The Class of 2020 has voted Ann Marie Thompson — RWU Law's assistant director of Student Finance & Records — as Staff Person of the Year! A popular personality at RWU Law for a decade now, Thompson was born and raised in Barrington, R.I. She still lives there with her husband, Jim Thompson (with whom she celebrated 28 years of marriage this week), and their two daughters — Danielle, 20, a…
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On Friday, May 15, 2020,, Olin W. Thompson, III, Assistant Federal Public Defender, District of Rhode Island, will be presented by Roger Williams University School of Law with the degree of, Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa., B.A. Vassar College J.D. Duke University School of Law Olin Thompson was an Assistant Federal Defender for the District of Rhode Island for 14 years. He took a particular interest in criminal justice reform issues, serving on Governor Raimondo’s Working Group on Criminal Justice Reinvestment, helping to institute and later serve on the federal H.O.P.E (Helping Offenders Prepare for re-Entry)…, Providence Journal, , “Even with his diagnosis, he’s been squeezing every moment out of life.” At the same event, an assistant attorney general was asked to describe Thompson as an opponent. He did it in one word: “Formidable.” But, he added that Thompson always displayed mutual respect for the prosecution and other parties who were “trying to make the right things happen.” Another called Thompson “a fiercely loyal…
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Need to do research this summer? Do not worry, Bloomberg Law, Lexis, and Westlaw offer summer access to continuing students! Soon to be graduates, do not despair-an email will go out to you next week discussing your access and some other exciting news about library services for alumni. Our LawGuide, Lexis &Westlaw @ RWU Law: Summer Access , explains the details of continuing your use of…
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On Friday, May 15, 2020,, Dennis W. Nixon, Director, Rhode Island Sea Grant; Professor of Marine Affairs, URI, will be presented by Roger Williams University School of Law with the degree of, Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa., B.A. Xavier University M.M.A. University of Rhode Island J.D. University of Cincinnati College of Law Dennis Nixon has served as Director of the Rhode Island Sea Grant Program since 2013, leading a multimillion-dollar research and education program devoted to using scientific knowledge to improve the management of Rhode Island’s coastal waters. He is also a member of the…, Endeavor, ) and for the preceding eight years as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of the Environment and Life Sciences. A marine lawyer by training, Nixon is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States and the Rhode Island bar. He is Secretary and General Counsel for the Point Club, a fishing vessel insurance cooperative he helped found over 30 years ago; and co-founder…, Marine and Coastal Law, (1994), now entering its third edition. Nixon holds certificates in International Institutions from the University of Geneva, and Ocean Law from Harvard Law School. He is an avid sailor, and races weekly on Narragansett Bay. He holds a Coast Guard master’s license, and a PADI open-water diver certification.
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On Friday, May 15, 2020,, The Honorable Margaret H. Marshall, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Ret.), will virtually address the Class of 2020, and be presented by Roger Williams University School of Law with the degree of, Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa., B.A. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg M.A. Harvard University J.D. Yale Law School Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall is the 35th Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a position she held from 1999 until her retirement in December 2010. The Court, which dates from 1692, is the oldest in continuous existence in the United States, and Marshall is the only…, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, , holding that Massachusetts could not deny same-sex couples the right to marry. That ruling made Massachusetts the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage. Chief Justice Marshall was born and raised in South Africa. As an undergraduate, she was elected President of the National Union of South African Students, at the time a leading anti-apartheid organization. She later emigrated to…
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While every class of students that passes through the doors of Roger Williams University School of Law has been remarkable in many ways, this class holds an unenviable place in RWU law history, the first to not hold Commencement in May. You will have a Celebration of the Class of 2020 and a Commencement which is planned for later when the world begins to function more normally. You will be the…
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A cool, cloudy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon in Bristol Friday as a “virtual Commencement” observance was held to honor the 147 graduates of Roger Williams University School of Law’s Class of 2020 , pending an in-person event to be held when the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. The ceremony opened with a brief, live preamble on Zoom, which was hosted by Dean Michael J. Yelnosky and gave…, our, freedom,” she said. “I’m not speaking of threats from abroad. I am speaking of threats to liberty arising here at home, threats to the very structure of government, on which our freedom rests. Your intellect, energy and daring can contribute so much to the solutions for our breaking systems.” Marshall added, “Each of you must decide whether to protect our constitutional values or to repudiate…, are, acts of repudiation.” Honorary degrees were also presented to Dennis W. Nixon , the director of Rhode Island Sea Grant, a professor of marine affairs at the University of Rhode Island, and a member of the advisory board of the Marine Affairs Institute at RWU Law; and to Olin W. Thompson, III , a former and much-admired assistant federal public defender for the District of Rhode Island, who is…, in memoriam, to Professor Anthony J. Santoro, the founding dean of RWU Law (1992-1993) and President Emeritus of Roger Williams University (1993-2000), who died at 77 on September 9, 2019, following a short illness. Tribute was also paid to Yelnosky himself, who will step down on June 30, 2020, concluding an extraordinary six-year deanship at RWU Law. A visionary leader and champion of social justice in legal…
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Roger Williams University School of Law professors, Deborah Gonzalez, and, Jared Goldstein, , in cooperation with the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, and lawyers from the firm Morgan Lewis filed a class-action lawsuit Friday against federal immigration officials and the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. The suit, filed as a habeas corpus petition, seeks urgent relief for a class of over 70 immigration detainees at the facility by calling for their conditional…
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Roger Williams University School of Law is proud to announce that Deborah Gonzalez – director of the Immigration Law Clinic and Associate Clinical Professor of Law – will serve as the Bruce I. Kogan Distinguished Service Professor. The two-year appointment is effective July 1, 2020 and runs through June 30, 2022. “It is impossible for me to describe in any detail the many ways in which Debbie has…, Long Track Record, Gonzalez became the director of RWU Law’s Immigration Clinic after eight years in private immigration law practice. During those years, she founded an organization to assist recent immigrants from Brazil and Portugal adjust to life in the United States. “Even before becoming our clinic director, Debbie was recognized for her community service,” Dean Yelnosky noted, adding that this long…, Immigrant Advocate, Since joining RWU Law’s facult,y her work in the community has only increased. She was a lead author of a white paper for Governor Raimondo regarding the granting of driver’s licenses to undocumented Rhode Islanders. She has given countless ‘Know Your Rights’ presentations across the state, including inside the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, R.I. She has participated in training…, 'Go-To' Immigration Expert, “When President Trump burst on the scene and began to implement his immigration law agenda, Debbie became a go-to person for individuals and organizations, including media outlets, for analysis of the legal changes made by the administration and the legality of those changes,” Yelnosky said. “She was regularly quoted in the print media, and she became a regular on local television and radio.”…, all, detainees due to Wyatt and ICE’s deliberate indifference and unconstitutional confinement of the detainees, which places the detainees at risk of contracting COVID-19,” Gonzalez said. “I’m very excited to be part of this lawsuit and to help these detainees in any way I can.” Gonzalez notes that she could not have done any of this work alone. “No one lives in a bubble,” she said. “I have had lots…
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