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law.arizona.edu | Link                                                                                  September 18, 2013

Greetings!

 

This week we feature Professor Kristine Huskey, who has joined the law school as the new Director of our Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic; and student Matt Randle and alumnus Jay Morse, two of the many outstanding military service members we are proud to call our own.

Until the footnotes,
 

Marc

Students
null Matthew Randle (Class of 2014)

 

Matt Randle (BA '11) is a champion for military veterans, not just at the College of Law and University of Arizona, but across the nation.

Matt served as a combat medic in the US Army for five years. He deployed to Kuwait, Iraq, and Korea -- where he was part of the Remains Recovery Team responsible for repatriating the remains of US soldiers previously listed as Missing in Action. Matt received several military honors, including two Army Commendation Medals, and was honorably discharged in 2003.

A Tucson native, he returned to his hometown in 2007, working with youth service organizations before becoming Outreach Director for Vets4Vets, a veterans' support group, and enrolling in the U of A to pursue his BS in Family Studies and Human Development.

On campus, Matt was Student Director of the Veterans Education and Transition Services (VETS) Office and implemented many social programs for student vets, including the first student veteran coed intramural athletic team. He also served on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' Veterans Advisory Council and advised the State of Arizona Governor's Council on Veterans Affairs.

Matt has discussed veterans' issues on "The Lou Dobbs Show," "NBC Nightly News," and other news programs and has been quoted in articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

 

In 2011, the University of Arizona awarded Matt the prestigious Robie Medal for his leadership and community service. That same year, he was named a Pat Tillman Foundation - Tillman Military Scholar. He is one of some 230 active and veteran service members at 16 participating universities to receive Tillman Scholarships, named for the late Arizona Cardinals (and ASU) football star who enlisted in the Army following 9/11 and died serving in Afghanistan.

Matt's role as an advocate for veterans has continued through law school (with additional advocacy skills ready at hand). He is President of Rogers Law Vets, a law student organization; serves on the Board of Directors of Student Veterans of America; and is Co-Chair of the Veterans Advisory Councils for Arizona Rep. Raśl Grijalva and Sen. Jeffrey Flake. 

Through our Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic (see below), Matt is also involved with the Tucson Veteran's Court, whose presiding judge is alum Michael Pollard ('72), a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam.  "Judge Pollard has been a mentor and support to me throughout my time in law school," he says.

Matt hopes to use his experience as a veteran, his work with nonprofits, and his legal training "to help people who can't help themselves." He adds, "I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to pursue my dream of continued service to the veterans' community through a legal education."

He is married to Holly Randle and has two stepsons, Glen and Kyle, with another child on the way.

You can connect with Matt on LinkedIn.

Faculty

Kristine Huskey

Kristine Huskey has joined the College of Law as a Visiting Associate Clinical Professor and Director of our Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic.

The Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic represents military veterans in local veterans' courts. The Clinic also addresses issues such as disability benefits, discharge upgrades, PTSD, homelessness, and other concerns related to military service and the veterans' community.

Kristine had an early introduction to the military. Her mother, an Army nurse who later worked at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Alaska, met her father after he returned home from serving in Vietnam.

She spent her childhood in Alaska and moved to Saudi Arabia when her father took a job there. While in her teens, she returned to the US to study ballet at the Interlochen Arts Academy and went on to pursue a professional dance career in New York City.

Kristine later lived in Angola during its civil war and witnessed the impact of armed conflict firsthand. It was then that she grew interested in law, international security, and foreign affairs.

She earned a BA in political science from Columbia University, working her way through college as a model and bartender, and a JD from the University of Texas School of Law. She went on to teach at UT Law, where she established and directed the National Security Clinic, and at other law schools, including Georgetown Law Center.

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Kristine Huskey, center, with 3Ls Russell Boatwright, a veteran, and Julia Palfreyman in the Clinic.

Kristine is an internationally recognized speaker on topics relating to national security and international human rights and humanitarian law. She is well known for her work representing Guantanamo detainees and worked on the seminal case Rasul v. Bush (2004) before the Supreme Court. She also represented Omar Khadr, the young Canadian citizen charged and tried for war crimes in military commissions.

Kristine has appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, BBC, and other news networks to discuss issues relating to the war on terror, national security, and international law. She has published several scholarly articles and book chapters and is the author of a memoir, Justice at Guantanamo: One Woman's Odyssey and Her Crusade for Human Rights.

It was her Guantanamo work that brought Kristine in close and constant contact with the military. Her collaborations with service members have included co-counseling with JAG attorneys, co-authoring an article with a retired brigadier general, and serving on the board of The Constitution Project with General David Irvine. She also taught and mentored service members who were her students at Georgetown Law.

Kristine was a law clerk for Judge Bea Ann Smith of the Texas Court of Appeals for the 3rd District in 1997-1998. From 1998 to 2006 she was with the International Litigation and Arbitration Practice Group at Shearman & Sterling in Washington, DC, where she started representing prisoners at Guantanamo.

On weekends, to relax, Kristine and her husband cycle and participate in triathlons. Fortunately, Tucson and Arizona are home to enough competitive events to allow for regular Kristine Huskey-style relaxation.

You can learn more about Kristine at her faculty web page.

Alumni

Jay Morse ('01)

 

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Jay Morse, second from left, with members of the Robert Bales prosecution team.

 

Lt. Col. Jay Morse has come a long way from his small-town roots in Yerington, Nevada. 

 

After earning his BA in political science from Colorado College, Jay joined the US Army, where he served as an aviation officer for five years.

