News

Two Decades of Dedication: Celebrating Professor Ann England's Legacy at Colorado Law

Erin Calkins — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 19:19:20 +0000

Two Decades of Dedication: Celebrating Professor Ann England's Legacy at Colorado Law Erin Calkins Wed, 04/02/2025 - 13:19

Erin Calkins

What originally inspired you to focus on criminal defense, and how did that passion evolve during your time at the law school?

When I was in law school, I worked primarily with unhoused individuals. I had plans to start a homeless legal clinic, but that didn’t work out. Instead, I clerked for a Juvenile Court judge, where I observed criminal court and was drawn to the public defenders and the work they did with clients. I applied to a public defender’s office, thinking I’d never get hired, but I did and I was fortunate to work with great mentors who taught me the ins and outs of criminal defense.

When I joined the Criminal Defense Clinic at the law school, I was excited to share my passion for helping people with my students. Teaching has been a constant source of growth for me, and over the years, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to trust my students. Even though they’re new to the work, their passion to act on injustice is often less jaded. Each year, I relearn this lesson. I am consistently inspired by their drive to change the world.

Reflecting on your 20 years at the law school, what stands out most about your time here?

Teaching at the law school has been a rewarding experience, largely because we’re encouraged to follow our passions. I’ve had the opportunity to organize conferences on issues I care about, bring in national speakers, and create new classes with my colleagues – some that allowed me to travel the world while doing it. I’ve worked closely with national death penalty defenders and started the Korey Wise Innocence Project.

Additionally, I’ve had the privilege to practice in a variety of jurisdictions across the Front Range, from representing service members in Colorado Springs to working with municipal public defenders in Aurora. One of the most rewarding aspects has been being able to represent clients who fall through the cracks—people who can’t afford private attorneys but don’t qualify for public defender services. The freedom to follow my passions, with the law school’s support, is something I’ll always be grateful for.

You've taught countless students over the years—are there any particular stories or experiences with students that have had a lasting impact on you?

It’s always exciting to be part of a student’s first trial experience. I still remember my first trial in law school, and I know how transformative that experience can be. One moment that stands out was when we were fighting �鶹ӰԺ’s camping laws. We did several jury trials representing unhoused individuals, each with a unique and impactful story. In one trial, after the verdict, every juror collected their $6 payment and gave it to the client. That powerful act made both the students and I tear up. Those are the moments I’ll never forget.

I’m endlessly inspired by the students I work with. They remind me that change is possible, and they’re going to be the ones to make it happen.

What are you most excited about in the next chapter of your career?

I’m excited to take on a larger role with the Korey Wise Innocence Project (KWIP) as the next Director. While I’ve been the faculty director since its inception, I’m eager to help KWIP transition into its next phase. We have an incredibly strong staff and board, and I’m looking forward to helping the organization grow.

I’m also excited to explore what’s next for me personally. I’m still driven by the desire to change the world, and I’m ready to find new ways to contribute to the movement for justice.

What advice would you give to your students who are about to begin their careers in criminal defense?

If you see injustice or something that seems unfair, fight it. It’s the small things that add up to the big things.

Trust your instincts—if something feels wrong, trust that, and stand up and object. You can figure out what to say after you stand up.

What will you miss most about your time here at the law school?

While I’m not leaving completely, I will miss the students. Every year, I get to work with a new group of students, and their passion for justice is always inspiring. This generation faces a lot of challenges, but I’m hopeful because they’re smart, compassionate, and driven to make a difference. I’ll miss watching them grow, but I know they’re going to change the world.

As you depart, what final message would you like to leave with the law school community?

Follow your passions.

After two decades of dedicated service, Ann England will be retiring at the end of this year. Throughout her time with Colorado Law and the Clinical Education Program, Ann has made a profound impact on nearly 500 clinic students, as well as her colleagues and community members. Her unwavering commitment to service and her invaluable contributions have been instrumental in shaping the success of both the program and those it serves.

