Fall 2015

Thomas Jefferson has recently undertaken a campaign to reinvigorate the School’s image. In doing so, the School’s administration has hired a public relations firm to assist in fundamental decisions based on their experience. As a student and future alum, I recognize and appreciate the efforts the School is making. From Student Appreciation Days to the press released through The Advisor, I feel the School is fairly and reasonably representing the School as a quality institution of higher education and a pillar in the legal community.

To assure the School’s image is properly represented, the School’s administration has required all student organizations to gain prior approval before using the School’s name in any fashion. Student organizations may not use “Thomas Jefferson School of Law,” “Thomas Jefferson” (in reference to the School), “TJSL,” or anything of the like without using the School’s new, attractive logo.

The consequence of this is that all “approved” student organization logos appear virtually identical. All logos have the new Thomas Jefferson logo with the student organization’s name below; all having the same color and font. The unintended consequence of the School’s requirement is that student organizations are forced to choose between their individual identity or associating themselves with the School.

Last year, Intellectual Property Law Association (“IPLA”) decided informally to adopt a new logo and used it in conjunction with the organization’s existing logo that contained the now-prohibited outline of the building. As a school that is well on its way to establishing itself as being at the forefront of intellectual property, IPLA wanted to include “Thomas Jefferson School of Law” it its official logo. However, to do so, IPLA would have to use the School’s official logo and color scheme.

“When you see navy blue and gold or simply ‘Cal,’ you automatically think ‘U.C. Berkley,’” said Brian Del Vecchio, Chair of Thomas Jefferson’s Moot Court team. “This is not because Cal’s logo is only seen in conjunction with color or in a particular design. But rather that so many outlets have included either the name or color or both on promotional media. It’s a shame that we cannot even include ‘Thomas Jefferson’ or ‘TJSL’ on our shirts because we would really like to promote the School whenever possible.” When asked why he simply didn’t include the School’s official logo, he responded:

“Honestly, the colors and styles clash. The [Moot Court] team has worked hard at establishing the [burgundy] color and slogan [‘Keep Calm and Argue On’] as an integral part of the team. Moot Court has even gone so far as seeking Copyright and Trademark protection over these aspects. The members have expressed that the [School’s] new logo doesn’t fit with the overall look and feel of our shirts. So, we simply omitted it. We would have used the new logo if we could change the colors or perhaps the font to match our shirts but the School wouldn’t allow it.”

As the president of IPLA and to be fair and neutral, I propose a few logos to the members of the organization and asked them to vote on which logo the organization would like to use. The members overwhelming chose an original IPLA logo that necessarily excluded any reference to the School. IPLA recently cohosted a highly successful panel attended by over 110 members of San Diego’s legal community, over half of which were not students or faculty. Thousands of invites were distributed to the legal community and, unfortunately, Thomas Jefferson’s name was noticeably absent.

“The logo enforcement hasn't affected JSU directly,” said Rachel Travis, President of Thomas Jefferson’s Jewish Student Union. “However, I can see how it would. Student organizations don't have a large budget to begin with, so to have to use any of their budget towards creating new banners, T shirts, etc, that had the old logo, could prevent orgs from having the funds to put on events or use their funds in a different manner.”

To be clear, I’m not advocating that the School not take reasonable precautions to ensure the School is properly represented. I simply would like inherent flexibility in a student organization’s discretion to choose how to include the School in their promotional items. After all, simply including “Thomas Jefferson School of Law” in an established student organization logo wouldn’t confuse a person viewing the logo in any way.

A close game between BTPU and SLS. the last 10 mins really set the tone as BTPU took a large lead and even with a last min SLS touchdown, BTPU maintained the lead with a 40-25 win.

TNT made a good attempt as a 1L team against 3-Peat whose been playing together for 3 years, but 3-Peat dominated with a 31-18 victory over TNT.

In an epic battle of Cal Western vs. Thomas Jefferson, Back That Pass Up took on the back-to-back defending champions 3-Peat. Off to an early lead, BTPU scored multiple touchdowns  and got a safety early on. 3-Peat took BTPU by surprise and came back by scoring touchdowns and converting their extra points.