 

"When the Army offered to pay for me to go to law school, I applied to schools where I thought I would enjoy living for three years," he says. "I had no idea I would get to meet extraordinary people like then-Deans Terry Sue Holpert and Toni Massaro." He adds, "I also met some exceptional people in my classmates and made lasting friends. I can't imagine how I could have had a better law school experience."

Jay has moved 10 times since graduating from Arizona Law. He currently lives in Washington, DC, where he serves with the Army JAG Corps.

He achieved a major victory recently as a prosecutor in the murder case against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for the murder of 16 Afghan civilians.

"There were literally hundreds of hands that touched this case between March 11, 2012, and August 23, 2013," Jay says, "evidence not only of the case's complexity, but of the dedication to handle all facets of the case diligently, ethically, and skillfully. To be able to say, 'This is professionally the most important thing I will ever do' -- as I was doing it -- was both a surreal and incredibly rewarding experience."

Jay first met the victims over a year ago, under ominous circumstances: He sought permission to exhume their family members' bodies to search for physical evidence.

Daunting cultural differences between the victims and the prosecutors made the investigation particularly challenging, Jay says.

"Imagine what your world view would be like without television, photography, the Internet -- or even electricity! -- or any type of media whatsoever," he says. "Imagine as well how that might affect your perspective, or your memory, or your ability to believe or trust a person or a system so completely foreign to you. To compare the open (and eminently understandable) hostility at that first meeting, to the look of genuine relief I saw in the victims' faces upon hearing Staff Sgt. Bales' sentence of life without parole was -- to understate -- a moment I will not forget."

In addition to working on the Bales case, Jay has spent the past two years as Chief of the Army's Trial Counsel Assistance Program. He supervises 29 attorneys stationed around the world, 23 of them "Special Victim Prosecutors" focusing exclusively on crimes of sexual assault, domestic violence, or involving child victims.

"Given the focus on preventing and prosecuting sexual assault in the military, it is a particularly exciting time to be a trial attorney in the Army," he says.

Footnotes

null Movers and Shakers

 

Congratulations to Floyd Bienstock ('80), "Lawyer of the Year" 

 

Floyd Bienstock, a partner based in the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson, was selected the 2014 "Phoenix Insurance Law Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers. Read the announcement here.

Clifford Girard ('69), Joseph St. Louis ('87), Mark DuBiel ('95) Win Case

Alumni spanning three generations were part of a recent landmark decision in a DUI criminal case in Maricopa County Superior Court. The alumni are Clifford Girard, Joseph St. Louis , and Mark DuBiel. Read about the decision here.

Professor Susie Salmon Contributes Monthly Column, "The Legal Word," to Arizona Attorney Magazine

Beginning with its October issue, Arizona Attorney magazine is featuring a monthly column titled "The Legal Word," penned by Professor Susie Salmon, Assistant Director of Legal Writing.

Melissa Tatum in Australia to Strengthen IPLP Ties with Indigenous Leaders

At the invitation of Indigenous leaders in Australia, Professor Melissa Tatum, Director of the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program (IPLP), is spending this month in Australia visiting Wiradjuri, Gunditjmara, and Ngarrindjeri country and several Australian universities -- just the latest example of our law school's growing ties with Australia.

You can read more about her trip here and see photos here.  

Give to Arizona Law

Military veterans like Matthew Randle and Jay Morse, profiled above, face especially daunting financial and other challenges in attending and completing law school. The State of Arizona and the University of Arizona embrace the opportunity to educate veterans and support them during their time in school. (For more information, visit UA VETS.)

Whether financial assistance for veterans comes from public agencies or private individuals, it yields a tangible reward: Contributing members of society who have served their country, and will now serve the legal profession. Give to Arizona Law to support scholarships for veterans or the  Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic today.

Visit http://www.law.arizona.edu/give/.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Meet and Greet with Kristine Huskey - Thursday, Sept. 26, Washington, DC

Join other alumni to meet our new Visiting Associate Clinical Professor and Director of the Veterans' Advocacy Law Clinic, from 6 to 8 pm at District Commons, 2200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC. Register here.

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Monday's Rehnquist Center Constitution Day Program.

Arizona Supreme Court Visit - Tuesday, Oct. 1

The Rehnquist Center hosts the Arizona Supreme Court, 2 pm, Ares Auditorium (Room 164). Contact Bernadette Wilkinson at bwilkins@email.arizona.edu.

Arizona Court of Appeals Visit - Wednesday, Oct. 9

The Rehnquist Center hosts the Arizona Court of Appeals (Division 2), 2 pm, Ares Auditorium. Contact bwilkins@email.arizona.edu.

"The Data Speaks: A Closer Look at Gun Violence" - Stanford Law Professor John Donohue III - Thursday, Oct. 17

From 5-6 pm, Ares Auditorium. Inaugural event of new QuantLaw Program. Register here. 

Homecoming Alumni Weekend: Friday - Saturday, Nov. 8 - 9

For information and to register, click here. 

 ***

As we engage in the vibrant intellectual life at the law school, our hearts go out to alumni and friends in Colorado and Washington, DC, during this difficult week. 

 

Polsinelli Recent Grads
With (from left) alums Kris Carlson, Frances Sjoberg, and John Barwell at Polsinelli. Kris and John are founders of our Veterans' Clinic.

 

 

Warmly,

        Marc Signature
  
  

 

 

 
Marc L. Miller
Dean & Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law
James E. Rogers College of Law
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