Berkeley Law to eliminate tuition for Native American students
(05/18/2022)Berkeley Law announces it will cover all tuition for current and future students who are both California residents and members of federally registered tribes
Op-Ed: Another bad Texas idea: Make it illegal to take down vicious social media content
(05/18/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, with Andrew Chemerinsky, writes it is urgent that the Supreme Court justices block Texas HB 20 from going into effect and declare it unconstitutional
‘Trust isn’t built by just one policy.’ Abortion care rights in the workplace are complicated
(05/18/2022)Professor Catherine Fisk, Faculty Director of the Center for Law & Work, addresses employee privacy concerns as a growing number of tech companies extend abortion-related travel benefits
The US Has A Plan To Document Human Rights Violations In Ukraine
(05/18/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, says open source information can be invaluable at the preliminary investigation stage, as you’re planning either humanitarian relief or to conduct a legal investigation
After Leaked Roe Ruling, GOP Weighs Stricter Abortion Bans
(05/17/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says in its initial filing, the plaintiffs in Dobbs were testing how far the Supreme Court would go to disregard the viability line
Livestreamed carnage: Tech’s hard lessons from mass killings
(05/17/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, executive director of the Human Rights Center, says there’s been a shift in how tech companies are responding to events such as the Buffalo shooting
Op-Ed: Hawley makes war on business and property rights to score MAGA points
(05/16/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Peter Menell, with Dennis Aftergut of Lawyers Defending American Democracy, writes Sen. Hawley appears ready not only to undo property and free speech rights, but also to bust a foundation of America’s international trade
The Post-Roe Battleground for Abortion Pills Will Be Your Mailbox
(05/16/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges explains the obstacles to mail-ordered abortion medications and says she expects a conflict between a state’s ability to regulate the practice of medicine and the federal government’s ability to regulate the availability of any medication in the US.
The online investigators tracking alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine
(05/15/2022)Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, appears on 60 Minutes to discuss open source investigations and says we are headed into an entirely new era of human rights investigations, and war crimes investigations, more generally
Investors Push Insurers For More Climate Disclosure
(05/13/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Dave Jones and Ted Lamm from the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment weigh in as investors campaign to require insurance companies to make stronger climate disclosures
Move to Scrap Roe Opens Justices to ‘Politicians in Robes’ Label
(05/13/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Dan Farber says the draft Dobbs opinion appears to go out of its way to decide issues that the justices don’t need to reach in order to resolve the case
The Case for War Crimes Charges Against Russia’s Sandworm Hackers
(05/12/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
The Human Rights Center’s Lindsay Freeman discusses HRC’s historic submission to International Criminal Court regarding cyber attacks in Ukraine
Four House committee chairs ask Big Tech to archive evidence of war crimes in Ukraine
(05/12/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Four high-ranking congressional Democrats sent formal requests to the CEOs of YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, on Thursday, asking them to archive content that could be used as evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine and citing a 2021 report from the Human Rights Center
Why the right to contraception might be here to stay
(05/11/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr explains why he believes there are reasons to think that birth control restrictionists will not succeed as abortion opponents have
What Would Overturning Roe Mean for Birth Control?
(05/11/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges warns, if the Supreme Court is willing to do away with longstanding precedent like Roe, Bridges said, it’s impossible to predict what other rights also could be in question
Op-ed: Abortion May Cause a Federalism Crisis
(05/10/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
David A. Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, and senior research fellow Allison G. Macbeth, explain how the reasoning in the leaked draft Supreme Court opinion in ‘Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization’ can also be applied to void other federal liberty protections such as contraception and interracial and same-sex marriage
What Chesa Boudin could use to survive the recall: An opponent
(05/10/2022)Joshua Spivak, senior research fellow at the California Constitution Center, discusses the complex issues in play in the Chesa Boudin recall effort
U.S. Congressman’s Campaign May Violate State Election Law
(05/09/2022)Lecturer Ann Ravel explains potentially illegal campaign finance issues with Maryland Rep Anthony Brown’s AG campaign
‘Arbitrary and Unfair’: Dispute Over Limited Seating, Preferential Treatment for DC Bar Exam Continues—But Court Isn’t Budging
(05/09/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the announcement that preference for seating for the D.C. Bar Exam will be given to students from D.C.-area law schools is arbitrary, unfair and likely unconstitutional
Supreme Court Leak Inquiry Exposes Gray Area of Press Protections
(05/08/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr discusses the confidentiality rules for Supreme Court clerks
Detailed ‘open source’ news investigations are catching on
(05/08/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses the increase in news using open source investigation techniques
Supreme Court fallout casts harsh light on Roberts leadership
(05/07/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky suggests Chief Justice John Roberts no longer wields the moderating influence he once had over the court’s more hard-line conservatives
Biden can’t do much about abortion rights, but here’s what he could try
(05/06/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges explores the idea of the federal government leasing out federal lands and allow abortion clinics to operate on them
Kevin McCarthy’s leaked 25th Amendment remarks on Trump baffle legal experts
(05/06/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinksy says the fact that a prominent Republican leader like McCarthy even discussed invoking Section 4, a political maneuver that has no historical precedence, was “stunning” in and of itself
Roe established abortion rights. 20 years later, Casey paved the way for restrictions
(05/06/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges helps unpack the complicated question of what constitutes a burden
A Texas woman sought an abortion. Here’s how far California went to help her
(05/06/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Justice Alito’s opinion, assuming it becomes the final decision, will put many rights in danger
Berkeley Law School dean says SCOTUS will start ‘unraveling’ privacy rights
(05/05/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky warns that if the Supreme Court overturns the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, the justices would likely begin “unraveling the whole fabric of constitutional protection of privacy”
‘Everyone who is vulnerable in some way’ will bear the brunt if court overturns Roe, specialists say
(05/05/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges, one of the authors of an amicus brief in the Dobbs case, says the burden of restricted abortion access will fall heaviest on Black women and expects, if abortion is criminalized and states begin prosecuting people who terminate pregnancies, poor people of color will be arrested and convicted at higher rates than their white counterparts
Column: Why we need term limits for Supreme Court justices
(05/04/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky points out that, from 1960 through 2021, Republicans have held the White House for 32 years and Democrats for 29, almost an even split, but Republicans have appointed 15 justices and Democrats only 9
Supreme Court leak strikes fear among environmental lawyers
(05/04/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Dan Farber predicts that the Supreme Court’s dismissive attitude toward precedent in Roe v Wade is another signal of a conservative majority that’s eager to roll up its sleeves and “fix” all the issues in the law that conservatives have complained about for years
Roberts investigation could make the Supreme Court very uncomfortable
(05/04/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky raises concerns that the investigation into the Supreme Court leak could be damaging to the high court
Commentary: Why not have a Supreme Court that leaks a lot more?
(05/04/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explores whether the Supreme Court should be as transparent as counterparts in the other branches of the U.S. government.
Far-Reaching Implications of Roe v. Wade’s Demise w/ Khiara Bridges, Michelle Oberman
(05/03/2022)Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on the Majority Report to discuss the bombshell leaked US Supreme Court brief from Justice Alito that would overturn Roe V. Wade
Roe V Wade Overturned? Alito Opinion Draft Striking Down Right To Abortion LEAKED
(05/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on The Hill TV to discuss the Supreme Court’s apparent intention to overturn Roe v Wade
Where Roe went wrong: A sweeping new abortion right built on a shaky legal foundation
(05/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says the anti-abortion movement has organized around Roe v Wade, but very few people have read it
Watching from space, satellites collect evidence of war crimes
(05/03/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses the use of satellite imagery to capture war crimes evidence
‘Earthquake’: Supreme Court leak rocks Washington
(05/03/2022)Professor Orin Kerr says we’ve had Supreme Court leaks before, but this is a whole new order of magnitude of leak
What a Roe v. Wade Repeal Would Mean for California
(05/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says even without an explicit constitutional amendment, access to abortion in California would be unlikely to change unless a pre-emptive federal law is passed by Congress
Op-Ed: The Enormous Consequences of Overruling Roe v. Wade
(05/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky examines the potential consequences of the Supreme Court’s apparent intention to overturn Roe v Wade
A ‘shattering blow’: East Bay leaders react to Supreme Court Roe v. Wade draft
(05/03/2022)Oaklandside notes that Professor Khiara M. Bridges sounded the alarm in March over the impending loss of abortion protections, and how they would impact vulnerable people
Is Leaking a Supreme Court Opinion a Crime? The Law Is Far From Clear
(05/03/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr’s tweets regarding the legal issues relating to the Supreme Court leak are cited
Dobbs Draft Could Jeopardize More Than Abortion Precedent
(05/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky predicts that if Justice Alito’s reasoning from the leaked draft opinion is followed, then there is a large number of constitutional rights that are in jeopardy
Explainer: Is it illegal to leak a U.S. Supreme Court opinion?
(05/03/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr says the leaking of the Supreme Court draft opinion is the most egregious violation of confidentiality for a staff member or employee of the court
Supreme Court teed up for major decisions over next two months
(05/03/2022)Professor Khiara M. Bridges says a decision against abortion rights would come down hardest on people who do not have the ability or means to travel where an abortion would be available and the only source of optimism may be in the likelihood that the Supreme Court’s decision will sort of spur activism
California Leaders Vow to Protect Abortion in Constitution
(05/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
David A. Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, says states like California “can use their constitutions to increase protections for reproductive liberty”
Op-Ed: The brazenly political Supreme Court shows it will strike down abortion rights
(05/02/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v Wade is right-wing Republican politics masquerading as law
‘Appalling’ and ‘Unforgivable Sin’: Leaked SCOTUS Draft Overturning ‘Roe’ Shocks Legal Community
(05/02/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter says leaving the definition of individual rights to each of 50 jurisdictions will create the un-United States and predicts it is likely to get worse from here
How rare is a Supreme Court breach? Very rare
(05/02/2022)Dean Erwin Chermerinsky questions whether the intense secrecy surrounding every aspect of the Supreme Court’s work is a good thing
Op-Ed: No, Ron DeSantis’ battle with Disney isn’t just political grandstanding
(05/02/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and NYU Professor Burt Neuborne write the core principle underlying the First Amendment is that government cannot punish speech because it disagrees with its viewpoint, but that is exactly what Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature have done to the Disney corporation for having dared to oppose legislation limiting discussion of gay issues in Florida’s public schools
LA Riots 30 years later: From ‘city on fire’ to the George Floyd era
(04/29/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic, Criminal Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky reflects on the LA riots and the anger that remains today because police excessive force, and racist policing continues
Op-Ed: Abolish the courts’ wanton use of nationwide injunctions
(04/28/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes federal Judge Mizelle’s misguided mask mandate decision is only the latest example of a bad practice that undermines orderly judicial processes and should be rejected by both sides of the partisan divide
Why California Wants to Recall Its Most Progressive Prosecutors
(04/28/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says, despite recall efforts, San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin has done the things he said he would do
California cap-and-trade revenues fund corporate upgrades
(04/28/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says big corporations are perhaps not the ideal “poster child” for a cap-and-trade revenue recipient, they likely do deliver emission reductions
The Kochs’ Dream of Smashing Climate Action May Be About to Come True
(04/27/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Dan Farber says the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in West Virginia vs. EPA is likely to curtail not just EPA’s ability to combat climate change but the government’s ability to protect the public from other threats, from financial fraud to public health
Attorneys defend opioid companies in closely watched SF case
(04/26/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Andrew Bradt says the results of the federal civil trial against opioid manufacturers underway in San Francisco will have ripple effects far beyond just the city
Elon Musk’s deal for Twitter includes a $1 billion breakup fee.
(04/26/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon says the Elon Musk/Twitter deal is a fairly standard merger agreement
Lessons from California: Tips to keep transit projects on time, on budget
(04/26/2022)Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, claims that local agencies tend to poorly plan infrastructure work and don’t have enough capacity to manage megaprojects. They also often use procurement methods that create a management bottleneck.
A prisoner’s bid to develop new evidence rests on a 233-year-old statute about judicial writs
(04/25/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Mridula Raman, Clinical Supervising Attorney at the Death Penalty Clinic, discusses the All Writs Act and if it can authorize prisoner transport in habeas proceedings
Commencement Advice for Outsiders: Now and Then, Let Go of Resistance
(04/25/2022)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Savala Nolan, Executive Director of the Henderson Center for Social Justice, offers words of advice and wisdom to women of color, and other marginalized people, graduating law school
Oklahoma takes a tussle with Indian tribes to the Supreme Court
(04/22/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Seth Davis discusses Oklahoma v McGirt’s relevance for disputes about taxation and civil regulatory authority
The End of CNN+
(04/22/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon say Elon Musk is getting more professional and his Twitter buyout is starting to look more like a normal hostile bid
Start Making Sense
(04/22/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on The Nation’s podcast and argues the Supreme Court has empowered the police and subverted civil rights
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Art and Mementos Go Up for Auction
(04/21/2022)Ten percent of the seller’s commission from the auction of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal mementos will go to to fellowships offered by the Women of Berkeley Law
SMART aims for big boost in ridership
(04/21/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says he believes mass rail transit will get the bulk of the ridership back to pre-pandemic levels.
Why Is Toforest Johnson Still on Alabama’s Death Row?
(04/20/2022)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
A former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court wrote an op-ed urging the reexamination of the case of Toforest Johnson, a prisoner on Alabama’s death row long represented by the Death Penalty Clinic
Your questions, answered: Would Supreme Court overturn D.C. statehood even if Congress approved?
(04/20/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
A op-ed Dean Erwin Chemerinsky wrote last summer regarding possible D.C. statehood is cited to answer a Washington Post reader’s question about the constitutionality of it
Los Angeles police dispute at center of Supreme Court case on Miranda warnings
(04/20/2022)Professor Chuck Weisselberg explains his fears regarding the Supreme Court signaling it may shield police from civil lawsuits for failing to provide Miranda warnings to suspects, saying police could be given an incentive to pressure people who refuse to talk
Law Profs Blast SEC Plan To Trim ‘Activist’ Investor Deadlines
(04/19/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Frank Partnoy, with fellow Robert Bishop, filed a comment letter regarding the SEC’s recent proposal to halve the deadline for large investors to disclose their stakes in companies
Can technology bring Vladimir Putin to justice?
(04/18/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, says that the challenge on convicting war crimes through social media images will be on the admissibility, on convincing judges this is something they should be allowing or heavily weighing
How Ukraine Is Crowdsourcing Digital Evidence of War Crimes
(04/18/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
HRC’s Berkeley Protocol is being used by Ukrainian groups to determine how best to document and preserve evidence, as well as ethical and legal guidance for gathering eyewitness accounts
Op-Ed: Villanueva has unchecked power in the sheriff’s office. This can be fixed
(04/15/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky expresses that creating meaningful checks and balances for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office is long overdue
The Lawfare Podcast: Bringing Evidence of War Crimes From Twitter to the Hague
(04/14/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, appears on the Lawfare Podcast for an in-depth interview examining the history of using social media for international criminal cases and Berkeley/the HRC’s role in developing the Berkeley Protocol
Can the Clever Use of Old Legal Strategies Thwart Psychedelic Monopolies?
(04/14/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Robert Merges 2004 paper, A New Dynamism in the Public Domain, is mentioned in an article examining whether corporations are going to use IP law to profit from psychedelics
Tesla racism case award cut to $15 million from $137 million
(04/14/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor David Oppenheimer discusses the Tesla racial discrimination case and says the judge wrote a very careful opinion that will make it hard for Tesla to appeal
Immigrant groups sue ICE for information on alternative detention programs
(04/14/2022)Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, filed suit on behalf of a coalition of immigrant rights groups seeking information from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement about the agency’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, a so- called alternative to detention program that has ballooned during the Biden administration
What happens next in Musk’s Twitter takeover offer
(04/14/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon explains the options the board at Twitter has in reaction to Elon Musk’s takeover offer
Who is responsible when a gig worker, such as an Uber driver, is killed on the job?
(04/12/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Contracts/Commercial Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk says more needs to be done to protect gig workers and their families
The difficult quest for looted musical instruments
(04/10/2022)Lecturer Carla Shapreau, who has been working on the case of a Stradivarius violin stolen under the Nazis, is one of the thirty French and international speakers participating in the colloquium devoted to the spoliation of musical instruments in Europe, between 1933 and 1945
Posts distort California bill allowing non-citizen police officers
(04/09/2022)Professor Leti Volpp says clarifies a proposed bill would that would permit non-citizens who are authorized to work in the U.S. to become police officers in California
Ask Help Desk: What happens if you refuse to go back to the office?
(04/08/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk explores the leverage workers and employers have when it comes to a return-to-the-office policy
Thompson Ruling Will Shore Up Malicious Prosecution Suits
(04/08/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court’s holding in Thompson v. Clark was narrow and the justices only ruled that malicious prosecution claims did not require an affirmative indication of actual innocence
Could social media hold evidence of alleged Russian war crimes?
(04/07/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, explains the benefits and challenges of a large amount of social media evidence
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination signals change, but court’s conservative bent remains
(04/07/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinksy say Justice Jackson is not going to change anybody’s mind with regard to the abortion issue or the gun issue, but she’s the first justice in history to have ever been a public defender, she’s the first Black woman to ever serve on the court, and these things could really influence others
No, this California bill wouldn’t allow mothers to kill their children after they’re born
(04/06/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara Bridges debunks Facebook posts claiming California lawmakers proposed a bill that would allow mothers to kill their babies up to 7 days after birth
Could Better Technology Lead to Stronger 4th Amendment Privacy Protections?
(04/06/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr explores how the reshuffled Supreme Court might rule on surveillance and policing
When Gig Workers Are Murdered, Their Families Foot the Bill
(04/06/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk explains the lack of coverage gig workers and their families have when people are killed on the job and the cost-saving measures companies like Uber take to exclude their drivers from workers’ compensation
From war crime to conviction — what it will take to bring the Bucha killers to justice
(04/06/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses the increase in major warrants of arrest coming forward on the basis open source investigations and social media evidence
Hollywood’s Top Law Schools: 11 Colleges and Universities Where THR’s Power Lawyers Got Their Start
(04/05/2022)Topics: Public Mission Topic
The Hollywood Reporter ranks Berkeley Law #4 on their Top Law Schools list, calling out of offerings in law and tech and our strength in intellectual property and privacy
Against Hate and Self-Hate: VAWA Must Now Be Implemented Without Cultural Biases
(04/04/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur writes, in order for the VAWA to truly positively affect everyone who has experienced gendered violence, it must openly examine the biases faced by minorities and provide support to grassroots initiatives
How a California lawyer became a focal point of the Jan. 6 investigation
(04/04/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says John Eastman’s actions went beyond that of an attorney
Amazon workers just voted to join a union — here’s what happens next
(04/02/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer David Rosenfeld predicts Amazon will do everything they can to avoid a contract with workers at a Staten Island warehouse who voted to unionize
The Nomination Black Women Have Been Waiting For
(04/01/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges explains the personal impact of the implication, when President Biden announced his intention to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, that there was no one qualified
Staten Island Amazon workers chart their own path in union drive
(03/29/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk, Faculty Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Work and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, compares labor organizers at Amazon’s Staten Island facility to General Motors organizers in 1944
Op-Ed: The world may be talking about Will Smith, but Ariana DeBose’s Oscar win is much more momentous
(03/29/2022)Professor Russell Robinson, Faculty Director, Center on Race, Sexuality & Culture, writes while Will Smith slapping Chris Rock will undoubtedly be the most talked about moment from the 2022 Oscars, there was another momentous occurrence at the awards show that not nearly enough people have recognized
Law Professors Tell Federal Circuit Its Sealing Order Was ‘Dangerous’
(03/28/2022)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelson is one of a dozen law professors who filed an amicus brief telling the Federal Circuit that a ‘dangerous’ split ruling from it to seal patent licensing information belonging to the private equity firm that is funding Uniloc’s legal war against Apple has flipped the legal system’s “presumption of access” in intellectual property cases
He hacked into government computers to ‘peacefully’ protest treatment of homeless people. How should he be punished?
(03/28/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr says someone can protest government policy by expressing your opinion against it, but that expression doesn’t give you a right to damage someone else’s property
Gas Rebate / CEQA Explained / Rosie the Riveter Redux
(03/28/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, makes an appearance in State of the Bay to discuss the California Environmental Quality Act and Governor Newsom’s proposed gas rebate for Californians
Ukraine May Mark a Turning Point in Documenting War Crimes
(03/28/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
HRC’s Lindsay Freeman, one of the authors of the Berkeley Protocol, discusses helping groups in Ukraine standardize their efforts and adapt and apply the protocol in this specific situation
US welcomes International Criminal Court action against Putin
(03/27/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Professor Katerina Linos and Professor Laura Fletcher weigh in on the powers and importance of how the ICC investigates war crimes allegations against Russia
Op-Ed: Free speech doesn’t mean hecklers get to shut down campus debate
(03/24/2022)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Erwin Chemerinsky writes college campuses — particularly law schools — should be places where all ideas and views can be expressed
From Kyiv’s outskirts to the U.S. midwest, law students stand up for Ukraine
(03/23/2022)LLM student Dmytro Tymoshchenko put his studies on hold due to the pandemic and is now living in Ukraine and volunteering with the civilian defense unit in Boryspil, about 20 miles outside of Kyiv
Historic Nomination: What to Know About Ketanji Brown Jackson
(03/22/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Amanda Tyler discusses working alongside Ketanji Brown Jackson when they were both clerking at the Supreme Court
Op-Ed: At long last, the U.S. recognizes what Rohingya already knew
(03/22/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Wai Wai Nu, visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Human Rights Center, explains the meaning of the U.S. government defining the crimes perpetrated by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya people as a genocide.
In Hungary, the arts are being suppressed by the government, a new report says
(03/21/2022)A report, “Systematic Suppression: Hungary’s Arts & Culture in Crisis,” by the Artistic Freedom Initiative, and created in partnership with Berkeley Law and Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, is highlighted
How Technology Might Bring War Criminals To Justice In Ukraine
(03/21/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic, International Law Topic
Professor Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses the Berkeley Protocol on Open Source Investigations and why it’s important both for the press and for courts, that information is verified
Who Killed the Red Car?
(03/19/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, made a guest appearance in Lost LA to discuss the rail lines in Los Angeles
Op-ed: Senators should ask Biden’s SCOTUS nominee about judicial code of conduct
(03/18/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, with Dennis Aftergut, counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy, suggest the Supreme Court subject itself, for the first time, to a judicial code of conduct
War Crimes Tribunals in the Digital Age
(03/18/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations and the long collaborative process of formalizing OSINT to be admissible in international courts.
