DePaul Law News

Professor Sarnoff weighs in on Supreme Court's DNA patent ruling

Professor Joshua Sarnoff, director of DePaul's Center for Intellectual Property Law, called yesterday's Supreme Court ruling against isolated DNA patenting "momentous."

"The decision will free researchers, clinicians, and the public to perform research and diagnosis without restriction to use of patent holders' laboratories," explained Sarnoff.

The case concerned patents held by Utah-based Myriad Genetics company, which identify genes that correlate with an increased risk of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The patent claimed to own isolated DNA molecules that have not been modified from natural genetic sequences by removing the non-coding DNA regions.

Sarnoff says the decision is also significant as the court categorically reaffirmed that products of nature “are not the kind of thing that Congress intended to be subject to private ownership through patent rights, and that mere isolation from nature is not sufficient to change the nature of those products into human 'inventions.'

"The ruling will also allow competition in diagnosis and promote additional research thorough the creation of a public database of information on mutations, which currently Myriad possesses as a trade-secret, access-restricted database that it was able to create from its ability to direct all genetic testing to its own laboratories."

After the ruling, three companies and two university labs said that they would begin offering genetic testing in the field of breast cancer, the New York Times reported.

Sarnoff takes issue with the court's additional ruling to authorize patenting of synthetically-created DNA, known as cDNA. He also expressed concern that the court may not have provided a sufficiently clear line to distinguish natural products from human inventions.

“However,” he states, “[the court] clearly rejected the asserted ‘reliance’ interests of the plaintiffs and others in investments made to seek these patents, given that the Patent Office has issued patents on isolated DNA sequences for many years. As the court stated, those concerns are for Congress, where we can now expect biotechnology and pharmaceutical and chemical patent owners to turn next.”

Professor Sarnoff joined with other intellectual property law and constitutional law professors to file an amicus brief in the case. He is currently the featured expert on DePaul's Newsroom.

DePaul Law's gun violence program responds to President Obama’s Chicago visit

Today President Obama is home in Chicago, pressing Congress to act on his proposals to reduce gun violence. The president’s proposals come at a critical time for our nation. This is a watershed moment when political leaders might exercise courage to curtail the epidemic of gun violence. 

At DePaul University College of Law, a Program on Gun Violence has been initiated by Professor Barry Kellman. This is the only such program at an American law school, and one of the very few law-based programs to focus on these issues. The mission of the DePaul Program on Gun Violence is to contribute to the understanding of the law of curtailing gun violence and thereby enable that law to be optimally effective. This mission is based on the recognition that these issues are complex with dimensions that go from international trafficking to local crime control. We strive to educate people about these issues (within and outside DePaul) and to contribute rigorous legal analysis to the public debate.

According to Professor Kellman, the president’s proposals are altogether consistent with the Second Amendment; in fact, the president’s proposals strengthen the Second Amendment’s express commitment to building the security of a free country. Certainly, the nation’s Founding Fathers understood that a democracy must have the right to decide how much lethal force private citizens can put to use. While everyone has a right to defend themselves, the Supreme Court has made clear that society has the right to regulate firearms for its security, and “dangerous and unusual” weapons, including machine guns and other military weapons, do not have Second Amendment protections.

Professor Alberto Coll to debate presidential powers

In the spirit of the recent presidential candidate debates, DePaul Professor Alberto Coll and University of Chicago Professor William Howell will sound off on the powers and limitations of the president as commander-in-chief, head of state and chief executive. WBEZ’s Alison Cuddy will moderate the public debate, which will be held on November 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Hermann Hall Auditorium, 3241 South Federal Street, Chicago.

Professor Coll serves as director of the European and Latin American Legal Studies Program and the International Law LL.M. Program at DePaul. He is a frequent lecturer on American foreign policy, U.S. relations with Cuba and Latin America, and international legal and political issues. He is author of The Wisdom of Statecraft and editor of several other books on international relations and law. Prior to joining DePaul, he served as chairman of the strategic research department at the U.S. Naval War College. He formerly served as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense at the U.S. Department of Defense and as consultant to numerous defense and intelligence organizations. 

Professor William Howell is the Sydney Stein Professor in American Politics at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, and is the author of Power without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action.

Download Presidential Powers Debate flyer

Can state and local governments regulate immigration? UCLA law professor to address issue at Enlund Centennial Lecture

UCLA Professor Hiroshi Motomura will discuss the role of state and local governments in addressing immigration and citizenship as DePaul University College of Law's Enlund Scholar-in-Residence. The Enlund Lecture, one of the College of Law's centennial celebration events, is free and open to the public and will be held on October 25 at 3 p.m. in the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. 

State regulation of immigration is a hot topic, especially after two recent Supreme Court decisions regarding such efforts by the state of Arizona (Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting and Arizona v. United States). Professor Motomura will put these cases in a larger historical and theoretical context. State and local laws on immigration and immigrants have a long history, and they raise issues thatare fundamental not only to American constitutional law but also to the definition of U.S. citizenship itself. 

Hiroshi Motomura is the Susan Westerberg Prager Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His book, "Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States" (Oxford 2006), won the 2006 Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award from the Association of American Publishers as the year’s best book in law and legal studies, and was chosen by the U.S. Department of State for its suggested reading list for foreign service officers. He is co-author of two casebooks—"Immigration and Citizenship: Process and Policy" and "Forced Migration: Law and Policy"—and author of some of the most frequently cited pieces in the field, starting with "Immigration Law After a Century of Plenary Power: Phantom Constitutional Norms and Statutory Interpretation," in the Yale Law Journal (1990). Professor Motomura’s current project is "Immigration Outside the Law," under contract with Oxford University Press.

