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Mr. Richard E. Johnson Can civil rights plaintiffs be made to pay defendant's attorney fees?
Law Office of Richard E. Johnson

Tallahassee, FL 		Can a plaintiff who loses a federal civil rights case be made to pay the defendant’s attorney fees under state law? Assume a defendant wins summary judgment on both federal and state-law claims that share a common nucleus of operative fact. Federal law only allows for prevailing plaintiffs to recover attorney fees, but state law provides for prevailing party fees on an equal basis for plaintiff and defendant alike. Defendant claims 50% of fees since the hours on the state and federal claims are inseparable. Is there an argument that the defendant’s inability to receive fees on the federal claim preempts the defendant’s ability to recover fees on the related state claim? What are the policy implications of state tort reform on longstanding federal civil rights law?
Topic Available
Is Prolonged Solitary Confinement Cruel and Unusual Punishment?
ACLU
The question of whether solitary confinement per se constitutes cruel and unusual punishment has been litigated, and generally answered in the negative. However, modern psychological research has shown that prolonged solitary confinement has profound permanent effects and sometimes has been compared to torture. Is solitary confinement becomes cruel and unusual under our evolving standards of decency? Is there a point at which, even if it is generally acceptable, prolonged solitary confinement is cruel and unusual?
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Mr. Shahid Ali Buttar When senior U.S. officials are complicit in enhanced interrogation techniques that some describe as torture, what is the potential impact on the international legal regime?
Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Northampton, MA 		Despite international commitments to investigate allegations of torture, and the Nuremberg precedent requiring prosecution throughout the chain of command, senior U.S. officials confront neither prosecution nor investigation for potential war crimes (including torture) violating international treaties, federal statutes, and the Constitution. Can the international legal regime founded after WWII survive violations by the nation that pioneered it? Does a limited investigation of junior level players ratify the legality of torture, even if repudiated as a policy matter? Will it invite further torture in the future? And does it threaten the legitimacy of the criminal justice system generally?
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Mr. Shahid Ali Buttar Do police stops for the purposes of domestic surveillance / intelligence collection implicate Fourth Amendment protections?
Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Northampton, MA 		Law enforcement authorities increasingly stop law-abiding Americans for searches or interrogations without suspicion of criminal activity, for the purposes of collecting intelligence information for retention, datamining, and dissemination to other agencies. When police officers interact with an individual on such grounds, should they be constrained according to a formalistic understanding of the Fourth Amendment operable only in the context of criminal law enforcement, or should a functional standard (recognizing the powerlessness of the individual relative to the officers) apply? What is the meaning of the Fourth Amendment under the preventive paradigm?
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Ms. Beth Orlansky Should childcare be considered an “essential service” such that childcare providers qualify for FEMA funding following a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina?
Mississippi Center for Justice

Jackson, MS 		Following Hurricane Katrina, FEMA provided funds to rebuild “essential services.” Zoos were on the list of essential providers, but childcare providers were not. Should a childcare provider be able to get FEMA funding to rebuild following a natural disaster? What are the arguments for and against including childcare providers in the list of essential services? What can be done now to ensure that working parents will have affordable childcare after the next disaster strikes?
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Ms. Amy Radon Gender Equity in Community Athletic Programs
Public Justice, P.C.

Washington, DC 		Many non-school baseball leagues that are administered through community programs prohibit girls from playing baseball. We would like to know if, or under what circumstances, these baseball leagues may be subject to either Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibit gender discrimination by state actors. This issue requires looking into whether community baseball leagues (i.e., baseball programs that are NOT offered by schools) might be considered "state actors" by virtue of the fact that they use public resources, receive public funding, etc.
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Mr. Reilly Morse What can Mississippi housing advocates take from the recent ADC v. Westchester County Fair Housing decision to challenge Mississippi's analysis of impediments to fair housing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?
Mississippi Center for Justice

Biloxi, MS 		When state and local governments accept federal funding for housing and community development from Housing and Urban Development, the grantee must certify to HUD that it will affirmatively further fair housing as a condition of receiving funds. Uncertainty about what constitutes "affirmatively further", the requirement to consider the impact of race, and what action is required if race-related impediments exist, continues after a recent federal case in the Southern District of NY. Mississippi Center for Justice seeks research on the applicability of recent case law on the analysis of Mississippi's identified impediments to Fair Housing.
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Ms. Linda Rigsby Legality of disparate medical costs charged to insured and uninsured people
Mississippi Center for Justice

Jackson, MS 		The uninsured pay far more for the same medical care and procedures than people with insurance. A doctor treating an insured patient may get $5,000 for a rotator cuff surgery while her uninsured patient pays over $20,000 for the identical procedure. In Mississippi, the primary reason families are forced into bankruptcy and lose their homes is the grossly differentiated medical costs for the uninsured. We welcome an analysis of prior efforts to litigate the fairness of the differential, and an assessment of the viability of state and/or federal court litigation in Mississippi in the future.
Topic on Waiting List
Ms. Maha Jweied The Civil and Human Rights’ Implications of the Migration of Citizens from one U.S. Territory to Another