Playing with Fire: Russia, Ukraine and the Geopolitics of Energy
(03/18/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears in the Climate One podcast to discuss West Virginia v. EPA case and how that can affect the authority of every federal agency
Op-Ed: Senators should ask Biden’s SCOTUS nominee about judicial code of conduct
(03/18/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses how upcoming hearings on President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee will provide an opportunity to help strengthen public confidence in the Supreme Court
Senior citizens serving federal sentences have fallen through the cracks
(03/18/2022)Professor Charles Weisselberg says that senior citizens are “falling through the cracks” since the government agency have been undercounting the number of prisoners under its jurisdiction
Federal Appeals Judge Suggests Yale Law Protesters ‘Should Be Disqualified for Potential Clerkships’
(03/17/2022)Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of Berkeley Judicial Institute, says Judge Laurence Silberman’s suggestion that student protesters at a Yale event should be identified and potentially disqualified from federal clerkships raises the question of “whether a sitting federal judge should comment on a politically charged situation because of the possible perception of bias”
Op-Ed: From Rail to Roads and Back Again: The Rebirth of L.A.’s Public Transit
(03/16/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, writes that rail is slowly transforming key parts of Los Angeles once again back into a railtown
The online volunteers hunting for war crimes in Ukraine
(03/16/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Lindsay Freeman, Law and Policy Director at the Human Rights Center, says that despite the good intentions of the volunteers helping authenticate images and videos of possible war crimes being committed in Ukraine, some may simply fall too far short of the burden of proof required to prosecute war crimes
Breaking Down The DOJ’s 1st 737 Max Criminal Fraud Trial
(03/16/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter is representing one of the families that did not sign on to that stipulation offered by Boeing and says that the families will be closely watching the Forkner trial because “they care deeply for accountability for the various wrongdoers”
Extracurricular Activities Support Post-LLM Careers
(03/16/2022)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Rachel Zuraw, Director of LL.M. Professional Development, explains the value in activities outside the classroom.
Police Search of Rape Victims’ DNA Tests Meaning of Consent
(03/16/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth cautions that, if DNA consent forms use overly broad language that says the DNA can be used by law enforcement, some courts may not agree it’s a Fourth Amendment violation to search it for an unrelated investigation
How California is Building the Nation’s First Privacy Police
(03/15/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Jennifer M. Urban, Director of Policy Initiatives at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, and chair of the California Privacy Protection Agency’s board, discusses the opportunity the agency has to protect privacy and understand how that work interacts with all of the innovative technologies
Why Donald Trump’s presidential hinting campaign can go on and on without him officially declaring his candidacy
(03/14/2022)Lecturer Ann Ravel says that Trump seems to have made the decision to run by claiming that he planned to be the 47th President instead of saying ‘if I run’ but is being careful to not officially announce that he is running so he can avoid filing a financial disclosure report
New summer program, race and law course graduation requirements, and a substantial gift
(03/14/2022)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky speaks on the new requirement that all graduating students must take at least one course on race and the law
Op-Ed: The Path to Peace in Ukraine
(03/11/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter explains his theories on how the war in Ukraine can end
Optimism expressed for climate goals
(03/11/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment, and Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discuss how the two nations in the US-China joint declaration have the resources to develop and scale up the technologies to solve the global reliance on fossil fuels
UC Berkeley’s Ken Alex On Project Climate & Global Methane Pledge
(03/09/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, Director of Project Climate at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, shares research being undertaken as well as actions California and subnational governments are taking to drastically reduce short-lived climate pollutants—like methane—from key industry sectors within the next decade
Column: Texas and Idaho show that red state attacks on transgender residents are getting more unhinged
(03/09/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court has said in numerous cases that freedom of travel is a fundamental right
Why So Many Billionaires Live in California
(03/08/2022)Adam Sterling, Executive Director, Berkeley Center for Law and Business, explains why the tech billionaire community is in California
Is an international crime operation targeting the Bay Area’s wealthiest cities with ‘burglary tourism’?
(03/08/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon comments on the recent Bay area burglary tourism and says that narratives like that of the South American theft groups are “like catnip” for law enforcement
Op-Ed: Putin’s crime of aggression in Ukraine and the International Criminal Court
(03/05/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Victor Peskin, Senior Research Fellow at the Human Rights Center, explores the formidable obstacles that stand in the way of actually holding Russian President Putin and his inner circle to account for crimes perpetrated by Russian forces in Ukraine
‘Compensation, Healing, and Closure’: One Man’s Quest for Reparations in the Music Business
(03/05/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Peter Menell discusses Southwestern Law Professor Kevin Greene’s ideas on how to fix the structural racism in America’s copyright system
Inside ‘contract hell’: Esports players say predatory contracts run ‘rampant’
(03/04/2022)Topics: Contracts/Commercial Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk says she sees esports as currently living through what Major League Baseball experienced 80 years ago with “exploitative contracts”
Who Should Get Reparations in California?
(03/04/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky testified at a California reparations task force meeting, suggesting providing reparations based on lineage, as opposed to race, would make the effort less likely to be overturned in court
Berkeley Voices: ‘The past will be present when Roe falls’
(03/04/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on the Berkeley Voices podcast to discuss the history of reproductive rights in the U.S., what’s at stake when Roe v. Wade is overturned and why we should expand our fight for reproductive justice
Digital detectives scour Ukraine social media for evidence of Russian war crimes
(03/04/2022)Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, weighs in on the big role social media platforms have to play as activists, journalists, researchers and volunteers race to dig up damning photos and videos of Russia’s conduct in Ukraine
These Migrants Made It Over the Border. Then They Were Killed in Phoenix.
(03/03/2022)Topics: International Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses the murder of two men and a teen – all from the same town – whose bodies were found in Phoenix. The families believe human traffickers were behind the killings.
Op-Ed: SCOTUS could make significant ruling on EPA’s authority to fight climate change—or not
(03/03/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinksy writes U.S. Supreme Court could make a significant ruling on the EPA’s authority to fight climate change—or not
It Can’t Happen Here: Canada’s Emergency Protest Orders
(03/03/2022)The California Constitution Center’s Dan Bromberg and Brandon V. Stracener write, if protests like the Canadian truckers’ protests came to California, declaring a Canada-style emergency and exercising similar powers is not an option for Governor Gavin Newsom
As SCOTUS Clerk, Ketanji Brown Jackson Known for Her ‘Even Keel’ in Hot-Button Term
(03/03/2022)Professor Amanda Tyler reflects on her time a a Supreme Court clerk with SCOTUS nominee Judge Katanji Brown Jackson
What Russia Is Doing to Ukraine Must Be Preserved—Not Just Seen
(03/03/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
The Human Rights Center’s Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations, the most comprehensive framework for digital evidence collection and preservation for use in international tribunals, is being used to ensure digital evidence is properly collected and stored
Trump lawyer John Eastman’s law license in California may be in jeopardy
(03/02/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinksy says that he believes that the investigation of John Eastman is appropriate and necessary because Eastman was the architect of an attempted coup
MayStreet Launches Next Generation of Market Data Analytics Product
(03/01/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Robert Bartlett says that MayStreet’s Analytics Workbench allowed for documentation of the vital importance of odd lot quotes in today’s equity markets, especially for higher-priced stocks
John Eastman, Trump’s lawyer on overturning election, under investigation by California Bar
(03/01/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinksy says he does not think any attorney should be disciplined for protected free speech, but John Eastman’s actions went far beyond the type of speech that advocates for a position
Bay Area Tech Giants Under International Pressure To Shut Down Russian Disinformation, Social Media
(02/28/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer Tess Bridgeman says that by tech companies taking action against Russian disinformation, it will allow more accurate reporting of the invasion to be seen by a wider audience
Meet Ketanji Brown Jackson The debate star, theater kid, public defender, and judge who would join the Supreme Court.
(02/25/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Amanda Tyler, who was a Supreme Court clerk with Judge Katanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s choice to replace Justice Breyer, says she is meticulous in her approach to the law
Op-Ed: What kind of justice will Ketanji Brown Jackson be?
(02/25/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky applauds President Biden’s choice of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court and says, in the world of law, credentials don’t get better than hers
‘Stand Your Ground’ laws are linked to an increase in U.S. homicides, study says
(02/25/2022)Professor Jonathan Simon says the passage of Stand Your Ground laws were a big cultural shift
Op-Ed: Byzantine water laws will leave Californians high and dry
(02/24/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Holly Doremus and UC Davis Professor Rick Frank offer recommendations for revising California’s antiquated water laws
A Rape Survivor Gave Police Her DNA. They Linked Her to Another Crime
(02/24/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth discusses the controversial case involving SFPD use of DNA evidence from a rape kit to link the victim to another crime
Plaintiffs Target Boeing’s Top Executives in Max 8 Lawsuit
(02/24/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter filed a lawsuit on behalf of a passenger of Ethiopian Air Flight 302, which crashed in 2019, and wants to add Boeing executives as defendants, saying “none of them has been held accountable”
Charts show where homicides are spiking most in the Bay Area
(02/24/2022)Professor Jonathan Simon explains the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities that are vulnerable to violence
Why I’m in mourning for hope and democracy in Ukraine
(02/24/2022)Rebecca Golbert, Executive Director of the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies, writes about her personal grief over the situation in Ukraine
A Strike at the Heart of Roe
(02/23/2022)Research and reporting from an innovative collaboration between the Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law and the Investigative Reporting Program at Berkeley Journalism resulted in this podcast from Reveal exploring how Texas has gone after Roe v. Wade
The case for Leondra Kruger: Why Biden should put the Californian on the U.S. Supreme Court
(02/23/2022)A Sacramento Bee editorial suggesting President Biden select Judge Leondra Kruger for the Supreme Court cites a recent study of her record from the California Constitution Center
The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas
(02/23/2022)Professor Orin Kerr discusses the conundrum for the Supreme Court concerning Justice Thomas’ wife’s political actions and says that, while there are no clear-cut rules outlining when justices need to recuse themselves, there are appearance concerns
Berkeley Law to Implement Mandatory Diversity Course Starting in 2023
(02/23/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the new requirement for Berkeley Law students to take at least one course on race and the law in order to graduate
Was John Eastman, former Chapman legal scholar, trying to overthrow democracy?
(02/18/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says that “John Eastman’s memo outlined how to accomplish a coup”
Here’s why UC Berkeley may be forced to slash 3,000 seats from its fall class
(02/18/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky expresses that if the lower court ruling is allowed to stand, judges would be given extensive power to micromanage enrollment at every public school in California
Earth Matters: Big Oil’s climate pledges a mismatch with truth; VP Harris talks up lead remediation
(02/17/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute, says that by adding solar panel canopies over some of the utility’s Ceres Main Canal “you’re taking something that’s already been altered by human activity and doubling up on the benefits it provides”
On the California Supreme Court, Leondra Kruger is known for her ‘persuasive powers’ among the justices
(02/17/2022)David A. Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, describes Justice Leondra Kruger as a median justice based on the fact she has taken an even distribution of liberal and conservative positions
Podcast: Can Democrats talk about race in a way that *wins back* the white non-college vote?
(02/16/2022)Professor Ian Haney Lopez appears on the Daily Kos podcast to discuss the Race-Class narrative and says that we need to build cross-racial and cross-class solidarity
All about winning elections: Latino, white, and Black voters respond best to one type of messaging
(02/15/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Ian Haney Lopez comments on the Race-Class narrative and says that we need to build cross-racial and cross-class solidarity
White House Takes Aim at Environmental Racism, but Won’t Mention Race
(02/15/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky comments on the White House’s new environmental colorblind strategy and says that the Supreme Court is very hostile to any attempt to use race as a basis for giving benefits
Exclusive: SFPD Chief Scott seeking full overhaul of deal that makes D.A. Boudin lead in cop use-of-force cases
(02/15/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon comments on recent overhaul of the agreement that made the District Attorney’s Office the lead investigator into potential officer brutality and says that he doesn’t see a record of failure or betrayal by the District Attorney’s Office that is extreme enough to justify “tearing up the whole document, rather than asking for specific changes”
Op-ed: Justice Ajit Singh Bains, the unforgettable People’s Judge of Punjab
(02/14/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur highlights the life of Justice Ajit Singh Bains, one of India’s finest jurists and human rights defenders, who recently passed away
California can provide a climate roadmap for the world
(02/14/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Louise Bedsworth, Director of the Land Use Program at the Center for Law Energy & the Environment and senior advisor to the California China Climate Institute, discusses what steps California has taken to help halt climate change which will make life better for Californians, but also create a model for the rest of the world.
Climate crisis and systemic inequities drive push to reform California water laws
(02/13/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Holly Doremus comments that the current blueprint for updating California’s system of water laws is meant to move the system in the right direction
Federal agency fails to notify Allentown residents about their increased cancer risk
(02/11/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Environmental Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter says that about 100 citizens of the area right around the Braun plant in Allentown have developed cancer
Pacific Cargo Route Sails Into Green Era
(02/10/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, Director of Project Climate at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, said it is encouraging to see two of the world’s largest ports, Los Angeles and Shanghai, work collaboratively to accelerate the transition to zero-emission fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Supreme Court justices insist all is well, but their caustic written opinions say otherwise
(02/10/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Amanda Tyler says the Supreme Court’s order in an Alabama voting rights case sanctions – at least in the short term during a very important election cycle — what appears to be egregious vote dilution rulings
New federal funds for EV charging headed for interstate highways
(02/10/2022)Ethan Elkind, Director of the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment’s Climate Project, discusses Joe Biden’s guidelines for how states should spend $5 billion in new infrastructure and says fast charges are key
Fatal police shootings in 2021 set record since The Post began tracking, despite public outcry
(02/09/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Frank Zimring says that the number of fatal shootings is unsurprising and that policy enacted now may take years to make a statistically significant difference
The Media Show
(02/09/2022)Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, talks to BBC Radio about open-source investigators’ work to find the truth behind news events
The surprising liberal consensus emerging about Biden’s Supreme Court decision
(02/08/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky suggests that President Biden pick a Supreme Court Justice who might put together coalitions for progressive results
Supremely Qualified for the Supreme Court: Leondra Kruger
(02/08/2022)Professor Amanda Tyler appears on MSNBC’s The Last word to examine the qualifications of President Biden’s potential nominees to the Supreme Court
Op-Ed: So much for nonpartisan. Republican Supreme Court justices are helping elect Republicans
(02/08/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday to reinstate a congressional district map drawn by the Alabama Legislature serves as an effort by the conservative justices to help Republicans in the midterms
The biggest wild card Frontier and Spirit face in clearing $6.6B tie-up
(02/08/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Emeritus Daniel Rubinfeld predicts the Frontier/Spirit airline merger will go through, despite antitrust concerns
Tesla Warns of Possible California Suit Over Race Harassment
(02/07/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk discusses a potential racial harassment suit against Tesla
It’s Time For White People to Have Tough Conversations With Their White Friends and Relatives
(02/07/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Savala Nolan, Executive Director of the Henderson Center for Social Justice, writes that very often, white people and their efforts disappoint her and says if we want cooperative, connective transformation it’s time to increase the heat
California should stop making it possible to jail people for minor traffic citations
(02/06/2022)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
A 2016 report by the East Bay Community Law Center that found Black drivers in San Francisco accounted for “48.7% of arrests for a ‘failure to appear/pay’ traffic court warrant,” despite making up just under 6% of the population at the time
‘An amazing legacy’: Justice Breyer’s replacement could be a former clerk he considers family
(02/05/2022)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses the reasons Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be an excellent Supreme Court Justice
Who is Justice Leondra Kruger? For starters, she’s argued a dozen Supreme Court cases
(02/04/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says California Supreme Court Justice Kruger is brilliant and has impeccable credentials as a potential Supreme Court candidate.
What broadband ‘nutrition labels’ could reveal about your internet provider
(02/04/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Tejas Narechania explains a new act, passed by the FCC that will require broadband companies provide easy-to-read information about their services to improve transparency
Op-Ed: This consensus-building Californian deserves a spot on Biden’s Supreme Court short list
(02/04/2022)David A. Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, says the California Supreme Court’s ability to reach consensus is its “superpower”
Justice Kruger Has the Right Stuff
(02/04/2022)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Brandon V. Stracener explore the judicial record of California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger based on an analysis by the California Constitution Center of every opinion and vote by Kruger in her time on California’s high court
When California’s Supreme Court splits, potential Biden nominee Leondra Kruger often ends up in the middle
(02/03/2022)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, discusses California Supreme Court Justice Kruger as a potential Supreme Court candidate and says she is an independent thinker
Serious Constitutional Issues: 16 Law Professors Support Dismissal of Talc Bankruptcy
(02/03/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky is one of 16 law professors who have filed amicus briefs supporting dismissal of a controversial bankruptcy case involving thousands of talcum powder lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and says there are “serious constitutional issues”
Chemerinsky: Justice Breyer is a model for all who sit on a judicial bench
(02/02/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains the reasons why Justice Breyer is a model for all who sit on a judicial bench
Could Federal Rules Fix Common Benefit Fee Fights? “We’ve Refined Our Story:” Attorneys Recap Record $110M Earplug Verdict
(02/02/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter says he is optimistic that judges are listening to calls for changes to common benefit fees and judicial management will modify by streamlining the MDL process
Column: California has an answer for worker abuse in the fast-food industry
(02/02/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
A recent brief authored by Professor Catherine Fisk and 3L Amy Reavis observes that powerful global corporations like McDonald’s control the prices, quality, hours, and other operations, and the franchisee has no way to increase profits other than cutting labor costs
Stresses Pile Up For Judges After Two Years Of COVID
(02/01/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, explains the impact Covid-related stress has had on judges
Trailblazing Calif. Justice On Biden’s Supreme Court Short List
(02/01/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Justice Kruger has stellar credentials and would add diversity to the court, not only as a Black woman but as a state supreme court justice and someone from the West Coast
How CNN, The New York Times and Other Major Media Outlets Monetize Your Data and Lobby Against Regulation
(02/01/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, notes the ACLU’s decision to use tracking technology was made by the ACLU’s fundraising and advocacy team, not its legal department, which often does not work in tandem
From Georgetown to Yale, free speech controversies roil top law schools
(02/01/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says recent free speech controversies at law schools reflect the times we are living in
Mensch On The Bench
(01/31/2022)Professor Tejas Narechania joins the Strict Scrutiny podcast for a retrospective on Justice Breyer
Next justice unlikely to make a difference in climate law
(01/28/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber says that the new justice should be able to work with other justices on the court but also have the ability to write strong dissents and appeal to the public sense of what the court has done
Buy Gamestop, Fight Injustice. Just Don’t Sell
(01/28/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Frank Partnoy says synthetic shares can exist because the same shares are often lent out to multiple short sellers at once, creating the impression that there are more shares than there really are
Waymo sues state DMV to keep robotaxi safety details secret
(01/28/2022)Topics: Contracts/Commercial Law Topic
Professor Sonia Katyal, published in June in the Georgetown Law Journal, is cited for explaining that corporate and government actors have pushed to transform the law of trade secrecy into one of the most — if not the most — powerful tools to ensure concealment of information
Why Donald Trump can say he’ll be the 47th president of the United States — without having to declare himself an official candidate
(01/28/2022)Lecturer Ann Ravel says former president Trump is already getting close to the blurry line between candidate and non-candidate
The Supreme Court Is About to Lose Its ‘Driving Force’ on IP Law
(01/28/2022)Professor Tejas Narechania says Justice Breyer brings a level of sophistication and engagement to the Supreme Court’s intellectual property cases that will be missed
Could New Rules Rein In ‘Totally Out of Control’ MDL Fees?
(01/27/2022)Professor Andrew Bradt says it’s unlikely that a federal rules committee is going to make major changes to common benefit fees in multidistrict litigation
“The Equal Rights Amendment Has Been Ratified. It Is the Law”: U.S. House Resolution Declares ERA 28th Amendment
(01/27/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains the hurdles to getting the ERA ratified as a constitutional amendment
Climate ‘champion’ sought to replace Breyer
(01/27/2022)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber comments that Justice Stephen Breyer’s “contribution has taken the form of low-key concurrences and dissents” in the subject of environmental law
Breyer Retiring As Supreme Court Lurches Right
(01/27/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
This California justice could be Biden’s pick for Supreme Court. Here’s why
(01/27/2022)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses speculation that California Supreme Court Associate Justice Leondra Kruger could be the nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer.
PFAS in waste spurs alarm over ‘poisoning,’ regulatory gaps
(01/27/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic, comments on the clinic’s work to address toxic PFAS chemicals in America’s drinking water, describing them as “equal opportunity poisons.”
‘Unfailing Decency’: Justice Breyer Praised as a Consensus Maker as His Retirement Becomes Official
(01/26/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky speaks to Justice Stephen Breyer’s legacy
Focus Sharpens on Leondra Kruger in Wake of Justice Breyer’s Resignation
(01/26/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says California Supreme Court Associate Justice Leondra Kruger has had a stellar career and would be easily confirmable as a Supreme Court Justice
Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from Supreme Court, paving way for Biden appointment
(01/26/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky comments that there are times when the stewards of our system, like Justice Breyer, must put the good of an institution they love, and of the country they love, above their own interests
Bankruptcy experts join call to dismiss J&J talc Ch. 11
(01/26/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Kenneth Ayotte is one of a group of bankruptcy law professors weigh in on Johnson & Johnson’s use of the bankruptcy system to settle lawsuits alleging that its talc products cause cancer, calling the strategy a “serious abuse” and accused J&J of attempting to “deprive innocent talc victims of their day in court.
What if Quantum Computing Is a Bust?
(01/26/2022)Professor Chris Hoofnagle, Faculty Director at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, discusses that in quantum computing, one of the greatest risks of a short-term failure scenario is whether we are willing to recognize it
Law deans write book about Jan. 6 insurrection, plus new appointments
(01/26/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky was named the most influential person in American legal education by National Jurist
Op-Ed: If the Supreme Court bans affirmative action, it continues the U.S. legacy of racial discrimination
(01/25/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses two cases about affirmative action involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina and says that the removal of the affirmative action program would allow the effects of historic discrimination in admissions
What Roe v. Wade Means for All of Us
(01/25/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on the GOOP podcast in which she explains that the Supreme Court could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade and what this decision could mean for women’s constitutional rights
Don’t Call Me ‘In-House Counsel.’ Why Some Lawyers Dislike the Title
(01/24/2022)Adam Sterling, Executive Director, Berkeley Center for Law and Business, says the “in-house counsel” tag implies “outsider” status
Afghan evacuee crisis adds pressure to already-stressed immigration attorneys
(01/24/2022)Lecturer Mallika Kaur comments that immigration attorneys continue advocating for traumatized clients while juggling challenges of a system that is often re-traumatizing
CLEE Rail Transit Report featured on KGTV
(01/20/2022)Ethan Elkind, Director of the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment’s Climate Project, was featured on ABC 10 San Diego discussing CLEE’s rail transit report, Getting Back on Track
DC Circ. Is Told Digital Copyright Law Chills Free Speech
(01/20/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelson, with Harvard’s Rebecca Tushnet, filed an amicus brief in Green et al. v. U.S. DOJ arguing that the provisions “disregard and override traditional mechanisms within the Copyright Act that struck the balance between copyright protection and First Amendment interests
Miners vs. Vultures
(01/20/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Kenneth Ayotte says the private equity consortium that controlled Warrior Met’s finances had a clear interest in a fast bankruptcy process that would largely benefit their own bottom lines, not the interests of the workers
San Diego’s Blue Line trolley extension cost twice U.S. average for light rail, study finds
(01/19/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses a new CLEE report that found San Diego’s nearly $2.2-billion Blue Line trolley extension cost taxpayers double the national average per mile for light-rail projects
A Changing World Of Law For Latinos
(01/19/2022)Kristin Theis-Alvarez, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, says that she believes that Latino students find Berkeley Law to be a place that shares their commitment to tackling the complex challenges facing their communities
When did it become illegal to defend human rights?
