News Archive

The scope of her day-to-day work may be confined to the state’s borders, but Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Patricia A. Riley, ’74, has more than a passing interest in international law.

She had an opportunity to meet with judges and prosecutors handling the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in April 2012. Judge Riley made the visit to The Hague, Netherlands, with the Washington-D.C. based International Judicial Academy in fall 2011. While visiting The Hague she was able to attend proceedings related to Taylor’s trial.

During that visit, she also was able to witness preliminary proceedings against Uhuru Kenyatta, who was accused of organizing election-related violence in Kenya during 2007-2008. Much of that violence occurred near Eldoret, site of the Legal Aid Center of Eldoret (LACE), which Judge Riley co-founded with IU McKinney Law Professor Fran Quigley, ’87, in 2008. The Center represents HIV-positive patients in a variety of cases. She was in Eldoret in January 2012 when the International Criminal Court announced that Kenyatta and others would be tried.

Judge Riley also took part in the third annual “Race for LACE” to raise funds for the organization. Runners and walkers took part in the One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon on May 5, 2012, and raised more than $9,500 for LACE, which represents HIV-positive patients in Kenya in a variety of cases.

She also was one of three Indiana judges to take part in the Third Sino-U.S. Law Conference, organized by the law school’s Professor Tom Wilson. The conference was held June 11 at the National Judges College of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing. The conference’s theme was “The Art of Judging,” and participants discussed the challenges they face and compared judging methods. IU McKinney Law Professor Frank Sullivan, Jr., who was then an Indiana Supreme Court justice, and Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David, ’82, were the other Indiana judicial participants.