Off

Traditional

White

Celeste Baro '27 Named 2025 David Harrison Innovations in Water and Energy Law & Policy Fellow

Emily Battaglia — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:26:25 +0000

Celeste Baro '27 Named 2025 David Harrison Innovations in Water and Energy Law & Policy Fellow Emily Battaglia Wed, 04/02/2025 - 11:26

Originally published by the Getches-Wilkinson Center on March 29, 2025

University of Colorado Law School student Celeste Baro ('27) is this year’s David Harrison Innovations in Water and Energy Law & Policy Fellow. The Fellowship, initiated in 2010 by partners of the law firm of Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison and Woodruff, P.C. in honor David L. Harrison (Law ‘71), is awarded each year to a Colorado Law student on the basis of academic performance, commitment to public service, and interest in the study of water and energy law and policy. To the extent practicable, each Harrison Fellow will focus on a specific project where the partner organization is advancing innovative solutions for sustainable management of water or related energy resources outside the United States.

Celeste is a first-year law student from Miami, FL, with a passion for sustainability and marine conservation. Holding both a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Pre-Law and a Master’s in International Business from the University of Florida, Celeste combines her academic expertise with a deep-rooted commitment to environmental protection. Raised surrounded by the waters of Miami, she has always felt a strong connection to the environment, which has driven her to pursue a career in environmental law. Through the Harrison Fellowship, Celeste looks forward to advancing her legal expertise in the environmental sector, particularly in marine conservation efforts, and using her knowledge to create meaningful change in preserving natural resources for future generations.

University of Colorado Law School student Celeste Baro '27 is this year’s David Harrison Innovations in Water and Energy Law & Policy Fellow.

Off

Traditional

White

Colorado Law Names Two Wyss Scholars for 2025-2026

Emily Battaglia — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:21:55 +0000

Colorado Law Names Two Wyss Scholars for 2025-2026 Emily Battaglia Wed, 04/02/2025 - 11:21

Originally Published by the Getches-Wilkinson Center on March 31, 2025

University of Colorado Law School students Obie Johnson (’25) and Andrea Shipton (’25) have been named the 2025-2026 Colorado Law Wyss Scholars in U.S. Lands Conservation.

The Wyss Scholars Program, funded by the Wyss Foundation, is awarded to two Colorado Law students each year, supports graduate-level education for promising leaders in United States land conservation. Recipients receive generous financial assistance to cover the full cost of one year of law school, as well as funds for internship opportunities, research assistance, and postgraduate support. Wyss Scholars learn the latest in conservation law and policy and apply that knowledge in careers at land management agencies and nonprofit conservation groups.

Obie Johnson’s interest in public land conservation derives from his childhood along the Gulf Coast of Florida, which instilled in him not just a deep respect for nature but also a bitterness toward humankind’s harmful treatment of it. After moving to Colorado in 2017 for college, these values quickly extended to our public lands through his enjoyment of rock climbing, birding, admiring the very different geology from Florida, and simply listening to the sound of the creeks go by. These experiences combine to impassion Obie to protect every cog and wheel of our public lands.

Since beginning at Colorado Law in 2023, Obie’s guiding principle has been to involve himself as much as possible in the environmental law sphere. This began with research work for the Getches-Wilkinson Center in the Fall of his 1L year and has continued through membership in the Environmental Law Journal, Natural Resources Clinic, Environmental Law Society, and the Colorado Law Animal Legal Defense Fund. Obie’s career goals mirror his work experience with the Center for Biological Diversity and his upcoming summer internship with Earthjustice’s Florida Regional Office; he wants to spend his days litigating to protect the environment as well as writing to advocate for more fundamental reform of our often-inadequate environmental statutes.

Andrea Shipton became interested in public land conservation due to enriching outdoor and conservation experiences as a child, teenager, and young adult in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York. From living alone in a mountaintop cabin and working as a summit steward to interning with the Adirondack Council, the largest environmental nonprofit dedicated to protecting the Park, she quickly became passionate about conserving wildlife and outdoor recreation spaces. As she pursued her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at Hamilton College, I became fascinated by the unique management structure of the Adirondacks–the interspersing of private and public lands, the constitutionally-protected state forest preserve, and the jigsaw puzzle of land classifications determining allowable usage on each tract. Fascinated by this structure and driven by a desire to help protect such landscapes, Shipton decided to pursue law school and study natural resources law—but not before taking a gap year to work (among other jobs) as a ski instructor at Winter Park and a conservation associate at Resource Central, a �鶹ӰԺ-based sustainability nonprofit.

