Immigration Defense Law Clinic at Colorado Law, you’re going to leave with at least one thing engrained in your litigative fiber: Your cases are about the people you’re serving.

Josiah Cohen (’21) originally hails from Philadelphia, but spent his formative years nearly 1,500 miles south of the nearest authentic cheesesteak. While living in Santiago, Dominican Republic, Cohen traveled to Latin America extensively, giving his life a particular trajectory.

"During this difficult political moment, I want to use my education to assist our vulnerable, noncitizen neighbors," he said.

Serving his neighbors is a major part of his experience at Colorado Law.

"Far from prisoners of the ivory tower, these professors are plugged into the robust public service legal community," Cohen said. "Some of my most important connections have come through professors like Violeta Chapin and Benjamin Levin."

"Far from prisoners of the ivory tower, these professors are plugged into the robust public service legal community."

Under Professor Chapin, Cohen works in the Criminal/Immigration Defense Clinic. He’s worked on DACA renewals and an asylum case among other projects.

The primary legal lesson he’s learned: compassion.

"I’ve learned that arguing a case is more than presenting a logical syllogism. Representing clients is an opportunity to listen to and retell their stories," he said.

Maura Guaderrama (’20) works in the clinic, as well. The El Paso, Texas-area native has worked for a criminal defendant facing deportation, clients with Temporary Protected Status, as well as on DACA cases.

Guaderrama has accepted a job as a public defender in Taos, New Mexico, and expects some of her clients may face the stiffer penalties immigrants can be subject to in the U.S. justice system.

"It’s important that I understand as much about immigration as I can now so that I can be the best possible advocate for all of my clients in the future," she said. "My hope is that I’m ready to go, know the right questions to ask, and can provide my client with the best possible defense given his or her specific situation.”

"It’s important that I understand as much about immigration as I can now so that I can be the best possible advocate for all of my clients in the future."

Guaderrama said public service is the best way she can think of to use her law degree. Cohen, who also hopes to be a public defender, agreed.

"Societies make it or break it based on individual willingness to put expertise at the service of others," Cohen said. "As a recipient of a terrific education from Colorado’s only state law school, I’m excited to put that training to use serving our communities."

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

University of Colorado Law School students reflect on their experiences engaging in public service work during law school.

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When They See Him

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2020 19:20:27 +0000

When They See Him Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/26/2020 - 13:20

Julia Roth

Korey Wise changed the trajectory of the Colorado Innocence Project (renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project). Now, thanks in part to a popular docuseries, the project has hit its stride.

Korey Wise in New York City's Central Park.

The weekend of May 31, 2019, started out normally for Anne-Marie Moyes, director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP) at Colorado Law. She caught up with volunteers, reviewed applications, and made a few calls. On Saturday, one of KWIP’s law student volunteers called to urge her to check the Facebook page: Hundreds of messages were pouring in following the previous day’s release of When They See Us, a four-part Netflix docuseries about the Central Park Five.

The series, which a record-setting 23 million people watched in its first month, depicted the events leading up to the wrongful arrest and conviction of Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise for the rape and assault of a female jogger in Central Park in 1989.

The last two episodes put Wise’s story front and center. At 16, he was the oldest defendant, served the most prison time, and was the only one sent to adult prison. The series reveals Wise’s painful experience of enduring solitary confinement and repeated assault by other prisoners. As the series makes clear, Wise suffered this fate even though he was not initially a suspect and only got roped into the investigation because he chose to accompany his friend to the police station for questioning.

His experience resonated with viewers, who immediately began writing to the project at Colorado Law bearing Wise’s name asking how they could get involved. Within a month of the docuseries’ release, the project received nearly 200 times the number of individual contributions compared to the same period in 2018. By the end of the year, nearly 500 people—mostly first-time donors—from across the U.S. and internationally had donated to the project. Many wrote that they felt this was their opportunity to make a difference and right some of the wrongs that Wise had been dealt.