(01/19/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Laurel Fletcher discusses that oppressive governments are criminalizing human rights activism by adopting cyberlaws that align with European standards which allow them to restrict legitimate online expression
A solution to health, safety and labor problems in fast food
(01/18/2022)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk discusses how in an effort to support and protect essential workers and small businesses, California has introduced the FAST Recovery Act which ensures shared responsibility between franchisors and franchisees for legal compliance
Op-Ed: What do we teach law students when we have no faith in the Supreme Court?
(01/16/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that, despite students becoming more dispirited and losing faith in the Supreme Court, they are reminded that there have been other bleak times in constitutional law, and suggests they direct their focus on other avenues for change
Supreme Court Vaccine Decision Signals Trouble for Climate Rule
(01/14/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber says that any bold actions like a vaccine-or-test mandate or climate change policies through agencies is going to have tough sledding in the Supreme Court
EDD wants its jobless money back. But some people can’t pay
(01/13/2022)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy comments that the California’s Employment Development Department’s clawback program is creating debt for some Californians who cannot prove they are working or seeking work, which can further push Californians into poverty
Manchin’s incorrect claim of a 232-year filibuster ‘tradition’
(01/12/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Senator Manchin’s claims about the filibuster are debunked by a 1997 Stanford Law Review article by Professor Catherine Fisk and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky examining the history of the filibuster
Podcast: Using Postcards to Make People Interact with Government More Easily
(01/11/2022)Topics: International Law Topic
Professor Katerina Linos appears on the GovExec Daily podcast to discuss how to make customer service more effective in government in a very low-tech way
Bay Area freeway shootings have nearly quadrupled in 4 years. In 2021, almost half occurred in one county
(01/10/2022)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon suggests recent highway shootings are likely either road rage assaults or calculated attacks against a motorist who the perpetrator already knew – both of which could be aggravated by the growing number of people who are armed
Berkeley Law Dean Chemerinsky Says In-Person School ‘Ideal’
(01/07/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky reflects on the last five years, looks ahead to his next term as dean and discusses the future of legal education
Newly Reappointed Berkeley Law Dean Chemerinsky Takes Over as AALS President, Focusing on Pipeline to Law School
(01/07/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses his theme for his AALS presidency : “How Law Schools Can Make a Difference”
Op-Ed: No One Should Die Alone
(01/07/2022)Lecturer Rose Carmen Goldberg explores the alarming decrease in accessibility of hospice care despite the increase in death and awareness of the importance of end-of-life care during the pandemic
Agencies Seek Reversal in FOIA Suit Over Trump Administration Vetting at US Border
(01/06/2022)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, arguing before the Second Circuit on behalf of the plaintiffs in Knight First Amendment Institute v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, said that the Trump Administration’s alleged “ideological screening” of immigrants and refugees at the border included questions that were too widely asked and general
Berkeley Law Reappoints Chemerinsky as Dean
(01/05/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky is appointed for another 5 year term
Peter Navarro Says He’d Prove Donald Trump’s Innocence Over Jan. 6 If Criminally Referred
(01/05/2022)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Peter Navarro’s assertion that the “Green Bay Sweep” was lawful is nonsense and would have been an unconstitutional, illegal coup
Op-Ed: Will the Supreme Court back sensible workplace vaccine mandates?
(01/03/2022)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the Biden administration’s vaccination mandates are clearly legal, but the politicization of the pandemic and vaccines makes it doubtful whether the Supreme Court will uphold them
Op-Ed: Covid Should Revive School Vouchers as a Liberal Cause
(01/03/2022)Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon, with Berkeley Professor Mark Brilliant, writes there’s a forgotten liberal solution to the school system issues highlighted by the pandemic: vouchers
Harvard professor Charles Lieber found guilty of concealing ties to China’s scientific talent programme
(12/22/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, says political inertia and questions over how to better address US tech security and Chinese intellectual property theft are hurdles to fixing or shutting down the China Initiative
Looking Back on The Legal’s Top Verdicts of 2021
(12/20/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter secured a big-ticket verdict in 2021 – a $9.7 million for a man who sustained neurological damage from a mistake during brain surgery
Op-Ed: Your town is not an independent republic
(12/20/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Stephen M. Duvernay explain that California cities have no power to become breakaway republics, and Oroville’s stunt to become a “constitutional republic city” because of unhappiness with the ongoing state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic is not a thing
Calif. law will turn banana peels into renewable energy
(12/20/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment, explains the hurdles to building food waste recycling plants, a key part of a law taking effect in January that will require municipalities across the state to collect food waste for its potential use in making renewable natural gas for electricity
Essay: To Rein In the Police, Look to the States, Not the Court
(12/20/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes meaningful police oversight will need to come from the political process, from Congress and from state and local governments, rather than from the Supreme Court
Many juries in America remain mostly White, prompting states to take action to eliminate racial discrimination in their selection
(12/19/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, Criminal Law Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, explains that racial discrimination in jury selection is a nationwide issue and says reforming peremptory strikes is only part of the fight
Column: Are Abortion Rights Just for Privileged Careerists?
(12/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges shoots down the right’s attempts to portray abortion as a “career choice” explains what is really at stake for women
Column: The idea of expanding the Supreme Court to blunt its right-wing bias gains traction
(12/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why he thinks the Supreme Court should be expanded and says while it’s true increasing the size of the court might affect its legitimacy, we’re already there
Column: Farmers Leading Protests in India—and the Young Feminists Camping With Them—Just Scored a Major Win. Will It Last?
(12/17/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur writes, after a year of unprecedented protests, farmers and agrarian laborers in India have won an unprecedented victory and are now poised to change the whole game
Podcast: Let’s Talk About Texts, Cheney
(12/16/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on the BBC’s Americast podcast to discuss Governor Newsom’s plan to use Texas SB8’s framework for gun control and why she believes it is more than just a PR stunt
Column: Newsom stares down Texas on abortion and guns, winning political points in the process
(12/16/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Khiara M. Bridges discuss Texas’ SB8 and Governor Newsom’s plan to use it as a framework to address gun violence
An Afghan refugee was shot and killed while driving for Uber in SF. His family is demanding better.
(12/16/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk comments on the liability of Uber in the shooting death of a driver in San Francisco under Prop 22, which has been deemed unconstitutional, but remains in effect
In federal ‘China Initiative’ case, Harvard might also be put on trial
(12/15/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, says, in the federal ‘China Initiative’ case of Harvard nanotechnologist Charles Lieber, the government is settling for charges that have little to do with technology
Governor Newsom Invokes Texas Abortion Law to Take on Guns in California
(12/14/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on KQED’s Forum to discuss whether Governor Newsom’s plan to use Texas’ SB8 as a framework to address gun violence is legally viable and politically astute
There’s one major difference between Texas’ abortion law and Newsom’s gun proposal
(12/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Khiara M. Bridges explain the differences between Texas’ SB8 and Governor Newsom’s plan to use it as a framework to address gun violence
Video: California governor pledges new gun control law modeled off of Texas abortion law
(12/12/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Texas abortion case and Governor Newsom’s announcement of a bill that would allow people to sue the makers and sellers of assault weapons
Newsom seizes on Texas abortion law tactics to go after assault rifles and ghost guns
(12/11/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Khiara M. Bridges discuss the Supreme Court’s decision on Texas’ abortion law and say it subverts the constitutional guarantee that all citizens have the same rights, no matter where they live
In response to Texas abortion ban, Newsom calls for similar restrictions on assault weapons
(12/11/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says Governor Newsom’s pledge to pass a law restricting assault weapons through private litigation is exactly the kind of legal gambit that constitutional scholars have predicted since the Supreme Court majority declined to block the Texas abortion law
U.S. misses critical deadline in human rights case of man killed by border agents
(12/10/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, International Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, says the United States’ failure to respond to evidence presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding the 2010 killing of Anastasio Hernández Rojas at the hands of U.S. border agents, goes against the president’s campaign commitment that immigration agents “abide by professional standards and are held accountable for inhumane treatment”
Op-Ed: Supreme Court decision on Texas abortion law puts all of our constitutional rights in jeopardy
(12/10/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the Supreme Court’s decision to not block Texas law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy which goes against Roe v Wade
Supreme Court allows abortion providers to sue over Texas law
(12/10/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court ruling in the Texas abortion case has given Texas a roadmap for blocking lawsuits
Podcast: Student Aid, Religious Education, and the First Amendment
(12/10/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on the National Constitution Center’s podcast We the People to discuss the history of religious schooling and public funding in America under the Constitution, including from the founding onward; what historical precedent means for how to understand and interpret the religious freedom clauses of the First Amendment; and how the Court might rule in the case
Op-Ed: Let Them Cheat: The Problems With Remote Bar Exam Software
(12/10/2021)Matthew Stanford and Brandon V. Stracener, California Constitution Center Senior Research Fellows, explain why it’s time to abandon monitoring software and the traditional closed-book bar examination model itself
Experts Weigh in on California Privacy Rights Act Changes
(12/08/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Lecturer Jim Dempsey joined the Bar Association of San Francisco virtual panel discussing the California Privacy Rights Act
Advice for First-Generation Law Applicants
(12/06/2021)The Berkeley Law Opportunity Scholarship program is highlighted as a resource for first-generation students
Brutal, brazen crimes shake L.A., leaving city at a crossroads
(12/04/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says that crime concerns in L.A. can slow progressive criminal justice reforms, but it won’t derail the reform movement
Bay Area retail theft bust nets $8 million in stolen merchandise from CVS, Walgreens, Target
(12/03/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says that due to businesses trying to maximize profits by reducing the number of people working there, the automated self check-outs enable theft
Planned Parenthood L.A. was hacked. What it means, and what you can do
(12/03/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk, in light of the recent hacking of Planned Parenthood, inputs that although some women might be worried about their jobs, there are laws that protect employees from retaliation for engaging in lawful off-duty behavior
The Lawfare Podcast: Orin Kerr and Asaf Lubin on Apple v. NSO Group
(12/03/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr appears in The Lawfare Podcast to discuss about the merits of Apple’s lawsuit and its implications for the spyware industry and cybersecurity norms
Republicans See Parents’ Frustration With Schools as Path to Retake Congress
(12/02/2021)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says that critical race theory conflated ideas like diversity, equity and inclusion efforts or teacher training meant to raise awareness of why students might face different circumstances
U.S. misses filing deadline in international human rights case over killing at border
(12/01/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, says that by the United States not responding by the set deadline in the international human rights case involving the killing of Anastasio Hernández Rojas, it gives authoritarian regimes in the Americas permission to do the same
Court upholds California ban on high-capacity magazines
(12/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Frank Zimring says that legally limiting the capacity of a magazine is marching pretty far from the core meaning of individual self-defense
Activision, Monster Face Gender-Diversity Deadline as Court Weighs In
(12/01/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Constitutional Law Topic
Professor David Oppenheimer, Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, comments on the Activision Blizzard Inc. and Monster Beverage Corp. case and says California courts will likely uphold the gender mandate since these laws have become commonplace in much of the world
Op-Ed: The abortion case before the Supreme Court may take away the fundamental right to reproductive freedom
(11/30/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is the most important abortion case to come before the Supreme Court in almost three decades
Roe v. Wade on the line as Supreme Court takes up Mississippi abortion rights case
(11/30/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber say the legal options before the Supreme Court in the Mississippi case are stark and extreme, and predicts Roe v Wade will be overturned
‘Like Showing Up for Court Without Their Hair Combed’: Why Law Students Need to Learn the Etiquette of Virtual Litigation
(11/29/2021)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, talks about the future of virtual courtrooms and how law schools need to be preparing graduates for this “new normal” of courtroom proceedings
Years of Delays, Billions in Overruns: The Dismal History of Big Infrastructure
(11/28/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, explains why U.S. construction projects are harder to get done and says the costs are higher than those in Western Europe and democratic nations in Asia
How a biased filibuster hurts Democrats more than Republicans
(11/27/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Gould argues the standard case against filibuster reform misses an important asymmetry between the two major political parties
U.S. Court Issues Landmark Ruling on Paramilitary Violence in Colombia
(11/24/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses the landmark ruling against paramilitary violence in Columbia and her years long effort to to have the testimonies of the families of victims included in U.S. criminal proceedings against the Colombian paramilitary leaders
How to transfer into a top law school after your first year: admissions officers and a student who switched to Harvard share tips on nabbing a coveted spot
(11/23/2021)Kristin Theis-Alvarez, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, explains how law students could make their transfer applications stand out from the crowd
Citing climate risks, California is denying fracking permits in droves
(11/23/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment, says we can’t snap our fingers and be done with oil – the transition takes time
Killer eludes police for 31 years – how did one woman find him in two hours?
(11/20/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth says genetic genealogy can be an effective tool for the public good, but cautions that most states have no restrictions on its use
Book Review: Time for the Supreme Court to Look in the Mirror
(11/20/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
The LA Review of Books reviews Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s new book, Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights, and says he does not pull his punches
Op-Ed: The verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial sends a chilling message
(11/19/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all counts sends a chilling message about the acceptability of vigilantism
Podcast: Honoring the Emanuel Nine, What We Can Do about Information Disorder, and Critical Race Theory as a Political Football
(11/19/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on the Our Body Politic podcast to examine the way politicians use Critical Race Theory to win elections
4 Things To Know About New Conn. Judge Nagala
(11/19/2021)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, comments on Judge Sarala Vidya Nagala ’08’s confirmation to the federal bench and says she is traditionally credentialed, but brings diverse life experience to the table
Will Rittenhouse acquittal lead to more armed confrontations at protests?
(11/19/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says it’s important to remember that Rittenhouse is ultimately responsible for the deaths of two people
Op-Ed: Not so fast on California paralawyers
(11/19/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Brandon V. Stracener examine the idea of creating a new licensed legal paraprofessional for limited practice and say rushing to implement a paralawyer program without public confidence that adequate oversight is ready could further degrade already-low confidence in legal discipline
Circuit Court Lotteries a Symptom of Gridlock and Gamesmanship
(11/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Andrew Bradt says that gamesmanship of the court is an inherent feature of our federal judicial system
Justice Education Project’s New Book Explains the Basics on U.S. Criminal Justice
(11/17/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Former Policy Advocacy Clinic teaching fellow Ahmed Lavalais discusses the clinic’s campaign to eliminate debt imposed on youth and families by the juvenile justice system
Dominic Foppoli investigation: Before raid of ex-mayor’s home, woman came forward with new assault allegation
(11/16/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth comments that investigators may view the 2002 allegation as supporting evidence for another allegation in regards to the sexual assault accusations against former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli
Facebook took down a New Mexico militia group’s accounts. Prosecutors say it deleted key evidence.
(11/15/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr says that what should be kept and what should be available is a relatively new question in law when referring to Facebook’s claims of deleting the data relating to the New Mexico militia group’s accounts
$1.2-trillion infrastructure bill could supercharge San Diego’s envisioned rail expansion$1.2-trillion infrastructure bill could supercharge San Diego’s envisioned rail expansion
(11/15/2021)Topics: Contracts/Commercial Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill will create new programs that come with complicated and time-consuming rule-making procedures
Jury Awards $9.7M Verdict in Case Over Botched Brain Surgery
(11/12/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter wins a huge verdict on behalf of his client, a man who suffered long-term neurological injuries from a medical mistake in brain surgery
Op-Ed: Decades of sexual assault in the military has gone unpunished thanks to this one law
(11/11/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Lecturer Rose Carmen Goldberg discusses how one law is responsible for decades of sexual assault in the military going unpunished
What Society Gets Wrong About the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Stereotype
(11/09/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Savala Nolan writes the trope of the “Angry Black Woman” is meant to control and undermine Black women
Bans on Critical Race Theory Threaten Free Speech, Advocacy Group Says
(11/08/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, in response to the banning of critical race theory, says that whenever the government regulates speech, it has to be clear about what’s prohibited and what’s allowed
Calls grow for developed countries to provide more green finance
(11/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says that developed countries are not doing enough to support developing nations in their transition to clean energy or their struggles to adapt to climate change
Democrats decry GOP’s focus on critical race theory as a racist dog whistle. What’s their next move?
(11/08/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Ian Haney Lopez says that it is false that racial dog whistles are obvious and only appeal to people who are racist
Deer Wars and Death Threats
(11/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Holly Doremus says that nature can be allowed to function without human interference within reserves, while humans can be allowed to function without concern for nature outside them
Op-Ed: At the Academy Museum, Hollywood’s own labor history is left unexamined
(11/07/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk says filmmaking was the original gig economy, and reflecting on how the movie business dealt with solving problems of pay and portable benefits provides lessons for today
What California brought to the climate summit
(11/06/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic, Public Mission Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment, and Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discuss what California is bringing to the international climate table and potential ideas it might take back from the discussion
Call out Dave Chappelle’s transphobia, but don’t erase his critiques of LGBTQ racism
(11/04/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Russel Robinson urges Dave Chappelle’s to use his talent to recognize, respect and champion all Black people, including the Black LGBTQ community
House Democrats, Republicans clash over Texas abortion law
(11/04/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says essentially, abortion restrictions do not have race-neutral effects
U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” 2022 Publication
(11/04/2021)Lecturer Mark LeHocky discusses the steps that improve settlement efforts that will save time, resources and relationships.
The ‘Reform’ Proposal That Could Extinguish the Recall
(11/02/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Stephen M. Duvernay examine proposed reforms to the state’s process for recalling statewide officers
Californians should pay lower fees at check-cashing outlets
(11/02/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy explains why the fee to cash checks is too high and argues that consumers should instead pay a much lower, flatter fee
Op-Ed: The Texas abortion law may have gone too far — even for conservative Supreme Court justices
(11/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why the Supreme Court debate over Texas’s SB8 is about nothing less than whether every state must follow the Constitution — or whether a state can be permitted to make a mockery of it
Supreme Court to hear clashes over abortion, gun rights this week
(11/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says no issues in our society are more controversial or more reflective of our political divide than abortion and guns, as both come before the Supreme Court this week
Supreme Court Hears DOJ Challenge to Texas Abortion Ban, Considers Revival of a Jim-Crow-Era Tactic to Circumvent Constitutional Rights
(11/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses SB8 and the brief he co-authored in support of the DOJ’s position, as the Supreme Court looks at the controversial Texas abortion law
California Playbook: Democrats weigh how to rework the recall
(10/29/2021)David Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, warns against raising the recall bar too high and says making it even harder to use the recall could take it from a rare bird to an extinct species
Pro Bono Heroes: MoFo team crafts new aid for businesses shuttered by COVID
(10/29/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer Susan Mac Cormac Taylor discusses the pro bono project she started with the Berkeley Center for Law and Business to help small businesses shuttered by Covid
You Can Still Say ‘Woman’ But you shouldn’t stop there.
(10/28/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges say if we win access for trans people of color who are in rural areas, who are poor — then everyone else wins
What’s at stake for California at climate conference as Newsom backs out?
(10/28/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment, says the stakes are high as a 23-member official delegation from California led by Governor Gavin Newsom heads to Glasgow for the United Nations climate change conference
What Is Critical Race Theory? Start Here
(10/27/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor john a. powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute, says while race, as a biological concept, is an illusion, racism is a sociological fact when discussing critical race theory in reference to the film, The Power of an Illusion
Column: Not all debt is collectable. Be mindful of the statute of limitations
(10/26/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Ted Mermin, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, says, if you have consumer debt, make sure the statute of limitations hasn’t run before you pay
Podcast: The Supreme Court’s Role in Police Violence
(10/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on Slate/Dahlia Lithwick’s Amicus podcast to discuss the Supreme Court’s latest rulings on police immunity and his book, Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights
Why the Postal Service should be allowed to cash checks
(10/22/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy suggests allowing the U.S. Postal Service to offer check-cashing services for a few dollars a check will pay for Congress’s stimulus measure and put $2 billion a year in the pockets of the most financially vulnerable Americans
Community reels after shootout involving ex-cop: ‘Is this what we want Oakland to be?’
(10/22/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth weighs in on a recent deadly shootout involving a former Oakland police captain and says it’s a complicated incident that raises a lot of questions
How America is tackling its greatest source of emissions
(10/21/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, explores strategies for reducing transportation emissions
The FCC is trying to crack down on those annoying spam texts
(10/19/2021)Professor Tejas Narechania says the FCC’s proposal to crack town on spam texts is a good start, but warns it is a hard issue to address
How a federal push to stop Chinese scientists from stealing U.S. secrets has sputtered in court
(10/19/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic, International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, discusses the DOJ’s The China Initiative says he is deeply concerned about technology transfer to China, but the FBI is going too far
Op-Ed: The courts have a new chance to block Texas’s abortion law. They must take it
(10/17/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, with Laurence H Tribe, Jeffrey Abramson and Dennis Aftergut, explains why SB 8 not only stripped Texan women of their rights under Roe v Wade, but made a mockery of the US constitution and the supremacy of the federal courts
Oakland homicides surpass 2020 totals, leaving victims’ families in stunned grief
(10/16/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses the long term impact of unsolved homicides on victims’ families
Op-Ed: Biden’s death penalty hypocrisy
(10/16/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic, Criminal Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the Biden administration is hypocritical in simultaneously imposing a moratorium on the federal death penalty and urging that the Supreme Court reinstate the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Op-ed: Don’t break California’s recall by ‘fixing’ it
(10/15/2021)David Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, with Joshua Spivak, advises voters and elected officials to consider the different options for potential recall reform and take a hard look to make sure they do not make the system worse
Berkeley Law helps uncover the ‘Truth’ in San Francisco policing
(10/14/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
A working paper by the International Human Rights Law Clinic synthesizes 40 years of research and public information and finds a San Francisco police department historically mired in deep racism and violence
Corporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean?
(10/14/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute, says corporate commitments to being water positive “are good and important on paper”, but there’s much more companies can be doing
The ‘stepchild of lynching’: How the death penalty targets Black people.
(10/13/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, says from its inception, in this country, the death penalty and racism were inseparable
How SCOTUS enabled police abuses of civil rights–and what we can do about it
(10/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on the ABA Journal’s Modern Law Library podcast to discuss why the Supreme Court did not address police powers during the first century of its existence; why the Warren Court was an aberration when it came to curtailing police powers; and what his experience was like when he investigated the Los Angeles Police Department’s notorious Rampart Division in 2000
Cary Franklin Interviews Amanda Tyler about Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union
(10/13/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler talks to Law and History Review about her book, Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union which she coauthored with the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg
California bullet train’s latest woe: Will it be high speed?
(10/13/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses the how the challenges experienced by the California high speed rail project could impact other projects nationwide
Newsom tours SoCal oil spill that may have been caused by ship’s anchor
(10/06/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says although the federal government regulates offshore operations, the state can take action onshore to protect human health and wildlife
By the numbers: Critics, supporters of former DA discuss county’s conviction rate
(10/06/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says that we shouldn’t trust the conviction rate too much, highlighting that the conviction rate fails to capture how well the district attorney is protecting justice as a whole in the community
Meet the Quirky Plaintiffs Suing Under the Texas Abortion Law
(10/05/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says TX SB8 was designed to cause chaos, and the plaintiffs are just participating in the chaos
MVP: Davis Polk’s Jai Massari
(10/05/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer Jai R. Massari led regulatory advice for financial services firm Galaxy Digital as it acquired crypto custodian BitGo for $1.2 billion — the crypto sector’s first $1 billion-plus deal — earning her a spot as one of Law360’s 2021 Fintech MVPs.