Washington, DC 		A recent documentary explores the unknown history of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the U.S. Virgin Islands between the 1920-1950s. During this time period, the status of these territories and it inhabitants were legally different (U.S. citizenship being given in different years). What legal issues arose from this migration: was it proper for Puerto Ricans to go through immigration upon arrival in Virgin Islands (depends on legal status of territories?); what types of discrimination were faced by Puerto Ricans; what about language issues; and access to courts?
Topic Available
Ms. Beth Orlansky Ensuring rights for unmarried partners under Mississippi's Worker's Comp Laws
Mississippi Center for Justice

Jackson, MS 		Under the Mississippi Worker’s Compensation statute, there is no provision for recovery by a live-in girlfriend/boyfriend when the worker dies as a result of a job-related activity. There are many instances where an unmarried significant other is the sole dependant of the deceased, but cannot recover We would like to introduce legislation this year to broaden the beneficiaries of the Worker’s Comp proceeds in case of death. We would like research on other state statutes to see if similar language has been adopted elsewhere and draft proposed legislation.
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Ms. Beth Orlansky Should Medicaid cover poor children with developmental delays?
Mississippi Center for Justice

Jackson, MS 		Children in poverty often don't get services they need to address developmental delays, increasing the chance they will not start school ready to learn, and in many cases, will not ever catch up. First Steps, Mississippi Dept. of Health's early intervention program, is intended to help infants and children up to age 3 with developmental delays. However, the state has no funding for intervention therapies. Do any states cover program costs with Medicaid? Is it an allowable service under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act? Should private insurance or other federal programs cover this essential early help?
Topic Available
Mr. Andrew C. Simpson Could U.S. v. Denedo represent an opportunity for a broad expansion of the right to coram nobis relief?
Andrew C. Simpson, PC

Christiansted, VI 		Coram nobis is a writ that allows a federal court to alter a judgment in a federal criminal conviction long after the defendant has served his sentence. In the recently decided U.S. v. Denedo case, the primary issue was whether coram nobis relief is available in military courts. In Denedo, the Court held that military courts can entertain writs of coram nobis. Can Denedo be fairly interpreted to represent a vast expansion of the availability of coram nobis relief in non-military, federal criminal cases? What is the potential impact of such a reading? What policy considerations are in play?
Topic Available
Ms. Annie Orelind Decker Local planning commissions and race-based impact
Impact Section, County of Santa Clara, California

San Jose, CA 		Local planning commissions dispense funding for a wide of array of public services such as healthcare, public transit, sanitation, and waste management. These commissions, however, often have membership structures that do not track population size. This disadvantages densely populated areas, which often also have high minority populations. Does disparate per capita public services funding for minorities compared to per capita public services funding for non-minorities violate Equal Protection or Title VI of the Civil Rights Act?
Topic Available
Ms. Annie Orelind Decker One-person one-vote rule and planning commissions
Impact Section, County of Santa Clara, California

San Jose, CA 		Public services planning commissions shoulder the important responsibility of ensuring adequate modes and supplies of public services (such as healthcare, public transit, sanitation, and waste management). Their membership structures often do not track population size. Does this disproportionate membership structure violate the one-person one-vote rule that arises under Equal Protection principles? The two traditional obstacles to such challenges are (1) that planning commissions are appointed bodies, and (2) that they are considered non-governmental organizations. What arguments can be made that these arguments no longer guide the one-person one-vote analysis?
Topic Available
Can a school district prohibit students from certain online activities that occur outside of school hours?

Many Florida school districts attempt to regulate speech that occurs online (via Facebook, MySpace, etc.), with or without school district resources, during or outside of school hours. Prohibited speech includes teasing, social exclusion, and public humiliation. There is also a Florida state statute prohibiting cyberbullying, but the individual school district policies generally attempt to regulate protected speech to a greater extent than the state statute. Do these district policies conflict with the state statute? Can they be reconciled? Are school districts violating students’ 1st amendment rights with these policies? Are the school districts’ policies good policy or do they go too far?
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May a Criminal Defendant Consent to be Tried by a Jury that is not Impartial?

