FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP AND RESEARCH
between regulation and innovation, and the so- called ‘pacing problem’ between regulation and innovation, among other issues. Possible dynamic regulatory mechanisms evaluated in Professor Kaal’s scholarship on dynamic regulation include blockchain technology, big data, contingent capital securities, governmental contracts, venture capitalist investment allocation and crowdfunding. Robert Kahn | PROFESSOR While at St. Thomas, Robert Kahn has worked to relate his scholarship to the broader world and human dignity. His early work focused on hate speech, cross burning and the Danish Cartoons. In 2011, Kahn wrote an essay comparing bans on the burqa to nineteenth century restrictions on Catholicism in the United States. In 2016, he wrote an article questioning police calls on the NFL and teams to punish professional athletes who made symbolic gestures calling attention to Ferguson and other instances of police violence against African Americans. More recently, Kahn has questioned the need for mask bans, and used the debate over mask mandates to question whether the same deference given mask abstainers might also be offered to other marginalized groups in our society.
Moran’s research has also been cited in testimony before the Oregon and Connecticut state legislatures about why legislation expanding public access is critical to policing reform; a written plan to reform policing in New York; and investigative reports exposing police accountability failures in Minnesota, Maine, New Hampshire and Oregon. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers named her article Police Privacy a “must read” for lawyers attempting to gain access to information about police misconduct. Joel Nichols | ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND PROFESSOR Joel Nichols’ scholarship centers on the intersection of law and religion. His writing demonstrates both the capacities and limits of civil law, by explaining how sometimes religious norms (or religious law) have a greater hold on individuals and communities than civil law itself. Nichols challenges state law to grapple with the lived reality of faith and he also explores how principles of faith make their way (or don’t) into laws and judicial opinions that affect entire communities – in areas as diverse as First Amendment religion topics, family law, human rights and legal history. Nichols is deeply invested in legal education and the formation of students, both at St. Thomas and in the wider legal academy. Jerry Organ | BAKKEN PROFESSOR OF LAW AND CO-DIRECTOR OF THE HOLLORAN CENTER FOR ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE PROFESSIONS Jerry Organ has been influential in changes among law schools nationwide regarding conditional scholarship programs and law student well-being. His research on conditional scholarship programs led the American Bar Association (ABA) to require law schools to provide admitted applicants with information about scholarship retention rates. As a result of this increased transparency, a significant number of law schools have moved away from conditional scholarship programs. In 2014, Organ and his co-investigator David Jaffe were able to secure modest funding from the ABA to support a survey on law student well-being. The results were published in 2016 and were a catalyst for the ABA’s National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. Julie Oseid | MORRISON FAMILY DIRECTOR OF LAWYERING SKILLS AND PROFESSOR Julie Oseid focuses her scholarly articles on how the writing techniques authors use in fiction, essays,
Rachel Moran
Rachel Moran | ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Rachel Moran’s research focuses on police
accountability and public access to information about police misconduct. This past year attorneys have cited her research in multiple federal courts of appeal and state courts addressing questions about whether to allow public access to records of police misconduct.
Page 32 St. Thomas Lawyer
Powered by FlippingBook