Many wrote that they felt this was their opportunity to make a difference and right some of the wrongs that Wise had been dealt.

Founded in 2001 by a coalition of Colorado lawyers led by Jim Scarboro (’70), the Colorado Innocence Project moved to its current home at Colorado Law in 2010. For years, it was a volunteer-run project overseen by Professor Emeritus Pat Furman (’80) and Clinical Professor Ann England. In 2015, Wise, who was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002, made an initial gift to the Colorado Innocence Project after learning about it from his lawyer, Jane Fisher-Byrialsen, who represented him in his civil lawsuit against New York City and has ties to Colorado. His gift allowed the hiring of its first staff member, and the project was renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project.

"Korey’s gift was life-changing for us as an organization. We went from a volunteer-run organization to an organization that has a director and can itself help take on the work of investigating and then litigating individual cases," Moyes said.

Today, a team of around 20 law students, retired lawyers, and undergraduate students volunteer with the organization. In addition to screening applications—KWIP receives a steady stream of five to 10 each month from people incarcerated in Colorado—the project recently turned its focus to identifying cases with convictions based on flawed forensics, which Moyes calls the new frontier of innocence work.

Flawed forensics refers to forensic evidence that is unreliable or invalid, or that relies on overstated expert testimony. As the number of innocence cases relying on postconviction DNA testing dwindles, exposing flawed forensics cases offers another promising avenue to exonerate the wrongly convicted, Moyes explained.

The national Innocence Project reports that the misapplication of forensic science contributed to 45 percent of wrongful convictions in the U.S. proved through DNA testing. In many cases, scientific testimony that was accepted at the time of a conviction has since been undermined by new scientific advancements in disciplines including hair microscopy, arson, and pattern evidence, which includes bite marks, shoe prints, blood spatter, and tool marks.

With regard to hair microscopy, a discredited discipline in which suspect hairs are visually compared to crime scene hairs under a high-powered microscope, the project is taking part in a nationwide effort to identify and screen cases from state forensic labs that relied on the discipline for years before it was largely debunked by DNA. Hair microscopy audits by innocence projects in other states have identified hundreds of cases worthy of reexamination.

"What we’re trying to do is identify cases in Colorado involving people who were convicted on the basis of forensic evidence that everyone now agrees is faulty," Moyes said. "Instead of assuming that people wrongly convicted by bad science will write to us, we’re going to play a different role by seeking out these cases and strategically litigating the most promising ones."

Many of the people who write to the project were convicted years, if not decades, ago, making it difficult to find new evidence of innocence, Moyes explained. But with the flawed forensics cases, the project can hire experts to reexamine old physical evidence or prior testing and expose the outdated science that led to a wrongful conviction.

"Just as DNA has exonerated hundreds of people across the country, we hope that the new scrutiny of problematic forensic disciplines will help to free many more innocent people," Moyes said.

"Just as DNA has exonerated hundreds of people across the country, we hope that the new scrutiny of problematic forensic disciplines will help to free many more innocent people."

The project is also involved in advocacy work and policy reform to address and prevent wrongful convictions. One such effort is reforming unregulated jailhouse informant testimony, one of the leading contributing factors of wrongful convictions nationally. KWIP has teamed up with the national Innocence Project to lobby for jailhouse "snitch" reform in Colorado.

For Nikki Nelson (’22), volunteering with the Korey Wise Innocence Project has been the highlight of law school so far.

“Innocence work is an incredibly important part of the legal profession, and getting to be a part of something so impactful has been a really enlightening experience. I am looking forward to what the next few years of working with the project will bring,” she said.

A team of volunteers at the Korey Wise Innocence Project office at the University of Colorado Law School.

The project recently received a $100,000 gift from Iris Smith, a first-time donor who learned of the project from a friend who saw the docuseries. This donation will allow the project to continue to grow.

Though innocence cases may be slow moving, Moyes said she believes they are making a difference.