After halftime, the teams stayed neck and neck battling until the end of regulation where it was tied 26-26. In extra time, 3-Peat's Brad Walker scored the winning touchdown in an out route. Final score 32-26, and 3-Peat lives up to its name with three straight IM football championships!

Congratulations!

Hacktivist collective group “Anonymous” has vowed to release contact information for approximately 1,000 people alleged to be members of the Ku Klux Klan (“KKK”) in an effort to shut the group down. This is the same group responsible for the Ashley Madison cyber breach just a few months back.

The group issued a statement promising the identities would be released through a twitter account:

"After closely observing so many of you for so very long, we feel confident that applying transparency to your organizational cells is the right, just, appropriate and only course of action. You are abhorrent. Criminal. You are more than extremists. You are more than a hate group. You operate much more like terrorists and you should be recognized as such. You are terrorists that hide your identities beneath sheets and infiltrate society on every level. The privacy of the Ku Klux Klan no longer exists in cyberspace." -- Operation KKK

On Monday, November 2, 2015 the group followed through and published its first batch of information including an unverified list of 57 phone numbers and 23 emails addresses belonging to unconfirmed KKK members. Members mentioned on the list were several U.S. senators and mayors. One of these “outings” was the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky Jim Gray and Senator Dan Coats, R-Ind., who both claim to not be affiliated with the organization. The full list of members is to be released on November 5, 2015 to coincide with the group’s “Million Mask March”

Former Confederate soldiers founded the KKK after the Civil War as a way of fighting against the reforms imposed by the North during the Reconstruction. The Klan saw a huge resurgence in the 1920s on a wave of anti-immigration, largely fueled by bigotry against Jews, Catholics, and blacks. The Klan gained popularity against in the 1950s and 1960s when it used murder and terror to stop the Civil Rights movement. Since then, the Klan has been severely weakened and now exists as a loose grouping of individual chapters that survive off racial hate.

The idea of abolishing the KKK is something that sounds great and absolutely something I believe most people could get behind and fully support. However, I feel that the release of alleged members is irresponsible and completely unfair. It seems like this release will trigger a new round of witch-hunts and examinations into the lives of people who may be completely innocent of the wrongdoing they will be charged with. Being a confirmed member of the KKK is career suicide for probably any person in the professional world but doubly so for elected officials. For southern representatives, in addition to being wrong, being a member of the KKK would alienate at least ½ of your voting population and constituents. It would completely destroy your credibility and in our day, being labeled a racist is almost as bad as being named a communist was during McCarthyism.

When Anonymous hacked the Ashley Madison website, it was fun and exciting. These were people who, of their own free will, signed up and paid money to a site designed to cheat on their spouses. These people were the scum of the scum. On one hand, I can certainly see how members of the Ashley Madison site could be compared with members of the KKK. However, the idea of potentially ruining people’s lives by throwing unsupported allegations around is so distasteful to me. With the Ashley Madison breach, there were credit cards and email addresses to support the identities of these people. Here it seems like Anonymous got their information by joining the sites themselves. The group has not revealed how they have come across the names they have; only stating that they hacked their sites.

As someone involved with politics, I am on a number of political newsletters and the mailing lists for candidates I would never support simply because my information was given to a cause I do support and was then transferred it to one I do not. To say that I support a specific cause or candidate simply because they have my email address is a completely inaccurate representation of the facts and certainly not credible evidence.

My other issue with this newest data dump is that the group is still hiding behind the safety of the Internet. They are violating people’s privacy while remaining completely private. They are committing these cyber crimes and acting almost as badly as the KKK members themselves. Anonymous wants to create a better society when they could clearly be defaming people and not facing retribution. It seems pretty hypocritical. 

For more information see: - http://ktla.com/2015/11/02/anonymous-hacker-group-says-it-will-reveal-id... - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anonymous-reveals-kkk-members-info_5... - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/02/reports-hacktivist-...

