CAFE and Vox Media announced that Professor Joyce Vance has joined the CAFE Insider podcast as a co-host with Preet Bharara. Professor Vance previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, and she is now a law professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, a frequent contributor for NBC and MSNBC, and a co-host of the #SistersInLaw podcast.
Listen in to Professor Joyce Vance and Preet Bhara on the CAFE Insider podcast here.
The University of Alabama School of Law boasts seven different legal clinics in which students, under the supervision of a practicing attorney, gain hands-on experience by providing free legal assistance to low-income individuals, business startups, and non-profit organizations. These clinics focus on a variety of substantive areas and cases such as civil litigation, entrepreneurship, criminal defense, children’s rights, and domestic violence law. One remarkable case recently came out of our Elder Law Clinic directed by Professor Allyson Gold.
Halle Diaz, a 2L student at Alabama Law, represented an elderly, disabled woman who was at risk of being evicted from her long-term care facility due to confusion over whether she was eligible for assisted living. After months of tireless advocacy, Diaz successfully appealed the insurance termination. As a result, the client was able to remain in her home and recoup more than $25,000 in back pay compensation.
Alabama Law 1L Student Halle Diaz
Remembering the initial intake call, Halle shared how shocked and overwhelmed she felt as she first heard the details of the case.
“After talking on the phone with this client for two or three hours and then looking down at my notes I felt overwhelmed. Then I thought, if I don’t take this case who else is going to want to?” Halle explained.
After waiting months for the appeal to be approved, during which the client was only saved from homelessness by the COVID eviction ban, the news of the appeal’s approval was finally delivered in December. Halle said the importance now rests in making sure all logistics are addressed so there is no chance of this happening again.
Reflecting on her path to law school, Halle credits her father for instilling a passion in her for both education and law. She recalls how he would share stories about attending law school in San Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War—a time when people were shooting in the streets while he was trying to take the bus to school. Halle now recognizes that the privilege she enjoys of having a family that encouraged her to pursue an education is not shared by everyone, everywhere—even in the U.S.
“America isn’t considered a third world country, but there are many people in the U.S. who are living like it is,” Halle said.
While Halle doesn’t know in exactly what direction she will go post-graduation, she shared that her experience with the Elder Law Clinic has piqued an interest in elderly care law where she can help rewrite the narrative of those struggling to thrive in America. She also expressed an interest in transactional health care law, which deals with hospital mergers. No matter where she ends up, Halle shared that her experience working this case will benefit her long-term career pursuits.
“UA is an incredible law school that gives you hands-on experience. When I was measuring UA against other universities, some of them may have been higher ranked, but the Elder Law Clinic was something truly unique and special. Besides that, Alabama has great professors who care about who you are and what you want out of law school and try to help you get there,” Halle explained as she mentioned meeting with Professor Allyson Gold later that day to discuss her future plans.
When asked about this case, Professor Gold expressed little surprise that Halle performed so well. She said Halle, and many other clinic students, did not shy away from taking on the daunting task of tackling a real-life case in the middle of COVID-19. Gold expressed that her favorite part of running the Elder Law Clinic was teaching developing students who are more open to being creative in their solutions to real-world issues.
While Halle’s case is still ongoing, it is in the closing stages and it appears to be another win for the Elder Law Clinic—one of many more to come at the Alabama School of Law.
Written by: Heather Gann
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If you would like to join in financially supporting the success of Alabama Law students, please consider making a donation to the Alabama Law Alumni Society, which provides resources for students in the form of scholarships, stipends for internships and externships, and other purposes that are central to our mission of training the very best lawyers for the 21st century.
March 25th marked the 90-year anniversary of the arrest of nine black teenagers who were unjustly convicted for the rape of two white women on a train near Scottsboro, Alabama. In memoriam of this landmark case, several student organizations from the University of Alabama School of Law hosted a week of events beginning on March 23rd.