"The innocence movement has been incredibly effective in shining light on flaws in the criminal justice system and why too often things go wrong,” Moyes said. “It’s achieved important reforms to prevent wrongful convictions at the front end. Because each exoneration takes years of hard work, innocence projects might only free a small number of innocent people each year, quite likely the tip of the iceberg of all the innocent people in prison. But by shining light on those individual cases, we educate the public about systemic problems and have a wider impact."

As for Wise, he continues to make light out of tragedy. In addition to supporting his namesake innocence project in Colorado, he is an avid public speaker and advocate for criminal justice reform in his home state of New York and across the U.S.

“This is life after death."

“This is life after death. I always say that,” he told The New York Times in May. “From now on I know what Biggie was talking about. There’s life after death.”

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

Korey Wise changed the trajectory of the Colorado Innocence Project (renamed the Korey Wise Innocence Project). Now, thanks in part to a popular docuseries, the project has hit its stride.

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Last Word: Hon. Nikea Bland ('05)

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 20:57:55 +0000

Last Word: Hon. Nikea Bland ('05) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/21/2020 - 14:57

The Hon. Nikea Bland ('05) is a district court judge in Colorado's 2nd Judicial District. Prior to her appointment to the bench by Gov. Polis in January 2020, Bland was a senior associate at O'Malley and Sawyer, LLC, where her practice consisted of criminal defense and dependency and neglect matters.

What drives your commitment to public service work?

I have always wanted a career where I felt I could work to improve the lives of others through my work. Prior to attending law school, I wanted to be a social worker, and I interned with various social work agencies in Richmond, Virginia, when I attended the University of Richmond. The experience that resonated with me the most was working for a nonprofit transitional housing program for homeless women and children. From the women in my program, I learned what it means to be resilient. No matter what their circumstance, these women kept fighting for themselves and their children, and worked hard to improve their lives.

That experience informed my work as a public defender and a defense attorney in the criminal justice system. My work taught me that that the cyclical nature of poverty, lack of economic resources stability, and mental health contribute most to people making bad decisions that lead to their involvement in the criminal justice system. As a judge, I remain committed to improving the lives of others and serving my community. My previous clients and my background have taught me lessons that I hope to continue to incorporate into my philosophy on the bench.

Did you always envision a career in criminal defense, and now as a judge?

In a word—no. I had not contemplated attending law school until I had my first position as a counselor after I graduated from college. When I moved to Denver, I began working at a group home for male juveniles who were committed after being adjudicated delinquent. Part of my responsibilities included transporting the kids to court hearings. That was my first introduction to the justice system and sparked my desire to be a criminal defense attorney. One of the things that struck me was the kids did not understand what was happening in their court proceedings. As an attorney and now as a judge, I want to ensure that everyone understands the proceedings so they can be empowered to make the best decisions for their future. My desire to be a judge was sparked by other judicial officers encouraging me to explore the position. While I was initially reluctant, I realized that my voice would be a beneficial addition, not only for the other members of the bench, but, more significantly, for the people in my community because of my past experiences working with undervalued members of society.

What do you enjoy most about your job on the bench of the 2nd Judicial District?

Right now, I have a criminal docket. I enjoy interacting with the public and the accused who are brought before me in court. I like the fact that no two days and no two cases are ever the same, and it is my job to ensure the fairness of the proceedings for everyone. I like that I get to use my interpersonal communication skills as much as my knowledge of the law.

What is your proudest achievement?

Attaining my judicial appointment while simultaneously raising a family with two small children is my proudest accomplishment.

What would you tell Colorado Law students and recent alumni interested in pursuing a career in public interest law?

I would encourage everyone to serve. I understand the financial ramifications of choosing a public interest career may not be sustainable forever, but I believe that it will only enhance your practice and make you a better-rounded attorney and individual. These jobs are hard work, and we may not always be appreciated, but when we are and you feel that you have made someone’s life better, there is nothing more meaningful and worthwhile.

