Volume Six ◊ Issue 23 ◊ July 15, 2021

Professor Brad Areheart recently spoke virtually at the 2021 iteration of SEALS. He spoke as part of a discussion group entitled “Work in the Digital Age" and presented an early version of an article entitled, “Privacy Norms in an Age of Pandemics.”

Professor Robert Blitt discussed the Russian Orthodox Church’s burgeoning role as an echo chamber for Kremlin foreign policy in an oped published by Fordham University's Orthodox Christian Studies Center and translated into six languages (Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Romanian, Greek, and Bulgarian). The Center’s Public Orthodoxy website functions as a forum for scholars to comment on issues of contemporary concern and to prompt further conversation while bridging the ecclesial, the academic, and the political. [Sharing a “it’s a small world after all" moment, the Center’s co-director, Prof. George E. Demacopoulos, is a Knoxville native and UT alum (history and religious studies)—Go Vols!] Professor Blitt's article, Constitutional Amendments Bless the Russian Orthodox Church’s Growing Foreign Policy Role, is available here.

As part of pleadings advanced in the landmark Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) et al. v. Royal Dutch Shell PLC case, plaintiff attorneys (representing over 17,000 individuals) cited Professor Blitt’s 2012 article, Beyond Ruggie's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Charting an Embracive Approach to Corporate Human Rights Compliance. The article takes a critical look at the UN’s Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights, and suggests businesses not tarry in taking concrete measures to comply with relevant human rights norms.

In seeking to force Shell to reduce CO2 emissions, Friends of the Earth argued the corporation was accountable under the Netherlands’ unwritten standard of care law for failing to honor a pledge that it was "committed to respecting human rights.” The Dutch court determined that the UN Guiding Principles "constitute an authoritative and internationally endorsed ‘soft law’ instrument" and as such afforded a "suitable...guideline in the interpretation of the unwritten standard of care” under the Dutch civil code. Based on this determination, the court concluded Shell "has an obligation...to contribute to the prevention of dangerous climate change through [its] corporate policy” and ordered the company to reduce its CO2 emissions "by net 45% in 2030, compared to 2019 levels.” It is anticipated Shell will appeal the ruling. You can read more about the case here.

On July 15th, Professor Sherley Cruz co-facilitated a half-day workshop entitled Risk Mitigation and Best Practices for Engaging in Racial Justice Work. The workshop was hosted by the Clinical Legal Education Association and the American Association of Law Schools’ Clinicians of Color Committee. The sessions. which were led by Michelle Christian of UTK, Julie Lawton of DePaul, Dana Thompson of U Michigan , and employment law attorneys David Brody and Andrea Kramer, explored how to support and build community for clinicians of color engaged in racial justice work. 

Professor Alex Long's article “If the Train Should Jump the Track ...”: Divergent Interpretations of State and Federal Employment Discrimination Statutes, 40 Ga. L. Rev. 469 (2006) was recently cited by a dissenting judge on the Iowa Supreme Court in Godfrey v. State, 2021 WL 2671324 (Iowa June 30, 2021). The majority opinion overturned a $1.5 million jury verdict against the governor of Iowa involving alleged sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation.

Professor Glenn Reynolds appeared on the Pacific Research Institute's podcast, talking about his recent book, "America's New Destiny in Space."

Professor Reynolds appeared on Fox News Primetime talking with host Mark Steyn about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Professor Glenn Reynolds' Tennessee Law Review article, A Critical Guide to the Second Amendment, was cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Hirschfeld v. ATF, in which the Fourth Circuit found that it is unconstitutional to deprive 18-21 year old citizens of the right to arms.

In an article in Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Chief Economist Tom Orlik explores the details and likely effects of President Joe Biden’s sweeping order aimed at promoting competition, with input from reporter Anna Edgerton and Professor Maurice Stucke.

Dean Emeritus Wilson also took part in a workshop on June 24 sponsored by faculty at Vanderbilt Law School and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in which an interdisciplinary group of faculty, administrators, law students, and others gathered virtually to reflect on lessons learned during the pandemic that we can use going forward as we innovate and improve. And, on July 8 and 9, Wilson attended a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools.