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Shannon McGuire LAW '21 stands in front of a large waterfall

Studying Abroad at Del Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia

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In Fall of 2018, Shannon McGuire LAW ’19 completed a semester-long study abroad program at our Temple Law partner school, Del Rosario University in Bogotá, Colombia. I went to Rosario with an interest in seeing how Colombia was handling the Venezuelan refugee crisis, to learn more about human rights law, and to improve my Spanish language skills. I left Bogota having achieved each of those goals but also having made lifelong friends, having acquired an addiction to arepas de yuca and yellow dragon fruit, and having gained a deeper understanding and admiration for a peace process that transitioned a country from decades of internal conflict to a new horizon that aimed to uphold the rule of law while rehabilitating offenders and giving victims a voice. I cried seeing exhibits of paramilitary slaughters of Colombian villages. I debated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with my classmates in my Anthropology of Violence and Conflict class. I hid my face every time we learned about yet another Latin American country where the U.S. meddled in their domestic affairs during the Cold War era (and …

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Temple Law Confronts Policy Gaps for Emerging Technologies

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Newly founded institute advocates for federal regulation of AI-enabled biometrics The technology boom of the last several decades showcases incredible feats of human ingenuity. Biometric technology in particular has quickly and quietly embedded itself into our lives as we monitor our kids, calories, and homes through our phones. However, as we idly scroll, we are increasingly being watched. For example, the Philadelphia Police Department has access to more than 1,800 surveillance cameras through one of a growing number of fusion centers in the United States, operated by state and local law enforcement in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Pennsylvania driver’s license photos and records feed into the state’s law enforcement database, JNET, which operates a facial recognition system called JFRS. As humankind continues to invent greater, more powerful, and potentially more intrusive tech, Temple University’s newly founded Institute for Law, Innovation & Technology (iLIT) seeks to help regulate them by focusing on practical engagement and the human dimension to making and using technology. Its mission is to deliver equity, bridge academic and …

Can we make ‘Sense’ of the Kyle Rittenhouse Acquittal?

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It is no surprise that many feel dismay over the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse and see the verdict as resulting from the American tolerance of gun culture; a nearly all-white jury favoring a white defendant; a baby-faced [in the jurors’ eyes] teen who did not match a stereotype of a ‘gun-toting’ marauder; and a reaction against the purported violence of racial justice protests. But those views impose social concerns on what is ultimately a trial, a process where a jury must confront two competing narratives.  Sorting out the possible social and cognitive contributing factors cannot be done with precision and in fact such an exercise may be fruitless.  But self-defense law Wisconsin style and the conduct of Rittenhouse’s trial offer easy explanations of how a ‘not guilty’ verdict was reached either because jurors simply followed the law or made the defense story fit with their implicit (or express) biases. What were the stories?  The prosecution’s was simple, laid out in the opening statement: [T]he defendant Kyle Rittenhouse, who was 17-years-old at the time, had armed …

Building the Rule of Law in Albania

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When I entered law school in my native Albania, at the tender age of 18, I had strong idealistic beliefs. I began my legal studies as a mission, but, like almost all young idealists, I faced disappointment after confronting the systemic corruption in the Albanian justice system. To avoid that corruption as much as possible, I steered away from both public administration and litigation. I then directed my efforts into the private sector and commercial law. This later became my focus in the Master of Laws for Foreign-Trained Lawyers (LLM) program at Temple University Beasley School of Law. I very much enjoying living in Philadelphia, while attending classes as part of the Temple intensive English (IELP) and LLM programs. Living and studying abroad changes one on so many levels. I will never forget the extraordinary professors; their use of the Socratic method differs so greatly from higher education practices back home. The engagement with professors and students, both in and out of the classroom, shapes one’s thinking and presents challenges with far-reaching effects. My Temple …

Center for Compliance and Ethics Summer Fellowship | Student Perspectives

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This past summer, several Temple Law students completed the Center for Compliance and Ethics Summer Fellowship. They shared their experiences here: Dave Garton LAW ’23 – Lincoln Financial Group  My experience was fantastic, and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of their specific legal interests. I had opportunities to work with Lincoln Financial Group’s business units to update HIPAA compliance guidelines, with the financial advisory group on tracking and updating client compliant client disclosures, and on traditional legal memos and research questions for the litigation team. I also had opportunities across the legal department and have already benefited from references to OCI firms and have been offered contacts at firms of all sizes in the area. Lincoln’s legal department was helpful and considerate from those I worked with directly up to the Chief Counsel and other heads of departments. They all did a good job of keeping the internship engaging in a virtual environment, but I imagine it would only be better in person. Molly Herbison LAW ’22 – Otsuka I had a great experience at Otsuka. Over the …

Photo of Christopher Moore LAW '23 wearing a suit and tie standing in front of a fountain.