The spring 2020 Amicus featured the Hon. Nikea Bland ('05), a district court judge in Colorado's 2nd Judicial District. Prior to her appointment to the bench by Gov. Polis in January 2020, Bland was a senior associate at O'Malley and Sawyer, LLC, where her practice consisted of criminal defense and dependency and neglect matters.

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Q&A: Law Alumni Board Chair Richard Murray ('07)

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 20:50:23 +0000

Q&A: Law Alumni Board Chair Richard Murray ('07) Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/21/2020 - 14:50

We sat down with Richard Murray ('07), shareholder at Polsinelli PC and chair of the Law Alumni Board.

What do you enjoy most about serving as chair of the Law Alumni Board?

The most enjoyable aspect of serving as the board’s chair is engagement with our incredible network of alumni, our students, and our faculty. Being chair provides the unique opportunity to talk with a wide range of alumni and friends of Colorado Law about the issues facing legal education today, including student debt, internship opportunities, job placement, and the bar exam.

Tell us about some of this year’s goals of the Law Alumni Board.

Over this year, the Law Alumni Board will work hard on assisting the dean and Colorado Law with recruiting great students and faculty, engaging with our alumni and friends, promoting financial support for the law school and for student scholarships, and striving to assist with placement of graduating students and alumni.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

The first case I took to trial as first chair concerned claims of fraud and theft of investment funds. The trial resulted in a judgment of over $2 million for our clients. Assisting individuals in a case involving the theft of their investment payments was extremely rewarding.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my law practice is helping people navigate through our complex legal system in a variety of business-related disputes. As attorneys and counselors at law, it is incumbent on us to take on the problems of our clients and faithfully guide them, putting their concerns ahead of our own. It is a very rewarding profession.

What is your fondest memory of being a student at Colorado Law?

During my first year, in November 2004, the official groundbreaking ceremony was performed for the future Wolf Law Building. Earlier in 2004, while an undergraduate student at CU, I served as student body president (also known as a tri-executive) and took a lead role in securing funding for the new law school building and other buildings on campus, such as the ATLAS Building, Visual Arts Complex, and business school addition. Participating in the Wolf Law Building groundbreaking was a tremendous experience I will never forget.

What might someone be surprised to know about you?

Even though I am a litigator at an AmLaw 100 national firm and have been in litigation ever since completing a judicial clerkship following graduation, I entered law school with the plan of becoming a corporate and transactional attorney. During law school, I took numerous business-related courses, but during my third year, I interned at the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court and found a passion for advocacy, research, and writing.

What are your favorite ways to stay engaged with Colorado Law?

There are many ways I enjoy staying engaged with Colorado Law. The law school hosts wonderful events that I encourage our alumni to attend. These include the Homecoming and Reunion weekends, Colorado Law Talks presentations, the annual Alumni Awards Banquet, on-campus interviews, and coaching moot court teams.

We hear you’re a huge Buffs fan. What are your favorite CU sports and why?

The CU Athletic Department has done an incredible job with having successful programs across the board, including multiple national championships, but my two favorite CU sports are football and basketball. I am a proud member of the CU Buff Club and a longtime football season ticketholder. My wife, Elizabeth (who went to CU for her psychology degree), and I love taking our two kids, Cayden (7) and Olivia (4), to both football and basketball games. We enjoy reconnecting with friends at these events and supporting our alma mater. Go Buffs!

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

We sat down with Richard Murray ('07), shareholder at Polsinelli PC and chair of the Law Alumni Board.

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Rare Books Room Renamed for John ('65) and Nancy Wittemyer

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 20:08:20 +0000

Rare Books Room Renamed for John ('65) and Nancy Wittemyer Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/20/2020 - 14:08

Frequent visitors to Colorado Law will recognize the Wittemyer name: the Wittemyer Courtroom is named in honor of the family, which maintains an annual scholarship for first-year students. Three generations of Wittemyers are Colorado Law graduates, and 17 family members have graduated from the University of Colorado system. So it’s fitting that, in recognition of John ('65) and Nancy Wittemyer’s longtime philanthropic support, the Rare Books Room in the William A. Wise Law Library was renamed the Wittemyer Rare Books Room on Feb. 25.