In law school, Shipton has had the opportunity to intern with two federal agencies (the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency) which have granted her key, up-close exposure to some of the nation’s most important environmental laws and conservation regulations. She has also worked as a research assistant for Professor Nadav Orian Peer, where she investigated different ways organizations participate in “climate washing” (making misleading or incorrect claims about the climate benefits of one’s actions) and potential theories of liability for holding organizations responsible.

Outside of her studies, Shipton is the President of the Adventure Club, the Vice President of the Environmental Law Society, and the incoming Managing Editor of the Colorado Environmental Law Journal. She spends nearly all of her free time on public lands, whether that’s running on �鶹ӰԺ’s incredible trail network, camping in Colorado’s state parks on summer weekends, skinning up mountains at sunrise, or competing in skimo and trail races. She is beyond excited to be returning to the environmental nonprofit world this summer as a law clerk in Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain Office. After law school, she plans to pursue a career in public interest natural resources law in the Mountain West. She hope to help protect public lands while also promoting access to these spaces, fostering resiliency amidst the climate crisis, and amplifying historically ignored voices in the conservation conversation.

University of Colorado Law School students Obie Johnson (’25) and Andrea Shipton (’25) have been named the 2025-2026 Colorado Law Wyss Scholars in U.S. Lands Conservation.

Off

Traditional

White

Professor Andrea Armstrong to Deliver 2025 Coen Lecture

Emily Battaglia — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 15:59:58 +0000

Professor Andrea Armstrong to Deliver 2025 Coen Lecture Emily Battaglia Thu, 03/27/2025 - 09:59

Emily Battaglia

The University of Colorado Law School is excited to announce that Professor Andrea Armstrong will deliver the 66th Annual John R. Coen Lecture on Thursday, April 10, from 5:30-7:30 pm in Wittemyer Courtroom. A zoom option will also be available.

Armstrong’s lecture is titled “Carceral Secrecy.” Prisons, jails, and detention centers are “closed institutions,” and conditions within these spaces are often shielded from public view and inquiry. In this lecture, Professor Armstrong will discuss the mechanisms that keep these spaces (and the experiences of people within them) hidden, as well as the purposes that carceral secrecy serves. Register for the event here.

Armstrong is the Dr. Norman C. Francis Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and a 2023 MacArthur Fellow. She is an expert in incarceration law and policy, bringing much-needed transparency to incarceration practices in the United States. Armstrong’s work integrates law, history, public health, and the arts in her efforts to educate broad audiences about the human costs of incarceration. She teaches in the related fields of constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, law and poverty, and race and the law.

Professor Armstrong founded IncarcerationTransparency.org, a database and website that documents and memorializes individual deaths behind bars in Louisiana and supports documentation efforts in South Carolina and Alabama. Her research has been profiled by New Yorker Magazine, cited by the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Guardian, and National Public Radio, among others, and published by leading civil rights and policy law journals including the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Stanford Law & Policy Review, and University of California-Irvine.

Professor Armstrong is a graduate of Yale Law School (JD), the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (MPA), and New York University (BA). She is certified by the U.S. Department of Justice as a Prison Rape Elimination Act auditor.

The Coen lectureship was established in 1955 in memory of John Coen, a distinguished member of the Colorado bar and an able public speaker. The lectureship seeks to bring a prominent and distinguished lawyer, jurist, or scholar of law to deliver an annual lecture to Colorado Law’s students, faculty, and alumni on a legal subject of interest and benefit to the profession, preferably with some public or political aspect.