Honoring Amber Racine – Christopher Moore LAW ’23 Shares His Experience as the Inaugural Amber Racine Fellow

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It has been an honor to become the very first recipient of the Amber Racine Fellowship as a law student intern at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. I never had the opportunity to meet Amber Racine, but I had certainly heard about her prior to becoming a fellow. I remember the outpouring of love from Temple Law School after her passing. This prompted me to learn more about her work both within the courtroom and outside the courtroom. I was thoroughly impressed with her legal/professional achievements which were all accomplished at such a young age. I was equally, if not more, impressed with her work in the community and her dedication to nurturing young attorneys of color. I was extremely humbled by this fellowship opportunity because I am essentially standing on the shoulders of an individual that successfully traversed through the path I am trying to follow. I will always be appreciative and honored to be the first Amber Racine Fellow. This summer, I worked with Community Legal Services’ Youth Justice Project (“YJP”) under the …

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Q&A with Professor Melissa Jacoby

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In September of 2019, Purdue Pharma LP filed for Chapter 11 protection after facing a wave of lawsuits over its opioid painkiller drug, OxyContin. The Sackler family, who own the pharmaceutical company, have attempted to use a controversial tactic to get bankruptcy-like protections to without filing for bankruptcy in order to protect their personal assets and holdings. On Wednesday, June 15th, according to Bloomberg, “U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain approved an investigation into whether the drugmaker’s owners, members of the billionaire Sackler family, have had undue influence on an independent committee of Purdue board members,” a win for the advocacy group of parents whose children died as a result of opioid abuse. Professor Jonathan Lipson, Harold E. Kohn Chair and Professor of Law at Temple Law School, was of counsel to the movant. His colleague, Professor Melissa Jacoby, Graham Kenan Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, put the ruling into context.  Temple Law School: In in the June 15th ruling, Judge Drain approved an investigation, which will give an …

The Biden Pivot

The Institute for International Law and Public Policy presents “The Biden Pivot” | Student Commentary

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On April 8, 2021, The Institute for International Law and Public Policy presented “The Biden Pivot,” a panel of experts who discussed where, and how, the Biden Administration will reverse course on international policies set by the previous administration. Panelists included Duncan B. Hollis, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Law; J. Benton Heath, Assistant Professor of Law; Amy Sinden, Professor of Law; Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and I. Herman Stern Research Professor. The panel was moderated by Margaret M. deGuzman, James E. Beasley Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for International Law and Public Policy.  Temple Law continues to step up and offer really amazing events on international law and policy. Throughout this year, the Institute for International Law and Public Policy and the student-led International Law Society has continually hosted meaningful discussions that allow students such as myself to engage with Temple Law’s international faculty. As an aspiring international lawyer, the access I’ve been given to these world-renowned scholars has been incredible. I regularly talk with Professor Heath after …

Study Abroad at Temple University Japan

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I have been studying at TUJ since the spring of 2020, including pursuing my LL.M. in transnational law. TUJ’s program has continued to impress me. The professors bring real world experience into the classroom, and the classes bring together a diverse range of students from all over the world and all different backgrounds. It makes for the most enriching classroom experience I’ve ever had. Furthermore, TUJ’s staff is unmatched in their professionalism and dedication to helping students navigate the J.D. and LL.M. programs, and in assisting foreign students with living in Japan. Especially during the past year of the pandemic, the staff at TUJ has made it possible for me to traverse the complexities of living in a foreign country. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Japan, its culture, and gorgeous wilderness. Since the pandemic, I have been exploring the many national and quasi-national parks outside of the cities. The transportation system in Japan makes it easy and safe to visit even the most remote areas of the country. The class schedule and …

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How Cisgender Advocates Can Honor Transgender Day of Visibility (Everyday)

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Last year, at the start of (our awareness of) the coronacrisis, I read the story of anthropologist Margaret Mead being asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about hunting tools, the wheel, grinding stones, or clay pots. Instead, the anthropologist answered that the first evidence of civilization was a 15,000-year-old fractured femur found in an archaeological site. The bone, which links hip to knee, had been broken and healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink, or hunt for food. You become easy prey for prowling beasts. A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone helped a fellow human and took time to stay with the one who fell, rather than abandoning them to save their own life. The message was that we feel more human when we help others, and that generosity and altruism are (or should be) …