Reasonably Speaking

Board members, business owners, employees, and even customers should all be interested in a company’s compliance policies and adherence to them. Why? Because there is much at stake.

Join us for this episode when we ask two compliance experts about the greatest challenges in creating a strong compliance program and establishing a corporate culture that supports it. We welcome Ivan Fong, Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel at 3M. In 2018, 3M was named to Forbes’ list of Most Reputable Companies, Ethisphere’s list of World’s Most Ethical Companies, and Glassdoor’s list of Best Places to Work, among other honors. We are also pleased to have Lori Martin, Partner at WilmerHale, join us. Lori has an extensive compliance practice, where she helps numerous clients audit and strengthen their current compliance programs.

On this episode, Judge Paul Friedman of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia sits down with Judge Robert Wilkins of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to talk about his book Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

As his book title indicates, attempts and failures to build a museum dedicated to African American history date back more than 100 years. Judge Wilkins played an integral role in making the museum a reality.

Consumer contracts are everywhere. The number of contracts you enter into today may surprise you. Most of the contracts you enter into no longer involve a pen and paper. Purchasing a morning coffee, visiting a website, or scheduling a delivery are just a few daily transactions that more often than not include contract terms.

In this episode, consumer contract experts Omri Ben-Shahar and Florencia Marotta-Wurgler discuss several types of consumer contracts, enforceability of terms, and the potential consequences of agreeing to these terms without reading the fine print.

In part two of this two-part episode, Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Barry Friedman, New York University Law professor and director of NYU’s Policing Project, and John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation continue the discussion about the intersection of race and policing in the United States. The application of new technologies and the danger of doing so without oversight is discussed, as well as some suggestions about what everyone can do to make a positive difference, whether a lawyer, police officer, community leader, or concerned citizen.

Listen as these experts, who currently are on the front lines (an advocate and civil rights lawyer, a civil liberties lawyer whose current work is with communities and police departments, and the director of a think tank tasked with increasing government officials', the media's, and the public's understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law), discuss new policing technologies, as well as new theories about public policy that may help shape the future of race and policing.

In part one of this two-part episode, Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Barry Friedman, New York University Law professor and director of NYU’s Policing Project, and John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation begin their exploration of the intersection of race and policing in the United States. They discuss history of race relations in the U.S., and the resulting impact on law enforcement practices; the role of first responders, and if police officers are the right people to fill that role; and implementing effective training programs.

Listen as these experts, who currently are on the front lines (an advocate and civil rights lawyer, a civil liberties lawyer whose current work is with communities and police departments, and the director of a think tank tasked with increasing government officials', the media's, and the public's understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law), discuss new policing technologies, as well as new theories about public policy that may help shape the future of race and policing.

From start to finish, criminal and tort cases differ in many ways, including how a case is initiated, in which court it is heard and decided, standards of proof, and the consequence if the defendant is found liable (punishment if defendant is convicted of a crime; payment of money damages if defendant is liable for a tort). Some cases [or fact patterns] qualify as both crimes and torts. These differences are especially evident in sexual assault claims where a single legal term, such as “consent,” may be defined quite differently, depending on the type of legal claim asserted.

In this episode, NYU Law’s Erin Murphy and UC Irvine Law’s Ken Simons explore the difference between criminal law and tort law in the United States and then focus on how “consent” is, and should be, defined in sexual assault allegations.

In this episode, renowned experts on American Indian law and policy, Matthew Fletcher and Wenona Singel, discuss the nuanced and highly complex field of American Indian Law. Matthew and Wenona begin by exploring the history of tribal sovereignty, and discuss the rights of American Indians as both tribal citizens and U.S. citizens. We then explore jurisdiction across border lines, particularly in a criminal context. Matthew and Wenona discuss the history of violence against native women, and why, until recently, prosecution has been so difficult. The history of and current U.S. court challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act are also examined.

Listen as the experienced child advocate and juvenile law scholar talk about the current issues and explore state policies and practices that have been implemented to help protect children.

History of the treatment of children in the justice system

[04:26] Modern trends in how we view children

[17:20] Racial disparities

[21:18] Recent progress

How does one prepare, and what is it like to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court? In this episode, Douglas Laycock, an experienced Supreme Court advocate himself, moderates an insightful conversation between two prominent Supreme Court appellate lawyers. Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman of WilmerHale and former Assistant to the Solicitor General Nicole Saharsky of Mayer Brown share their personal experiences as well as their unique insight into the nation’s highest court.

The death penalty in the United States, both new convictions and executions, has declined through recent decades. In this episode, we explore the history of the death penalty and the various factors that are contributing to this decline.

Death penalty expert and author of End of Its Rope: How Killing the Death Penalty Can Revive Criminal Justice, Brandon Garrett, talks about this history and the revealing details of his data collection on the demise of capital punishment. We are also joined by ALI’s past President Roberta Cooper Ramo and former Judge Christine Durham, who discuss ALI’s removal of the Death Penalty from the Model Penal Code, perhaps one of the earliest indications of the future of capital punishment.

The History of the U.S. Death Penalty

[04:00] ALI and the decision to remove the death penalty from the Model Penal Code

[24:00] Reasons for the death penalty’s decline

[43:00] Race and the death penalty

[46:00] The future of the death penalty