Off

Traditional

White

Professor Fred Bloom to Deliver 2025 Commencement Remarks

Emily Battaglia — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 15:46:06 +0000

Professor Fred Bloom to Deliver 2025 Commencement Remarks Emily Battaglia Thu, 03/27/2025 - 09:46

Emily Battaglia

The University of Colorado Law School is pleased to announce that Professor Fred Bloom will be the speaker for the Colorado Law Class of 2025 commencement recognition ceremony.

“We are thrilled to have Professor Bloom as this year’s commencement speaker," said Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss. “He is a distinguished teacher and mentor and has greatly impacted our students through his dedication in the classroom. His experience makes him someone who will inspire our graduates as they begin their legal careers.”

Professor Bloom joined the University of Colorado Law School faculty in 2012. Prior to his tenure at Colorado Law, he clerked for the Honorable Sidney Thomas of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for the Honorable Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Bloom's scholarship concentrates on issues of structure, method, and design in modern federal courts. He teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, Federal Courts, and related courses.

Professor Bloom received his JD from Stanford Law School, where he graduated Order of the Coif. He holds a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

In addition to Professor Bloom’s remarks, Colorado Law will also present an Honorary Order of the Coif to a member of the legal community. The English Order of the Coif, an ancient and honored institution of the Common Law, was an association of distinguished lawyers appointed by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. For centuries, they had the exclusive right to be barristers in that Court. The American Order was formed in 1911 for the purpose of promoting scholarship among law students.

The University of Colorado Law School, one of the 81 member law schools, became a member of the American Order of the Coif in 1942. Under the Order’s constitution, only the top 10% of the school’s graduating class is eligible for membership. Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss has selected Judge Elizabeth Brodsky ’97 as the 2025 Honorary Order of the Coif Recipient.

Judge Brodsky was appointed to the �鶹ӰԺ County Court bench in 2015. Prior to her appointment, she sat on the �鶹ӰԺ District Court bench as a magistrate from 2011 to 2015.
Brodsky's personal and professional life is defined, in large part, by public service. Throughout the course of her career, she has served the most vulnerable members of our community--those living in poverty and without a home, children, the elderly and disabled, immigrants and victims of violence. In 2010, Judge Brodsky was presented with the John Marshall Award for Public Service, the �鶹ӰԺ County Bar Association's highest award for outstanding community service by an attorney for at-risk members of our county.

The University of Colorado Law School is pleased to announce that Professor Fred Bloom will be the speaker for the Colorado Law Class of 2025 commencement recognition ceremony.

The ceremony will take place on Friday, May 9, beginning at 10 a.m.

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 17:19:06 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 03/24/2025 - 11:19

Faculty Publications

Lolita Buckner Inniss, Contemporary Forms of Slavery, including Causes and Consequences: United States, in Critical Legal Perspectives on Contemporary Slavery 453 (2025).

Amanda Parsons, Defining the Goal of a Data Tax, European Law Open (2025).

Mia Montoya Hammersley, Vanessa Racehorse, Heather Tanana, Nadine Padilla, & Gerald Torres, Teaching at the Intersection of Federal Indian Law and Environmental Law Courses, 49 Vermont L. Rev. 202 (2025).

Media Mentions

[Deep Gulasekaram], Carol McKinely, Undocumented Immigrant Activist Jeanette Vizguerra's Deportation Case Headed to Court, Denver Gazette (March 20, 2025).

Scott Shafer, Trump Calls For Judge's Impeachment as Courtroom Battles Over Deportations Escalate, KQED (March 19, 2025).

[Jud Lohnes, Korey Wise Innocence Project], Jenny Deam, Colorado's DNA Scandal: Hundreds of Cases Affected, but Very Few Retests Ordered, Denver Gazette (March 15, 2025).

[Harry Surden, Silicon Flatirons Conference], Chris Brown, CU Law's Silicon Flatirons Panel Weighs in on Regulating AI Agents, Colorado AI News (March 15, 2025).

Faculty and Staff Activities

Alexia Brunet Marks (presenter), Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review Conference (upcoming, March 28, 2025). Brunet Marks will be discussing her article Transitioning to Regenerative Agriculture One French Fry at a Time, 24 Nev. L. J. 1029 (2024) which was one of three papers selected this year to be published in the August issue of the Environmental Law Report in collaboration with the Vanderbilt University Law School and the Environmental Law Institute. Professor Brunet Marks will be traveling to present her work at a conference in Washington DC, co-hosted by the ELI and Vanderbilt.

