Dean's Blog

On Tuesday Professor Emeritus Peter Irons of UC San Diego spoke on reform of the U.S. Supreme Court in a lecture sponsored by the Aoki Center on Critical Race and Nation Studies. Professor Jack Chin invited Professor Irons, who is an expert on constitutional law and law and society.

The UC Davis School of Law continued its Faculty Intellectual Enrichment Speaker Series this week. Professor Rabia Belt of Stanford talked about her book project on the history of race, disability, and suffrage in the United States. It is one of many this semester, a full list of speakers detailed above.

I was pleased to find out Professor Emerita Margaret Johns has been named an Associate Reporter on The American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts. Professor Johns is also a UC Davis Law Class of '76 alumna. I am proud she will be reporting on this ALI project beginning in 2024.

I am grateful to a 3L student for contacting me about our support of communities impacted by the most recent events at Nagorno-Karabakh. Sadly, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has been a long-standing one, causing loss of life and significant decrease in humanitarian aid to those within the region. With the latest escalation within the last week, aid convoys are trying to get to the region and assist more than 120,000 Armenian and other refugees who are fleeing the area.

Last week, we had a warm and wonderful lunch in Oakland with UC Davis School of Law alumni. Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations Karen Charney and Associate Director of Development Taylor Theg joined me for a trip down to the Bay Area.

We had a great group in attendance, which included Robert Kidd '77, Joan Story '77, Judge Gordon Baranco '72, Craig Judson '84, Darryl Stallworth '92, Ayana Curry '00, Maggie Trinh '11, Julien Capers '10, Leila Tabrizi '22, and many others. Together, we heard the latest updates about King Hall.

On Sept. 29, I attended the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation’s annual recognition dinner, Luchando Por Justicia. The Executive Director of CRLAF is our own Professor Amagda Pérez ‘91, who is also co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic. A group of wonderful law students joined me at the dinner.

Bill Mantle ’74 answered questions while walking along a path overlooking the beach and watching a dragon kite struggle against the wind. When he’s not enjoying gorgeous views, he’s often in a college stadium, cheering on the Aggies. Before retiring from Preston Gates & Ellis in Seattle, he wrote the legal paperwork that made it possible for communities to build hospitals, schools, and public housing. He also volunteered on the board of the non-profit Common Ground to help people in public housing access the services they needed.

We hope you join us for this California International Law Center event on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

On Sept. 28, Professor Chin was the featured speaker during our Critical Perspectives on 1L Classes Series.

All three criminal law classes were present to hear Professor Chin's powerful talk revealing how the trajectory of U.S. criminal law has allowed racism to operate in practice. A couple of students also expressed how the presentation made them deeply reflect. 

I am thankful to our insightful faculty for offering first-year students new ways to learn about the law.

The Aoki Center on Critical Race and Nation Studies and UC Davis Hispanic Serving Institution Speaker Series kicked off the new academic year with Professor Melissa Moreno. An expert on ethnic studies in education, Professor Moreno presented, "Ethnic Studies - Ingenuity in Schools and Society Through Community Based Education."