Paul Weiss, UC Berkeley Team Up to Close Knowledge Gap
(10/05/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Amelia Miazad, founding Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Business in Society Institute, discusses the Institute’s new partnership with Paul, Weiss and says it will help share our research with the practitioner community
ESG is ‘mission critical.’ Can Paul, Weiss get law schools on board?
(10/04/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Public Mission Topic
Amelia Miazad, founding Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Business in Society Institute, says she envisions the Institute’s new partnership with Paul, Weiss bridging the gap between theoretical discussions about ESG and what’s actually happening within companies
Op-Ed: The Supreme Court’s conservatives now have free rein. Here’s how your rights will change.
(10/04/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is poised to reshape constitutional rights and protections in ways this nation has not seen in generation
Tesla Ordered to Pay $137 Million Over Racism in Rare Verdict
(10/04/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Constitutional Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor David Oppenheimer, Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, says he believes the decision in Diaz v. Tesla case is the largest verdict in an individual race discrimination in employment case
Podcast: Immigration and Multiculturalism
(10/02/2021)Professor Sarah Song appears on NPR’s Philosophy Talk podcast to discuss immigration and multiculturalism
Op-Ed: Justice Sotomayor tells the truth about the Supreme Court
(10/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes it’s not a coincidence that so many justices are speaking publicly about the court, its reputation, and its processes
Chemerinsky Urges State Bar to Investigate Lawyer Who Wrote Electoral Challenge Blueprint
(09/30/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said colleagues should boycott panels where John Eastman is speaking
Op-Ed: Hiring the ESG Dream Team
(09/30/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Amelia Miazad and Dave Curran, executive director of Paul, Weiss’ new ESG and Law Institute (with which the Business in Society Institute is the inaugural academic partner), write legal teams can’t wait for legal education to catch up – they need to hire people now who have ESG knowledge and skills
Questions about Disinformation
(09/28/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on ABC7’s Facebook live “Getting Answers” to discuss what can be done about disinformation (begins at 13:20)
Op-Ed: The Great Gatsby curve and a glimpse of America’s dystopian future
(09/27/2021)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy explains what economists call the “Great Gatsby curve” and offers ways to avoid a dystopian future with wide and permanent economic inequality
4 Supreme Court Cases Involving Access To Justice To Watch
(09/26/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga: the pending Supreme Court case dealing with the use of law enforcement surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the state secrets privilege defense
Rare Tesla Bias Trial Caps Years of Racism Complaints at Plant
(09/24/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor David Oppenheimer, Director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, explains why racial-discrimination suits like the one Owen Diaz is bringing to trial against Tesla, usually don’t make it to trial
Eric Stover Has Spent a Career Unearthing Atrocities
(09/24/2021)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Professor Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses his mission to shed light on acts of barbarity—and bringing the perpetrators to justice— in relation to massacres such as the Tulsa and Rwandan tragedies
It’s Not Easy to Control Police Use of Tech—Even With a Law
(09/24/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
A white paper written by Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic students Tyler Takemoto and Ari Chivukula says most cities give police broad latitude to use surveillance tech during “exigent circumstances”, creating loopholes in citizen oversight
Q&A on Court Ordering Facebook to Disclose Content on Myanmar Genocide
(09/24/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses a United States Magistrate judge’s decision ordering Facebook to disclose content in order to assess “responsibility for genocide” against the Rohingya before the International Court of Justice
U.S. judge rules Facebook must turn over closed accounts that fed Myanmar genocide
(09/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr says the judge’s opinion in Republic of the Gambia v. Facebook highlights the need for higher courts and Congress to update the 35-year-old Stored Communications Act
Advocacy Groups Launch Nationwide Campaign to End Juvenile Court Fines and Fees
(09/23/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, Public Mission Topic
Stephanie Campos-Bui, Clinical Supervising Attorney in the Policy Advocacy Clinic, explains why juvenile court fines and fees are bad practice, as PAC and a coalition of prominent youth advocacy groups launch Debt Free Justice, a national campaign to abolish court-imposed fines and fees
Op-Ed: My dad died alone during the pandemic. Months later, we finally said goodbye.
(09/23/2021)Lecturer Rose Carmen Goldberg writes about her experience putting her father to rest.
Op-Ed: Texas’ antiabortion law is a bluff. Call them on it.
(09/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Burt Neuborne suggest abortion providers call Texas’ bluff and say it’s time for every Texas abortion provider to demand antiabortionists show their cards
Activision Harassment Probe From SEC Ups Risk to Top Executives
(09/23/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Robert Bartlett discusses the SEC’s investigation of Activision Blizzard Inc. and says the agency was targeting the executives to get to the bottom of what Activision Blizzard’s leadership knew internally about allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination
When It Comes to Diversity in MDL Leadership, Judges Aren’t Just Listening
(09/22/2021)A discussion of debate amongst judges concerning multidistrict litigation – and who gets leadership appointments in them – was a highlight in a webinar hosted by the Civil Justice Research Initiative
Before off-duty police shooting, Chicago officer had long complaint record. Should the city pay?
(09/22/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses Laporta v. the City of Chicago – the case before the Supreme Court that could lead to police reform by showing cities that it is in their own financial interest to crack down on problem officers, before those officers act off duty in ways that could cost taxpayers millions
New B. Braun website pushing back against claims that company’s emission of carcinogen caused cancer in some people
(09/21/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses his clients’ case against B. Braun which alleges toxic emissions from a company plant caused neighbors to develop sometimes fatal cancer cases
Op-Ed: Equity is key to resilience — three ways make it a priority
(09/20/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Louise Bedsworth, Director of the Land Use Program at the Center for Law Energy & the Environment and senior advisor to the California China Climate Institute, explores three important facts about our changing climate this summer of cascading climate disasters has put in stark relief
Op-Ed: There Are Perils To President Biden’s WTO Waiver
(09/19/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic, International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, explains why President Biden’s proposal to waive all IP rights related to COVID-19 is “toothless virtue-signaling at best — and dangerous economic capitulation at worst”
Op-Ed: Are Supreme Court justices ‘partisan hacks’? All the evidence says yes.
(09/19/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky suggests the Supreme Court justices stop acting like “partisan hacks” if they don’t want to be perceived that way
Investors want change, but founders like Mark Zuckerberg hold them off
(09/17/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Robert Bartlett discusses ways to push companies to change in accordance with shareholder goals of socially responsible investing
Storming Of The Gates: Failed Negotiations And The Retaking Of The Attica Correctional Facility 50 Years Ago
(09/17/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Frank Zimring looks back at the age of Attica and says incarceration is a larger part of American life in 2021 than it was in 1970
Why Trump’s anti-spy ‘China Initiative’ is unraveling
(09/16/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic, International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, discusses the failure of Trump’s so-called China Initiative
Column: How legal managers can negotiate trauma for themselves and others
(09/16/2021)Lecturer Mallika Kaur explores how might managers in the legal profession can redefine their leadership styles to listen and plan for primary and secondary trauma responses—in themselves and others – during an interview with Monika Kalra Varma
Jazz Not Math: On Hélène Landemore’s “Open Democracy” and Chiara Cordelli’s “The Privatized State
(09/15/2021)Professor Christopher Kutz reviews Hélène Landemore’s new book, Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century, and its exploration of representative democracy
Full speed ahead on overhauling California recalls
(09/15/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges Californians to recognize the need to reform the recall process
Behind the Texas Abortion Law, a Persevering Conservative Lawyer
(09/12/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says the Texas abortion law was only successful because it had a receptive audience in the Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit and was designed to evade judicial review
China is becoming more assertive in international legal disputes
(09/11/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, says President Xi Jinping is in effect “weaponising the judiciary” to defend China’s interests abroad
A woman is suing S.F. for $50 million over a parking ticket, saying tire chalk is unconstitutional
(09/11/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr discusses a pair of federal lawsuits claiming chalking tires is a violation of drivers’ Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures
Judge loosens Apple’s grip on app store in Epic decision
(09/10/2021)Professor Chris Hoofnagle, Faculty Director at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, views the Apple/Epic decision as a major victory for app developers, but is worried that the greater freedom to post in-app links will weaken privacy and security, as Apple has warned
Texas Abortion Law Creates Ethical Quandary for Doctors
(09/10/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges discusses the new Texas abortion law and says it makes it ill-advised for physicians to counsel their patients about their constitutional rights
The California Governorship, A Recall Election, And Gavin Newsom’s Political Future
(09/08/2021)David Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, appears on NPR’s A1 to discuss the California recall election
Amusement park riders have limited rights in Colorado if they’re injured or killed
(09/08/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses whether liability waivers mean giving up the right to sue even if operators are at fault
The Federal Pause on Student Loan Payments Is Set To End in Five Months. What Does That Mean for California Law Graduates?
(09/07/2021)Professor Jonathan Glater weighs in the pause in student loans and how it showed us a world without student loan debt
Op-Ed: How the Texas Abortion Law Could Threaten Other Constitutional Rights
(09/07/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court’s refusal to block the Texas abortion law opens the door to insidious copycat laws that could be used to attack other constitutional rights
How Critical Race Theory Became A Topic At School Board Meetings
(09/06/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges dispels the myth is that critical race theory is being taught in K-12 classrooms across the country
Oakland police give FBI “unfettered access” to license plate reader data, according to lawsuit
(09/04/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, discusses a lawsuit filed by a member of the city’s privacy advisory commission accusing police of violating multiple city and state laws
Podcast: How the Texas Abortion Ban Impacts California
(09/03/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on the SF Chronicle’s Fifth & Mission podcast to discuss the new law in Texas that outlaws abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and the impact it will have on California
Analysis: Supreme Court ruling in Texas abortion case seen as move toward overturning Roe vs. Wade
(09/02/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Texas abortion law bans effectively abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy and cannot be reconciled with Roe
KNX In Depth: the Texas Abortion Restriction
(09/02/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges discusses the landmark decision by the Supreme Court NOT to put the Texas abortion restriction law on hold
UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky on the Texas Abortion Ban
(09/02/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on KFI’s Bill Handel show to discuss the new abortion law in Texas, what it means for women in Texas, and how it impact rulings like Roe v. Wade
Juniper Mystery Starts to Clear With Hackers, U.S. Role in View
(09/02/2021)Lecturer Jim Dempsey discusses the Juniper breach and says big lesson from the whole ordeal is that the government cannot control its vulnerabilities
Supreme Court signals Roe vs. Wade will fall after allowing Texas to ban most abortions
(09/02/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky warns that if the Texas abortion law is upheld, other states could authorize private lawsuits to undermine any right they opposed
Podcast: The Folk Devil Made Me Do It
(09/01/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges appears on NPR’s Code Switch podcast to explain what moral panics reveal about the ongoing freakout over critical race theory in schools
Op-Ed: The paradox at the heart of the vaccine mandate debate
(09/01/2021)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy explains the costs of an individual’s decision to remain unvaccinated on children, disadvantaged communities, people in poorer countries, vaccinated individuals and funders and patients of the health care system
Op-Ed: California’s recall process is dangerously flawed. Here’s what needs to change.
(09/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why matter what happens in the recall election on Sept. 14, the recall system prescribed by the California Constitution makes no sense and needs to be fixed
Farmworkers may be able to vote at home in union elections
(08/31/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk discusses a California bill that would give farmworkers more ways to vote in union elections
Op-Ed: The right to protest is sacrosanct. California needs to protect that right from rubber bullets and tear gas.
(08/31/2021)Dr. Rohini Haar, Human Rights Center Research Fellow, with Nick Robinson, senior legal adviser at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, writes it’s up to California to lead the way in support of a coherent national policy on less lethal weapons — their manufacture, procurement and use — that better protects protesters and the public
If Newsom is recalled, how would a Republican governor get anything done?
(08/31/2021)David Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, discusses the issues related to the Emergency Services Act, potentially created by Gov. Newsom failing to win the recall election
Nevada Bar Study: Participants Needed in September
(08/30/2021)Lecturer Rick Trachok says due to the omission of the MBE portion of the bar exam, Nevada Bar Study needs participation of current Nevada lawyers to test if the MBE portions predicts lawyering effectiveness
‘We’re losing the best’: Afghanistan faces a massive brain drain as its people flee
(08/27/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Zulaikha Aziz, co-director of the Afghanistan Project, says the wealth of skills and expertise that has already fled Afghanistan is staggering
Video shows NBA’s Jaxson Hayes demanded to see a warrant before shoving LAPD officer
(08/27/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr says police ordinarily need a warrant to enter a home without consent, but there is Supreme Court precedent that holds that officers can also enter a home if they have an “objectively reasonable basis for believing an occupant is seriously injured or imminently threatened with such injury”
Savala Nolan Recounts Trespass Against Black Womens’ Bodies in ‘Don’t Let it Get you Down’
(08/27/2021)Savala Nolan appears on KQED’d Forum to discuss new book, Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender and the Body
The Unbearable Summer
(08/26/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber says the physical and legal infrastructure of the West is geared toward a certain climate regime and, at great expense and effort, dams, canals, and irrigation systems have been carefully engineered for a climate that no longer exists
Podcast: Our History of Policing Migration Through the Criminal Justice System
(08/26/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic, Public Mission Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Jennifer Chacon appears on the Immigration Nerds podcast to discuss the history of policing immigrants through the CJS and exploring better alternatives to managing migration
Capitol Police officers sue Trump, extremists, alleging conspiracy, terrorism on Jan. 6
(08/26/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky comments on the lawsuit filed by capitol police officers against former President Trump and members of far-right groups alleging they conspired to use violence on January 6th to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election
From Harvard to Berkeley, Clinics Train Next-Gen Tech Lawyers
(08/25/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, discusses the clinic’s work and the beneficial experience of clinic work for students, whether their goals are to work in public interest or the private sector
Podcast: What Oracle/Google Means For Copyright And Interoperability
(08/24/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelson appears on the Techdirt podcast to discuss the Oracle/Google case and what impact the landmark case has on copyright and interoperability
Review: A Supreme Court That Has Gone Wrong
(08/24/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
The New York Times reviews dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s new book, Presumed Guilty
Op-Ed: California must end legal abuse of borrowers by collection agencies
(08/24/2021)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy, with Emma Elizabeth Gonzalez, directing attorney at the Public Law Center in Orange County, explains why justice in debt-collection cases is one-sided and says the state should guarantee the right to a lawyer
Prop. 22 is ruled unconstitutional: What it means, how apps reacted and what happens next
(08/23/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk says the fight over Prop 22 isn’t over – after consideration by the state court of appeals, it will eventually be decided by the California Supreme Court
Californians Face Higher Rideshare Bill on Prop 22 Reversal
(08/23/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk says the next fight over Prop 22 will be about whether it will remain in place or if companies’ exemption will be rescinded while the appeal process plays out
Erwin Chemerinsky on How the Courts Enable Police Misconduct
(08/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on KQED’S Forum to discuss his new book Presumed Guilty, the judicial doctrines that enable illegal police behavior and how to reform them
Op-Ed: It’s not too late to stop California’s recall election
(08/20/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky suggests voters bring a lawsuit, ideally directly in the California Supreme Court, where justices could declare unconstitutional the method of choosing a successor if the governor is recalled
If you don’t like the Gavin Newsom recall rules, here’s who to blame
(08/20/2021)David Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, explains the history of recall elections in California and the Legislature can take steps to pare down the replacement ballot
Prominent Philadelphia Plaintiffs Firm Requiring COVID Boosters for Employees
(08/19/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses his firm’s decision to require Covid booster shots and their continuing efforts to lead in terms of vaccination in the workplace
How Washington will respond to Beijing’s tech crackdown
(08/19/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic, International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, says he expects more lawmakers to take a tougher line on Chinese tech firms operating in America as Beijing’s crackdown continues
Climate risk becomes urgent ESG issue for insurance industry
(08/19/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Dave Jones, Director, Climate Risk Initiative at the Center for Law Energy & the Environment, says the insurance industry , on the hook for more claim payouts, should be doing more to prepare for climate-related risk
Column: Stopping Long Enough to Celebrate: Recent Win for Violence Survivor and Asylum-Seeker Holds Critical Lessons
(08/18/2021)Lecturer Mallika Kaur interviews Blaine Bookey, whose successful case against the DOJ on behalf of a Salvadoran woman who fled domestic violence and was seeking asylum, has brought some hope to survivors of gender-based violence
Backpedaling: Authors of Study on Racist Rulings Retract Their Claims Against Pennsylvania, New Jersey Judges
(08/18/2021)A blog post by Professor Jonah Gelbach, which expressed reservations about the methodology used in a study that accused some federal judges of extreme racial and ethnic bias in sentencing, led to the authors withdrawing their conclusions
Op-Ed: Both Parties Should Fear the Recall
(08/17/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Brandon V. Stracener examine a number of concerns, for both Democrats and Republicans, related to the California recall election
California recall system must be reformed. It’s bad for taxpayers and, some say, democracy
(08/16/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why he believes the California recall election violates the U.S. Constitution
A Skeptical Stock Analyst Wins Big by Seeking Out Frauds
(08/16/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Frank Partnoy discusses Nate Anderson and his upstart firm, Hindenburg Research, and says Anderson “seems fearless, even when going after some of the biggest corporate targets”
California’s recall process comes under fire, but Democrats avoid going there
(08/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Aaron S. Edlin explains why the California recall is unconstitutional and should be challenged in court
Balancing the Scales of Justice
(08/12/2021)Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, discusses the clinic’s recent report, “Whitewashing the Jury Box”, and the long history of stereotypes, often correlated with race, have been consistently used to justify striking jurors
East Bay police officer faces lesser gun charge in death of unarmed man after prosecution misstep
(08/12/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the case of a Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy being tried for the death of an unarmed motorist now facing a less serious charge after prosecutors failed to demonstrate that he used a semiautomatic pistol in the 2018 shooting — even though there is no dispute that he did
Op-Ed: There Is a Problem With California’s Recall. It’s Unconstitutional.
(08/11/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Aaron S. Edlin explain why the California recall election violates basic election principles and should be declared unconstitutional
Biden Targets 2030 in Push for More Electric Cars
(08/10/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, appears on KQED’s Forum to discuss President Biden’s executive order that aims to make half of all new vehicles sold electric by 2030 and what impact California’s own policies and growing electric vehicle industry will have on the national plan
Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill could take years to transform U.S.
(08/10/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the California high speed rail project would be eligible for funding under President Biden’s infrastructure plan, but those funds will take years to translate into tangible improvements
Op-Ed: Pay People to Vote
(08/10/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Gould, with Harvard Law Professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos, explores democracy reforms Congress could pass right now—even with the filibuster still in place
Is California’s ‘Hydrogen Highway’ a road to nowhere?
(08/10/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the California “hydrogen highway” started as kind of a bad bet by the state that has now become a “legacy zombie technology”
Judge sends EPA to drawing board for new rules on oil spill cleanup products
(08/09/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky, director of the Environmental Law Clinic, discusses her clients’ successful federal suit to compel the EPA to update an oil spill contingency plan they said was woefully out of date
Covid-19 Threatens to Blow Up Law Firms’ Intense Office Culture—for Good
(08/06/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter explains that his firm decided to require vaccinations for all employees because they found it wasn’t practical to prep for trials remotely and mentorship suffered in a remote environment
Op-Ed: The Unpaid Debt To A Pioneering Gay Olympian
(08/05/2021)Professor Sonia Katyal explores why, when it comes to LGBTQ equality, the International Olympic Committee and its American counterpart, the US Olympic Committee, still have amends to make
Ex-Tesla Employee Called a Racial Slur Wins Rare $1 Million Reward
(08/05/2021)Lecturer Hon. Elaine Rushing’s arbitration decision finds Tesla liable for harassment because it was perpetrated by an employee’s supervisors
Tracking Biden’s environmental actions
(08/05/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Research and data from the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment was used in a Washington Post analysis of the Biden administration’s efforts to transform the nation’s energy and environmental landscape
Biden’s Honeymoon Is Over, and He Knows It
(08/04/2021)Professor Rebecca Goldstein discusses President Biden’s action on policing reform thus far and says it’s a tightrope that even the most skilled politician might not be able to walk
‘A Poison in the System’: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault
(08/03/2021)Lecturer Rose Carmen Goldberg discusses the crisis of sexual assault in the military
Can employers really require you to be vaccinated for COVID?
(07/27/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter says we would be farther along in the pandemic if all businesses required their employees to be vaccinated
FICO scores leave out ‘people on the margins,’ Upstart’s CEO says. Can AI make lending more inclusive — without creating bias of its own?
(07/26/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Robert Bartlett discusses a new study he co-authored, “Consumer-lending discrimination in the FinTech Era,” which found rate disparities in the mortgage market that appeared unrelated to creditworthiness
Can Affirmative Action Survive?
(07/26/2021)Professor David Oppenheimer discusses affirmative action and his work on the origins of the diversity justification for it
Don’t punish the vaccinated
(07/25/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter’s recent essay on the Delta variant was quoted in commentary by Michael Smerconish on CNN
These companies are sucking carbon out of the atmosphere — and investors are piling in
(07/23/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy and Environment, discusses carbon-capture technology and says we have to sequester carbon at a high rate
Op-Ed: Don’t exempt religious objectors from vaccine mandates
(07/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes policies requiring vaccination against COVID-19 need not include, and should not include, exceptions for those who have religious objections to vaccinations
No, California Does Not Have A Personal Belief Exemption For COVID-19 Vaccines For Kids
(07/23/2021)Brandon V. Stracener, California Constitution Center Senior Research Fellow, debunks misinformation surrounding personal belief exemptions for vaccinations of children
Bullet train budget battle: Should California spend more on urban transit, not high-speed rail?
(07/22/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the execution of California’s high speed rail project was done backwards and now we’re seeing the political price of that decision
Prepare for the purpose-driven pay package
(07/16/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Amelia Miazad, founding Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Business in Society Institute, says the idea of corporate purpose has been very ambiguous, but tying executives’ incentives to purpose-led goals is an obvious way to signal that companies are taking it seriously
Essay: My Father’s Life Was Shaped by Racism. So Was His Death
(07/16/2021)An essay from Savala Nolan’s new book, Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender and the Body, about the role racism played in her father’s life and death, is excerpted
Texas wants its citizens to enforce a new abortion ban, and we should all be concerned
(07/16/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says Texas Senate Bill 8, which prohibits abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, is bigger than abortion – it is a terrifying precedent to set for any person who cares about constitutional rights
Op-Ed: My wild ride into the cryptosphere
(07/16/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Frank Partnoy discovers just how easy it is to buy cryptocurrencies and crypto assets — and just how hard it is to get out
Op-Ed: In drought-stricken California, who owns water rights can still be a mystery
(07/15/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic, Public Mission Topic
Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute, writes modernizing water rights information is a critical step toward enabling California to manage resources and plan for a drought-ridden future.
Review: 12 revelatory essays probe with unflinching honesty what it means to be Black
(07/13/2021)The San Francisco Chronicle reviews Savala Nolan’s new book, Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender and the Body
Podcast: Trump’s Revenge Lawsuit
(07/13/2021)Professor Jim Dempsey discusses the lawsuit former President Trump filed against Facebook, Twitter, and Google over their decisions to suspend or ban him from using their platforms
A secret algorithm is transforming DNA evidence. This defendant could be the first to scrutinize it.