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (March 14-21), blog posts available here.

[TLPC, Vivek Krishnamurthy, Vanessa Racehorse], Benjamin Yamada, TLPC Files Amicus Brief in a California Case with Global Privacy Implications, TLPC (March 14, 2025).

Wadie Said, "Palestine, American Law, and the State of (Semi)-Permanent Exception," Colorado Program in Jewish Studies (upcoming public talk, April 2, 2025).

Scott Skinner-Thompson, Courts are Pumping the Brakes on Trump's Anti-Trans Crusade, ACS Expert Forum (March 20, 2025).

Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars who are widely cited, both in academia and throughout the national media landscape. We invite you to catch up on the latest faculty publications and media mentions with this weekly round up.

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:34:57 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 03/10/2025 - 10:34

Faculty Publications

Vanessa Racehorse, Tribal Health Self-Determination, 56 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 183 (2025)

Media Mentions

[Deep Gulasekaram], Micah Smith, President Trump Threatens to Pull Federal Money From Colleges Over 'Illegal Protests,' Denver7 (March 4, 2025).

Angeline McCall, Trump's Threat to Campus Protests Draws Backlash from Law Experts, 9 News (March 4, 2025).

Allison Sherry and Ben Markus, What's at Risk if Colorado Loses Millions in DOJ Funding Due to "Sanctuary" Status? A Lot, CPR (March 3, 2025).

Carly Winchell, Tennessee Law Passes, Creates Felony for Local Officials Voting in Favor of Sanctuary Policies, Ark Valley Voice (Feb. 8, 2025).

Alex Madrigal, State Lawsuits Quickly Follow Trump's Day One Immigration Orders, KQED-FM (Jan. 22, 2025).

Sarah Matusek, What is a Sanctuary City? A Primer on the Immigration Showdown, Christian Science Monitor (Jan. 13, 2025).

[Gregor MacGregor, MENV], Gabrielle Mendoza, The Fed's Mass Layoffs May Pave the Way for More Fires and Less Visitors in National Parks, KNGU (March 3, 2025).

Faculty & Staff Activities

[James Anaya (speaker), Kristen Carpenter (moderator)], Emiliano Salazar, "Self-Determining Greenland": A Discussion on Inuit Rights and International Law at the University of Colorado Law School, Colorado Law (March 3, 2025).

Alexia Brunet Marks (presenter) Farming for the Future Roundtable at the Washington and Lee University School of Law (upcoming, March 13-14, 2025) (presenting her paper “Transitioning to Regenerative Agriculture: One Net-Zero Pledge at a Time”, 49 WM. & MARY ENV’T L. & POL’Y REV. (forthcoming 2025)).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (Feb. 28- March 7), blog posts available here.

Martha Fulford, Adjunct Spotlight: Martha Fulford, Colorado Law (Feb. 28, 2025).

[Deep Gulasekaram], M.R. Dickey & Reya Roussel, Reflections and Lessons From Judge Crews' First Year on the Federal Bench,Colorado Law (March 5, 2025).

Deep Gulasekaram, Daria Roithmayr, Chris Winter, (panelists), The Legal Effect of Executive Orders, Colorado Law (upcoming, March 18, 2025).

[Margot Kaminski], Emily Battaglia, Professor Margot Kaminski Named a "Top 100 Legal Scholar", Colorado Law (Feb. 28, 2025).

Margot Kaminski (moderator), Harry Surden (keynote speaker & moderator), Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems, and Law, Silicon Flatirons (March 7, 2025).

Sloan Speck, Speck Reviews Hatfield's Tax in Law Schools, TaxProf Blog (Feb. 28, 2025).

