Law

Summer 2014

Legal Guide to Social Media: Rights and Risks for Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Kimberly A. Houser

Allworth Press, 2013

Millions of photos, links, and comments are posted to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter every day, yet the legal briar patch of copyright, privacy, defamation, and more can snag both personal and business users. Houser, an attorney and clinical professor in Washington State University’s College of Business, wrote this book as a guide to some common legal risks of social media.

… » More …

Winter 2013

Battered Women, Their Children, and International Law

Taryn Lindhorst ’84 and Jeffrey L. Edleson

Northern University Press, 2013

The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction ruled that any child taken from one parent by another across international borders must be returned to their home country for custody to be properly and legally determined. While this saves parents who are victims of child abduction, it doesn’t account for those, especially women, who felt the need to emigrate to free … » More …

Winter 2012

The Law and the Land

Indian Law Attorney Brian Gunn pushes into new territory for his tribe and others

In the summer of 1951, a Colville Indian named Peter Gunn sued the United States government for the loss of a portion of his ancestral lands. He joined members of a number of other tribes including the Lake, San Poils, Methow, Okanogan, and Nespelem, all living on the Colville reservation and whose homelands, which once covered nearly half of Eastern Washington, had been given to the public for settlement in the late 1800s.

Two generations later, Gunn’s grandson Brian, 38, filed another suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior, this … » More …

Summer 2007

Anatomy of Murder: Robert Keppel '66 Police Science, '67 MA Police Science

In 1974, during Robert Keppel’s second week as a major crimes detective with the King County Sheriff’s Office, he was assigned the cases of two women who had gone missing on the same day from Lake Samammish. They turned out to be two of Ted Bundy’s victims, and the beginning of Keppel’s career-long study of serial killers. Keppel left the Sheriff’s Office in 1982 to become the lead criminal investigator for the Washington State Attorney General’s office. At the same time, he worked on the Green River Killer Task Force. From death row in Florida, Bundy contacted Keppel, offering to help him find the Green … » More …

Spring 2003

Pailca oversees accountability within Seattle Police Department

A case involving Asian-American teenagers detained by a Seattle police officer for jaywalking sounds routine enough, but the July 2001 incident soon unfolded into highly publicized accusations of racial profiling. The issue landed in the lap of attorney Sandra “Sam” Pailca, the first director of the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) within the Seattle Police Department.

Pailca found that while the officer was rude to the group, his actions did not amount to inappropriate treatment because of race. The police chief agreed with Pailca’s call for minor discipline for the officer, a decision unpopular both in the Asian community and with many in uniform, leading … » More …

Summer 2004

Patterson enjoyed best of both worlds as alumni director, state legislator

Eugene G. “Pat” Patterson always thought there was something special about the loyalty of Washington State University alumni. Analyzing that phenomenon, he concluded the University’s location, traditions, and residential campus, which provided the opportunity for a 24-hour student experience, were key factors in developing those fierce loyalties.

A Pullman native and WSU graduate himself (’46 Political Science), Patterson served as alumni director at his alma mater for 26 years. When he stepped down in 1978, he said, “Working in a college environment has to be one of the most gratifying experiences one could ever have. Young people with new and differing ideas presented different challenges.”

… » More …

Summer 2004

The kid from Odessa

As he looked around the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room last June, Lonny Suko had not lost sight of how he got there.

At age 59, he had gone east to face questions about his ability to replace U.S. District Court judge William Fremming Nielson, who took senior status.

Did Suko have the personal and professional mettle to serve as judge for the Eastern District of Washington state?

His answer came July 15, when the Senate confirmed President Bush’s nomination of him by a 94-0 vote.

The trip to Washington D.C., a venture backed by the area’s Congressional delegation, capped what was a “tremendously … » More …

Fall 2007

Food fights

Four children died in the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. Attorney Bill Marler's client survived, but only after spending six months in the hospital. Marler sued and won a $15.6 million settlement for Brianne Kiner. Even more significant, the work he produced for the case made him an expert not only on E. coli, but on the whole food production system.

» More ...

Summer 2002

“You can’t just keep sweeping this stuff under the rug”

Washington State University’s 15th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration brought hundreds out to Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum in mid-January, despite a blizzard. Those who braved the storm were rewarded with an inspirational program of music, film, special recognitions, and a speech by Alabama civil rights lawyer Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dees has won dozens of important legal victories against hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, White Aryan Resistance, and most recently, the Aryan Nations in Idaho.

In September 2000, a jury of 12 Idahoans found The Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, along with several other members, liable … » More …