Digest April 12

When you see these people in the hall, be sure to congratulate them on their new positions on the WLSA E-Board:

President - Tina Han
Treasurer - Becca Crocker
Secretary - Val Wicks

Public Service and Political Action Co -Chairs - Bryn Pallesen and Anne Choike
Social Co-Chairs -Meredith Smith (2 semesters) and Diana Zelikovich (1 semester)
Admissions and mentoring - Jane Khodarkovsky

As we all know (but may be choosing to ignore), exams are approaching! Check out the WLSA outline bank here. There's also a link on the wlsa website. Can't find what you're looking for? Our outline bank will only grow if you help out and contribute your outlines. Send your outlines to dnicole@umich.edu. We'll remove your names! You didn't have to get an A for your outline to help out a fellow WLSA member.

As a PSA to 1Ls, check your pendaflexes for information on journal applications!

Come attend a program sponsored by OCS tomorrow, April 13 at 12:20 in room 150. In a shocking turn of events, despite the fact that this is an OCS presentation, lunch will be provided! Lindsay Harrison of Jenner & Block Associate will talk about her pro bono experience that led to her arguing in front of the US Supreme Court.

On January 21, 2009, Jenner & Block Associate <http://www.jenner.com/people/bio.asp?id=1955>Lindsay C. Harrison presented oral argument in the US Supreme Court on behalf of Jean Marc Nken, a citizen of Cameroon whom the Firm is representing on a pro bono basis in his efforts to obtain asylum in the United States.

Mr. Nken, a pro-democracy advocate in Cameroon, applied for asylum in the United States in 2001. He fled Cameroon because the government detained, interrogated, and beat him for his advocacy for free elections. After several years of court and administrative proceedings, his motion to reopen his asylum case was denied by the Board of Immigration Appeals earlier this year. He sought review in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The court of appeals, however, declined to issue a stay of his removal while the appeal there was pending, meaning that he could be deported back to Cameroon notwithstanding the grave danger he faces there.

Mr. Nken, represented by Jenner & Block attorneys, then filed an emergency motion in the US Supreme Court, seeking a stay and contending that the standard that the court of appeals had used in denying the stay was incorrect and unjustified by federal immigration law. The Supreme Court granted the application for the stay and scheduled argument on Mr. Nken's case.

The Jenner & Block attorneys contend that in evaluating Mr. Nken's application for a stay, the court of appeals should have used the traditional test for granting a stay -- a test that eight other federal appeals courts have applied. Instead, the Firm argues, the court of appeals misapplied a 1996 immigration law to permit a stay only if the immigrant can show "by clear and convincing evidence" that his removal is prohibited by law.

At the oral argument, in response to a question by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. about whether an asylum-seeker can pursue his case if a stay is not granted and he has been removed from the United States, Ms. Harrison responded that the case "may abate because they are killed, they are put in jail, they are not in a position to come back to this country. And that is why consideration of the equities in this context is so critical."

At the end of the argument, the Chief Justice expressed thanks to Ms. Harrison and to Acting Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler, who argued for the US Government, saying that the Court "had entered a very expedited briefing and arguments schedule in this case that unfortunately fell over the holiday season, and we appreciate very much that this must have imposed a burden on you and your colleagues." The case was the first argument for Ms. Harrison in the US Supreme Court or in any court.

Have a great week!