A Tale of Two Victims Trying to Stay Above Water While Pursuing Justice: Corey Feldman and Patty Fortney (And Her Sisters)

MARCI A. HAMILTON

Marci A. Hamilton, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and CEO of CHILD USA, describes two stories that show the persistent barriers to justice for child sex abuse victims, despite significant progress recently. First, Hamilton relates the story of Corey Feldman, who will finally get to tell his story of abuse in the premiere of My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys on March 9, 2020, which will air at 11pm EST in a one-time, online showing globally. Second, Hamilton describes how Patty Fortney and her sisters are pursuing justice against the diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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Searching for Even Slim Reeds of Optimism That This is Not the End of the Rule of Law in America

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

UF Levin College of Law professor and economist Neil H. Buchanan offers two possible reasons for cautious optimism that the rule of law survives under President Trump: (1) Trump continues to lie, and (2) even the most potentially unreliable Democrats have not (yet?) decided to stop opposing him.

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Meriyu v. Barr

Docket: 19-1892

Opinion Date: February 26, 2020

Judge: Kenneth Francis Ripple

Areas of Law: Immigration Law

Meriyu, now 49 years old, is an Indonesian citizen who is of Chinese descent and of the Buddhist faith. She came to the U.S. in 2000 on a nonimmigrant visa. Meriyu claims she was prompted to leave by her mistreatment, based on her religion and ethnicity, and by violence in Indonesia. In 2002, charged with removability under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(1)(B), Meriyu sought relief from removal based on fear of persecution on account of race and religion. She was ordered removed after she failed to appear at a hearing; 14 years later, she moved to reopen the proceedings. Meriyu is married and has a 12-year-old child. She claims she did not appear because she had sustained injuries to her ankle and foot. The BIA upheld an IJ’s ruling that the motion was untimely and that she could not show a material change in country conditions since the hearing. Her two subsequent motions to reopen were also denied. The Seventh Circuit denied a petition for review. When compared to the 2003 conditions described in the State Department reports, current conditions in Indonesia do not reflect any “new threshold” of human rights abuses. Meriyu’s evidence did not suggest any prospect of persecution if she returned to Indonesia.