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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- While the federal Clean Power Plan, and its impact on reducing use of coal to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants presents a double whammy for West Virginia, a new report suggests the impact can be lessened if policymakers take advantage of the state's unique circumstances and leverage its strengths.

"West Virginia is fortunate in that it has tremendous energy resources in addition to coal, and these other resources —including natural gas, renewable energy (wind, solar, hydropower), and energy efficiency – are relatively untapped," says the report from the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the West Virginia University College of Law and Downstream Strategies LLC.

"Implementing the legislative and regulatory policy recommendations in this report would create a climate that promotes new investment in renewable and distributed generation technologies, energy efficiency, and natural gas-fired generation," the report said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency EPA issued its Clean Power Plan last August. The rule identifies a series of pollution reduction measures to lower carbon dioxide emissions from the U.S. power sector by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The West Virginia University College of Law is hosting a free Veterans Advocacy Boot Camp for attorneys and veterans service officers on Tuesday, August 16.

The program runs from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 141 at the College of Law. It is also being webcast. Registration is required.

The Veterans Advocacy Boot Camp will provide training and orientation for those interested in assisting veterans with a variety of legal needs. Participating attorneys can earn 6.0 hours of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education credit, approved by the West Virginia State Bar.

The sessions will be led by members of Washington, D.C.-based Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program and is co-sponsored by the West Virginia State Bar Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — WVU Law professor Anne Marie Lofaso has written an amicus brief on behalf of NFL quarterback Tom Brady in the “deflategate” scandal.

Lofaso drafted the brief on behalf of labor law professors and industrial relations experts who question NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's role in the case’s arbitration. They assert that the commissioner is “an angry arbitrator who does his own brand” of justice.

In 2015, Goodell handed Brady a four-game suspension for his role in using underinflated balls during the AFC Championship game. The suspension was later overturned by a lower court judge. This April, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Goodell and the NFL, reinstating Brady's suspension.

After that loss, Brady's legal team sought the assistance of Lofaso and other labor law experts as part of their request for a rehearing before the full Second Circuit.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA—The West Virginia University College of Law awarded degrees to 110 graduates on May 13 in a ceremony at the WVU Creative Arts Center.

The Class of 2016 includes the nation’s first LL.M (Master of Laws) graduates in Forensic Science.

Joshua Weishart, who was selected Professor of the Year by the Class of 2016, delivered the commencement address.

“You have proven that you have what it takes not only to be attorneys at law, but, more importantly, persons with empathy, passion, and different conceptions of what justice entails,” he told the graduates.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Hampshire County (West Virginia) native Jeremiah Mongold is a free man today after serving 11 years of a 40-year sentence for the death of his stepdaughter. 

Mongold, who has continually maintained his innocence, is a client of the West Virginia Innocence Project (WVIP) at the College of Law.

In 2005, the case against Mongold was built on death by Shaken Baby Syndrome. However, medical experts contacted by the WVIP determined that Mongold’s stepdaughter may have died from vasculitis, a rare illness that causes the body to attack its own blood cells.

Circuit Court Judge Charles Parsons noted “the issue is whether trial counsel was ineffective in failing to discover an alternative cause of death.” 

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Anne Marie Lofaso, professor of law at the West Virginia University College of Law, has been named an associate of the Oxford Human Rights Hub (OxHRH) blog.

The OxHRH bring together academics, practitioners, and policy-makers from across the globe to advance the understanding and protection of human rights and equality. It is based at the Faculty of Law (law school) at the University of Oxford in England.

As an associate, Lofaso creates blog series, recruits scholars to write about human rights issues, and edits blogs. Her first major project for the OxHR blog was a review of the human rights legacy of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She is currently working a project to establish awareness of human rights abuses in Appalachia. 

Lofaso is the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law at WVU. Since January, she has been serving as the Keeley Visiting Fellow at Wadham College and as a Senior Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford Faculty of Law. She returns to the WVU College of Law in the fall.