ALUMNI IN THE NEWS IV

OBCL Graduate Matt Reynolds is quoted on Fox News defending the right of folks to hold bible studies in their home without a permit.

Read OBCL graduate Bryan Tyson’s musings on court decisions on his law firm's Georgia Supreme Court Blog.

Meredith Turney writes in Townhall that Reagan Was Right About Government Run Health care.

Michael Reitz of 98B infamy blogs on the Washington State Supreme Court Blog about a ruling that a missing transcript material to an appeal requires a new trial for a man convicted of a DUI.

Contact me at mjbigger@juno.com to report any interesting writing or stories involving alumni that you come across.

Did you know?

The Alumni Association is in the midst of completing some projects that will give us a springboard into further successful projects.

The biggest "springboard" project is the compiling of an accurate, up-to-date database of Alumni. With so many alumni moving around, and scattered all across the country, it is a huge project to catalogue what everyone is up to. So, if you are an alumni, hopefully you have gotten a call from one of the great folks who have been touching base and compiling the information.

If you have not, though, would you contact us? We want to know what you are up to, and how we can be in touch for the benefit of the growing body of alumni. We each have our own little circle of influence, and the Alumni Association is about combining those circles of influence for the benefit of all, and that's what this project is all about.

So, if you have not gotten a call, please e-mail us! We would love to let you know what's going on with the college and the alumni association. I can be reached at gabe@gabewaddell.com.

Ninth Circuit reverses self and makes sense.

Thanks to Legal Writing III, all OBCL graduates in the last few years are familiar with the 9th Circuit's 2002 decision ruling the Pledge of Allegiance with the words "under God" unconstitutional.

Last Thursday, in response to yet another lawsuit filed by Dr. Michael Newdow, the 9th Circuit issued a ruling reversing the 2002 holding, finding instead that it IS constitutional to say "under God" in the Pledge.

Writing for a 2-1 majority, Judge Carlos Bea relied on the argument that the words "under God" are a statement of our nation's political philosophy, an echo of the Declaration of Independence:

The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded and for which we continue to strive: one Nation under God—the Founding Fathers’ belief that the people of this nation are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; indivisible—although we have individual states, they are united in one Republic; with liberty —the government cannot take away the people’s inalienable rights; and justice for all—everyone in America is entitled to “equal justice under the law” (as is inscribed above the main entrance to our Supreme Court).

Now there's an argument that should sound familiar to more than a few alumni.

Click here to read the press release from the Becket Fund, a leader in propounding the "philosophy of government" argument.

All 193 pages of the opinion (including Judge Reinhardt's dissent) can be accessed here.

A Moving Article

Sometimes, inspiration comes from strange sources.

I regularly follow the Wall Street Journal's fabulous Law Blog for legal news. It isn't often, though, that my spiritual life is blessed by them, as well. They linked to an interview of a Harvard Law prof, who is living under perpetual threat of death from a terminal illness, as well as constant excruciating pain. He talks about his very real faith through it all.

I was highly blessed by this example of a man who is up to his neck in a very secular legal world, and yet, used every move - and every struggle - to glorify God. He teaches criminal law, studying the depravity of humanity on a daily basis, and yet, keeps his focus on God.

I pray that I, and every OBCL grad out there, will do the same.

Read it here:

You Will Call, I Will Answer

Ahead of the Game

What is the ONE characteristic that makes Oak Brook lawyers the most unconventional? The most unusual? Counter-cultural?

It may be this: we don't have law school debt.

In this month's Bar Journal, California State Bar President Howard Miller wrote the following:

The cost of legal education has skyrocketed, not just at private schools. At Berkeley Law and UCLA, tuition alone is now around $38,000 a year. With many fewer jobs available, students are graduating with combined undergraduate and law school debt of well over $150,000.

Meanwhile, a typical OBCL grad is equipped to work, save, travel, and [if the past is any indication] start a new family . . . all outside the shadow of a mountain of debt.

Not a bad deal.

Alumni in the News III

OBCL Graduate Will Humble scores a victory for Homeschooling liberty in an immigration case.

OBCL Graduate Gabe Waddell writes about an Iranian pastor facing martyrdom for his beliefs.

Alumni in the News II

For those who want to really dust off the old thinking cap on 1st Amendment issues, read OBCL’s Lael Weinberger’s article that he wrote for the University of Detroit Mercy Law Review entitled “Religion Undefined: Competing Frameworks for Understanding 'Religion' in the Establishment Clause.”

Or read the law review that Lael co-wrote with OBCL grad Bob Renaud for the Northern Kentucky Law Review entitled “Spheres of Sovereignty: Church Autonomy Doctrine and the Theological Heritage of the Separation of Church and State.”

Meredith Turney writes for Townhall on the need for expanding Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan for prison privatization beyond the Department of Corrections.

Michael Reitz breaks down justice by justice how the Washington State Supreme Court voted in 2010 at the Washington Supreme Court Blog.

Lastly, Jack Stuart writes on the Christmas Day terrorist attack and the related public policy considerations in an article entitled “Warfront With Jihadistan: Hot Pants, Cold Shoulders, Lukewarm Policy.”