(07/13/2021)Topics: Public Mission Topic
Professor Rebecca Wexler discusses a key problem with using a proprietary algorithm in the criminal legal system
What Biden’s big executive order means for the internet, air travel, and more
(07/12/2021)Professor Tejas Narechania says President Biden’s recent executive order concerning technology, competition and consumer choice, includes so many different directives and requests in so many disparate areas is itself a point worth paying attention to. The article also cites and links to Prof. Narechania’s recent paper.
Savala Nolan Takes a Hard Look at the White Gaze and Its Blind Spots
(07/12/2021)The New York Times reviews Savala Nolan’s book, Don’t Let It Get You Down
Supreme Court correctly ruled in favor of student speech for first time since 1969
(07/09/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains the significance of the Supreme Court decision protecting the free speech of students
Bill aims to help turn recycled wastewater into high-quality drinking water
(07/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute, discusses House Bill 4099, which would allocate $750 million dollars for federal grants to fund recycled water projects, such as turning wastewater into high-quality drinking water
Bay Area city may explore allowing undocumented residents to vote in local elections
(07/07/2021)David Carrillo, Executive Director of the California Constitution Center, says a plan under consideration in Richmond that could allow undocumented residents to vote in local elections, citing their lack of a public voice despite the “significant contributions” they make to the community and its economy, would not violate the California Constitution
EPA Updates Rules To Monitor Oil Spill Cleanup Chemicals
(07/07/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, Environmental Law Topic, Public Mission Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky, director of the Environmental Law Clinic, discusses the EPA’s updated monitoring requirements for dispersants used in response to oil spills
Trump files lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google
(07/07/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says former president Trump’s new lawsuit against Facebook, Instagram and Google will fail due to basic principles of constitutional law
Moguls, Deals And Patagonia Vests: A Look Inside ‘Summer Camp For Billionaires’
(07/05/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon says Allen & Co.’s Sun Valley “summer camp” has become the biggest matchmaking service for media companies
Who pays when a building fails? Depends on timing and location.
(07/04/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter explains the statute of repose, which sets a strict time limit on liability after construction
Experts say alleged forced birth control of Britney Spears is clear reproductive justice violation
(07/04/2021)Rachel Johnson-Farias, Executive Director, Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, discusses the history of the reproductive justice movement and her professional perspective on the violation of reproductive rights that Britney Spears’ has testified to experiencing
What is critical race theory?
(07/03/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges explains the origins and framework of Critical Race Theory and her scholarship concerning it
Orange County Prosecutors Operate “Vast, Secretive” Genetic Surveillance Program
(07/03/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth discusses Orange County’s “spit and acquit” program, about which she’s researched and written a paper
Critical Race Theory in the USA : Take care of the whites
(07/02/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges discusses Critical Race Theory and debunks myths and misinformation
Is Microsoft’s Legal Shake-Up A Sign Of Things To Come?
(07/02/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Contracts/Commercial Law Topic
Lecturer Mark LeHocky says the most highly functional legal teams are the ones that are the most integrated
Ninth Circuit Goes 1-11 Before Justices Who View Law Differently
(07/02/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky cautions against evaluating appeals courts by their Supreme Court reversal rates, and said the Ninth Circuit’s rate isn’t particularly notable when taking into account the overall rate
Alameda sheriff’s deputy is under investigation after blasting Taylor Swift for protesters in video
(07/02/2021)Erik Stallman, associate director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, discusses attempts by police officers to deter activist groups and civilians from sharing recordings of officers and other officials by playing pop music to trigger copyright removal
Op-Ed: President Biden, Look West to Replace Justice Breyer
(07/02/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Brandon V. Stracener suggest President Biden appointing Justice Kruger, who has executive branch experience and currently sits on a western state high court, would be a victory for diversity on several important fronts
Op-Ed: The Pennsylvania court got it right in overturning Bill Cosby’s conviction
(06/30/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision reversing Bill Cosby’s conviction reminds us that even those who commit despicable crimes are protected by the Constitution
Progressives Are Hoping That Justice Stephen Breyer Steps Down At The End Of The Term
(06/30/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says now is the time for Justice Breyer to step down if he wants someone with his values and views to take his place
Big oil and gas kept a dirty secret for decades. Now they may pay the price.
(06/30/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Dan Farber discusses the unprecedented wave of lawsuits, filed by cities and states across the US, aiming to hold the oil and gas industry to account for the environmental devastation caused by fossil fuels – and covering up what they knew along the way
Idaho Supreme Court issues ‘significant’ ruling for those who can’t afford court fees
(06/28/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, Public Mission Topic
Professor Jeffrey Selbin, director of the Policy Advocacy Clinic, says an unanimous Idaho Supreme Court decision on court fees sends a clear message that courts should not be in the business of making money off the poor
Will Rush Of Suits Opposing Race-Based Virus Aid Bear Fruit?
(06/28/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor David Oppenheimer, director of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, says bigotry, unconscious bias and systemic racism have long manifested themselves in the relationships minority farmers have with banks, seed companies and equipment wholesalers
Why does it cost so much to build things in America?
(06/28/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, explains the hurdles and learning curves cities face when they’re introducing rail projects
B. Braun Pushes For Dismissal In PA Cancer Emissions Cases
(06/25/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses his clients’ case against B. Braun which alleges toxic emissions from a company plant caused neighbors to develop sometimes fatal cancer cases
Britney Spears says conservatorship won’t let her remove her IUD. Is that even legal?
(06/25/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges, faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, discusses the legal implications of Britney Spears’ testimony and how it connects to a larger history of reproductive-rights violations
Corporations like Amazon pay big bucks for “union avoidance” — and it all happens in the dark
(06/24/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk says law has essentially incentivized companies to walk right up to the line of threatening their workforce
Supreme Court ruling for farmers against organized labor has broad implications
(06/24/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Catherine Fisk says the Supreme Court decision limiting the ability of union organizers to enter the private property of growers in order to reach farmworkers in California will set a precedent for more challenges to unions and expand property owners’ rights, no matter the industry
California judges don’t reflect the state’s diversity — how that could change
(06/23/2021)Topics: Public Mission Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Esq. Apprentice, a nonprofit helping low-income women of color train to become attorneys – which started by Rachel Johnson-Farias, Executive Director, Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice – is highlighted
Op-Ed: D.C. statehood is constitutional. There are no good legal arguments against it.
(06/22/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes legal arguments against D.C. statehood are really a partisan fight
More bad news for Big Tech: Lina Khan’s a privacy hawk, too
(06/21/2021)Professor Chris Hoofnagle, Faculty Director at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, suggests changes the new FTC chair could put in place, including developing a new basic internet privacy rule
Podcast: The Supreme Court Moves the Shadow Docket Out Into the Light
(06/21/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on the Amicus podcast to discuss the sneaky significance of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the major religious freedom case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia
PACE: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
(06/20/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky, director of the Environmental Law Clinic, appears in a segment about PACE funding to discuss the ELC report, The Dark Side of the Sun: How PACE Financing Has Under-Delivered Green Benefits and Harmed Low-Income Homeowners
She Tried to Steal $15 Pants as a Teen. The Fines Devastated Her Family.
(06/18/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Jeffrey Selbin, director of the Policy Advocacy Clinic, explains the damage juvenile fines and fees do to families and says families can be responsible for fees from the probation department, the state court system, and even “child support” if their child ends up in the custody of the Oregon Youth Authority
Barrett Channels Roberts’ ‘Go-Slow’ Approach in Landmark Cases
(06/18/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the current Supreme Court is a very conservative Court, even if we will only get glimpses of it this year
Op-Ed: Giving people a license to discriminate because of their religious beliefs
(06/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes religious beliefs do not provide an exemption from civil rights laws and cannot be used as an excuse for discrimination
Op-Ed: Another conservative attack on Obamacare, another loss at the Supreme Court
(06/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act breaks no new legal ground, but has enormous practical significance in that it means that 21 million people will keep their health insurance coverage
How GOP Senate resolution condemning critical race theory distorts the facts
(06/16/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges says critical race theory seeks to make real the promises of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
Some lawmakers want to ban critical race theory in schools. So, what is it?
(06/16/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges says bans on critical race theory in public schools are an “intentional misrepresentation”
UN chief: G7 not meeting pledge on climate finance
(06/15/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says industrialized nations have a moral obligation to help less-developed countries deal with climate change, because these nations have emitted and continue to be the source of the largest share of greenhouse gas pollution
Grubhub Driver’s Appeal Tackles Unsolved California Gig Issues
(06/09/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk says frivolous suits are the price we all pay for having legal rights and a court system to enforce them
Is there any way out of Clearview’s facial recognition database?
(06/09/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, says facial recognition technology and analytics generally have been revolutionary because they’ve put an end to privacy by obscurity
Planet needs China, US on the same side
(06/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic, International Law Topic
Copyright controversy erupts as prominent scholars urge veto of ALI restatement
(06/08/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Peter Menell is one of four well-known copyright scholars who urged members of the influential American Law Institute to reject a proposed restatement of copyright law when the proposal comes up for a scheduled vote this week
Planet needs China, US on the same side
(06/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says nature-based solutions to the warming of the planet, which harness the power of nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, hold significant promise but need more research and investment
The Cybersecurity 202: Ransomware has thrust cybersecurity into the spotlight
(06/07/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
A Washington Post analysis of Van Buren v United States highlights Professor Orin Kerr’s twitter deep dive into the case
A Gun Rights Win in California With Sights Set on the Supreme Court
(06/05/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky calls the federal decision to overturn California’s assault weapons ban “an extreme gun rights reading of the Second Amendment”
Beatings in El Salvador by police and gang members indeed torture, court says in granting asylum
(06/05/2021)Professor William Fernholz discusses the federal appeal court decision in the torture and asylum case of Elmer Rogel Lopez. Two graduating students, Rianna Hidalgo and Kelsey Miller, prepared the briefs and delivered the oral argument in this case
Supreme Court Draws Limit to Anti-Hacking Law
(06/04/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr’s amicus brief is cited in explaining the Supreme Court’s decision in Van Buren v United States
The Supreme Court hands down very good news for pretty much everyone who uses a computer
(06/04/2021)Professor Orin Kerr’s amicus brief in Van Buren v. United States is highlighted in a story about the Supreme Court decision in the case
California’s top court weighs overturning hundreds of death penalty sentences
(06/03/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, discusses Governor Newsom’s written argument – which she co-wrote – calling the death penalty racist and discriminatory against Black and Latino defendants
EDD Fraud: Federal Judge Issues Sweeping Injunction Against Bank of America
(06/02/2021)Ted Mermin, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, explains what the preliminary injunction against Bank of America means for victims of fraudulent activities on EDD debit cards
Negotiating the trauma of working with prisoners, pro bono and after hours
(06/02/2021)Lecturer Mallika Kaur explores how attorneys remain committed to work that affords few successes and often few forms of traditional validation, with Melissa Barbee, class of 2021, and public interest lawyer Taeva Shefler
How a racist white mob ruined ‘Black Wall Street’ 100 years ago
(05/31/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center, is interviewed about the Tulsa Race Massacre and the PBS documentary he co-produced about it, “Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten”
What is critical race theory, and why do Republicans want to ban it in schools?
(05/29/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges discusses the history of and misunderstandings around Critical Race Theory
Trump intervened in NFL scandal, late Senator’s son says
(05/29/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter, says his father, the late Senator Arlen Specter, told him former President Donald Trump tried to intervene in the New England Patriots’ infamous 2008 Spygate scandal
Podcast: Can We Still Confront Our Accusers?
(05/28/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth appears on Legal Talk Today to discuss the 6th Amendment and virtual court
‘As Much Pressure as I Can’ Apply: Personal Injury Firms Weigh Incentives, Mandates to Get Employees Vaccinated
(05/27/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter explains his firm’s successful vaccination and return-to-work policies
Op-Ed: Why is the Biden Justice Department shielding Bill Barr’s secrets?
(05/27/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the Biden administration is making a serious mistake in placing the self-interest of the Justice Department ahead of the people’s right to know if former Atty. Gen. William Barr acted to cover up Donald Trump’s possible engagement in obstruction of justice
San Diego’s high-speed rail plan hinges on urban density as population growth wanes
(05/27/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the long-term success of a high speed rail system in California would hinge on whether cities can usher in dense urban development around transit stations
What Is Critical Race Theory and Why Are Some People So Mad at It?
(05/27/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges separates facts from fiction regarding Critical Race Theory
Myanmar military killing protestors, civilians as ‘psychological warfare’ after coup
(05/26/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, appears on PBS NewsHour to discuss Myanmar’s military use of killings to terrorize the country, which was the focus of an open source investigation from the Human Rights Center and the Associated Press
Myanmar’s junta using bodies to terrorize
(05/26/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
An investigation by the Associated Press and the Human Rights Center finds that Myanmar’s junta is hiding, mutilating and cremating bodies to terrorize its citizens since the military takeover
The Docket: The Law Defers To Police During Traffic Stops
(05/26/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr explains the law of traffic stops on NPR’s Politics podcast
One year after George Floyd: When will white Americans rise up for justice?
(05/25/2021)Savala Nolan, Executive Director of the Henderson Center for Social Justice, reflects on the murder of George Floyd and says it falls to white people to understand what happened that day, and why it happened
Ahead of the Curve: Boalt Comes Back to Berkeley (Sort Of)
(05/25/2021)The story of Berkeley Law’s forthcoming installation “A Time for Change,” contextualizing the removal of the name Boalt from our buildings, is explored in Law.com’s “Ahead of the Curve” column
Dozens of constitutional scholars tell Congress it has power to make D.C. a state
(05/24/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky is one of 36 constitutional experts who sent a letter telling congressional leaders they have the authority to make the nation’s capital the 51st state
Kline & Specter law firm founders require employees to be vaccinated and think other firms should, too
(05/22/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter explains his firm’s successful vaccination and return-to-work policies and advises other firms to follow suit
Back to the office? The complaints and lawsuits are already trickling in
(05/20/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk says employment laws were developed with the annual flu in mind, not a global pandemic
Op-Ed: A challenge before the Supreme Court should scare believers in reproductive freedom
(05/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemersinky cautions that the Supreme Court’s granting of review of a Mississippi law that prohibits abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy should frighten all who believe that women should have the right to reproductive autonomy
One Person Shaping the Recall Election? Lt. Gov. Kounalakis
(05/17/2021)Brandon Stracener, senior research fellow at the California Constitution Center, explains why the details and timing of the recall election matter
California’s high speed bullet train expanding beyond Central Valley will take longer than expected
(05/17/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses the timeline for expanding California’s high speed bullet train
The New Swing Vote: How Justice Amy Coney Barrett Has Changed SCOTUS Dynamics
(05/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Melissa Murray, from NYU School of Law, outline how Justice Barrett’s presence has shifted the balance of the Supreme Court
High-speed rail misses out on California’s massive budget surplus
(05/16/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says Gov. Newsom’s failure to make any new commitments to the high-speed bullet train project in his latest budget proposal is “a pretty glaring omission”
Op-Ed: Should schools be able to punish students for speech on social media? Supreme Court will decide
(05/15/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court needs to provide broad protection for student speech but also make clear that schools can punish speech if it rises to the level of bullying and harassment
It’s ‘Google v. Oracle’ All Over Again at the 2nd Circuit
(05/14/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelsona is the lead drafter of amicus brief, joined by more than 60 law professors, supporting the Warhol Foundation’s petition for rehearing in light of the Google v Oracle decision
No room for novelty in ‘climate kids’ and Biden admin negotiation – experts
(05/14/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Dan Farber says the Biden administration is unlikely to offer much in the way of concessions to a group of young Americans suing the federal government over actions they say contribute to climate change
Op-Ed: Stimulus for all
(05/14/2021)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy argues that an expansion of the Treasury’s payment infrastructure for federal beneficiaries could provide a way to achieve both universal benefit distribution and universal bank access
Internet prices kick off Washington brawl
(05/14/2021)Professor Tejas Narechania’s working paper, which finds that broadband providers offer slower service for the same price in areas where they lack competition, and proposes a model statute for rate regulation of a basic tier broadband service in areas without competition, is highlighted by The White House
Bitcoin, dogecoin, NFTs, GameStop — is this the peak of investment absurdity?
(05/13/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Frank Partnoy discusses fads – such as bitcoin, dogecoin and NFTs – and says we we might be surprised, when we look back at this time, at what turned out to be valuable, and what didn’t
S.F. proposal would allow paramedics, not just police, to order mental health holds
(05/11/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Emeritus Jesse Choper and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky agree that a proposal to allow paramedics, not just police, to order mental health holds raises no immediate civil liberties concerns
Forgetting And Forgotten: Older Prisoners Seek Release But Fall Through The Cracks
(05/11/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Chuck Weisselberg says the oldest and most vulnerable cohort of people within the federal prison system are at the mercy of the parole commission, an agency that’s been dying for decades
Black Americans And The Racist Architecture Of Homeownership
(05/08/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Robert Bartlett discusses a new study he co-authored, which analyzed almost 10 million home loans and found blatant racial discrimination
Op-Ed: Justice Breyer should learn from Justice Ginsburg’s mistake — and retire now
(05/08/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges Justice Breyer to retire and make way for a successor who would protect his Supreme Court legacy
Hoekstra on the Classical Basis of Western Thought
(05/08/2021)Professor Kinch Hoekstra discusses the methodology of the history of political thought, the relationship between philosophy and history, the classical foundation of Western thought and the distinction between ancient and modern in Western philosophy
Opposing the PRO Act, Uber and Other Gig Companies Spend Over $1 Million Lobbying Congress
(05/06/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk discusses the PRO Act and says it would change is whether independent contractors have the right to form a union and bargain collectively
South Carolina lawmakers vote to add firing squad to execution methods
(05/05/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, says race is, and it has always been, the most salient feature of the American death penalty
Cancer victims sue over toxic gas emissions from B. Braun’s Lehigh Valley plant, claiming 3 died
(05/05/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses the suit he’s filed alleging 16 people contracted cancer from exposure to toxic gas emissions from a medical device facility in Allentown, PA
Amazon Work Rules Govern Tweets, Body Odor of Contract Drivers
(05/05/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk discusses Amazon’s controlling Delivery Service Provider contract and policies
Epic opens assault in court clash with Apple over app market
(05/03/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Tejas Narechania says Apple v Epic Games is going to tell us a lot about how we structure industries and the technology industry going forward
Pet telemedicine took hold in the pandemic. A lawsuit wants to make it permanent
(05/03/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says a lawsuit asking California to permit more telemedicine for animals even after the pandemic ends may succeed on free speech grounds
Op-Ed: Despite SCOTUS ruling, questions of personal jurisdiction remain unsettled
(05/03/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky examines a recent Supreme Court ruling that potentially changes the famous Civ Pro “International Shoe” precedent that out-of-state defendants can not be sued without their consent
Op-Ed: Civilian Climate Corps can help stem rural-urban divide
(05/01/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at CLEE, says Berkeley Law’s Grizzly Corps could provide a transformative model, as President Biden’s Infrastructure Plan includes a $10 billion proposal to create a Civilian Climate Corps
Court watchers buzz about Breyer’s possible retirement
(05/01/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges Justice Breyer to retire in coming months while Democrats still have the power to confirm his replacement
Beefing Over Beef: What Ways Can The United States Limit Its Cattle’s Carbon Footprint
(04/30/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, appears on “Air Talk” to break down how politicians and businesses can look to minimize their carbon footprint without starting any beef with the people they serve
China’s Big Tech legal teams are unbeatable on their home courts, literally
(04/30/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic, International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, senior fellow and director of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, says local protectionism is often apparent in Chinese court rulings
Podcast: The Life And Legacy Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
(04/30/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler appears on Above the Law’s podcast, The Jabot, to discuss co-authoring Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Biden’s 100 days: Where some of the president’s early executive orders stand now
(04/30/2021)Professor Jonathan Simon says President Biden’s executive order ending Justice Department contracts with private prisons is “mostly symbolic”
What Is Critical Race Theory and Why Do Some People Want to Ban It?
(04/30/2021)Professor Ian Haney Lopez calls attacks on critical race theory “part of the right’s longstanding practice of dog whistle politics”
Journalism at San Quentin
(04/29/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says rehabilitative measures should be offered to all prisoners and are an effective means of addressing the underlying reasons individuals commit crimes, particularly violent offenses
Should Biden Emphasize Race or Class or Both or None of the Above?
(04/28/2021)Professor Ian Haney Lopez critiques a new paper that advises Democrats to avoid racial justice frames
Op-Ed: Is Our Vaccination Strategy Correct?
(04/28/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter weighs the pros and cons of vaccine passes
Signal’s Cellebrite Hack Is Already Causing Grief for the Law
(04/27/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, Intellectual Property Law Topic
Megan Graham, Clinical Supervising Attorney at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, discusses concerns that Cellebrite’s cellphone data extraction software – used by law enforcement agencies the world over – has severe cybersecurity flaws that could make it vulnerable to hacking
Race & Criminal Justice After the Chauvin Verdict
(04/26/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, appears on “State of The Bay” to discuss the Derek Chauvin verdict and and how it fits into the context of a criminal justice system that has long been plagued by racial bias
Judicial overreach? Some say judge went too far in ordering L.A. to clear skid row
(04/25/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court and the courts of appeals have been very restrictive with regard to finding state-created danger, as Los Angeles seeks to overturn a sweeping federal judicial order requiring them to offer shelter to everyone on skid row
Did California Congresswoman Maxine Waters Tamper With The Jury In Derek Chauvin’s Trial?
(04/23/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says he is he is skeptical of claims that the Chauvin verdict will be overturned on the grounds that remarks from Maxine Waters prejudiced the jury
Is the Supreme Court’s Latest Fair Use Decision Really About Copyrightability?
(04/23/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
The Berkeley Center for Law and Technology hosted a webinar to analyze Google’s Supreme Court advocate and amici curiae in Google v. Oracle
Op-Ed: Local police departments can’t reform themselves. Bring on the feds
(04/22/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why there is clearly a need for additional federal legislation to reform policing
Podcast: Proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions ‘sucks’ — literally. Enter carbon vacuums
(04/22/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ken Alex, director of Project Climate at CLEE, discusses carbon vacuums: giant vacuums that can suck up carbon from the air and store it underground
Groups Say It’s Time For EPA To Update Oil Spill Response
(04/21/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky and the Environmental Law Clinic are representing several groups filing suit to force the EPA to upgrade its quarter-century-old plan for responding to oil spills that allows harmful oil dispersants to be used copiously
Chauvin’s conviction called a #MeToo moment in race and policing
(04/20/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses how the guilty verdict in the Chauvin case could be a turning point in the culture of policing and race relations in America
Chauvin murder trial: UC law professor explains requirements to convict
(04/20/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon explains what it will take to convict Officer Derek Chauvin
One Planet: The Future Of Electric Cars Under President Biden’s Infrastructure Plan
(04/19/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses President Biden’s push for electric cars
Bay Area businesses brace for aftermath of Derek Chauvin trial verdict
(04/19/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the wait for a verdict in the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin
A survivor of sexual violence is free after 33 years — but her victimization isn’t over
(04/18/2021)Nancy Lemon says there needs to be less punishment and more rehabilitation for victims of domestic violence who are charged with crimes against their abusers
Meet The Professors Of Biden’s Supreme Court Reform Group
(04/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross is appointed to serve on President Biden’s newly formed Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States
Can Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention succeed?