Off

Traditional

White

Reflections and Lessons from Judge Crews’ First Year on the Federal Bench

Emily Battaglia — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 18:33:43 +0000

Reflections and Lessons from Judge Crews’ First Year on the Federal Bench Emily Battaglia Wed, 03/05/2025 - 11:33

M.R. Dickey '26 & Reya Roussel '25

On Tuesday, February 18, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Byron R. White Center invited the Honorable District Court Judge S. Kato Crews to discuss his first year as an Article III judge for the District of Colorado. After Byron White Center Director Deep Gulasekaram welcomed everyone to the event, BLSA Treasurer, Isaac Ogundare, introduced the keynote speaker, adding that this event was commissioned to celebrate Black History Month.

Judge Crews began his talk by noting that he was the third Black Article III judge ever appointed in Colorado, and that every single one of them had held the same third seat on the District Court. For his reflection, this fact was important because, he said, it framed how he handled himself as a judge of color who now faced sentencing many defendants who shared his skin color.

Judge Crews emphasized that he wants to be seen as a “professional person of color” out in the world, and being a judge is part of that in the sense that he might be the only person a defendant interacts with throughout the whole criminal justice process who looks like him. For Judge Crews, that means to always interact with the defendants in front of him with decency and empathy; that means looking in their eyes when he sentences them.

The first time he sentenced a criminal defendant, Judge Crews confessed that he could not look into his eyes as he normally would when previously serving as a magistrate judge. That oversight still bothers him to this day. Judge Crews makes a point now, in every sentencing hearing he presides over, to look into the eyes of the defendant, dictate the reasons for the sentence he imposed, a journal his decision-making process and note one thing about that defendant when doing so. Judge Crews said that he knew the people in his courtroom are likely are experiencing the worst day of their lives. As such, he feels it is his duty to give them a reason for his decision, allowing them to understand and contemplate the Judge’s conclusions even if they don’t agree with it. The impact this has on these defendants is unknown, but Judge Crews relayed that one public defender told Judge Crews that his client remarked, “at least he looked like me.”

During the question and answer portion, Judge Crews also gave insight into his “surreal” appointment process and “extensive and brutal” confirmation when being selected for the federal bench. Through this process, he quickly recognized his great responsibility to apply and uphold the law as well as be a good person in and out of the courtroom. He compared his judicial responsibilities to those that law students will soon face as new lawyers. While judges may be limited to neutrally applying the rule of law, attorneys have a wider opportunity to reach the community while building reputations and relationships in daily practice. This community outreach must be balanced with personal priorities to reach fulfillment in legal careers. In short, “make your own path.”

Judge Crews is a federal judge who advocates for empathy and open-mindedness, seeing himself as representative of the Black legal professional and acknowledging that these values are necessary in the pursuit of justice. His engagement with the Colorado legal community was invaluable.

On Tuesday, February 18th, the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Byron R. White Center invited the Honorable District Court Judge S. Kato Crews to discuss his first year as an Article III judge for the District of Colorado.

Off

Traditional

White

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 18:36:53 +0000

ICYMI: Faculty Publications, Media Mentions, and Faculty & Staff Activities Emily Battaglia Mon, 03/03/2025 - 11:36

Faculty Publications

Maryam Jamshidi, Unseating the Israeli Government from the UN General Assembly in Case of Non-Compliance with the Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, in The 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territory 189 (Kai Ambos, ed., 2025).

Margot E. Kaminski, with Rebecca Aviel, Toni M. Massaro, & Andrew Keane Woods, From Gods to Google, 134 Yale L. J. 1269 (2025).

Media Mentions

[Violeta Chapin], Erin O'Toole, What is 'Expedited Removal'- and How Could it Affect Immigrants Without Legal Status?, KUNC In the NoCo (Feb. 26, 2025).

Jalessa Irizarry, Data Shows Asylum Grant Rates Dropped Before President Trump Took Office, KUNC (Feb. 26, 2025).

Faculty & Staff Activities

Alexia Brunet Marks, William & Mary Law School 2025 Environmental Law & Policy Review Symposium on Extended Producer Responsibility (upcoming, March 1, 2025)(presenting her paper “Transitioning to Regenerative Agriculture: One Net-Zero Pledge at a Time”, 49 WM. & MARY ENV’T L. & POL’Y REV. (forthcoming 2025)).