Many criminal defendants waive the right to a jury trial before pleading guilty, but what about a defendant who does not waive the right to be tried by a jury, but does waive the right to be tried by an impartial jury? E.g., the defendant fails to object when he finds out about the bias of a juror who ends up serving on the jury. The circuits are split on whether a defendant may consent to be tried by a jury containing a biased member.
Topic Available
Mr. Joshua A Tepfer Competency of defense witnesses and the Sixth Amendment
Northwestern University School of Law

Chicago, IL 		Do any courts or legislation argue that the question of a defense witness' competency is irrelevant for purposes of admissibility -- i.e., perhaps that the defendant's sixth amendment right to present a defense trumps any question of competency for admissibility purposes? Is this argument reasonable?
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Ms. Lael E Robertson ADA AA and its Fair Housing Act Implications
Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis

Minneapolis, MN 		The passage of the ADA Amendments Act in 2008 significantly expanded the definition of disability and thereby provides persons with disabilities more protection under the three titles of the ADA. The Fair Housing Act has many protections for persons with disabilities within the housing context. However, nothing in the ADAA has expanded its new protection to the FHA. How will the changes to the ADA AA affect cases under the FHA? If there is nothing specifically in the ADA AA regarding its effect on other substantially similar laws, how are they affected?
Topic Available
Ms. Amy Guey-Sun Chen Disability Rights of Applicants/Recipients of Public Benefits Assistance
Bay Area Legal Aid

Oakland, CA 		Oftentimes, recipients of public benefits such as Medi-Cal, CalWORKS, SSI (Supplemental Security Income), SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), and food stamps have one or more mental and/or physical disabilities. Indeed, it is oftentimes these very disabilities which cause them to turn to public benefits for assistance in the first place. Bay Area Legal Aid has many clients whose disabilities result in their having difficulties receiving proper services at their County Social Services Agencies. We are interested in exploring what the disability rights of these applicants and recipients of public benefits assistance are.
Topic Available
Ms. Amy Guey-Sun Chen Medi-Cal Funding for Mental Health Services
Bay Area Legal Aid

Oakland, CA 		The current structure of Medi-Cal funding for mental health services does not allow for adequate portability of care. If a Medi-Cal recipient is temporarily out-of-county (or for foster care children placed out of County), the funding structure for mental health services under Medi-Cal often results in providers not being able to obtain reimbursement for mental health coverage, and therefore not providing it to out-of-County Medi-Cal recipients. What is the funding structure for mental health services under Medi-Cal? What are out-of-County providers obligated to pay? What are some potential fixes?
Topic Available
Mr. Has the McCarran-Ferguson exemption of insurance business from federal antitrust regulation outlived its usefulness?
Boston College Law School

Newton, MA 		A study of the legislative history of the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 reveals that the 79th Congress intended the McCarran-Ferguson Act to be a temporary moratorium on federal antitrust regulation of the insurance industry. An analysis of the insurance industry's role in the current financial crisis demonstrates that the McCarran-Ferguson exemption of the insurance from federal antitrust regulation has outlived its usefulness.
Topic Available
Mr. Reilly Morse Consumer protection for contractor fraud post-Katrina
Mississippi Center for Justice

Biloxi, MS 		Many Mississippians fortunate enough to receive post-Katrina homeowner assistance grants and insurance proceeds on the Mississippi coast had the cash they needed to repair their homes. Unfortunately, the scarcity of skilled workers enabled scam artists and unscrupulous "contractors" to take large deposits before work began and either disappeared or did such shoddy work families ended up worse off than when they started. Mississippi statutory law provides few, if any, consumer protections against this kind of fraud. What should the Mississippi Center for Justice legislative agenda be? What legal protections have worked effectively in other states?
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Mr. Jim Neuhard Are state constitutional rights that aren't found in the U.S. Constitution enforceable in federal court?
Michigan's State Appellate Defender Office

Detroit, MI 		Under what circumstances, if any, can federal courts enforce rights that are explicitly guaranteed in state constitutions but not in the federal constitution? Can the process by which states were admitted to the union or the state’s constitution itself allow federal courts to hold states accountable for granting specific rights not guaranteed under the federal constitution? For example, the Michigan Constitution specifically guarantees the right to an appeal, yet the Federal Constitution only infers that right from the 14th and 5th amendment’s right to due process.
Topic Available
Mr. Jeff Senter What is the impact of elected judges, and judicial elections, on the adjudication of sexual assault cases?
Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER

Brooklyn, NY 		The United States is virtually alone among nations in its extensive use of elected judges. What impact does the use of elected judges have on the adjudication of criminal and civil cases of sexual assault? States vary in their use of judicial elections. How do elected judges in the United States compare to unelected judges in the United States in handling cases involving sexual assault? What impact do publicized, competitive judicial elections have on the prosecution and handling of sexual assault cases?
Topic Available
Legal and ethical obligations when seeking a competence determination for adult criminal defense client
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
When a criminal defense lawyer has reason to question her adult client’s competence, but when conviction would impinge on the client’s liberty less than would a determination of incompetence, what are the lawyer’s obligations when determining whether to seek a competence determination? An attorney may know that if she goes to trial the punishment for her client at most could be twenty years imprisonment. If she seeks an incompetence determination her client could be institutionalized for an indeterminate and possibly longer period than twenty years. Is this strategic decision ethical? Where have the courts split on this?
Topic Available