Faculty/Staff Profile
The study of law is a process which should involve questions and debate in the search for a deeper understanding of the law, our system of government, and our pursuit of justice. Washburn provides a climate where students and faculty work together to enhance the learning experience in a comfortable environment which encourages this process.
Professor Ramirez is an experienced trial attorney. She began her legal career as law clerk to Edward L. Filippine of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. She then served as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division for seven years prosecuting Sherman Act, mail and wire fraud and conspiracy. She also assisted the Department of Justice in appellate work before moving on to the United States' Attorney's Office in Kansas. Here she handled a wide range of civil matters on behalf of the United States, its agencies and employees and engaged in appellate advocacy before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Professor Ramirez's Justice Quote:
"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Professor Ramirez's Recommended Reading on Racial Justice:
"Whistling Past the Graveyard: Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Programs Dodge Bullets Fighting Financial Crime," 50 Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 617 (2019).
"A Comparative Approach to Competition Law in the United States and Georgia: Regulating Unilateral Acts and Horizontal Agreements Through Predictable Rules and Credible Enforcement," 3 Georgian Commercial Law Review 54 (2014).
"Criminal Affirmance: Going Beyond the Deterrence Paradigm to Examine the Social Meaning of Declining Prosecution of Elite Crime," 45 Connecticut Law Review 865 (2013).
"Prioritizing Justice: Combating Corporate Crime from Task Force to Top Priority," 93 Marquette Law Review 971 (2010).
"Into the Twilight Zone: Informing Judicial Discretion in Federal Sentencing," 57 Drake Law Review 591 (2009).
"Blowing the Whistle on Whistleblower Protection: A Tale of Reform Versus Power," 76 University of Cincinnati Law Review 183 (2007). [593 KB PDF]
"The Science-Fiction of Corporate Criminal Liability: Containing the Machine Through the Corporate Death Penalty," 47 Arizona Law Review 993 (2005). [4 MB PDF]
"Just in Crime: Guiding Economic Crime Reform After the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002," 34 Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 359 (Winter 2003). [3.6 MB PDF]
"Homicide Liability for the Furnishing of Dangerous Narcotics," 6 Saint Louis University Public Law Review 161 (1987).
The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty: Restoring Law and Order on Wall Street (NYU Press, 2017) (co-author with Steven A. Ramirez).
"Oversight and Rule Making as Political Conflict" in The Oxford Handbook of White-Collar Crime (Shanna R. Van Slyke, et. al., eds.) (Oxford University Press, 2016).
"Enron & The New Paradigm of Economic Crime," 40 The Circuit Rider 4 (Fall/Winter 2002) (Washburn University School of Law alumni magazine).
Interview, "New Book: 'The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty'," The 21st Century program, Illinois Public Radio, February 7, 2017 (with Steven Ramirez).
Interview, "President Obama's Economic Legacy," KALW Your Call program, San Francisco Public Radio, January 16, 2017.
Quoted, "A Bank Too Big to Jail," The New York Times, July 15, 2016.
Quoted, "Giglio Policy Creates Massive Burden for Shawnee County Prosecutor's Office," The Topeka Capital Journal, May 8, 2016.
Interview/Quoted, "Mary Ramirez on Flashing The Green Light to Corporate Criminals," (Russell Mokhiber) 27 Corporate Crime Reporter 12(12), March 25, 2013.
Quoted, "Ticket case’s legal aspects unclear," (George Diepenbrock) Lawrence Journal-World (February 22, 2012).
"Criminal Affirmance: Going Beyond the Deterrence Paradigm to Examine the Social Meaning of Declining Prosecution of Elite Crime," Citizen Warriors, WSBR Radio South Florida 740AM, February 19, 2012.
Quoted, "Suspended Police Officers' Names Not Released," (George Diepenbrock) Lawrence Journal-World (February 17, 2012).
Quoted, "Revolving Door at S.E.C. is Hurdle to Crisis Cleanup," (Andrew Ross Sorkin) New York Times, (August 1, 2011, at B1).
Quoted, "As Wall St. Polices Itself, Prosecutors Use Softer Approach," (Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story) New York Times, (July 7, 2011, at A1).
Quoted, "Law Professor Proposes Corporate Death Penalty Act," (Russell Mokhiber) 20 Corporate Crime Reporter 43(3), October 31, 2006
"Whither Accountability," Institute for Investor Protection Roundtable Conference, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, September 14, 2018.
Panelist, "Whither Accountability," 2018 Institute for Investor Protection, Lehman 10 Years Later: Lessons Learned, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, September 14, 2018.
"The Case for the Corporate Death Penalty: Restoring Law and Order to Wall Street," 14th Annual Norman C. Amaker Retreat, Law, Resistance, and Social Justice, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, March 31, 2017.