On Sunday November 2, Californian’s gained an extra hour of sleep with the ending of Daylight Savings Time (“DST”). As many people appreciated the additional hour of sleep following Halloween weekend, it is however important to note that such a small shift in time can actually have a large impact on our body’s internal clock and health which can have lasting effects on our productivity, something not beneficial considering how close to the end of the semester we are.

DST beings on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. It was enacted during World War I to decrease energy use but was jokingly advocated by Benjamin Franklin long before that. Back in the 1700s Franklin noticed that people used candles at night and slept past dawn in the mornings. He joked that by shifting time by an hour during the summer people would burn fewer candles and not sleep through the morning sunlight, thereby increasing productivity and saving resources. There is an ongoing debate as to any possible energy saving benefits but we do know that there are well-documented negative impacts to our health and economy as a result of DST.

Transitions associated with the start and end of DST disturb sleep patterns and make people restless at night resulting in increased sleepiness the next day. Even during the “Fall Back” period, individuals may struggle adjusting to going to sleep later after the time changes. This sleepiness leads to a loss of productivity, which affects both the economy and the effectiveness studying for law students.

During the first week of DST, in late winter, there is a spike in heart attacks according to a study in the American Journal of Cardiology. This is directly correlated to an increase of stress related to losing an hour of sleep and having less time to recover overnight. Conversely. the end of DST causes a decrease in heart attacks.

However, not all studies done show a negative impact from DST. One study published in October indicated that children in Europe and Australia received more physical activity during the extended evening daylight hours. Additionally, deadly car crashes decrease during DST because it is more likely to be light out when there are more people on the road (i.e. during morning and afternoon rush hours).

Why is this? The impacts of DST are likely related to our body’s internal clock or circadian rhythm, which regulates when we feel awake and when we feel sleepy as well as our hunger and hormone production schedules. Light dictates how much melatonin our bodies produce, so when its bright out, our bodies make less and when its dark, our body creates more causing us to become more tired and prepare us for bed.

The problems associated with DST are worse in the spring after losing an hour of sleep. The sun rises later, making it more difficult to wake up because our bodies rely on the light to reset its natural clock. As with anytime you lose sleep, the beginning of DST causes decreased in performance, concentration, and memory, as well as fatigue and daytime sleepiness. All these health-related impacts affect the economy as well. An index from Chmura Economics & Analytics, released last year, suggests that the cost could be up to $434 million in the US alone. 

There’s no doubt that DST affects all people from children to adults. I have found that it takes me at least a week to get back on a regular sleep schedule following the time change. For me, DST is like an extended version of jet lag without the benefits of going somewhere cool. As law students, a loss in productivity is something that we cannot afford.

For more information see: - http://www.businessinsider.com/health-effects-of-daylight-saving-time-20... - http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/03/06/daylight-saving-time-at-...

In October, the Supreme Court of the United States began its new session. Because it is the highest court in the land, the justices hear cases that address issues about the Constitution and federal law, making the Court relevant to all citizens. The Supreme Court is set to hear a number of interesting cases in this session including another hearing on racial discrimination and affirmative action.

The previous session saw major issues decided including: lethal injection, marriage equality, health care subsidies, pollution limits, partisanship and redistricting, housing discrimination, religions signs and free speech, the Confederate flag and free speech, separation of powers in foreign affairs, social media and free speech, employment discrimination, judicial elections and free speech, race and redistricting, pregnancy discrimination, and religious freedom in prison.

The November calendar  is still full of issues to resolve. In the month of November, the SCOTUS will hear oral arguments on the following cases:

11/02: Foster v Chatman; Spokeo, Inc v Robins 11/03: Lockhart v US; Torres v Lynch 11/04: Shapiro v McManus; Bruce v Samuels 11/09: Montanile v Board of Trustees of National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan; Kingdomware Technologies, Inc v US 11/10: Tyson Foods, Inc v Bouaphaked; Luis v US 11/30: Musacchio v US; Green v Brennan In Foster v Chatman, the Supreme Court will evaluate whether a court can determine when jury selection is unconstitutionally influencing the jury’s racial make-up.  Unlike the selection method striking “for cause” which requires giving a reason for disqualifying a potential juror, the selection method of “preemptory strikes” does not require giving an explanation for disqualifying a potential juror.  The Court must consider “whether information outside of the three-step Batson inquiry about jury selection can help answer the question whether a trial played out amid racial tension, which could buttress the defense team’s claim that African Americans were intentionally kept from the jury on account of their race.”  

