First Monday - June 2, 2003

In this issue:

• Legal Aid Clinic Wins Major Asylum Case
• College of Law Emphasizes Service and Excellence in 2003 Graduation
  • Commencement Address Extols the "Humility of Service"
  • Awards Recognize Professional and Academic Excellence
  • Visiting Jurist Program Announces

Legal Aid Clinic Wins Major Asylum Case

In a multi-year struggle that found its way twice to the U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and once to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Legal Aid Clinic of the College of Law has secured a grant of asylum for an individual who experienced persecution in the People's Republic of China. Yi Quan Chen came to the United States and eventually claimed refugee status as a result of persecution, including physical beating, by government authorities in China. Chen received assistance from Idaho's law school clinic after the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service sought to deport him and the Board of Immigration Appeals denied his application for asylum. With participation by numerous students, guided by faculty members Monica Schurtman and Maureen Laflin, the clinic persuaded the Ninth Circuit to reverse the Board's determination and to find that Chen had proven past persecution coupled with a well-founded fear of future persecution if he were returned to China. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for further consideration, but Professor Schurtman and the students persuaded the appellate court to adhere to the findings contained in its earlier decision. In May, 2003, the Board of Immigration Appeals accepted the Ninth Circuit's view of the case and terminated the deportation proceedings against Chen. Citations to the decisions comprising Chen's litigation odyssey appear in the Ninth Circuit's final order of remand, Chen v. INS, 326 F.3d 1316 (9th Cir. 2003).

College of Law Emphasizes Service and Excellence in 2003 Graduation

Commencement Address Extols the "Humility of Service"

Eastern Idaho native J. Evan Goulding -- whose colorful career has included professional rodeo competition, legislative staffing for the late Senator Frank Church, serving as Los Angeles deputy prosecutor during the Tate-LaBianca murder trials, founding a publicly traded energy company, and, most recently, serving as Executive Director of the Special District Association of Colorado - delivered the commencement address to 95 students on May 17, 2003. Goulding cited corporate corruption scandals as illustrations of values gone awry. He urged graduates to aspire for success that is "not cloaked in the arrogance of material achievements, but in the humility of service."

Awards Recognize Professional and Academic Excellence

During the 2003 commencement ceremony, Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jesse R. Walters received the faculty-voted 2003 Award of Legal Merit, and Professor Mark Anderson received the student-voted 2003 Peter E. Heiser Award for Excellence in Teaching. Graduating student Tracy Jack Crane received the Faculty Award of Legal Achievement. Student Bar Association President Matthew D. Romrell delivered the Outstanding Student Service Award to Christine V. Starr and Spirit of Class awards to Laura MacGregor Bettis and Cynthia Yee. An audience of nearly 900 persons also applauded Professor Arthur Smith and Career Services Director LeAnn Phillips, who have retired this year.

Visiting Jurist Program Announced

On May 23, 2003, in outdoor ceremonies conducted on the lawn of the Idaho Supreme Court in Boise, Chief Justice Linda Copple Trout, former Justice Byron Johnson, and Dean Don Burnett commemorated the career of Justice Alfred Budge, who served on the Court from 1914 to 1949. Framed by an engraved stone bench and two blue spruce trees planted in memory of Justice Budge, the ceremony provided a venue for announcing the "Justice Alfred Budge Visiting Jurist Program" at the College of Law. The program will enable Supreme Court justices or other state judges to spend time in residence at the law school for scholarly, collaborative, and teaching activities. Ordinarily, the time in residence will be two weeks, preceded by preparation at the visiting jurist's residence chambers. The purpose of the program is "to enhance understanding of the judicial function in a democracy grounded in the rule of law, and to encourage research on improving the administration of justice." Release time for judges participating in the program will be provided by the Supreme Court, while the operational expenses of the program will be funded through an endowment established by Justice Budge's son, Hamer Budge (Idaho law class of '36). Hamer served as an Idaho district judge, as a Member of Congress from Idaho, and as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Now 92 years of age, Hamer is retired and resides with his wife, Jeanne, in Scottsdale, Arizona.