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (Feb. 21-28), blog posts available here.

(debator), Is It Time to Abolish the Exclusionary Rule? Georgetown Law Federalist Society Daniel Webster Debate (Feb. 5, 2025).

Off

Traditional

White

“Self-Determining Greenland”: A Discussion on Inuit Rights and International Law at the University of Colorado Law School

Emily Battaglia — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 16:54:14 +0000

“Self-Determining Greenland”: A Discussion on Inuit Rights and International Law at the University of Colorado Law School Emily Battaglia Mon, 03/03/2025 - 09:54

Emiliano Salazar '23

The American Indian Law Program (AILP) at the University of Colorado Law School hosted a hybrid panel discussion entitled “Self-Determining Greenland: Understanding Inuit Rights and International Law,” on February 24, 2025.

Design by Hannah Ahders '25

The event came in the wake of comments made by President Trump about his interest in the United States acquiring the island nation of Greenland from Denmark on January 7, 2025, mirroring similar statements made by the President in 2019. Following questions from students and the public, the AILP prepared a background document on the situation in Greenland, and convened several experts for discussion.

Featured speakers were Sara Olsvig, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, joining from Greenland; Naja Dyrendom Graugaard, Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, joining from Denmark; and S. James Anaya, Professor at the University of Colorado Law School, joining from the United States. Professor Anaya previously served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms. Olsvig provided background on Greenland. Known as “Kalaallit Nunaat” in the Inuit language, Greenland is a country where approximately 90% of the population is Inuit. Dating back to 1979, the Parliament of Greenland (or Inatsisarut) has served as the primary political body that makes decisions regarding the land, citizens, language, and resources of Kalaallit Nunaat. In 2009, the Self-Government Act recognized that the people of Greenland are a people with the right to self-determination under international law. The Act also outlined the process by which Kalaallit Nunaat could seek independence from Denmark. On March 31, 2023, a constitutional commission produced a draft constitution for an independent Kalaallit Nunaat.

AILP Logo by Adam Youngbear

Ms. Olsvig indicated that in Kalaallit Nunaat, the salient question is not whether a new colonizing power would be preferable to the current one, but rather which actions best empower the Greenlandic people to exercise self-government following centuries of colonization by Denmark.

Associate Professor Graugaard discussed systemic discrimination faced by Inuit people, both in Kalaallit Nunaat and in Denmark, including the forced sterilization of Inuit women by Danish authorities, as well as the removal of Inuit children from their families. She also emphasized the need to consider the value of rare minerals, such as cryolite or “white gold,” that have long been extracted from Greenland for the benefit of Denmark’s institutions, companies, and citizens.

Professor Anaya outlined relevant frameworks under the international law of self-determination. The “decolonization” framework provides peoples of formally colonized territories to freely establish independent statehood or other arrangements. The decolonization framework was applied to Kalaallit Nunaat under United Nations procedures, which were discontinued after Denmark in 1953 incorporated Kalaallit Nunaat as a province. That incorporation, however, was not clearly the result of the freely expressed will of the people of Kalaallit Nunaat, and thus the people Kalaallit Nunaat are entitled to choose independence or other arrangement. Also applicable is the Indigenous Peoples’ framework, under which the Inuit people in Kalaallit Nunaat are entitled to pursue self-determination. Ordinarily, under the Indigenous Peoples framework, self-determination is to be exercised within a nation-state. Either framework could give rise to a number of legal structures and political arrangements.

Audience members raised issues of Inuit language, culture, and identity. Several participants located the current issues within a broader context of political, military, and economic interests in the Arctic region. Inupiaq participants from Alaska voiced support for the Inuit of Kalaallit Nunaat.

The panel was moderated by AILP Director and Professor Carpenter, and AILP Fellow Emiliano Salazar ’23. Professor Carpenter noted that “it is important for the American Indian Law Program at Colorado Law to elevate the voices of Indigenous Peoples and help to educate the public about the laws and policies affecting them.” For more information about the AILP, please visit our website.

Off

Traditional

White