Blacks & Jews on Trial at Scottsboro
The first event was a virtual panel entitled “The Scottsboro Boys Shall Not Die: Blacks & Jews on Trial at Scottsboro” and was co-hosted by the Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA), the Jewish Law Students’ Association (JLSA), and the Student Bar Association (SBA). Speakers Denise Lynn, John Miller, and Andrew Baer paneled to discuss the ways both anti-black and anti-Semitic racism against their lawyers shaped the case of the Scottsboro nine. Connecting the experiences of the Scottsboro teens and their lawyers with the ongoing challenges minorities in the U.S. face today, the panel discussed the need for revolutionary police and government reform to overcome the systems of racism that remain in place.
Curtis Flowers: Wrongfully Imprisoned for 23 Years
Two days later, on the actual anniversary of the Scottsboro Nine’s arrest, BLSA and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at The University of Alabama School of Law hosted Curtis Flowers, a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years, and his attorney, Rob McDuff, to speak about Flowers’ imprisonment. After being tried an unprecedented six times, Flowers was falsely convicted of the murder of four people in the 1996 Winona, Mississippi Tardy Furniture Store shootings despite a lack of evidence—not to mention the numerous character testimonies and eyewitness statements offered in his defense.
In 2019, after several of his trials had been overturned due to insufficient evidence and racially biased jury tampering, a podcast called In the Dark discovered and brought national attention to Flowers’ case. In response, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch agreed to rehear the case, and on December 16, 2019, Flowers was released. Flowers received the maximum $500,000 in wrongful imprisonment pay from the state—though that payment is equivalent to less than half of the time Flowers served under the $50,000 per year Mississippi standard. Flowers and McDuff both feel justice was not served, and Flowers shared he looks forward to building a positive future as he continues speaking out against injustice in the legal system with the hope of preventing his experience from happening to anyone else.
Annual BLSA Banquet: The Butterfly Effect
To wrap up the week, BLSA hosted its annual scholarship banquet on March 25th. This year’s banquet theme was The Butterfly Effect: The Ripple in The Tide For Change, and BLSA used this theme to highlight those at the law school pushing to make a difference such as professors Bryan K. Fair and Anil Mujumdar. Professor Mujumdar was not only recognized at the event but he was also presented with the Gail K. Johnson Outstanding Attorney Award. This is an accolade voted on by the BLSA sponsors that is given to an attorney who has worked to improve the lives of minorities in the state of Alabama. Six BLSA members were the recipients of the organization’s student scholarships, 1Ls Ronnie Braxton, Amani Moore, and Layne Lightfoot, 2Ls Tiyonna Griggs and Natalie Daniel, and 3L Sheena Allen. The event was brought to a close with the announcement of the BLSA executive board for this upcoming year which includes president Brenita Softley, vice presidents Natalie Daniel and Amani Moore, secretary Tiyona Griggs, treasurer Trey Edwards, historian Raine Cook, parliamentarian Courtney Garret, community service chair Jaleel Washington, and diversity chair Hunter Jackson. Layne Lightfoot and Kyra Perkins were also recognized for their service on the scholarship and fundraising committee.
Written by: Heather Gann
Professor Allyson Gold published a piece titled “How Eviction Courts Stack The Deck Against Tenants” in The Appeal. The article provides an overview of the eviction process and points out the inequalities within the process that have led to an eviction crisis. Read the full article here.
Every year, The University of Alabama School of Law awards one fortunate student the Frank M. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship. Tyler Smoot, an Alabama Law 3L student, has been the recipient of this scholarship for the past two years, and he credits the financial support of this endowment for enabling him to earn his law degree.
“I never would have been able to go to law school in the first place without my tuition being covered. I have a wife and two kids and because of this scholarship my kids are able to have food on the table and go to daycare while I earn my degree,” Smoot explained.
Smoot has a diverse educational background with degrees from both Baylor and Duke where he studied religion and divinity. He stated that he was motivated to apply to law school after working for several years with the Northcott Neighborhood House in Milwaukee—where he assisted adult students who were studying to earn their GED. He noticed that many of the students had criminal backgrounds and had gone directly from high school into the prison system. This inspired Smoot to start serving the public in a different way—through the study and practice of law.
