Adjunct Professor Don Vaughan (’79)  was a leading advocate for Susie’s Law, an animal abuse law that went into effect four years ago, and Vaughan has used Susie’s Law at Wake Forest University School of Law and at Elon University School of Law to show students how a bill is made. Previous reports from WRAL cite that Susie’s Law, or House Bill 1609, reclassifies the “malicious abuse, torture or killing” of an animal as a Class H felony. That increases the penalties for animal cruelty to a maximum 10-month jail sentence.

When Donna Lawrence wakes up every day, she rubs her dog’s head, feeling the scars that run from her skull all the way down her back. Hair won’t ever grow there, and Susie, the pit bull mix with the big brown eyes and brindle coat, will always have stubs for ears.

Continue reading »

Professor Steve Virgil is the Executive Director of Experiential Education and the founding Director of the Wake Forest Law’s Community Law Clinic.  Over the past five years, Virgil has advised and arranged help with his client, The Vida Fund in Central America, through the Wake Forest University School of Law Community Law Clinic to put together a prospectus and file the proper paperwork with the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA). The Vida Fund announced it loaned more than $5,342,000 to small businesses, start-ups and farmer cooperatives in the following article posted Friday, Nov. 28, 2014. Continue reading »

The judicial process in Ferguson was not illegal, but the prosecutor’s conduct deviated from the norm and thus created a perception of unfairness, two legal scholars tell DW. Continue reading »

The following op/ed by Professor Kami Chavis Simmons ran on the Opinion page of the New York Times on Nov. 25 under the headline, “Bias Can Strain an Already Difficult Standard in Prosecuting Police.” Continue reading »

Professor Gregory Parks addresses fraternity hazing in the following Baltimore Sun story, stating he believes the national Greek organizations bear the greatest responsibility for preventing hazing, adding that universities should encourage more positive bonding experiences. Continue reading »

Local civil-rights activists say they are disappointed that a grand jury in Ferguson, Mo., decided Monday not to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.

Continue reading »

The Ferguson grand jury has made its decision. Now is the time for city, county, and state officials in Missouri to work to restore the legitimacy they lost through the events surrounding the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. Racially disproportionate stops, excessive court fines, police aggression, and other factors also suggest government is not serving all citizens equally. Continue reading »

Professor Mark Hall addresses the politics of private insurance subsidies for the middle class in the following article from the Inside Health Insurance Exchange newsletter saying, “the politics of private insurance subsidies for the middle class are distinctly different.” Hall is one of the nation’s leading scholars in the areas of health care law, public policy and bioethics. He regularly consults with government officials, foundations and think tanks about health care public policy issues. Continue reading »

As the nation waits to find out what decision a grand jury has reached about whether to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, Wake Forest University School of Law Professor and Criminal Justice Program Director Kami Chavis Simmons says it is critical to note that this will not necessarily be the end of the inquiry no matter the decision. Continue reading »