(04/13/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses her 2020 report, “Living with Impunity: Unsolved Murders in Oakland and the Human Rights Impact on Victims’ Family Members” and the systemic violence affecting Black Oakland residents
How Courts, Litigators and Clients Learned to Stop Worrying and Love (Some Aspects of) Remote Work
(04/13/2021)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, says some form of virtual court is here to stay
Federal judge in Washington wants to get rid of important libel law
(04/12/2021)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, discusses a recent opinion by federal judge Laurence Silberman, which suggested the Supreme Court to overrule New York Times vs. Sullivan, its unanimous 1964 decision that required government officials suing for libel to prove that the writer knowingly lied about them or recklessly disregarded the truth
Op-Ed: Google v Oracle and the Grateful (API) Dead: What a long strange trip it’s been
(04/12/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Peter Menell writes innovators, the software industry, and consumers should be grateful that copyright protection for the functional specifications of computer software is finally dead, now that the Supreme Court decision has come down in Google v Oracle
Biden plan would pump billions into home retrofits
(04/09/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses the “Neighborhood Homes Investment Act,” which would establish a tax credit to finance homebuilding and retrofits in eligible low-income neighborhoods
Meet the Group Advising Biden on Supreme Court Reform: Ex-Clerks, Former Judges and Lots of Law Profs
(04/09/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross is appointed to serve on President Biden’s newly formed Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States
Op-Ed: How Kamala Harris can find the solution for the migration crisis
(04/09/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, International Law Topic
Carolyn Patty Blum, clinical professor emerita and senior research fellow at the Human Rights Center, advises Vice President Harris to look in our own backyard if she wants to address root causes of Central America migration
After FBI seizure of safe deposit boxes in Beverly Hills, legal challenges mount
(04/08/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Orin Kerr explains the 4th Amendment issues with the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles seizing private property
The wrong way to fight vaccine nationalism
(04/08/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, Senior Fellow and Director of BCLT’s Asia IP Project, suggests the U.S. build more vaccine-manufacturing capacity and then give those vaccines to countries in need
Column: What negotiating trauma looks like from both sides of the bench
(04/06/2021)Lecturer Mallika Kaur talks to Judge Edward M. Chen about systemic discriminations and his decades of practice from both sides of the bench
Op-Ed: Don’t eliminate the filibuster. Democratize it.
(04/06/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Gould suggests filibuster reformers harness the Senate’s power over its own procedural rules to democratize the institution from within
How Google’s Big Supreme Court Victory Could Change Software Forever
(04/06/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Peter Menell discusses the Supreme Court decision in Google v Oracle and says the ruling doesn’t necessarily mean software developed in a similar manner will always be protected under fair use
How Hyperloop Is Prioritizing Passenger Experience
(04/05/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the permitting process for major transportation projects could add to delays in getting a Hyperloop system up and running in the United States
Google Wins Multibillion Dollar Copyright Fight With Oracle in Supreme Court
(04/05/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelson explains why the Supreme Court decision in Google v Oracle is so important in today’s interoperable world
Alameda County’s first Black chief public defender is trying to fix the problem with juries
(04/04/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Information from the Death Penalty Clinic’s report, “Whitewashing the Jury Box” is cited in a column about Brendon Woods, Alameda County’s chief public defender
Biden infrastructure bill could be California high-speed rail’s ‘lifeline’
(04/04/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says President Biden’s infrastructure package is a lifeline to the CA bullet train but it will not be enough to deliver the whole project
Legion of Chauvin prosecutors, each with own role
(04/04/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the prosecution’s strategy in the case against Derek Chauvin
Gas heat and stoves are warming the climate. Should cities start banning them?
(04/02/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ted Lamm, Climate Policy Researcher at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says a patchwork of local climate goals means the move to all-electric buildings isn’t happening fast enough
Antisemitism video explainer from UC Berkeley aims to cool campus debate
(04/02/2021)Campus educators, including Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon, have produced a new explainer video on antisemitism and hope it will help combat ignorance of Jewish history, improve the discourse on issues related to Israel, and better the campus climate for Jewish and pro-Israel students
5 ways to fight for social justice and more
(04/02/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
The East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) unveils a large-scale permanent art installation painted by Anavictoria Avila
Taxpayers don’t know how many jobs PPP loans saved during the pandemic. No one counted.
(04/01/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Robert Bartlett explains why one-size-fits-all relief programs might not be what small businesses need
Op-Ed: SCOTUS weighs whether freedom of speech applies to students off campus using social media
(04/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky takes a look at Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., the first Supreme Court case to address the ability of schools to impose discipline for speech out of school and over social media
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Former Clerk On The ‘Notorious’ Late Justice And Her Enduring Legacy
(03/31/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses co-authoring Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
More EV charging stations would provide infrastructure for auto industry growth
(03/31/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says access to EV charging stations needs to become more widespread and reliable if we want to increase electric vehicle ownership
When It Comes To Email, Some Prisoners Say Attorney-Client Privilege Has Been Erased
(03/31/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, discusses the clinic’s work to stop the federal Bureau of Prisons from reading emails incarcerated persons send to their attorneys
PG&E plan to reserve temporary generators for wildfire season has groups worried about diesel use
(03/31/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Heather Lewis, Clinic Supervising Attorney at the Environmental Law Clinic, describes ELC’s recent Public Utilities Commission filing that protests PG&E’s proposal to use polluting diesel power during public safety power shutoffs
Murky World Of Mass Torts Left Clients At Girardi’s Mercy
(03/30/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter calls for judicial oversight of aggregate settlements in mass torts to bring them more in line with class action deals
California’s election rules could make a Newsom recall a wild ride
(03/29/2021)Brandon V. Stracener, senior research fellow at the California Constitution Center, explains what a potential recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom could look like
Environmental justice outcry axes plan to boost natural gas
(03/29/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the environmental justice demands of California leaders are gaining power politically, at both the state and federal level
Big Tech hearings haven’t done much. But this one could be different
(03/25/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelson says she expects more theatre than substance at today Big Tech hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce
High Court Ruling on Jurisdiction Thaws Some Climate Cases
(03/25/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professors Dan Farber and Andrew Bradt discuss the Supreme Court’s resolution of Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct., a product liability case that clears a hurdle for a group of idled climate lawsuits
US News Makes Last-Minute Changes to Law School Rankings, Fueling Criticism and Concern
(03/25/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky weighs in on the multiple missteps by U.S. News & World Report in its handling of the upcoming law school rankings
Pa. Superior Court Ruling Opens Door for Plaintiffs to Avoid Fair Share Act Application, Attorneys Say
(03/24/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses a Pennsylvania Superior Court decision relating to the Fair Share Act
The Promise of Offshore Wind
(03/24/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the federal government should set a national goal for offshore wind energy production in the U.S. and open up more areas for federal leasing
Every Democrat who fears filibuster reform should read these two new works
(03/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
An op-ed in the Washington Post suggests every Democrat who fears filibuster reform should read Professor Jonathan Gould’s new paper on “structural biases” in constitutional design
Op-Ed: California needs an equitable strategy for transitioning to all-electric buildings
(03/23/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program, and Ted Lamm, Climate Policy Researcher, at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, lay out a plan for California to develop an equitable, statewide strategy for transitioning to all-electric buildings
Podcast: Jonathan Gould on Codifying Constitutional Norms
(03/23/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Gould appears on the Lawfare podcast to discuss constitutional norms, the unwritten rules that govern how actors in our political system behave
Op-Ed: The filibuster is unconstitutional. Here’s how Vice President Harris can take it on
(03/22/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Vice President Kamala Harris, as presiding officer of the Senate, can — and should — declare the current Senate filibuster rule unconstitutional
Trump, My Dad and the Rightward Shift of Latino Men
(03/22/2021)Professor Ian Haney Lopez advises Democrats on how they can win back working-class Latino and Black men
Should Democrats risk ending the filibuster?
(03/20/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses whether Democrats should end a senator’s ability to block legislation by endless speechmaking so they can accomplish their agenda
Some Amazon Drivers Have Had Enough. Can They Unionize?
(03/19/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk explains the legal complexities of who can unionize
Why Covering Canals With Solar Panels Is a Power Move
(03/19/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute, explains the benefits of California potentially putting solar panels on canals
New Calif. Privacy Board Poised To Balance Various Interests
(03/19/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Jennifer M. Urban, Director of Policy Initiatives at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, has been appointed chair of the new California Privacy Protection Agency board, tasked with enforcing the state’s landmark privacy law
Deceptive Energy-Saving Remodel Plans Hit Homeowners With Financing Gotchas
(03/18/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky, director of the Environmental Law Clinic, discusses the new ELC report, The Dark Side of the Sun: How PACE Financing Has Under-Delivered Green Benefits and Harmed Low-Income Homeowners
Tabloid Hired Gun Tells of Shady Hunt for Meghan Markle Scoops
(03/18/2021)Professor Paul Schwartz says it is a violation of U.S. privacy statutes for people to pass TLOxp reports, which pull private information from a vast database of restricted information about individuals and businesses, on to news organizations
Meet the Members of California’s New Privacy Board
(03/17/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Jennifer M. Urban, Director of Policy Initiatives at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, has been appointed chair of the new California Privacy Protection Agency board, tasked with enforcing the state’s landmark privacy law
New California privacy board includes academics, government and law firm alums
(03/17/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Jennifer M. Urban, Director of Policy Initiatives at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, is announced as the chair of the new California Privacy Protection Agency board, tasked with enforcing the state’s landmark privacy law
RBG’s Legacy, Co-Authored by RBG
(03/17/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses co-authoring Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
On Op-Ed Pages, Law Profs Press Breyer to Retire
(03/16/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says calls suggesting Justice Breyer step down are not receiving the same pushback seen when some legal scholars urged the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to step down
‘Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue’ Offers Look At Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Early Work
(03/16/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler appears on NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue, her new book written with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Op-Ed: President Joe Biden and Democratic Congress take a major step to address poverty
(03/16/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why The American Rescue Plan reflects a dramatic shift in the role of the federal government in combating poverty
19th century anti-slavery newspaper revived to discuss race today
(03/16/2021)Professor Ian Haney Lopez will serve on the advisory board of The Emancipator, one of the nation’s first antislavery newspapers of the 19th century, which is being revived as part of a new project to discuss and debate racial justice in the U.S. today
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Co-Author Amanda Tyler on RBG’s Final Book: “Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue”
(03/16/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses her new book, written with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her decades-long relationship with the justice, and Ginsburg’s final thoughts on her legacy and hopes for the future of women’s rights
‘Record-breaking’ ramp up needed for 100% clean grid — report
(03/16/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses a new analysis that says California must quickly ramp up permitting and building of solar, wind, battery storage and other technologies to meet its mandate of a 100% clean energy grid by 2045
Inside the Making of RBG’s ‘Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue’
(03/15/2021)Professor Amanda Tyler reflects on the special privilege of working closely with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg one last time
Law professors sue in S.F. to lift Trump sanctions on international court prosecutors
(03/15/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Legal advisers to the International Criminal Court, including Alexa Koenig, director of the Human Rights Clinic, have sued to challenge the Trump administration’s sanctions on the court’s prosecutors for investigating Israel and U.S. actions in Afghanistan — sanctions that the Biden administration has left intact so far
For these lawyers, all the world’s a stage
(03/12/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky his participation in the “Julius Caesar” Shakespeare Trial
‘Kern runs on oil’: as California confronts climate crisis, one county is ready to drill
(03/12/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses Kern County’s approval of drilling for thousands of new wells despite opposition from farmers and activists
Biden EPA Ponders ‘Hail Mary’ Move on Greenhouse Gas Air Limits
(03/12/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber discusses the Biden administration’s consideration of a push for national ambient air limits on greenhouse gases
Texas’ big bad pain in the neck
(03/11/2021)Jim Dempsey, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, says Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will have a hard time making a legal argument that social media companies have discriminatory policies that silence conservative voices
Former prosecutors, judges join push for new trial in Alabama death row case
(03/10/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
A group of former prosecutors and judges in Alabama this week joined a district attorney in seeking a new trial for Toforest Johnson, a Black man who has spent two decades on death row and is represented by the Death Penalty Clinic
PRO Act, called ‘most important labor legislation in several generations,’ passes House
(03/10/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk explains that the PRO Act applies only to rights to unionize and bargain collectively and says freelancers would have no competitive advantage from one state to another
Democrats Are Anxious About 2022 — and 2024
(03/10/2021)Professor Ian Haney Lopez discusses the future of the Hispanic vote and says the Latinos most likely to vote Republican do so for racial reasons
Op-Ed: Challenge to California net neutrality law should be dismissed
(03/09/2021)Professor Tejas Narechania and Erik Stallman, associate director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, urge the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by internet service providers challenging California’s law requiring that ISPs follow net neutrality rules
Google employee group urges Congress to strengthen whistleblower protections for AI researchers
(03/08/2021)Professor Sonia Katyal says existing whistleblower law is totally insufficient and essential to protect talented researchers from being effectively muzzled
What Native American Law Applicants Should Know
(03/08/2021)Kristin Theis-Alvarez, Assistant Dean, Admissions & Financial Aid, discusses Berkeley Law’s commitment to recruiting Native American students
14 Republican AGs say Biden can’t use EO to restore social costs of greenhouse gas
(03/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Daniel Farber says a suit by 14 Republican attorneys general accusing President Joe Biden of exceeding his powers in an executive order regarding climate change appears tenuous
The Petroleum Industry May Want a Carbon Tax, but Biden and Congressional Republicans are Not Necessarily Fans
(03/08/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Eric Biber discusses politically viable steps President Biden can take to reach his ambitious goal of putting the nation on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050
New China Trade Secrets Law Draws Concerns About Potential Abuse
(03/08/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic, International Law Topic
Mark Cohen, Senior Fellow and Director of BCLT’s Asia IP Project, explains how China’s increased penalties for trade secret theft could be used to target foreign businesses operating in the country
Op-Ed: The Jeep Cherokee is not a tribute to Indians. Change the name.
(03/07/2021)Professor Sonia K. Katyal, with UCLA professor Angela R. Riley and UC-Berkeley doctoral candidate Rachel Lim, writes remedying the harms of the past will require more than simply changing a name or a logo, but it is a first step toward ensuring that racial stereotypes are retired to the annals of history
Op-Ed: After 2020, will Supreme Court help the Republican campaign to suppress voter rights?
(03/06/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes absentee ballots and voting by mail increase participation without any evidence of fraud and laws should facilitate, not limit, these efforts to increase voting
A Pro-Israel Lawyer is Weaponizing Public Records Law Against Palestinian Activists
(03/06/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Claudia Polsky says a lawsuit by a right-wing activist against UCLA could cause a chill on students’ First Amendment rights
Professors Tell SCOTUS to Correct the CAFC’s ‘Profound Misunderstanding’ in American Axle Case
(03/04/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Peter Menell filed an amicus brief in American Axle & Manufacturing v. Neapco Holdings, LLC, the closely-watched Section 101 patent eligibility case involving driveshaft automotive technology
Gasoline delivery is a thing. Is that good or bad for CO2?
(03/02/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the idea of delivering gasoline to motorists sends a bad message
CA tech crucial in reaching national greenhouse gas goals
(03/02/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program, and research fellow Katie Segal, from the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, write California is well positioned to help the United States meet President Biden’s nationwide carbon neutrality goal
VIDEO: Hundreds of health workers attacked amid pandemic
(03/02/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Dr. Rohini Haar discusses a new report by the Human Rights Center and Geneva-based Insecurity Insight, which identified more than 1,100 threats or acts of violence against health care workers and facilities last year
COVID-19 pandemic fuels attacks on health workers globally
(03/02/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Dr. Rohini Haar discusses a new report by the Human Rights Center and Geneva-based Insecurity Insight, which identified more than 1,100 threats or acts of violence against health care workers and facilities last year
California nonprofit pushes states to make jury instructions more broadly available
(03/01/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Jennifer M. Urban, Director of Policy Initiatives at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, and clinic students Jennifer A. Hewitt and Blaine Valencia discuss their work on behalf of Public.Resource.Org to advocate for California to clarify that its civil and criminal jury instructions are in the public domain
Is a Mass Reckoning Coming for the Plaintiffs Bar?
(02/28/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter questions whether mass torts have gotten too big for a lawyer to adequately represent all their clients
Local Taxes Have Lots of Untapped Potential
(02/26/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo, with Darien Shanske, predicts the power of local voters to impose taxes on themselves by majority vote using the initiative power might be here to stay
Why Are Prosecutors Keeping a Huge, Secretive DNA Database in Orange County?
(02/26/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth discusses Orange County’s forensic DNA database and says it is the largest in the country never authorized by a legislature
EXPLAINER: Meet the vaccine appointment bots, and their foes
(02/25/2021)Professor Orin Kerr explains the murky legality of web scraping, as people turn to bots to get Covid-19 vaccination appointments
The Cybersecurity 202 Network
(02/24/2021)Professor Orin Kerr joins the Washington Post’s Cybersecurity Network, a group of high-level digital security experts from across government, the private sector, and security research community to vote in surveys on the most pressing issues in the field
Podcast: Post Reports – Will a minimum-wage hike save the economy?
(02/24/2021)Professor Jonathan Gould explains the role of the Senate parliamentarian in deciding whether Democrats can squeeze a federal minimum-wage hike into a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package using the budget reconciliation process
Rights advocates celebrate but say fight only beginning as Virginia bans death penalty
(02/23/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, says race is the most salient feature of the American death penalty
Amend: the Fight for America
(02/19/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges is featured in the Netflix documentary Amend: the Fight for America, particularly in episode 4, which examines the fight for women’s voting rights
Everyone Gets Along on the California Supreme Court
(02/19/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Stephen M. Duvernay write the US and CA Supreme Courts are moving in opposite directions – but not in the way you might think
In new defense, dozens of Capitol rioters say law enforcement ‘let us in’ to building
(02/19/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Charles Weisselberg discusses potential legal strategies as accused rioters say they thought it was OK to enter the Capitol
Op-Ed: How Congress can prevent Big Tech from becoming the speech police
(02/18/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky encourage Congress can keep faith with the First Amendment by preventing social media platforms from discriminating
Can Senate Democrats pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package? Ask the parliamentarian.
(02/18/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Gould explains the role of the parliamentarian in passing President Biden’s Covid-19 relief package
California’s Shifting Relationship With the Supreme Court
(02/17/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses what Californians can expect from a conservative Supreme Court
‘Doing the Right Thing’?: van der Veen’s Defense of Trump Elicits Sharply Divided Views From Phila. Trial Lawyers
(02/17/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter encourages lawyers to remember to the principle that unpopular clients and causes need able representation
California Bill That Promotes Alternatives To Policing Is Back Despite Governor’s Veto
(02/17/2021)Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the CRISIS Act and says Governor Newsom’s desire to appear progressive has arguably outweighed his appetite to champion and enact legislation that reflects those values
Op-Ed: Investigate Donald Trump for criminal acts, just as Mitch McConnell says
(02/16/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why, if former president Trump violated the law, he should be indicted and prosecuted and writes no one, especially not the president, can be above the law
California State Legislature has the power to end the state of emergency
(02/16/2021)Brandon V. Stracener, senior research fellow at California Constitution Center, discusses California’s Emergency Services Act, what powers it gives the governor and the State Legislature’s ability to be a check on those powers
Former UN High Commissioner Pillay Says It’s Time for the Human Rights Council to Act on Sri Lanka
(02/15/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Professor Laurel Fletcher, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, interviews the former high commissioner of Sri Lanka, who served from 2008 to 2014, about the role of her office in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka in the final stages of the war and since that time, and her views on what the council should do at its upcoming session
Op-Ed: In the case of Trump, our courts failed us and the Constitution
(02/11/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes, in the case of former president Trump, our courts failed and the message to future presidents, and even other litigants, is just to protract litigation and sometimes it will go away
Op-Ed: What Mitch McConnell Got Right
(02/11/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges Democrats to look at how the Republicans reshaped the federal judiciary under former president Trump and take the opportunity to do the same
Column: Negotiating Trauma & the Law
(02/10/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur interviews Clinical Professor Ty Alper, Associate Director of Death Penalty Clinic, about representing clients on death row, being hyper-aware of racial privilege and training next gen lawyers,
Op-Ed: Why the US must support the electric vehicle supply chain
(02/09/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, urges U.S. and state policy makers to seize the opportunity to plan for a more sustainable, domestic electric vehicle supply chain
Berkeley Law Institute Receives $10 Million Gift and a New Name
(02/09/2021)The Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies announces a $10 million gift and renaming as the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley
Op-Ed: Mindless lockdowns destroy lives — and our Constitution
(02/08/2021)Professor John Yoo, with Scott Atlas of the Hoover Institute, says lockdowns interfere with the constitutional rights to free speech and religion and the economic liberty of owners and workers
‘This has to end peacefully’: California’s Punjabi farmers rally behind India protests
(02/08/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur discusses the farmers’ protests in India and the history that’s lead to widespread distrust of the government
Let’s talk about India’s farmer protests
(02/06/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur says the fight of the farmers in India is, at the heart of it, a fight against big monopolies owning everything we need to survive with dignity: medication, transportation, education, and food
Social Media Video Evidence in Impeachment Trial: Lessons from International Tribunals
(02/05/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, discusses the use of social media evidence to create a narrative as one piece of the evidentiary puzzle ahead of the impeachment trial of former president Trump
Oregon lawmakers discuss elimination of juvenile court fees
(02/05/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic
Data published by the Policy Advocacy Clinic showing the high cost of collecting juvenile fees is cited as Oregon considers a bill to end juvenile fines and fees
Longtime federal judges stepping aside to create vacancies for Biden to fill
(02/05/2021)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, discusses the increasing number of federal judges who are taking senior status
Filing Claims Interference In 2010 Border Patrol Death Probe
(02/05/2021)Topics: International Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses new evidence of a cover-up by US Customs & Border Patrol in the case of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas’s killing by federal agents
International case over border killing accuses high U.S. officials of cover-up plot
(02/04/2021)Topics: International Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses new evidence of a cover-up by US Customs & Border Patrol in the case of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas’s killing by federal agents
“Anatomy of Impunity”: Former DHS Supervisors Say Border Killing Cover-Up Was Part of a Pattern
(02/04/2021)Topics: International Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses evidence of a “shadow investigation” that has emerged in the case of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas’s killing by federal agents
School district hits back at Breed, city attorney over suit: ’embarrassing day for San Francisco’
(02/04/2021)Professor Stephen Sugarman says San Francisco’s lawsuit against the school district is a first step toward a plan, but it’s still contingent on the union agreeing to send teachers back to the classroom
How religious conservatives learned to love anti-discrimination laws
(02/04/2021)Professor Khiara M. Bridges discusses conservative states’ introducing bills banning abortion on the grounds of race, sex or the diagnosis of a fetal abnormality, with the aim to push a case before the Supreme Court
Met-Ed fined $1M in settlement with state over Northampton County electrocution
(02/04/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter applauds the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approval of a settlement with Met-Ed, a FirstEnergy Corp. electricity provider, in the death of 31-year-old man
PBS to release documentary on Tulsa Race Massacre
(02/02/2021)PBS announces a documentary premiering in May about the Tulsa Race Massacre, known as the deadliest incident of racial violence in American history, featuring Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center
Op-Ed: SCOTUS hands down a rare civil rights victory on qualified immunity
(02/01/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the Supreme Court’s ruling in Taylor v. Riojas is a rare instance in which the high court rejected a claim of qualified immunity and made clear that no case on point is required in order to hold a government officer liable
Republican lawmakers want to use pro-Trump rioters to undermine peaceful protest
(02/01/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, with Ngozi Nezianya, counsel at Protect Democracy, writes the violence on Jan. 6 should not be used as an excuse to thwart lawful assemblies and protests in Florida, or in any other state
Meritocracy and Its Discontents: The View from Outside Harvard Yard
(01/30/2021)Professor Christopher Kutz reviews Michael Sandel’s The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? and explains why a public, widely accessible merit-based system such as the University of California is our best hope
Trump’s impeachment trial renews long debate on free speech, incitement
(01/29/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky thinks Donald Trump and attorney Rudy Giuliani could be successfully prosecuted for inciting the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by supporters of the former president
Op-Ed: Stop the attempt to derail D.A. George Gascón’s criminal justice reforms
(01/28/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, with Miriam Aroni Krinsky, encourages the courts to reject a legal challenge that attempts to derail Los Angeles D.A. George Gascón’s criminal justice reforms
California extends eviction moratorium through June
(01/28/2021)Ted Mermin, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, hopes the Legislature will come back together and extend the reach of rent moratorium relief
“We’ve never seen a threat to democracy like this”
(01/27/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the latest impeachment and what happens next in terms of process and fallout
NYSBA Panelist Says Vaccine Mandates Likely Constitutional as Pandemic Rages
(01/27/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says state governments likely have the ability to mandate that citizens receive the COVID-19 vaccine
Fresno anti-mask protesters don’t have federal law behind them, legal experts say
(01/27/2021)Brandon V. Stracener, senior research fellow at the California Constitution Center, says anti-maskers protesters who believe the ADA and federal law protect them are wrong
Op-Ed: Make the Filibuster Difficult Again
(01/27/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Burt Neuborne write that, in order for President Biden to get anything done, Democrats must find a way to limit the Republicans’ use of the filibuster
Respected Voices Try to Tap the Brakes on Patent Nationalism
(01/26/2021)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Robert Merges discusses the complexities of international patent law, as part of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology and Beijing’s Tsinghua University’s Conference on Transnational IP Litigation
Morgan Lewis’ Split With Trump May Not Be Easy
(01/25/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer Shanin Specter says law firms dropping controversial clients should tread lightly to avoid sending message of disloyalty to existing and potential clients
‘African Gene Theory’ Is a Myth, and It’s Harming Black Men’s Heart Health
(01/24/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara M. Bridges says the myth of a salt-retention gene causing hypertension in Black people has been perpetuated by researchers not looking at factors such as environmental injustices and inaccessibility of health care
Environmental turnaround — 8 issues that will pivot in California’s favor under Biden
(01/24/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ted Lamm, Climate Policy Researcher at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, lays out what the Biden administration could do for the environment, particularly in California
Op-Ed: After my dad died during COVID, I resisted joining a virtual grief group. I shouldn’t have
(01/24/2021)Lecturer Rose Carmen Goldberg reflects on the passing of her father from COVID-19 and the support she found by joining a virtual grief group
The Trump economy left Black Americans behind. Here’s how they want Biden to narrow the gaps.