Smoot said that he is grateful for his particular scholarship not only because of the financial assistance, but because it also helped him form a connection to a legendary figure in the state he now calls home.
Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. was a United States District Judge of Alabama and Alabama Law alum who became famous for his landmark civil rights rulings that attempted to end segregation and the unfair treatment of black southern citizens. Smoot described how he submitted a blanket application for all merit-based scholarships but was incredibly moved to be receiving one in dedication to a civil rights giant.
“He was making the right decisions when that wasn’t the easiest thing to do, and I sort of want to follow the same path so receiving this scholarship really made me feel connected to the state where I plan to live for the long haul,” Smoot described.
After Smoot’s graduation in May of this year, he plans to clerk with a federal judge in Birmingham, something Smoot says is a common path for law graduates in their first year. He is eager to work with Judge Karen Bowdre because of their shared interest in criminal justice reform. After his year clerking, Smoot hopes to lead a career in civil rights law, possibly with the Southern Poverty Law Center with whom he currently clerks. He also expressed gratitude for the scholarship board members that have met with him and said that they have been very forthcoming with offers for networking assistance post-graduation.
When speaking about his quickly approaching future, Smoot credited the Frank M. Johnson, Jr. scholarship with a large stake in setting him up for success. “Because of this scholarship, I can actually find a job in something I’m passionate about instead of settling for the first one I’m offered because I’m worried about my debt. I can focus on creating some positive change and I’m just really glad that someone, somewhere believed in me.”
Written by: Heather Gann
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If you would like to join in financially supporting the success of Alabama Law students, please consider making a donation to the Alabama Law Alumni Society, which provides resources for students in the form of scholarships, stipends for internships and externships, and other purposes that are central to our mission of training the very best lawyers for the 21st century.
On Friday, April 9, The White House announced that Alabama Law’s Charles E. Tweedy, Jr., Endowed Chairholder of Law and Director of the Program in Constitutional Studies, Tara Leigh Grove, has been selected as a Commissioner for the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States—which was formed by an executive order issued by President Biden.
Serving as a bipartisan group of experts on the Court and the debate over reforming the Court, the Commission consists of top legal and academic scholars from across the country, former federal judges, and leading legal practitioners.
According to a press release from The White House, “the Commission’s purpose is to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform—including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals. The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Court’s role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.”
Professor Grove joined the University of Alabama School of Law in June of 2020. She graduated summa cum laude from Duke University and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served as the Supreme Court Chair of the Harvard Law Review. Grove clerked for Judge Emilio Garza on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and then spent four years as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Appellate Staff, where she argued fifteen cases in the courts of appeals. Grove has served as a visiting professor at both Harvard Law School and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Professor Grove’s research focuses on the federal judiciary and the constitutional separation of powers. She has published with prestigious law journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Columbia Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, New York University Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, Cornell Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review. In 2021, Professor Grove became the newest coauthor of the prominent federal courts casebook, Federal Courts and the Law of Federal-State Relations (9th ed.): 2021 Supplement (with Peter W. Low, John C. Jeffries, Jr., & Curtis A. Bradley). She has also received awards for both her research and her teaching, including the Walter L. Williams, Jr., Memorial Teaching Award and the Paul M. Bator Award.
Professor Jenny Carroll explains the the two main types of sedition for an article published in The Guardian. You can read the full article titled “Why aren’t we calling the Capitol attack an act of treason?” here.
Professor Joyce Vance was a guest on NPR’s flagship news program All Things Considered where she shared her thoughts on a questionable Alabama death row case. Read the full article recap titled “New Eyes On Alabama Death Row Case After Integrity Review Raises Questions” here.
Professor Fredrick Vars was quoted in the U.S. News & World Report article titled “The Fear Factor: How More Shootings Lead to More Guns.” The full article can be viewed here.
Professor Joyce Vance published her recent opinion piece on MSNBC.com titled “Biden’s first 11 federal judge nominees highlight a highly nuanced diversity.” While she is a former prosecutor, Professor Vance argues that the U.S. needs more public defenders on the bench. You can view the full article here.
