Mack, Raneta Lawson 1963-

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MACK, Raneta Lawson 1963-

PERSONAL:

Born 1963. Education: University of Toledo, B.A. (cum laude), 1985; University of Toledo College of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 1988.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Creighton University School of Law, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178.

CAREER:

Attorney, author, and scholar specializing in criminal law and computers and the law (information security). Admitted to the Bar of the State of Colorado, practicing in Colorado Supreme Court and U.S. District Court of Colorado, 1988; Davis Graham & Stubbs, Denver, CO, associate attorney, 1988-91; Creighton University School of Law, Omaha, NE, assistant professor, 1991-94, associate professor, 1994-97, professor of law, 1997—. University of Toledo College of Law, visiting professor, 2003; Microsoft Certified Professional in Network Security. Creighton Federal Credit Union board of directors, member, 1998-2003. Presenter at academic conferences. Frequently interviewed and quoted in local broadcast and print media and on the Web, concerning topical legal and criminal issues. Also served on merit panels for U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.

MEMBER:

American Bar Association, Omaha Bar Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

American Jurisprudence Award for outstanding achievement in commercial paper, at University of Toledo; Alumni Excellence in Law Award, University of Toledo Black Law Students Association, 1994; USWest Computer Technology fellowship, 1997.

WRITINGS:

A Layperson's Guide to Criminal Law, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1999.

The Digital Divide: Standing at the Intersection of Race and Technology, Carolina Academic Press (Durham, NC), 2001.

(With Michael J. Kelly) Equal Justice in the Balance: America's Legal Responses to the Emerging Terrorist Threat, foreword by Janet Reno, University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 2004.

Has written numerous articles for legal and other scholarly journals, and conference papers. Author of quarterly column on technology for Journal of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Employment Law, 1999-2000.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The Corporate Entity: Crime and Punishment throughout the Ages, for Ashgate Press.

SIDELIGHTS:

Raneta Lawson Mack was trained as a lawyer and practiced law in Colorado for several years, until she decided on an academic and writing career centered on criminal law. Her first book, A Layperson's Guide to Criminal Law, was called "highly readable" by Cheryl Nyberg in Reference and User Services Quarterly. The book "shines a light on the many facets of criminal law," including specific crimes, legal concepts, and defenses, according to the critic.

Mack's growing interest and expertise in computers informs her second book, The Digital Divide: Standing at the Intersection of Race and Technology. According to Ronald Roach in Black Issues in Higher Education, the book "discusses historical reasons why minority communities might fail to embrace computer technology even as it becomes easier to acquire," including "the legacy of slavery." The book presents proposals for "corporate and community-based solutions" to the problem, including education, content design, and access.

Equal Justice in the Balance: America's Legal Responses to the Emerging Terrorist Threat, written with Michael J. Kelly, deals with such legal issues as the treatment of terrorist suspects, seizure of their property, and the use of wiretapping and other eavesdropping methods. A Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote that the book contains many "relevant observations and criticisms" of government policies, in particular many provisions of the Patriot Act.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Black Issues in Higher Education, January 3, 2002, Ronald Roach, review of The Digital Divide: Standing at the Intersection of Race and Technology, p. 35.

Publishers Weekly, April 19, 2004, review of Equal Justice in the Balance: America's Legal Responses to the Emerging Terrorist Threat, p. 57.

Reference and User Services Quarterly, Cheryl Nyberg, review of A Layperson's Guide to Criminal Law, p. 301.