FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2005

CONTACT: Daniel P. Finney, (515) 271-2833 or daniel.finney@drake.edu

DRAKE UNIVERSITY LAW STUDENTS AID ALUMNUS IN PREPARATION FOR ARGUMENTS BEFORE U.S. SUPREME COURT

The future of how local law enforcement agencies enforce “no-contact” protective orders could be dramatically changed after a Drake University Law School alumnus makes his case before the U.S. Supreme Court later this month.

Attorney Brian Reichel, a 1990 graduate practicing law in Broomfield, Colo., is scheduled to present oral arguments on March 21 in the case of City of Castle Rock v. Gonzales. Reichel will visit Drake to speak with a law school class on Friday, March 4. Reichel will practice his oral argument before a “court” of law professors, which will be observed by a law school class. Reichel will also meet with a group of students who helped him research and prepare for his upcoming arguments. Media appointments with Reichel can be scheduled at separate times.

Reichel’s client, Jessica Gonzales, claims the police in Castle Rock, Colo., violated her Constitutional rights when they failed to enforce a restraining order against her estranged husband, Simon Gonzales, who ultimately murdered the couple’s three children before being killed himself in a gun battle with Castle Rock police.

Jessica Gonzales claims Simon Gonzales took their three children without permission. She called police repeatedly and took a copy of the restraining order to Castle Rock authorities, but the police refused to act. Colorado law requires police to “use every reasonable means to enforce a protection order.”

Jessica Gonzales seeks $30 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages from the city of Castle Rock. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit voted 6 to 5 to allow Gonzales’ lawsuit to go to trial. The Supreme Court agreed to hear Castle Rock’s appeal in November.

“Brian Reichel is an excellent attorney,” said Mark Kende, director of Drake’s Constitutional Law Center. “For a solo practitioner to argue this case all the way to the highest court is a tribute to his skill.”

The high-profile case has drawn attention from national media, including stories in the New York Times. A reporter from CBS-TVs “60 Minutes” interviewed Gonzales about the case, which could have broad-ranging effects on law enforcement liability for cities and counties nationwide. The National League of Cities and the International Municipal Lawyers Association have filed briefs in support of Castle Rock.

Nine law students aided Reichel in his preparation for arguments by researching the history of each of the nine Supreme Court justices, including each opinion authored by each justice that is relevant to the procedural due process issues raised by the Castle Rock appeal. The students also looked at protective order laws nationwide. They worked through their winter break on the project and received one-hour course credit for independent study.

“We tried to summarize as best we could what questioning the justices might have for Brian and how they might lean based on their previous opinions,” said third-year law student Michael Duster of Iowa City. “The case has very sympathetic facts, but that alone is not enough to win it.”

The students are grateful for the chance to work on a Supreme Court case. Georgetown University and Stanford University have students researching for attorneys working on Supreme Court cases, but the practice is hardly commonplace in American law school education.

“It’s very rare for an attorney to get to argue a case before the Supreme Court, let alone be a student working on the case,” said second-year law student Erika Wilkins from Des Moines, who researched Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg’s history for Reichel. “This is a great opportunity to get a glimpse of a Supreme Court argument from the inside.”

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