(01/22/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Ian Haney Lopez says the GOP’s rhetoric has convinced white people to see government programs as giveaways to undeserving people of color
Tracking Biden’s environmental actions
(01/22/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Data from CLEE’s “Reversing Environmental Rollbacks” project was used to help create the Washington Post’s webpage tracking the Biden administration’s environmental actions
Big Tech has big power over online speech. Should it be reined in?
(01/21/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Professor Aaron Edlin says power isn’t a violation of antitrust law, even though big tech companies’ actions over the past week reinforce just how much power they have
Inauguration sows doubt among QAnon conspiracy theorists
(01/20/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
The Human Rights Center’s Investigations Lab worked with the Associated Press to monitor any potential attacks as well as misinformation related to the inauguration
7 climate actions that Biden could take on his first day
(01/20/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ted Lamm, Climate Policy Researcher at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, explains some immediate steps President Biden can take to undo Trump environmental policies
Girardi Gained Their Trust, But Left Them With Regret
(01/19/2021)Topics: Business/Corporate Law Topic
Lecturer Neil Wertlieb after reviewing public court documents suggests that Girardi Keese used the Ponzi scheme, where he’s using money from basically subsequent cases to fund his and his firm’s obligations on prior cases
Op-Ed: This is the big risk if Biden copies Trump and uses an obscure rule to cancel regulatory rollbacks
(01/19/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Professor Dan Farber says to succeed, Democrats can’t afford to lose any votes from their side
Senate trial of former President Trump depends largely on 145-year-old case
(01/19/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says there is historical precedent for the Senate trial of an ex-president
Rolling back the rollbacks: Berkeley Law scholar lays out Biden’s enviro rules challenges
(01/19/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ted Lamm, Climate Policy Researcher at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses the process of rolling back Trump climate policies and the database, “Reversing Environmental Rollbacks,” CLEE compiled
‘The lost years’: Climate damage that occurred on Trump’s watch will endure long after he is gone
(01/19/2021)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ted Lamm, Climate Policy Researcher at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says when it comes to climate change we are facing a ticking clock, as President Biden looks to rollback policies the Trump administration put in place
Social Media Site Gab Is Surging, Even As Critics Blame It For Capitol Violence
(01/17/2021)Professor Orin Kerr says in order to prosecute social media companies for the riots at the Capitol, there would need to be evidence of a clear intention to assist in the violence
Response To Capitol Riot Could Hurt Minorities, Civil Libertarians Say
(01/15/2021)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, says law enforcement should not use facial recognition technology widely until racial disparities are fixed
What Commonwealth Court’s Decision to Scrap Victim Rights Amendment Could Mean for Judicial Districts Plan
(01/14/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses the complexities of the decision on the “Marsy’s Law” ballot question in Pennsylvania
Op-Ed: Don’t use S.F. tragedy to justify return to mass incarceration
(01/14/2021)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Jonathan Simon says Californians who witnessed the failures of mass incarceration need to remind the public of the unacceptable human and financial costs of going backward
Twitter’s Trump Ban Sets Dangerous Precedent for Free Speech, Legal Scholar Warns
(01/14/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says giving social media firms the power to permanently ban politicians could have serious ramifications for the future of free speech on the internet
Op-Ed: In a traditional Lohri song about a folk hero, echoes of Punjab’s ongoing struggle for a fair deal
(01/13/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur writes the rebellion of Dulla Bhatti is a reminder of the region’s long history of agrarian protest – and its fight for justice
Armed ‘militias’ are illegal. Will authorities finally crack down if they show up at state capitals next week?
(01/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says laws outlawing militias are constitutional so long as they carefully define what is a militia and what conduct is prohibited
Trump Twitter ban raises concerns over ‘unchecked’ power of big tech
(01/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Facebook and Twitter can suspend who they want and there is no First Amendment issue
Podcast: Legal Talk Today: Supreme Court’s Latest
(01/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains what happening at the Supreme Court and how will it impact the future
Op-Ed: Trump’s Twitter, Facebook Bans Go a Step Too Far
(01/13/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Twitter and Facebook are within their rights to remove posts by President Trump that rise to the level of incitement, but that outright bans by the communication platforms are a step too far and set a dangerous precedent
Podcast: Faces of Assassination
(01/13/2021)Topics: Clinical Training Topic, International Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, appears on the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime’s podcast series to discuss her work on behalf of the families of victims of human rights violations
A Hall of Fame Lawyer, a ‘Real Housewife’ and a Stunning Fall
(01/13/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter weighs in on the lawsuit against his former co-counsel, Thomas Girardi
Op-Ed: The House should not rush an impeachment vote this week
(01/12/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky argues against rushing an impeachment vote
Op-Ed: Gov. Newsom should consider Goodwin Liu for California attorney general appointment
(01/12/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges Gov. Newsom to consider former Berkeley Law professor and California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu for California Attorney General
Lawmakers explore legal avenues to barring Trump from holding office in the future
(01/12/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross discusses the legal implications of possibly trying to remove President Trump from power
Op-Ed: How to prevent future assaults on American democracy
(01/11/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says guardrails for our democracy worked, but it could have been different
With Democrats poised to take over Washington, Supreme Court’s Breyer faces renewed calls to retire
(01/09/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky suggests Justice Breyer consider stepping down when there is a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate to replace him
Congress can move fast if it wants to — and it’s moving fast toward impeaching Trump
(01/08/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains how the impeachment process could work in the wake of the riots at the Capitol
Berkeley scholars’ outrage, reflections on U.S. Capitol mob siege
(01/07/2021)Berkeley Law experts reflect on the the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol
Impeachment or 25th Amendment? DC Leaders Ponder Immediate Removal of Trump
(01/07/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross discusses options for removing President Trump from office
Plenty of complications in using 25th Amendment to boot Trump from office
(01/07/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross explains why the definition of the 25th amendment must be kept narrow and precise
Pro-Trump rioters could face up to 20 years in prison
(01/07/2021)Professor Dan Farber discusses potential legal fallout from the riots at the Capitol
Critical Mass: A Plaintiffs Lawyer Proposes Problems in Multidistrict Litigation.
(01/07/2021)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses his efforts to reform the rules and practices relating to mass torts
Senior officials have discussed removing Trump under the 25th Amendment. Here’s how that could work.
(01/07/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains how the 25th Amendment could be used to remove President Trump from office
Use of 25th Amendment to remove Trump unlikely, says law professor
(01/07/2021)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross discusses the implications of the assault on the U.S. Capitol for President Trump and American democracy
Op-Ed: The California Supreme Court Can Fix Our Broken Bail System
(01/06/2021)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Nicholas Cotter ask whether and how cash bail will survive
What Google’s Union Can Do Now and What It Needs to Do Next
(01/05/2021)Professor Catherine Fisk says Google employees’ union’s relatively low numbers should be expected, if not embraced, as a start
Video: Who Killed Berta? An Environmental Murder Mystery
(01/04/2021)Topics: International Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses the murder of activist Berta Cáceres
Appeals court signals it may block some California COVID-19 church restrictions
(01/04/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky weighs in on possible outcomes as the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals grapples with the constitutionality of Gov. Newsom’s pandemic restrictions on places of worship
Trump is heard on audiotape pressuring Georgia secretary of state to ‘find’ votes to overturn Biden’s win
(01/03/2021)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses President Trump’s phone call with Georgia Sec. of State Raffensperger and whether his conduct was criminal
Could Trump pardon himself? It might be legal, but it could also be politically disastrous
(12/31/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor John Yoo weigh in on whether President Trump could and should pardon himself
How COVID-19 Changed How We Get Around
(12/30/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, appears on The Morning Report to discuss Covid-19’s potential long term impact on traffic, public transportation and how Californians get from point A to point B
San Diego continues to tout greenhouse-gas reductions that never happened
(12/30/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says the city of San Diego’s disputed greenhouse-gas emissions numbers look suspect
Ruling for Minority Power Aids Both Sides Next Year
(12/29/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the federal appeals court decision allowing information requests by congressional oversight panels without the approval of majority members
Letters to the Editor: D.A. Chesa Boudin’s distorted priorities
(12/28/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter says San Francisco needs a prosecutor who is as tough on drug dealers as on police officers
More Stress, Coping With Loss: Pandemic Exacts Toll on Judges
(12/28/2020)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, discusses judicial stress and anxiety during the pandemic
Rare 310-year-old violin stolen from art dealer’s Los Feliz home
(12/24/2020) Lecturer Carla Shapreau discusses the theft of a rare 18th century violin
Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over courts
(12/24/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter says a proposal to change the way Pennsylvania voters elect state Supreme Court justices and appellate court judges violates the law and the state constitution
Victims Of Bank Of America EDD Debit Card Fraud Tell Stories Of Fake Charges, Long Waits, Closed Claims
(12/22/2020)Ted Mermin, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, says Bank of America may be liable for fraudulent activities on EDD debit cards
San Bernardino County sues Newsom over coronavirus restrictions
(12/17/2020)Research and analysis of the Emergency Services Act by California Constitution Center fellows Stephen Duvernay and Brandon Stracener is cited as San Bernardino County asks California Supreme Court to overturn Governor Newsom’s stay-at-home order
From whistleblower laws to unions: How Google’s AI ethics meltdown could shape policy
(12/16/2020)Professor Sonia Katyal says existing whistleblower law is totally insufficient and essential to address issues at the intersection of artificial intelligence and civil rights
‘Like We’re Stuck in Park’: With COVID Delaying Trials, High-Dollar Settlements Are Stalled in Philadelphia
(12/15/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses the paralysis in the court system in relation to catastrophic injury cases
How President-elect Biden needs to handle investigation into son Hunter’s taxes
(12/14/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky offers advice to President-elect Biden on handling the investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes
‘No Objectively Reasonable Basis’: Attorney Fees Awarded to Plaintiff Over Improper Removal of Fraternity Lawsuit
(12/11/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter successfully had a lawsuit remanded and gave the court-ordered attorneys fees to a case-related charity
Op-Ed: Can President Donald Trump pardon himself?
(12/11/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says there is no clear answer to the question of whether President Trump can pardon himself, but there is a strong argument that such a pardon would not and should not be constitutional
Op-Ed: Unprecedented Farmers Protests in India: Lest We Miss This Feminist Moment
(12/10/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur explores the farmers’ protests in India and says women’s participation challenges the narrative that the protest is only about angry men, dangerous and entirely unwilling to listen to reason
Op-Ed: The judge who ruled in favor of outdoor dining was wrong. Here’s why
(12/09/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the LA Superior Court ruling to enjoin a ban on outdoor dining ignores a fundamental constitutional principle: Government regulation of business is allowed as long as it is reasonable
California sheriff says honor system, not handcuffs, must be deployed during state’s stay-at-home edict
(12/09/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says mask mandates do not violate anyone’s constitutional rights and it’s a shame health issues have become politicized
Op-Ed: Progressives Are Wrong To Oppose the Electoral College
(12/08/2020)Professor John Yoo urges progressives to see the value of the Electoral College
Inside the cottage industry trying to revive Aunt Jemima and other brands with racist roots
(12/08/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Sonia Katyal, co-director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, discusses the gamble companies are taking when they consider brand value vs. reputation, as the Supreme Court overturns a key provision of the Lanham Act, allowing trademarking of disparaging names
Why Farmers Drove a Tractor to Protest at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco
(12/06/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur discusses the unprecedented farmers protests in India and the solidarity protests across CA
Protocol Developed for Social Media Evidence in Human Rights Trials
(12/04/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, explains the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations which offers guidance on how social media evidence can be used in international criminal proceedings
Op-Ed: COVID-19 ruling reveals much about the new Supreme Court
(12/03/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why the SCOTUS decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York v. Cuomo is hugely important and what it tells us about the new court
Republican and Democratic Judges Have Turned on Trump—and Not Just When it Comes to the Election
(12/03/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses President Trump’s numerous court cases and the instances when he has been checked, or not, by the courts
Trump administration sets wave of executions for days leading up to Biden inauguration
(12/02/2020)Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, says the Trump DOJ is exploiting executions for political reasons
With Barrett on Supreme Court, California’s church COVID limits in legal jeopardy
(12/02/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Supreme Court’s differing decisions regarding large religious gatherings during the pandemic are a result of the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Biden could help San Francisco win billions from Big Oil over climate change
(12/02/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says Biden’s Justice Department won’t be working against litigants in climate cases as the Trump administration did
After 6 Months in Limbo, Philadelphia Court Sets January Date for Restart of Civil Jury Trials
(12/01/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter weighs in as Pennsylvania plans to begin in-person civil trials again
The Cybersecurity 202: The Supreme Court may finally rein in an outdate anti-hacking law
(12/01/2020)Professor Orin Kerr discusses the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and more clarity about what the law means is needed
Some federal judges plan to retire when Trump exits. Will Biden be able to replace them?
(11/30/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says an exodus of federal judges considering retirement will depend on which party controls the Senate
Op-Ed: In its COVID ruling, Trump’s activist Supreme Court gives us a preview of what’s to come
(11/27/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that the Supreme Court’s decision to bar New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from putting restrictions on religious gatherings is the indicative of the impact Justice Amy Coney Barrett will have on the court
Op-Ed: Republicans’ silence is complicity with Trump’s lying attacks on American democracy
(11/27/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes we should loudly condemn those who have enabled President Trump’s false claims of election fraud by their words and by their silence
When Supreme Court was forced to go virtual, their questions and arguments changed too
(11/25/2020)Professor Orin Kerr explains pros and cons of virtual SCOTUS arguments
A New Political Force Emerges in Georgia: Asian-American Voters
(11/25/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Taeku Lee discusses his recent survey of Asian American voters in Georgia that found 41 percent voted for the first time in this election
Podcast: MDLs Go Mainstream: Mass Torts Today
(11/24/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter appeared on ALI’s Reasonably Speaking podcast to explore multidistrict litigation
Op-Ed” ‘Educare for All’ would free students from oppressive debt
(11/17/2020)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy writes that President-elect Biden may have the opportunity to solve the nation’s $1.6 trillion student debt problem
How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps
(11/17/2020)Professor Chris Hoofnagle, Faculty Director at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, says privacy disclosures for apps can be lacking and asks whether a reasonable consumer would agree to them if explicitly asked
Op-Ed: There’s nothing wrong with Justice Alito telling the world his views
(11/16/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why we are used to hearing agendas from political candidates, but not judges, in reaction to Justice Samuel Alito’s recent Federalist Society speech
Op-Ed: As Supreme Court debates Philly-based foster case, should laws allow religious exemptions?
(11/12/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UC Chancellor Howard Gillman say case-by-case reviews of religious beliefs versus government interests can never work, as the Supreme Court debates Fulton v. Philadelphia
Op-Ed: Big Tech Can Help Bring War Criminals to Justice
(11/11/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, explains why it’s critically important social media companies preserve evidence of abuse
Lawyers Press Pa. Supreme Court to Set in Motion COVID-Delayed Med Mal Case
(11/11/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter asks the PA Supreme Court to exercise extraordinary jurisdiction to get his client’s case moving again after it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic
Op-Ed: Presidential elections and Senate seats underscore fact that this is not a democracy
(11/11/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that the US is not a democracy because the government we live under is profoundly anti-majoritarian
Column: An Interview with Protima Pandey of Santa Clara County
(11/10/2020)Lecturer Mallika Kaur, as part of her ongoing series exploring managing trauma and the demands of lawyering, explores the intersection of law and policy and highlights the dire need for leading by example
Op-Ed: With the Biden-Harris administration on the horizon, there’s reason for hope this Veterans Day
(11/10/2020)Lecturer Rose Carmen Goldberg writes the Biden/Harris administration’s commitment to veterans gives hope this Veterans Day
How California will shape U.S. environmental policy under Biden
(11/10/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses immediate steps the Biden administration could take to help the environment
Affirmative Action Cases May Reach Supreme Court Even Without Trump
(11/09/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says there are six votes on the Supreme Court to dramatically limit affirmative action and to overrule earlier decisions allowing it, regardless of who is President
California’s far-left activists shocked they beat Prop. 25. What’s the future of bail now?
(11/06/2020)Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the opportunities for bail reform at the local level, after Prop 25 fails
Trump exploited status anxiety within the Latino community
(11/06/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Ian Haney Lopez explores the ways President Trump exploited status anxiety within the Latino community and writes that we should think of race not in terms of fixed identities but in terms of complex beliefs about belonging, respect and threat
California goes big on criminal justice reform, setting a more progressive path
(11/05/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Californians’ attitudes and impulses around incarceration have changed
A Look At The Court Battles Of The 2020 Presidential Election
(11/05/2020)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross appears on NPR’s On Point to discuss the latest litigation around the 2020 presidential election
President Trump SCOTUS Challenge Likely Over PA Ballots
(11/04/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses President Trump’s vow to take the fight over election results all the way to the Supreme Court
Here’s what faithless electors are and what they could mean for the outcome of the presidential election
(11/04/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains says electors must vote how the state dictates
Op-Ed: Trump’s secret weapon for keeping his job: his Supreme Court picks
(11/04/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky contemplates how the Supreme Court, with three justices appointed by Donald Trump, could anoint him to stay in the White House
‘Away from the noise’
(11/03/2020)Emily Bruce, Director of Equity and Inclusion, discusses ways students can cope with election anxiety
Forum: Electoral College in the Spotlight
(11/02/2020)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross appears on KQED’s Forum to discuss the role of the Electoral College and the ongoing debate over its relevance
Paying for Privacy at Core of California Ballot Measure Battle
(11/02/2020)Professor Chris Hoofnagle discusses CA Prop 24 and says the writing is on the wall that privacy law is coming
Ex-Inmates Struggle in a Banking System Not Made for Them
(10/31/2020)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Abhay Aneja’s paper, “No Credit For Time Served? Incarceration and Credit-Driven Crime Cycles”, is cited in a article examining the long term impact of court debts and incarceration
Analysis: 2020, and the American chorus’ newly loud voices
(10/31/2020)Professor Sarah Song says the notion of many voices being heard, and which voices prevail, is going to be an ongoing struggle even with the forces that 2020 has unleashed
Amy Coney Barrett pushes Rep. Ro Khanna to propose Supreme Court term limits
(10/28/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky weighs in on whether Supreme Court term limits are possible under the constitution
Op-Ed: We now have a far-right Supreme Court. Democrats can’t abandon the battle
(10/26/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes of his concern for what it will mean to have a Supreme Court majority that embraces the values of the far right of the Republican Party and is far more conservative than the electorate
Op-Ed: The affordable housing crisis is about to get worse; here’s a policy that will help renters
(10/26/2020)EBCLC’s Clinical Supervisors Seema Rupani and Hewot Shankute write there is a real appetite for progressive reforms that will increase stable, decent, affordable housing for years to come
Newsom, California district attorneys seek tighter standards for application of death penalty
(10/26/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explain the unprecedented court filing that asserts the state’s death penalty law is applied in a racist manner against African Americans
Barrett’s presence on Supreme Court could change course of several decisions
(10/26/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains what the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett will mean for upcoming cases on the Supreme Court docket
The Electoral College can pick a president who got fewer votes. Here’s why and how.