It will be interesting to see what SCOTUS decides.

San Diego is home to the nation's largest concentration of military personnel.  More than 15,000 active duty service member’s transition from active duty service in San Diego each year and more than half of those transitioning plan to stay in San Diego, which is also the number one destination for veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. There are more veterans in San Diego than there are active duty personnel. More than 240,000 veterans reside here in America's Finest City. With Veterans Day approaching, we should take a moment to reflect on the history of the day and the service of our fellow citizens, as well as the needs they have upon returning home.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day on November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride [and with gratitude] in the heroism of those who died in the country's service.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I. On May 13, 1938, Congress approved making Armistice Day a legal holiday to be celebrated each year on November 11th, marking it “[a] day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.”  On June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of “all wars”. And later on October 8th, of the same year President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" officially changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

Even though most Americans are probably unaware of how this holiday came to be, we still somehow understand the important purpose of Veterans Day, which is to celebrate and honor our veterans for their bravery and willingness to serve. Veterans Day is also a day to recognize the sacrifice of spouses, children and family members of soldiers on active duty or who have been lost. And while we remember our veterans each year with parades and free breakfasts all across the nation, as a country we are still struggling with how honor our soldiers with more than mere symbolism. Homelessness, lack of adequate mental health care, depression, PTSD, alcohol and substance abuse, jobs reentry programs are just some of the areas where resources are desperately needed.  In addition, because of our country’s history of non-inclusion of women, persons of color, and homosexuals, not all soldiers are equally honored and recognized.

In 2014, President Barack Obama honored Army veterans of African American, Hispanic and Jewish heritage who were bypassed because of discrimination during World War II, The Korean War, and The Vietnam War. Only three of the recipients are living. Under his Administration, President Obama has made leaps and bounds in allowing LGBT Americans to openly serve in the military.  Our military is diverse and soldiers and veterans will have diverse needs; however, at times they can find it difficult to locate resources specific to their needs. Women veterans are increasingly represented in the numbers of homeless persons. According to the U.S Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the reason for this is that women face different challenges from their male counterparts when returning home from war. Single parenthood, raising children on their own, PTSD resulting from the stress of war, injury, and possible military sexual trauma put women veterans at greater risk of becoming homeless without early intervention. Thomas Jefferson School of Law (“TJSL”) has resources available for veteran students and does important work on behalf of local veterans.

TJSL’s Student Veterans Association (SVA) chapter organizes various events and networks with professional groups such as San Diego's Veterans Bar Association. Contact SVA at sva@tjsl.edu for more information or to get involved. TJSL has a clinical program available for students to participate in that allows them to provide limited legal assistance, as well as full service legal representation to the residents and alumni of Veterans Village of San Diego. For more information regarding this clinic, please visit: http://www.tjsl.edu/clinics/veterans-clinic. Finally, there is a monthly Veterans Self-Help Clinic that provides low to moderate-income veterans with limited legal assistance. This clinic is run by volunteer licensed attorneys and law students and meets every third Wednesday of the month. For more information on this please visit: http://www.tjsl.edu/clinics/veterans-self-help-clinic.

VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) is dedicated to ensuring all Veterans are treated fairly and receive the best quality care regardless of race, origin, religion, gender or sexual orientation. VASDHS) is committed to providing inclusive, comprehensive, patient-centered care to all Veterans including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Veterans and provides a list of providers/employees who have been certified by the VASDHS LGBT Work Group as VASDHS LGBT Experts as they have completed the identified training requirements in LGBT culturally competent health care. VASDHS provides comprehensive health care services to address the unique needs of women Veterans.  Primary care including: Breast cancer screening, mammography and treatment, cervical cancer screening and treatment, contraceptive counseling and management as well as mental health care including sexual assault trauma services. For more information please visit their website at http://www.sandiego.va.gov/services/index.asp