 

Please register for the Enlund Lecture at law.depaul.edu/enlund by October 18.

DePaul University College of Law is an accredited Illinois MCLE provider. This event has been approved for one hour of CLE credit.

 

About the Enlund Scholar-in-Residence Program

Established in 1988, thanks to a gift from the late E. Stanley Enlund (’42), the endowed Enlund Scholar-in-Residence Program deepens our understanding of the law and its role in society. The College of Law selects the scholars, jurists and lawyers who serve as Enlund Scholars based on the meaningful contributions they have made to the development of law and legal institutions through their research, advocacy and practice.

DePaul’s Civil Rights Clinic helps set policy prototype in Illinois

In August, students in the DePaul Civil Rights Clinic along with People’s Law Office represented Bianca Feliciano, a young Latina transgender woman, in securing a historic settlement with the town of Cicero. College of Law Civil Rights Clinic Director Joey Mogul, a partner at People’s Law, led the litigation. The settlement promotes new policies to protect transgender individuals against gender identity discrimination, making Cicero Police Department one of the first metropolitan police departments in the country to incorporate such guidelines.

Windy City Media reported on the Feliciano v. Town of Cicero verdict. Town of Cicero spokesperson Ray Hananina, who is quoted in the article, encouraged other communities to follow suit. 

DePaul’s Civil Rights Clinic focuses on civil rights cases involving police or prison misconduct as well other claims involving race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. Professor Mogul specializes in civil rights cases involving police misconduct, First Amendment expression, and capital defense cases.

 

 

Harvard Law Professor Kenneth Mack to deliver annual Enlund Lecture at DePaul

As DePaul University College of Law's spring 2012 Enlund Scholar-in-Residence, Harvard Law Professor Kenneth W. Mack will deliver a lecture titled "A Civil Rights History in the Age of Obama" on Thursday, April 12 at the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 8005, Chicago.

Professor Mack will discuss ways to reframe the conventional methods of teaching and writing the history of the civil rights movement, with a particular emphasis on the legal history of the African American civil rights movement. He will suggest that the “Age of Obama” makes such a reframing imperative at our present moment.

The lecture and reception are free and open to the public, but a reservation is required by April 9, 2012. To register, please visit law.depaul.edu/enlund. 

DePaul University College of Law is an accredited Illinois MCLE provider. This lecture has been approved for up to one (1) hour of CLE credit.

Dean Mark visits A.N. Pritzker Elementary School to teach First Amendment to seventh graders

Must the government release its photos of Osama Bin Laden to the public? Can a magazine be liable for circulating a photo of Whitney Houston at her funeral? Can students march from school to city hall, carrying protest signs and blocking traffic during rush hour?

Seventh grade students from A.N. Pritzker Elementary School wrestled with these and other difficult First Amendment questions during a recent social studies class led by DePaul College of Law Dean, Gregory Mark and Pro Bono & Community Service Initiative Director, Cheryl Price.

Dean Mark and Ms. Price visited Pritzker on Wednesday, February 29, 2012. This was Dean Mark’s second visit to Pritzker this academic year. Dean Mark also taught constitutional law to Pritzker’s sixth and seventh graders in October 2011 as part of the Chicago Bar Association’s and American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Week. The Dean has found these teaching opportunities both rewarding and fun and enjoys working with middle school students. According to Dean Mark: “The students at Pritzker have an inspiring energy. Their questions about the legal issues we discuss speak to both their insight and their ability grasp some pretty nuanced problems. Being there is a pure joy for me.”

DePaul moot court teams advance in regional and national competitions

DePaul student teams participated in a variety of moot court and practical skills competitions in February, several teams moving on to advanced or national rounds.

ABA Client Counseling Competition

Brandon Baseman and Zariah Udeh placed first in the ABA Client Counseling Competition, Midwest Regional. They defeated John Marshall and the University of Illinois in the finals, and will compete for the national championship in Durham, North Carolina, on March 16-17.

Charleston Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition

Erik Nelson and James Maruna advanced to the semifinals in the fifth annual Charleston School of Law National Moot Court Competition held February 2-4, 2012. The problem involved the warrantless placement of a GPS tracking device on a vehicle. Student teams argued whether this placement violated a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights. The fact pattern mirrored those found in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Jones. Legal writing instructor Mary Ann Becker coached the team.

Vanderbilt National First Amendment Moot Court Competition

David Porter and Lizz Esfeld advanced to the semifinals in the 22nd annual National First Amendment Moot Court Competition at Vanderbilt University on February 16-17. Recognized as one of the nation’s finest constitutional law competitions, this year’s problem focused on the constitutionality of religious displays on public property. 

George Washington National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition

Aaron Dozeman and Rachel Brown advanced to the quarterfinals in the George Washington University Law School National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition held February 10-11. The competition problem focused on the intersection of copyright law and the religion clauses of the First Amendment. 

Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

Kristy Jackson, Michael Krug, Valerie Lengerich, Andrew Lukas and Maria Magginas competed in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Midwest Regional held February 11-12 in Chicago. Lukas and Lengerich received praise from judges and opponents for their outstanding oral advocacy skills. A team from the University of Notre Dame defeated DePaul in the regional rounds. Senior research fellow and adjunct professor Gabriel Sanchez coached the team.