The Rare Books Room houses rare legal titles published before 1850, as well as a collection of historical materials and archival collections. The climate-controlled facility holds many of Colorado’s early codes and other treasured works in our legal history.

John attended CU ��«��Ƶ as a Boettcher Scholar and earned Bachelor of Science degrees in civil engineering and finance in 1962 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1965. After clerking for the Alaska Supreme Court and serving as district attorney in Juneau, he was a founding principal in the firm of Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison & Woodruff. In 1975, he became general counsel for the Platte River Power Authority, a position that he held until discontinuing the active practice of law in 2002. Nancy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education in 1964 from CU ��«��Ƶ. She has served as a director of the Women of the West Museum and the Dairy Center for the Arts, and as a board member of the University of Colorado Foundation.

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

In recognition of John ('65) and Nancy Wittemyer’s longtime philanthropic support, the Rare Books Room in the William A. Wise Law Library was renamed the Wittemyer Rare Books Room on Feb. 25.

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Expanded Journals Suite Named in Honor of Esteemed Alumna

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 19:58:08 +0000

Expanded Journals Suite Named in Honor of Esteemed Alumna Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/20/2020 - 13:58

Myra Monfort ('75) and her family have spent decades giving back to Colorado Law and supporting Colorado communities through their philanthropy. Now, a brand-new space bearing Monfort’s name in the Wolf Law Building’s recently renovated garden level will stand as a physical testament to her generosity and deep commitment to the practice of law and legal education.

Monfort’s children, Brad Ellins and Rachel Ellins-Iozzia, surprised their mother with the named space, which was officially unveiled at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in February.

The Myra H. Monfort Suite houses the University of Colorado Law Review, the school’s oldest journal of legal scholarship, on which Monfort served while she was a student. The 1,200-square-foot suite was designed for Colorado Law Review students to work collaboratively to publish first-rate scholarship that is read across the country.

Colorado Law’s two other student-led journals, the Colorado Technology Law Journal and Colorado Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law Review, are located in yet-to-be-named suites in the newly renovated garden level.

Monfort graduated from Barnard College in 1960 and worked as an interior decorator to support her family while her then-husband attended law school at Columbia University. When his job brought the family to Colorado in 1972, she decided to attend law school herself, enrolling at Colorado Law that year.

After graduation, she practiced labor law and became vice president in charge of legal counsel at Monfort of Colorado, which later merged with ConAgra.

Monfort went on to become one of Colorado Law’s esteemed alumni. She served on the Law Alumni Board from 2001 until 2005. In 1994, she received the alumni award for distinguished achievement in corporate counsel. In 2009, the Law Alumni Board recognized her with the school’s William Lee Knous Award, Colorado Law’s highest alumni honor.

Over the years, Monfort has enthusiastically given her time and resources to a range of community-related causes spanning law, music, health, education, and animal welfare. She and her late husband, Kenneth, established the Kenneth and Myra Monfort Charitable Foundation, which has supported a number of initiatives at Colorado Law and throughout the state.

In 1990, Myra and Kenneth created a named professorship in commercial law, to which Colorado Law’s late Dean David Getches appointed Mark Loewenstein in 2009.

Inspired by Getches’ work in environmental and American Indian law, the foundation in 2012 established the Myra Monfort and David H. Getches Public Service Fellowship to provide financial support for law students interested in a career in public service or in the nonprofit sector.

Myra Monfort (’75) and her children, Brad Ellins and Rachel Ellins-Iozzia.

Monfort always dreamed of being an attorney, and for Brad, it was special to see his mother’s name permanently inscribed at the institution that helped shape her career.