Panelist, "Women in Academia," Women’s Legal Forum and the Center for Excellence in Advocacy, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, March 14, 2017.
"Criminal Injustice," National ClassCrits 9 Conference, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, October 21-22, 2016.
"Financial Crimes on Wall Street: The Extent of Immunity and the Possibility of Restoring the Rule of Law," Annual Institute for Investor Protection Conference, The New Normal of Financial Fraud: The Role of Lawyers, Regulation and Litigation,” Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, October 7, 2016.
"The Corporate Death Penalty," 2016 Norman Amaker Public Interest Law and Social Justice Retreat, Loyola University Chicago Retreat & Ecology Campus, Woodstock, Illinois, March 4-6, 2016.
"Memoirs of a Prosecutor," Maryville University, St. Louis, Missouri, November 30, 2015.
Co-presenter, "Corrupted Justice," 2015 Norman Amaker Public Interest Law and Social Justice Retreat, Woodstock, Illinois, February 28, 2015.
Panelist, "Reflections on Ferguson," Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, November 12, 2014.
Moderator, "Criminal Injustice," Tenth Annual Norman Amaker Midwest Public Interest Law and Social Justice Retreat, Woodstock, Illinois, March 15, 2014.
"Competition Law in the United States: Regulating Unilateral Acts and Horizontal Agreements," Commercial Law Week, National Center for Commercial Law, Free University, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, May 17, 2013.
"The international fight against money laundering," Commercial Law Week, National Center for Commercial Law, Free University, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, May 14, 2013.
Reader/Responder, "Police Efficiency and the Fourth Amendment," LatCrit XVI: The Sixteenth Annual LatCrit Conference, San Diego, California, October 8, 2011.
Moderator, "Diversity in the Practice of Law," Federalist Society, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, 2011.
Moderator, "High Time: Should We Legalize Drugs in America?," Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, 2010.
Panelist, "Knowledge as Power," Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Renaissance Chicago Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, May 27-30, 2010.
"Prioritizing Justice," DePaul University College of Law, Faculty Development Workshop, Chicago, Illinois, 2009.
Panelist, "Street Law," Center for Excellence in Advocacy, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, October 21, 2009.
"Combating Corporate Crime: From Task Force to Top Priority," Faculty Development Presentation, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois, March 4, 2009.
"Prioritizing Justice: Combating Corporate Crime from Task Force to Top Priority," Faculty Scholarship Development Workshop, Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, Dec. 1, 2008.
"Federal Sentencing," U.S. Attorney’s Citizen’s Academy, U.S. Federal Courthouse, Topeka, Kansas, November 12, 2008.
"Does Justice Blink? Training Judicial Discretion," Northern Kentucky University, Chase College of Law, Faculty Development Workshop (April 14, 2008).
"Federal Sentencing," United States Attorney's Citizens Academy, Frank Carlson Federal Courthouse, Topeka, Kansas (November 2007).
"Recent Developments in Whistle-Blower Protection," Recent Developments in the Law, 2005 (Washburn University School of Law CLE).
"The Science-Fiction of Corporate Criminal Liability: Containing the Machine Through the Corporate Death Penalty," Washburn University School of Law School, Faculty Scholarship Seminar, 2004.
Moderator, "Red Hot Issues in White Collar Crime," Enron Three Years Later: A White Collar Crime Scoreboard, 2004 (Washburn University School of Law symposium).
"Recent Reforms Aimed at Achieving Transparency, Improved Ethics and Deterrence in Corporations," Enron Three Years Later: A White Collar Crime Scoreboard, 2004 (Washburn University School of Law symposium, Kansas City, Missouri).
"Guiding Economic Crime Reform," Washburn University School of Law, Faculty Scholarship Seminar, 2003.
Panelist, "Women in the Law, Negotiating Dual Careers," Washburn University School of Law, Women's Legal Forum, 2003.
"Search & Seizure Law in Kansas," Kansas County & District Attorneys Association Conference, 2002.
Moderator, "Death Penalty Forum," Washburn Association of Public Interest Law, Criminal Justice Society, 2002.
"Sentencing White Collar Criminals," Washburn University School of Law, Faculty Scholarship Forum, 2002.
"Prisoner Litigation & the PLRA," Constitutional Torts Issues Seminar, 2000 (Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education).
Workshop Moderator, "Sexual Harassment, Title VII & Bivens Cases," Constitutional Torts Issues Seminar, 2000 (Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education).
"Prisoner Litigation Update," U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Kansas Conference, 2000.
"Inmate Litigation," Constitutional Torts Issues Seminar, 1998 (Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education).
Member, Kansas Judicial Council, Ad Hoc Antitrust Advisory Committee, 2012.