(10/24/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains the key issues and history of the Electoral College
A Chasm Deepens in America’s Credit Markets, Swallowing Smaller Firms
(10/23/2020) Professor Robert Bartlett discusses the disparate impact of COVID-19 on small businesses
Google Has Monopoly Over Android App Market, suit says
(10/22/2020)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy weighs in on Google’s likely defense in a suit filed by Android users alleging an app monopoly
Column: Negotiating Trauma and the Law
(10/22/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Lecturer Mallika Kaur, as part of her ongoing series exploring managing trauma and the demands of lawyering, speaks to Berkeley Law alum Taina Gomez, Solano County DPD about self care, the culture that compounds trauma for clients and lawyers of color and what it means to be committed to social justice as a child of immigrants.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wrote One Last Book, and It’s Coming Out Soon
(10/21/2020)Professor Amanda Tyler’s upcoming book, authored with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, entitled Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union, is a review of Ginsburg’s legal legacy, filtered through her memories and perspective
D.C. attorney general sues Washington Hebrew Congregation preschool, contends it failed to protect children from alleged sexual abuse
(10/21/2020)The Washington, D.C. Attorney General has filed a lawsuit in parallel to a civil suit, represented by lecturer Shanin Specter, against the Washington Hebrew Congregation in relation to child sexual abuse of preschoolers
Op-Ed: Amy Coney Barrett’s Originalism Threatens Our Freedoms
(10/21/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky asks if we really want our rights to be determined by the understandings of centuries ago?
Podcast: Safeguarding The Electoral Vote
(10/20/2020)Topics: Constitutional Law Topic
Professor Bertrall Ross appears on NPR’s On Point podcast to discuss the integrity of the votes cast by America’s 538 electors
Essay: How Defunding the Police Protects Black Women
(10/20/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Savala Trepczynski, Executive Director of the Henderson Center for Social Justice, explain how defunding the police protects black women and says we should spend money on helping people, not hurting them
MicroClimates: How do you vote on climate in local elections?
(10/20/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says local races have huge long-term implications on land use and how communities adapt to a changing climate
Everything to Know About the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission Case
(10/19/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky breaks down Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission – what it meant for the couple and what it means for couples moving forward
Prop. 20: Should California’s DNA bank expand to shoplifters, opioid offenders?
(10/19/2020)Topics: Criminal Law Topic
Professor Andrea Roth discusses CA Prop 20, saying putting more money into collecting DNA is a a zero-sum game
30 Issues: Affirmative Action
(10/19/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky appears on The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss affirmative action as an issue in the presidential race
‘White Supremacy’ Once Meant David Duke and the Klan. Now it Refers to Much More.
(10/17/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara Bridges discusses white supremacy and how scholars and activists talk about racism
As SCOTUS Veers Further Right, Could A States’ Rights Shift Benefit The Left?
(10/16/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says a shift towards states’ rights could lead to a new era of progressive legislation
Democrats’ Coming Civil War Over Police Unions
(10/14/2020)Professor Catherine Fisk explains why qualified immunity creates a too high a bar for victims of police violence
Delayed election, mail-in ballots and transfer of power: Barrett steers clear of Trump’s strike zone
(10/14/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Judge Amy Coney Barrett has gone further than other SCOTUS candidates in refusing to answer questions
Op-Ed: Both parties say courts should reflect the majority. Increasingly, they don’t.
(10/13/2020)Professor David Singh Grewal, with Joshua P. Zoffer, explains why court reform for the sake of democracy becomes all the more urgent when faced by the prospect of a minoritarian majority on the Supreme Court
U.S. headed in ‘subtle but distinct shift toward conservative direction’ with new court, professor says
(10/13/2020)Professor Bertrall Ross discusses the mechanisms by which a majorly conservative U.S. Supreme Court would affect the sociopolitical landscape of the country
Op-Ed: How the Senate should question Amy Coney Barrett to show the threat she poses
(10/12/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes Democrats must use the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings as an opportunity to convey how much President Trump and the Republicans will undermine the rights of all Americans by putting Judge Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court
COVID-19 – Your Job and Your Rights
(10/11/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter appears on the Court Radio Show to discuss tort issues related to COVID-19
Podcast: Let’s Go There with Shira & Ryan
(10/09/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter discusses the president’s civil liability for Covid transmission
Gyms aren’t making it easy for people to cancel memberships
(10/09/2020)Ted Mermin, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, offers consumers tips on the complicated business of getting out of gym memberships
Privacy Puzzle: Consumer advocates divided over California’s Prop. 24
(10/08/2020)Professor Chris Hoofnagle discusses Prop 24 and says an opt-out system may not be perfect, but it is the only workable approach
Supreme Court to hear landmark case that could shake up Silicon Valley
(10/07/2020)Topics: Intellectual Property Law Topic
Professor Pamela Samuelson predicts the usual right-left splits won’t apply in Google v Oracle
Google And Oracle’s Decade-Long Copyright Battle Reaches Supreme Court
(10/07/2020)Professor Tejas Narechania says Google v Oracle poses two big questions for the Supreme Court
Like many US workers, Trump staff has little recourse if asked to work alongside sick colleagues
(10/07/2020)Professor Catherine Fisk says OSHA may feel themselves powerless to protect West Wing workers from exposure to the virus by the president
Victims Must Not Be Lost in Domestic Violence and Policing Debates
(10/06/2020)Lecturer Mallika Kaur asks what “defund the police” means in terms of response to domestic violence incidents, currently the single largest category of calls received by police?
Op-Ed: Think same-sex marriage is a settled legal issue? Not to Clarence Thomas
(10/06/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says conservatives on the Supreme Court are moving strongly toward creating a right of people to exercise their religious freedom to discriminate against others
Facing a conservative turn, Supreme Court opens new term
(10/05/2020)Professor Orin Kerr predicts Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court will bring a considerable and rapid shift to the right
Op-Ed: Trump tested positive for Covid. If donors at his fundraiser get it, can they sue the president?
(10/03/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter examines the president’s civil liability for Covid transmission, following his campaign fundraiser in Bedminster
Podcast: How the Tax Laws Helped Trump
(10/02/2020)Jim Dempsey, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, discusses the legal cases around the sale of TikTok
Your Data Is Discriminating…Against You
(10/01/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara Bridges says when public agencies share private information it can lead to serious unexpected consequences
Op-Ed: The Supreme Court returns to a term like no other
(10/01/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why no start of a new U.S. Supreme Court term ever has been like this one
Stacking the deck: How the GOP works to suppress minority voting
(09/30/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professors Bertall Ross & Kathryn Abrams discuss efforts by Republicans to reduce the number of votes cast by people of color, swinging a close election to incumbent President Donald Trump and away from Democrat Joe Biden
President Trump Has Attacked Critical Race Theory. Here’s What to Know About the Intellectual Movement
(09/29/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor john a. powell, Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute, says critical race theory has lifted up the racial gaze of America
Ginsburg’s Career, Replacement Parallel Thurgood Marshall’s
(09/28/2020)Professor Bertrall Ross says replacing Justice Ginsburg with a woman with different ideology reinforces the idea that identity matters more than the substantive values that the individuals represent
Trump has the votes in Supreme Court fight, but Democrats have the political edge
(09/27/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says adding Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court would make it the most conservative Supreme Court since the Lochner era
Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women’s rights?
(09/27/2020)Rachel Johnson-Farias, Executive Director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, says the judiciary has been attacking Roe v Wade with “death by a thousand cuts”
Op-Ed: The Supreme Court against America: Justices’ conservative tilt is dangerously out of step with the people
(09/26/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes the disconnect between the nation’s highest judicial panel and the people who live with its rulings is starker than ever
How Amy Coney Barrett Would Reshape the Court — And the Country
(09/26/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Judge Amy Coney Barrett is far to the right of most in American society
Op-Ed: Democrats can’t stop Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation. They can show how she would take away our rights
(09/26/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky advises Senate Democrats to focus on what Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation will mean for the Constitution, the country and for people’s lives
KQED Forum: Time is Running Out for the Combustion Engine in California
(09/25/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses Governor Newsom’s executive order banning sales of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035
Podcast: The Notorious RBG & the Presidential Transfer of Power
(09/25/2020)Professor Orin Kerr discusses the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her legacy, and the impact a Supreme Court vacancy may have on the Presidential Election
The Murky Case for Mass Telecommuting
(09/25/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, says telecommuting may be more politically palatable in the Bay Area, but policies such as road pricing and building housing near transit would go further to cut congestion and emissions.
Op-Ed: Are Republican Judges Putting Their Thumbs on the Electoral Scale?
(09/25/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains how Republican-appointed judges seem more inclined to advance the party’s interests than uphold the Constitution
Op-Ed: What Justice Ginsburg’s Death Means for Health Care Access in America
(09/24/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UC Chancellor Howard Gillman warn that the addition of another conservative justice to the Supreme Court could be a disaster for Americans’ access to healthcare
Pathmarking The Way: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Lifelong Fight For Gender Equality
(09/24/2020)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s impact and legacy
From Mail-In Voting To The Ballot Box: Tackling Questions About Election Security
(09/24/2020)Professor Bertrall Ross discusses the issues and concerns surrounding the upcoming election
Did Trump Halt Federal Diversity and Anti-Racism Training?
(09/24/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara Bridges explains the history and importance of Critical Race Theory
Independent Contractor Rule Would Give Employers Potent Weapon
(09/23/2020)Professor Catherine Fisk explains the issues with the Labor Department’s proposal to adopt a shorter, simpler test for when employers may legally classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees who are covered by federal minimum wage and overtime law
California Will Not Waive Online Bar Exam, High Court Says
(09/23/2020)Dean Erwim Chemerinsky advocates for an “open book” bar exam, as the California Supreme Court says no to “diploma privilege”
Democrats plan their revenge if GOP Senate confirms Trump pick for high court
(09/23/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says Democrats should move to expand the size of the Supreme Court if Republicans force a vote on Justice Ginsburg’s replacement through without President Trump first being re-elected
Podcast: Constitutional scholars sound warning on SCOTUS and the separation of church and state
(09/23/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UC Chancellor Howard Gilman, co-authors of a new book, The Religion Clauses: The Case for Separating Church and State, discuss the difference between separationist and accomodationist views, the reason they felt that it was an opportune time to write this book, and what they hope to accomplish with its release
California Plans to Ban Sales of Gas-Powered Cars by 2035
(09/23/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, weighs in on the significance of Governor Newsom’s plan to eliminate sales of gas-powered cars and trucks in the state by 2035
What is critical race theory, President Trump’s latest political target?
(09/21/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Khiara Bridges discusses the evolution of Critical Race Theory and expresses doubt President Trump even knows what it is
Essay: To Have Known Her
(09/21/2020)Professor Amanda Tyler reflects on her experiences with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Op-Ed: The Court: How Did We Get Here and What Will It Mean?
(09/21/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why, if President Trump’s nominee is confirmed, we’ll have the most radically conservative Court since the early 1930s
Donald Trump vs. the Ivy League: An Election-Year Battle
(09/21/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says President Trump’s use of the Justice Department for political gain is exceptional and unprecedented
Accidental cover up
(09/21/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center, explains why social media companies’ use of algorithms to remove content can hinder investigations into incidents
Governor poised to strengthen climate goals
(09/21/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses Gov. Newsom’s promise to accelerate the state’s response to global warming
U.S. Judge Temporarily Halts Trump’s WeChat Ban
(09/20/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinksy President Trump’s executive order essentially banning WeChat has chilling effect on the exercise of free speech that is profound and constitutionally unsupportable
Op-Ed: Democrats have a secret weapon to thwart a rapid Ginsburg replacement. They should use it
(09/19/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that there’s a way for Democrats to make clear they will not tolerate Republicans trying to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat in advance of the election
Justice Ginsburg’s former law clerk describes what it was like working with her: “She was my idol”
(09/18/2020)Professor Amanda Tyler discusses her experiences with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
U.S. Bans Chinese Apps TikTok and WeChat, Citing Security Concerns
(09/18/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the Trump administration’s efforts to block downloads of TikTok and WeChat are unprecedented, even in the context of trade restrictions, and unconstitutional
Technology Law LL.M.s: Shaping the Future of Tech
(09/18/2020)Anya Grossman, Director of Global Outreach and Professional Engagement, and James Dempsey, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, explain how Berkeley Law’s LLM program keeps the curriculum relevant
Column: Negotiating Trauma and the Law
(09/18/2020)Lecturer Mallika Kaur, as part of her ongoing series exploring managing trauma and the demands of lawyering, speaks to critical race theorist and feminist legal scholar Angela P. Harris about challenging homogeneity of the profession and academy; the genius and struggle of women scholars; emotional intelligence for strong lawyering; the trap of “diversity” without power-sharing; and the potential of Juneteenth, 2020
Op-Ed: The Weaponization of the Free-Exercise Clause
(09/18/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UC Chancellor Howard Gillman, co-authors of a new book titled The Religion Clauses: The Case for Separating Church and State, argue the Supreme Court’s majority is using the religion clause to strike down hard-fought advances in civil rights
Op-Ed: This Is How Biden Should Approach the Latino Vote
(09/18/2020)Professor Ian Haney Lopez, with Tory Gavito, writes that President Trump’s competitiveness among Latinos is real and suggests Joe Biden’s key to reaching Latino voters is to link racism and class conflict
Op-Ed: Trump’s administration attempting to ban the Critical Race Theory is intolerant and unjust
(09/18/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that the Trump administration’s attack on critical race theory is profoundly anti-intellectual and wrong
Debunking Sheriff Villanueva’s False Or Misleading Claims About The Arrest Of KPCC/LAist’s Josie Huang
(09/17/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says comments on the arrest of journalist Josie Huang and says a reporter on a public sidewalk observing what’s going on is constitutionally protected
Podcast: Separating Church and State
(09/17/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses his new book, “The Religion Clauses: The Case for Separating Church and State,” and how the Supreme Court’s First Amendment law concerning religion is likely to change in the years ahead
Opinion: The Breonna Taylor Settlement Is Part of the Solution
(09/16/2020)Professor Orin Kerr’s work, and his 2011 paper titled, “Why Courts Should Not Quantify Probable Cause” are cited in this Bloomberg Opinion column
California Law Deans Ask for State to Make Bar Exam ‘Open Book’
(09/15/2020)California law deans, including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, urge the California Supreme Court to drop remote proctoring for the fall bar exam and eliminate limits on materials students may consult during the two-day online test
How Some Attys Are Ditching BigLaw For Public Interest Work
(09/13/2020)A look at the flow of lawyers moving from BigLaw to public interest work cites “Making Public Interest Lawyers,” a large-scale study looking at law careers authored by Professor Catherine Albiston, along with Scott Cummings and Rick Abel of UCLA Law
Would The Use Of Chemical Dispersants In Mauritius Oil Spill Be Considered An Ecocide?
(09/13/2020)An examination of oil spills, chemical dispersants and related lawsuits against the EPA, including the suit filed by Claudia Polsky and the Environmental Law Clinic
Swept up in the federal response to Portland protests: ‘I didn’t know if I was going to be seen again’
(09/10/2020)The Human Rights Center’s Investigations Lab contributed to this in depth report on the situation in Portland
Judges: They’re Just Like Us … Only Harder on Themselves
(09/10/2020)Judge Jeremy Fogel, Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, says his colleagues on the bench face a couple of “unique challenges” when it comes to evaluating their own temperament
15 Law Schools That Trained Famous Lawyers
(09/09/2020)The work of Innocence Project co-founder and special counsel Barry Scheck, (class of ’74) lands Berkeley Law on the list
What are ‘wandering officers’? Experts break down troubling policing pattern
(09/09/2020)Professor Catherine Fisk says union protections make it difficult to charge police officers with crimes
In Covid Bankruptcy Valuation Brawls, the Best Spreadsheet Wins
(09/09/2020)Professor Kenneth Ayotte discusses the tricky, no-win business of valuation during bankruptcy
Does homicide charge against Bay Area cop in fatal shooting signal a new day?
(09/06/2020)Professor Jonathan Simon says a combination of a new state law and the current police reform climate may have swayed the Alameda DA to prosecute the case of a police officer who fatally shot Steven Taylor at a Walmart store in April
Op-Ed: A national living wage
(09/05/2020)Professor Prasad Krishnamurthy writes that a permanent payroll tax credit is a necessary step toward guaranteeing a living wage for all Americans
Op-Ed: Conservative Supreme Court justices could complicate voter protection efforts in 2020
(09/05/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that while it should be the role of the federal courts and the Supreme Court to protect the right to vote, the five conservative Supreme Court justices have strongly indicated that the solutions are not to come from federal courts
Could Trump cut funding to California cities for ‘defunding’ police?
(09/05/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says President Trump’s latest attempt to cut funding for “anarchist jurisdictions” is “clearly unconstitutional”
Trump Administration Weakens Coal Waste Rules in Latest Environmental Rollback
(09/03/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, appears on Forum to discuss the Trump administration’s environmental record and its impact
California’s ‘Mini-CFPB’ Law May Extend to Small Business Loans
(09/03/2020)Ted Mermin, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, says Californians facing a financial cliff or targeted by predatory financial products “are going to find that someone’s got their back”
San Francisco Bans Discrimination of Workers With Covid-19
(09/02/2020)Professor Catherine Fisk weighs in as San Francisco passes an emergency ordinance that temporarily bars employers from taking adverse action against employees and job applicants who tested positive for Covid-19 or who are or were isolating due to Covid-19 symptoms or exposure
From Goldwater to Trump, the long history of ‘Law and Order’ politics
(09/02/2020)Professor Malcolm Feeley discusses the political history of ‘Law and Order’
Op-Ed: Will SCOTUS rulings help decide the 2020 presidential election?
(09/01/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that the Supreme Court’s dealings with issues concerning COVID-19 and the election process have made clear that it does not want the federal courts changing the rules of an election, even when necessary to protect the right to vote in a pandemic
The use of “less-lethal” force by law enforcement
(08/30/2020)Dr. Rohini Haar, Human Rights Center Research Fellow, discusses “less lethal weapons” used to disperse crowds and the serious, sometimes deadly, injuries they can cause
Editorial: Attack racism in California’s criminal proceedings
(08/27/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
The LA Times Editorial Board calls for the passing of AB 3070, a bill that addresses discrimination in jury selection, and points to Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic’s report, “Whitewashing the Jury Box” to support the need for action
Trump’s possible violations of federal law during GOP convention unlikely to haunt him
(08/27/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky comments on the importance of The Hatch Act, as members of the Trump administration are called out for potentially violating it
How TikTok’s Talks With Microsoft Turned Into a Soap Opera
(08/26/2020)Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon says the United States’ forcing TikTok to sell itself is “really unprecedented”
Op-Ed: President Trump is blatantly violating the Hatch Act. Where’s the outrage?
(08/25/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that the RNC events at the White House are blatant violations of The Hatch Act – the most recent of so many instances of Trump flouting federal laws and the norms of the office
INSIGHT: Pandemic Provides Opportunity to Rethink the Bar Exam
(08/25/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses key lessons the legal profession can learn from attempts to administer the July bar exam and how the pandemic presents a chance to rethink how law school graduates will take the test in the future
TikTok sues Trump to challenge U.S. government restrictions
(08/24/2020)Jim Dempsey, Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, says TikTok’s lawsuit against the Trump administration faces an uphill fight, but the company may be successful with a due process argument
Op-Ed: People of Color Learn at a Young Age That They Must Be Twice as Good. Now White People Need to Be Twice as Kind
(08/18/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Savala Trepczynski, Executive Director of the Henderson Center for Social Justice, writes that people of color have had a golden rule that said be twice as good and calls for white folks to adopt a version of this rule for themselves and their anti-racist work: be twice as kind
Op-Ed: Coronavirus makes California’s ‘student borrower bill of rights’ essential
(08/18/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why the coronavirus makes California’s ‘student borrower bill of rights’ essential
Trump campaign adviser floats false birther theory about Kamala Harris’ eligibility for vice president
(08/14/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains why John Eastman’s theory that Kamala Harris may not be eligibile to be Vice President are wrong under the language of the 14th Amendment and under Supreme Court precedent
California could cut its prison population in half and free 50,000 people. Amid pandemic, will the state act?
(08/14/2020)Professor Jonathan Simon explains why this moment in time resents a unique opportunity to reduce prison overcrowding by making reforms, particularly by releasing women who could safely be released
Essay: Say Their Names: Breonna Taylor, My Great-Great-Grandmother, and Me
(08/13/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Savala Trepczynski, Executive Director of the Henderson Center for Social Justice, writes about the connection between the murders of her great, great grandmother and Breonna Taylor – both black women, both killed in their homes by police, both still waiting for justice
California Finds Amazon On-the-Hook in Product Liability Spat
(08/13/2020)Lecturer Shanin Specter explains why Amazon should be regarded as a supplier for the purposes of product liability law
California High Court Sets Rules for Facebook Subpoena
(08/13/2020)Professor Rebecca Wexler says the California Supreme Court opinion in Touchstone v Facebook reflects a real skepticism of Facebook’s claims about the Stored Communications Act
Deal Professor: Word of warning
(08/11/2020)In his latest Deal Professor column in DealBook, Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon considers what TikTok could have done differently to avoid its current trouble with the Trump administration
Democrats shy from leading court fight over Trump orders
(08/11/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky weighs in on legal challenges related to Trump’s most recent executive orders
Podcast: Blood River
(08/10/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses the murder of activist Berta Cáceres and her role in the fight to bring her killers to justice
Op-Ed: Two cooks in California’s policy kitchen
(08/10/2020)California Constitution Center Executive Director David Carrillo and Senior Research Fellow Stephen M. Duvernay look at some of the 12 measures in the California November general election
California has spent $43 million suing the Trump administration. It’s paying off, officials say
(08/10/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the reasons California has filed or joined more than 90 lawsuits against the Trump administration
Tracking Suspects Who Never Thought Anyone Would Look
(08/10/2020)Topics: International Law Topic
Professor Roxanna Altholz, co-director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, discusses the murder of activist Berta Cáceres and the fight to bring her killers to justice
Op-Ed: Trump just made another huge and illegal power grab. Be very alarmed
(08/10/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes that President Trump’s latest executive orders are unconstitutional and exceed presidential authority
When Can A Juror Say Black Lives Matter?
(08/09/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, explains why Batson process isn’t working on the state level, as prosecutors use Black Lives Matter to exclude black people from juries
Law professors explain how to cross-examine COVID-19 deniers
(08/07/2020)Lecturer Spencer Pahlke explains how to use cross-examination skills to deal with Covid-deniers
The unfolding revolution in the jurisprudence of the religion clauses
(08/06/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman reflect on the 2019-20 Supreme Court term and the decisions concerning the protection for religion, as part of a SCOTUSblog symposium on the Roberts court and the religion clauses
California Struggles To Fix Zoning That Promotes Racial Inequity And Climate Change
(08/05/2020)Topics: Environmental Law Topic, Racial Justice Topic
Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Program at Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses the environmental impact of single family zoning laws
Interview: 5 Things You Didn’t Know
(08/05/2020)Professor Khiara Bridges shares five fun facts and discusses the intersection of ballet and the law (page 21)
Op-Ed: How will SCOTUS handle future issues related to the COVID-19 crisis?
(08/05/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky looks at recent Supreme Court actions in cases related to the pandemic, and shares what can be learned from them
State law school deans push for lower bar exam standard to be made retroactive
(08/04/2020)Dean Erwin Chemerinsky advocates for the lower passing score for the California bar to be retroactive to February 2020
Letter: Story on Peremptory Challenge Bill was Inaccurate, Unbalanced
(08/04/2020)Topics: Racial Justice Topic
Professor Elisabeth Semel, Director of the Death Penalty Clinic, along with AJ Kutchins and Brendon Woods, writes that the time for waiting is over and the California Legislature must pass AB3070