"Naming the space was special because Colorado Law was the place where her journey started," Brad said. "She believes the law is there to do the right thing. It is not there to manipulate as a means to an end. It’s especially important to her in this political climate right now that we put the interests of society before our own interests. That we put the best interests of everyone above ourselves."

For Monfort’s children, naming this space for their mother was an opportunity to give something back to a person who has long given back to others. The Myra H. Monfort Suite will serve as a hub for collaboration and community for future generations of law students.

There are a number of philanthropic opportunities to support the expanded journals suite. Please contact Peter Sanders, Assistant Dean for Advancement, at peter.sanders@colorado.edu or (303) 492-0752.

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

Myra Monfort ('75) and her family have spent decades giving back to Colorado Law and supporting Colorado communities through their philanthropy. Now, a brand-new space bearing Monfort’s name in the Wolf Law Building’s recently renovated garden level will stand as a physical testament to her generosity and deep commitment to the practice of law and legal education.

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Pursuing Citizenship in the Enforcement Era: An Inside Look at the Newest Americans

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 19:12:33 +0000

Pursuing Citizenship in the Enforcement Era: An Inside Look at the Newest Americans Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/13/2020 - 13:12

Andrew Sorensen

Several times a year for the last several years, Associate Professor Ming Hsu Chen has taken students from the Immigration and Citizenship Law Program to meet immigrants who seek naturalized citizenship. It is a hands-on experience helping real people navigate the complex immigration system.

Participating in citizenship workshops, organized by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Colorado Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, has always been a valuable learning tool, and a great chance for students to get into the community and apply their classroom learning to a real-world problem. But in 2016, Chen noticed something had changed.

"People who had been eligible to apply for citizenship for 15 to 20 years and were not previously interested suddenly started applying in big numbers," she said.

As the line to become a naturalized citizen started ballooning, Chen couldn’t shake the questions: What was causing these people to scramble for citizenship? Why now?

"Immigrants in these workshops complete a 20-page form," Chen explained. "There must be 50 questions on that form, but not one of them is, 'Why do you want to become a citizen? What do you hope to gain?' That’s what I was interested in pursuing with my research."

She started conducting interviews in 2016 and continued after the election of President Donald Trump, eventually talking to more than 100 immigrants around Colorado, which turned into her forthcoming book: Pursuing Citizenship in the Enforcement Era (Stanford University Press 2020).

“In the book, there are immigrants in varying legal statuses in the interview pool: green card holders with U.S.-citizen spouses, refugees, and service members,” Chen said. “Some of the people reported they wanted to be able to vote for certain candidates or policy issues.” There are also DACA recipients and temporary visa holders not eligible to naturalize. Many said they wanted citizenship as an insurance policy against immigration enforcement. They felt they couldn’t wait any longer.

And then there was Bob (an alias).

Citizenship Delayed

People applying for U.S. citizenship have seen application wait times double since 2016, according to a report from the Colorado State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights prepared in part by Associate Professor Ming Hsu Chen and Colorado Law students.

The increased wait times are contributing to a backlog of more than 700,000 naturalization applications, affecting applicants’ civil rights, including their ability to vote in the 2020 election, the report found.

"Naturalizing is an important step in America, and impediments on the ability to naturalize have negative consequences for civil rights, voting rights, and the democratic process. That is a key concern for the state advisory committee and the commission,” Chen said. “Yet naturalization is about more than elections. It is about civic engagement and belonging in America.”

Historically, backlogs of naturalization applications have occurred partly because applications rise ahead of election years. However, Chen said the backlog last cleared in 2006 and the present backlog is unprecedented in size and still growing. Colorado’s backlog growth, with 9,325 applications in the queue, is one of the worst in the country.

The Colorado State Advisory Committee, of which Chen is a member, recommends that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) look at new policies and technologies to streamline its processes, while maintaining standards. The committee also recommends that Congress hold USCIS accountable to the 120-day processing timeline.

"Bob had been eligible to naturalize for a long time and has a U.S.-citizen spouse and kids,” Chen said. “He was debating whether he was going to submit his application or not.”

