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Mary Margaret “Meg” Penrose
Professor of Law
Email Professor Penrose
Courses: Criminal Procedure, International Human Rights, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law.
Professor Mary Margaret “Meg” Penrose joined the Texas Wesleyan law faculty in 2009 after teaching nine years at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Professor Penrose taught Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Gender Discrimination and International Human Rights at OU. She continues to practice in federal court with an emphasis on federal habeas corpus representation of Texas Death Row inmates and Title VII and Title IX litigation challenging gender bias and discrimination in the workplace.
Prior to teaching, Professor Penrose most enjoyed her time working at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas. She served as a Senior Law Clerk to the Honorable Jerry Buchmeyer. After working briefly for the Texas firm, Thompson and Knight, she returned to the courthouse to assist with the renumbering of the Local Rules. Upon completion of this project, she began working with the Honorable Jane J. Boyle as a pro se Staff Attorney. Professor Penrose believes her teaching has been greatly enhanced through her experience at the federal courthouse. Next to teaching, her favorite job(s) have been working with Judges Boyle and Buchmeyer.
Professor Penrose is a member of the American Law Institute. She is also a member of the United States Supreme Court bar, Texas Bar Association, the federal bar for the Northern District of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has been a constant member of the Texas Bar Association’s pro bono College – requiring over 75 hours of pro bono representation each year. She is a volunteer attorney for the Women’s Sports Foundation. Her dedication to Title IX stems from her time as a Division I basketball player for the University of Texas – Arlington. She continues to pursue athletic endeavors and names as her proudest non-legal accomplishment qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon in 2008-09.
Professor Penrose earned her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law where she graduated magna cum laude and served as the Managing Editor of the Pepperdine Law Review. Thereafter, she received her LL.M, graduating summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame. Her LL.M thesis, Lest We Fail, was published by the American University Journal of International Law and Policy. She continues to pursue scholarship and most recently completed two textbooks: Education Law and Policy, which she co-wrote with Professor Bernard James, and An Introduction to Civil Procedure: Forum Selection and Choice of Law, which she co-wrote with Professor Paul George. In addition, Professor Penrose has published poetry, copyrighted a children’s book and appeared in the legal documentary, The Trials of Law School. She is listed as one of the Contemporary Lawyer Poets hosted by the University of West Virginia.
Selected Publications
Tattoos, Tickets, and Other Tawdry Behavior: How Universities Use Federal Law to Hide Their Scandals, 33 CARDOZO LAW REVIEW 1555 (2012).
Free Speech versus Free Education: First Amendment Considerations in Limiting Student Athlete’s Use of Social Media, Vol 1. MISS SPORTS LAW REVIEW 77 (2012).
In the Name of Watergate: Returning FERPA to its Original Design, 14 N.Y.U. J. LEGIS. & PUB. POL’Y 75 (2011).
Conventional Wisdom: Acknowledging Uncertainty in the Unknown, 78 TENN. L. REV. 789 (2011).
The Emperor's Clothes: Evaluating Head of State Immunity Under International Law, 7 SANTA CLARA J. INT'L L. 85 (2010) [Hein] [Westlaw]
Co-authored with Bernard James, Education Policy and the Law: Cases and Commentary (2009)
Co-authored with J. Paul George, An Introduction to Civil Procedure: Forum Selection and Choice of Law (2009)
Miranda, Please Report to the Principal’s Office. 33 FORDHAM URBAN L.J. 775 (2006). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
A Short and Plain Solution to the Medical Malpractice Crisis: Why Charles E. Clark Remains Prophetically Correct About Special Pleading and the Big Case, 39 GEORGIA L. REV. 971 (2005), co-authored with Dace Caldwell. [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
No Badges, No Bars: A Conspicuous Oversight in the Creation of an International Criminal Court, 38 TEX. INT’L L. J. 621 (2003), symposium issue. [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
Shedding Rights, Shredding Rights: A Critical Examination of Students’ Rights and the “Special Needs’ Doctrine after Earls, 3 NEV. L. J. 411 (2003), solicited piece. [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
It’s Good to be the King!: Prosecuting Heads of State and Former Heads of State Under International Law, 39 COLUM. J. TRANSNAT’L L. 193 (2000). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
Lest We Fail: The Importance of Enforcement in International Criminal Law, 15 AM. U. J. INT’L L. & POL’Y 321 (2000). Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
Impunity: Inertia, Inaction and Invalidity, 17 B.U. INT’L L.J. 269 (2000). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
Spandau Revisited: The Question of Detention for International War Crimes, XVI N.Y.L. SCH. J. HUM. RTS. 553 (Spring 2000), symposium issue. [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
Public Presentations
Student-Athletes First Amendment Rights in Social Media, Texas Wesleyan Law School (2011).
Free Speech versus Free Education, University of Mississippi Law School Symposium (2011).
Student-Athletes First Amendment Rights in Social Media, Arizona State University Law School (2011).
Conventional Wisdom in Convening a Constitutional Convention, Harvard Law School (2011).
A Coach, A President and a one term Senator, FERPA, Texas Wesleyan Law School (2011).
In the Name of Watergate: Returning FERPA to its Original Design, Texas Tech Law School (2011).
Dying for Relief: The Right to Counsel in State Habeas Petitions, Tulsa Law School (2010).
Death Penalty Representation in Texas, AARP Regional Meeting Fort Worth (2009).
Nuremberg Conference, Bowling Green University (2006).
Investiture Address for the Honorable Jane J. Boyle, United States District Judge (2004).
Debating the Virtues of Same-sex Marriage, University of Oklahoma Law School (2004).
Panel Moderator, United Nations Day, University of Oklahoma (2004)
International Legal Responses to Acts of Terrorism, University of Memphis Law School (2003).
War Crimes Against Women, University of Oklahoma Women’s Resource Center (2003).
Legal Responses to 9-11, University of Oklahoma Law School (2002).
The Restorative Nature of Mediation, University of Notre Dame Law School CLE (2001).
Jury Selection: A Legal Approach, University of Notre Dame Law School CLE (2001).
Accountability for Human Rights Violations, ASIL Annual Conference, New York City Bar (2000).
The Art of Federal Court Practice, University of Notre Dame Law School CLE (1999).
The Allure of Atticus Finch, University of Notre Dame Law School CLE (1999).