Kelly Rivas

Reviewing the readings with his student, Professor John Linarelli tries to get them to see the relationships between “Law and Terrorism”. The class is new to the Spring 2007 course catalog for the University of La Verne College of Law in Ontario. The course is an elective that fulfills the upper level writing requirement for Law students.

Cindy Lopez
Staff Writer

Iraq immediately comes to mind when terrorism or international affairs are mentioned, but it is important to remember that we need to learn as much as we can about our current situation with that country to avoid any similar future scenarios, said John Linarelli, professor of Law at the University of La Verne.

On Feb. 15 Linarelli, professor of law at the University of La Verne’s College of Law, spoke at the main campus as part of the “Hot Spots” series sponsored by the International Studies Institute.

The title of the lecture was, “Might Does Not Make Right: The Rule of Law in a Time of Terrorism.”

The President’s Dining Room, where the event was held, was filled with faculty and students alike, all listening to Linarelli discuss international law and policy.

After the lecture, students were given an opportunity to ask questions, which ranged from the role of the United Nations in international law to why the United States does not or cannot prosecute certain terrorists.

Wendy Gomez, a fourth year history major, attended the lecture with her Modern Europe class.

“He was highly informative about the crisis in Iraq,” she said. “He offered a distinctive view on the moral issues surrounding the invasion of Iraq.”

“I want students to be sensitive…as well as take a practical standpoint in international affairs,” Linarelli said.

This spring Linarelli is teaching a new course on “Law and Terrorism” at the college of law.

The course is designed to prepare future lawyers on how to deal with socially and morally complex problems that stretch out to international levels.

Among the topics covered in the course are whether or not the United States should use domestic law and procedure, the rules of use of force, the reach of the U. S. Constitution, how to try suspects and civil actions for compensation.

Linarelli said he saw a need for such a course.

“We are now in a post-9/11 law school,” he said. “We’re teaching people how to critically engage with the important questions of the day.”

Linarelli is widely published on international law and feels that students need to be equipped with a practical standpoint when dealing with international affairs.

“We look and see what the needs are and also get a sense of what the students want,” said Randall Rubin, associate dean of academic affairs at the College of Law. He said the course was designed in a seminar format to allow students to do deep research and writing.

“We live in a global economy…a course like this is a way of bringing in international issues that students can analyze,” Rubin said.

The class consists of six students who come from diverse backgrounds, making the class that much more interesting, Linarelli said.

Most of them are second-year students, this might be because the elective course conflicts with a third-year requirement.

Cindy Lopez can be reached at clopez6@ulv.edu.