Trump enacted his travel ban in January 2017, reportedly resulting in more than 60,000 visas provisionally revoked for people from Muslim-majority countries.

For Bob, that was a tipping point.

Here’s the twist: Bob is a white technology worker from Canada.

"While he’s not technically part of the travel ban, that made it clear to Bob that a green card was no longer enough to feel safe in America," Chen said. Every immigrant was at risk.

For a long time, Chen said, a green card was seen as de facto citizenship. But as Bob saw lines of people with visas being turned away in airports, as he saw colleagues in his labs and doctoral students wonder whether they could travel to conferences and return to the U.S. safely to resume their research, the privilege of being a white high-skilled worker with a green card seemed to dissolve.

“Citizenship needs to be a part of the conversation about immigration policy."

The travel ban also scared Latino green card holders, even though they were not from the targeted countries and held permanent residency.

“Citizenship needs to be a part of the conversation about immigration policy,” Chen said. “Most of the people I interviewed for this book are noncitizens who are not at direct risk of deportation. These are people who live in our communities and are ready to become American, legally and in every other sense. Their worries extend beyond what we see at the border.”

While she appreciates the role of cities and nonprofits in helping immigrants, Chen believes meaningful immigration reform needs to involve the federal government. If the goal is belonging, there needs to be a pathway to citizenship, both in the formal sense of naturalization and the informal sense of welcome. The government needs to start reaching out to those people who are already here.

"I hope these portraits challenge peoples’ perceptions of who we’re talking about when we discuss immigration policy," Chen said. "They’re from a broad variety of paths and have complicated feelings about who they are and where they belong. These are the immigrants most people want to come here, and they’re increasingly looking around wondering if they want to stay."

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

A new book by Associate Professor Ming Hsu Chen delves into the meaning of citizenship to immigrants around Colorado.

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What Trade-offs?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 19:03:04 +0000

What Trade-offs? Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/13/2020 - 13:03

Today’s conversations around the transition to clean energy often neglect a fundamental issue: the costs associated with those decisions. A new website, EnergyTradeoffs.com, administered and overseen in part by Associate Professor Sharon Jacobs, aims to promote awareness and discussion of the energy transition and its associated trade-offs.

"It’s easy when we talk about energy policy to focus on a single goal and downplay the effect of pursuing that goal on other things we care about," Jacobs said. "What we are trying to do on this site is to acknowledge that making changes to our energy grid will have a number of different consequences."

EnergyTradeoffs.com is jointly operated by Jacobs and energy law professors David Spence, University of Texas; James Coleman, Southern Methodist University; Shelley Welton, University of South Carolina; and Jim Rossi, Vanderbilt University. The website features interviews with scholars working on projects concerned with the energy transition and its trade-offs, with a particular focus on research in governance, affordability, reliability, and the construction of new energy infrastructure.

While the site doesn’t put forward any particular view about what our energy system should look like, Jacobs believes that we need to move to a greener, better coordinated grid as quickly as possible through incorporation of technologies like energy storage and advanced metering infrastructure.

But we can’t pretend that there are no costs associated with this transition, she said.

"Instead of pretending that we can achieve all we want while maintaining low electricity rates, avoiding all environmental impact, and keeping everyone in the jobs they have right now, let’s find creative ways to address the problems the green transition will inevitably create."

"Instead of pretending that we can achieve all we want while maintaining low electricity rates, avoiding all environmental impact, and keeping everyone in the jobs they have right now, let’s find creative ways to address the problems the green transition will inevitably create."

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

A new website, EnergyTradeoffs.com, administered and overseen in part by Associate Professor Sharon Jacobs, aims to promote awareness and discussion of the energy transition and its associated trade-offs.

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Artificial Intelligence and Justice

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 18:55:12 +0000

Artificial Intelligence and Justice Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/13/2020 - 12:55

As the world grapples with how best to manage the growth of artificial intelligence (AI), some of Colorado Law’s leading scholars and students examined the legal issues it presents at a November conference cohosted by Colorado Law and the College of Law at the United Arab Emirates University.

