Category: Law School News

The U.S. Constitution is often treated as if it is a nearly sacred and flawless document. But on April 7, the Drake Constitutional Law Center held a symposium on the topic of whether the U.S. Constitution actually hinders democracy.

In a lecture at Drake Law School this April, 1974 Drake Law School graduate Stephen Rapp said that the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone is a response to weaknesses of the tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia, on which he also served.

Drake program to address moral dilemmas in law and medicine

In a society polarized by hot-button issues, morally sensitive topics can be extraordinarily divisive in the workplace. And for judges, lawyers, doctors and pharmacists, determining the role of an individual’s conscience can be problematic. That conundrum will be the topic of a multidisciplinary program being presented jointly by Drake University Law School, the American Judicature Society and Drake’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

At the Feb. 1 dedication of the transfer of National Bar Association archives to the Opperman Law Library, William S. Morris, the grandson of NBA co-founder James B. Morris, described the racial tensions in Des Moines during the 1920s. He cited appalling examples, such as when the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross at the foot of the Iowa State Capitol building in 1925.

The Drake Law School National Moot Court team finished among the top 8 teams out of the 28 teams that competed in the final rounds of the National Moot Court Competition in New York City.

From attending an orientation at the Iowa State Capitol to witnessing a second-degree murder trial, first-year law students' educations are enhanced by law-in-action experiences.

This spring, the annual Drake Law School Constitutional Law Symposium will tackle a bold topic for debate: Does the U.S. Constitution thwart democracy? The event, titled "Our 'Undemocratic' American Constitution," is set for Saturday, April 7.

Participation by alumni and friends in the Law School Annual Fund is showing a 68 percent increase in the number of donors from this time last year and a substantial 17 percent increase in the amount contributed as well.

Third-year law student Jess Phelps sits in a unique position. After all, his office lies just down the hall from Iowa Supreme Court Justice Mark Cady, LA'75, LW'78, on the fourth floor of the Iowa Judicial Branch Building.

Law school students and faculty at Drake are trying to improve children's rights in Iowa by trying out a novel idea -- asking foster children themselves what laws need to be changed to better protect them, and then enlisting those foster children to lobby lawmakers to pass that legislation.