Faculty Roundup: The latest highlights from UCI Law’s faculty
Mario Barnes
UCI Professor of Law Mario Barnes participated in the Critical (Legal) Collective Inaugural Convening, “Organizing for Democracy and Liberation: The Right to Learn, the Right to Teach, the Right to Thrive,” at Duke University School of Law from Nov. 10-12. Barnes serves on the Coordinating Committee for CLC and was one of the committee members who opened the convening with introductory remarks. His remarks were focused on acknowledging the harms of present international military conflicts, but also asking the conference — convened on Veteran's Day — to hold space for the distinct task of honoring the sacrifices of veterans and servicemembers.
In addition, UCI Professor of Law Stephen Lee and Barnes will present papers at the Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand (LSAANZ) 2023 Conference, “Voice, Resistance and Repair: Law and Living Together,” taking place from Dec. 6-8 at the University of Technology Sydney. Barnes will also deliver a talk on Dec. 11 at the University of Aukland on the future of affirmative action in the U.S. on a panel with Boston University School of Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig and the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu William S. Richardson School of Law Dean Camille Nelson.
Joshua Blank
UCI Professor of Law Joshua D. Blank’s forthcoming paper, “Democratic Accountability and Tax Enforcement," co-authored with Leigh Osofsky of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, will be published in the Harvard Journal on Legislation in 2024. The article examines the longstanding issue of the IRS being accused of targeting taxpayers, highlighting a democratic accountability problem in tax enforcement due to a lack of clear guidelines, oversight and transparent dialogue, and proposes a path towards a more accountable system through public engagement on normative tax enforcement decisions.
Blank was a co-presenter of "Untaxed: The Rich, The IRS, and a New Approach to Tax Compliance" (with Ari Glogower), Tax Policy and Economic Inequality Workshop, University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, IL (November 7, 2023) and a presenter of "Democratic Accountability and Tax Enforcement" (with Leigh Osofsky), 116th Annual Conference on Taxation, National Tax Association, Denver, CO (November 2, 2023).
Joseph F.C. DiMento
UCI Distinguished Professor of Law Joseph F.C. DiMento’s book, “Polar Shift: The Arctic Sustained” (Anthem Press 2022), is now available in Russian. Polar Shift addresses how to sustain the Arctic's richness, beauty, and local and global value. It describes programs specifically created to protect the Arctic region and presents competing ideas of how it can be improved with specific recommendations.
Veena Dubal
UCI Professor of Law Veena Dubal has been elected to the Law & Society Association’s Class of 2026 Board of Trustees, the organization’s governing body, for a three-year term among a class of eight representatives to the Board. The full Board of Trustees includes 24 elected Trustees serving three-year terms, as well as the President, Past President/President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor of the Law & Society Review, and Book Reviews Editor. LSA is an interdisciplinary scholarly organization committed to social scientific, interpretive, and historical analyses of law across multiple social contexts. Central aspects of LSA’s activities include its annual meetings and its sociolegal journal Law & Society Review.
Dalié Jiménez
UCI Professor of Law Dalié Jiménez gave a presentation about her research on debt collection lawsuits in California and emerging consumer protection issues at the annual California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Debt Collection Examiner conference on Oct. 25. In addition, Jiménez has joined the University Committee on Faculty Welfare (UCFW) Task Force on Investment and Retirement (TFIR). The 15-member task force reviews proposals, policies and administrative procedures related to institutional investing and retirement at the University of California.
Carrie Menkel-Meadow
UCI Distinguished and Chancellor’s Professor of Law Carrie Menkel-Meadow delivered the plenary keynote address, “What Does it Mean to ‘Diversify’ and ‘Include’ in ADR?: People, Principles and Actual Practices,” at a conference on Nov. 3 hosted by UC Law SF’s Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) as part of CNDR’s 20th anniversary celebrations. Entitled “DEI and Dispute Resolution: Reimagining the Field,” the conference examined the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in the dispute resolution field and considered paths for future research and policy interventions. Menkel-Meadow also delivered a lecture, “Is Socio-Legal Studies a Science? Some thoughts about our Methods and Epistemology,” at the University of Oxford on Oct. 30.
Ann Southworth
UCI Professor of Law Ann Southworth, who co-directs the UCI Law Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession (CERLP), participated in an online discussion on Nov. 16 hosted by CERLP on her forthcoming book, “Big Money Unleashed: The Campaign to Deregulate Election Spending” (University of Chicago Press 2023). The book, available for pre-order, explores how the First Amendment became an obstacle to campaign finance regulation, examining a history that began much earlier than most imagine.
Moderated by Swethaa Ballakrishnen, UCI Law Professor and CERLP Co-Director, the discussants of the book talk included: John Bliss, Assistant Professor, University of Denver Sturm College of Law; Bryant Garth, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and CERLP Co-Director, UCI Law; Richard L. Hasen, Professor of Law and Political Science and Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, UCLA Law; and Mary Ziegler, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law.
Jane K. Stoever
UCI Clinical Professor of Law Jane K. Stoever participated in drafting the amicus brief filed by domestic violence clinic directors and leading practitioners in U.S. v. Rahimi, which the U.S. Supreme Court heard on Nov. 7. In Rahimi, the Court will decide whether federal law prohibiting the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic violence restraining orders violates the Second Amendment on its face. The amicus brief is heavily built on four of Stoever’s law review articles. The brief submits that the Fifth Circuit’s decision misconstrued the onerous procedural and substantive legal process required to obtain domestic violence protective orders that are covered by federal law (§ 922(g)(8)) and ignored the life-saving importance of these orders in protecting survivors of domestic violence and communities from gun violence.
Ari Waldman
UCI Professor of Law Ari Waldman recently authored the booklet, “Advanced Introduction to U.S. Data Privacy Law,” an Edward Elgar series. In addition, he participated in the following recent speaking engagements: "Information Privacy at the Crossroads," BU Law Review symposium (Nov. 3), presenting "Gender Data in the Automated Administrative State"; "California Constitutional Privacy at 50: Power of State Law and Promoting Racial Justice in the Digital Age," Berkeley Technology Law Journal and Berkeley Center for Law and Technology Fall Symposium (Oct. 27), presenting "Privacy's Rights Trap"; Center for Law and Social Science, USC Gould School of Law (Oct. 16), presenting "Civil Society and the Law of Privacy"; International Access to Justice Forum, UCI Law (Oct. 11), presenting "Gender Data and Legibility Dilemmas"; and Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, Faculty Workshop (Oct. 2), presenting "Civil Society and the Law of Privacy."