The conference highlighted challenges and opportunities that societies face as they move toward the use of AI.

Associate Professor Craig Konnoth, whose work lies at the intersection of health law and policy and civil rights, addressed several of these challenges in his presentation, "The Rise of the Robot Doctor: Promises and Pitfalls of AI in Medicine."

Legal writing professor Amy Bauer moderated a roundtable discussion on the future of law in the era of AI with panelists Amie Stepanovich, executive director of Colorado Law’s Silicon Flatirons Center, and students Freddy Steimling ('20) and Kristi Tammiku (LLM'20).

"AI, like other forms of emerging technology, captivates people of all cultures, walks of life, and nationalities because of its wide-ranging applications, which encompass everything from surveillance to access to justice and human rights initiatives," said Steimling, who is managing editor of the Colorado Technology Law Journal (CTLJ). "An important takeaway from the conference generally, and our roundtable discussion in particular, is that while AI has already delivered major social improvements, and will continue to do so in the future, its potential for abuse when employed by bad actors cannot be discounted. It was refreshing to hear a diverse group of researchers recognize this certitude."

The CTLJ will publish several papers from conference presenters in its spring 2020 issue.

As the world grapples with how best to manage the growth of artificial intelligence, some of the University of Colorado Law School's leading scholars and students examined the legal issues it presents at a November conference cohosted by Colorado Law and the College of Law at the United Arab Emirates University.

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Clinic Students Weigh In on Future of Automatic Speech Recognition Policies

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 18:49:29 +0000

Clinic Students Weigh In on Future of Automatic Speech Recognition Policies Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/13/2020 - 12:49

Jake Stephens ('21)

Clinical Professor Blake E. Reid and students in the Technology Law and Policy Clinic

Students in the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy Clinic (TLPC) are addressing concerns surrounding the oversight and implementation of automatic speech recognition (ASR), an artificial intelligence technology that detects speech and turns spoken words into text, and which is increasingly becoming the focus of debates in disability policy.

Some technology companies and accessibility technologists are excited about ASR’s potential to provide immediate, inexpensive captions, and hope that this new form of speech recognition can fill in captioning gaps and perhaps even eventually replace traditional human captioning. However, ASR has a number of pitfalls, including the potential for problems with accuracy, privacy, and discrimination, which, if not properly addressed, could affect the civil rights of millions of Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Working on behalf of its client, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Inc., and with a coalition of consumer organizations and advocates, TLPC students petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to address longstanding quality concerns with captioning for live television programming and internet protocol captioned telephone services (IP CTS).

In its petition, the clinic asked the FCC to build on its existing standards for the quality of captions by setting metrics for acceptable quality of live captions. The petition also urged the FCC to issue rulings on whether and how ASR technologies can comply with human-centric frameworks.

"Being confronted with the tension between new technologies and the ways in which the law has not yet caught up was interesting and one of the reasons I wanted to participate in the TLPC," said Tess Cartin ('21).

ASR is also a significant issue in IP CTS, which provides captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing when making telephone calls. The clinic has called on companies seeking to provide ASR-based services to supply more information about the risks associated with ASR to the public.

"While we aren’t opposed to the use of ASR and believe it has the potential to do great things in the future, it does pose privacy and consumer risks that don’t magically disappear because artificial intelligence is being used instead of humans," said Cooper Tollen ('21).

While ASR may be a critical technology in improving captioning, oversight is needed to ensure that it respects the civil rights of Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing. The TLPC will continue its work on these topics into 2020.

This story originally appeared in the spring 2020 issue of Amicus.

Students in the Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy Clinic at Colorado Law are addressing concerns surrounding the oversight and implementation of automatic speech recognition, an artificial intelligence technology that detects speech and turns spoken words into text, and which is increasingly becoming the focus of debates in disability policy.

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