Oct. 11, 2019 – Parts of an amicus brief that included contributions from University of Houston Law Center Associate Professor Anthony Chase was mentioned in a decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The brief was authored by Catherine J.K. Sandoval, an associate professor of law at the Santa Clara University School of Law. Santa Clara University Law professor Allen Hammond and Howard University Communications Department Chair Professor Carolyn Byerly also signed onto the brief.
"The D.C. Circuit Mozilla v. FCC Decision recognized the importance of net neutrality to critical infrastructure for the first time in the series of decisions on Net Neutrality," Sandoval said. "It also recognized the importance of public access to the Internet for public safety and other purposes, another theme raised in our amicus brief.
"I am gratified our work has made a difference to public policy, public safety, and law."
The brief argued that the FCC violated the law by failing to consider the implications for public safety, national security and democracy resulting from the January 2018 repeal of the net neutrality rules adopted by the FCC in 2015. It alleged that Verizon's July 2018 slowing of the Santa Clara County Fire Protection District's Internet use while deployed to fight the Mendocino Complex fire, exemplifies the danger of the FCC's failure to consider the effect of net neutrality's repeal on public safety.
The Law Center and the Santa Clara School of Law also collaborate on a joint communications law class instructed by by Chase and Hammond and taught through video conferencing software.
