Hunter and Mazzone share stories of SCOTUS background research on podcast

When an individual is nominated to a spot on the Supreme Court, the confirmation process requires a remarkable amount of background work. In fact, it is common for each piece of published material ever produced by the candidate to be scrutinized during confirmation, requiring a number of experts to assist the elected representatives in the […]

First Amendment Clinic joins amicus brief in O’Connor-Radcliff v. Garnier

The First Amendment Clinic, led by Professor Lena Shapiro, is listed among the counsel on an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court in the case of O’Connor-Radcliff v. Garnier. The case, one of two regarding social media that will be heard by the Court next term, centers on whether a governmental body (in this […]

Brubaker in WaPo: The Justice Department was right to object to Purdue’s rotten deal

In an August 28th letter to the editor of The Washington Post, bankruptcy expert and professor Ralph Brubaker strongly condemned the Purdue Pharma settlement plan. He wrote: “There are eminently feasible, well-trodden means of rendering justice for massive iniquity, which can and will produce much better (and actual) settlements for victims, if the Supreme Court repudiates the […]

New paper from Robbennolt and 2023 graduate Sam Barder explores “optimistic overconfidence” among incoming law students

Professor Jennifer Robbennolt and 2023 graduate Sam Barder have co-authored a paper titled “Optimistic Overconfidence: A Study of Law Student Academic Predictions.” Their findings, which indicate that a majority of incoming law students are wildly overconfident, drew the attention of Reuters, ABA Journal, and Above the Law.  Speaking to Reuters, Robbennolt suggested there may be […]

New co-authored paper from Sherkow: “Regulating Direct-to-Consumer Polygenic Risk Scores”

Professor Jacob Sherkow has co-authored a paper, “Regulating Direct-to-Consumer Polygenic Risk Scores,” that was published in JAMA. In the paper, the authors argue that polygenic risk scores, which are used to predict risk factors for particular conditions using genetic data, require better government regulation.  Read the full paper at jamanetwork.com. More from Sherkow on polygenic […]

Hunter receives 2022 Alumni Award from iSchool

On July 7, 2023, the iSchool at the University of Illinois announced the recipients of their 2022 Alumni Awards.  Pia Hunter (MSLIS ’14) is the recipient of the Leadership Award, which is given to an alum who has graduated in the past ten years and shown leadership in the field. Since earning her MSLIS, Hunter has […]

Rowell speaks to Stateline about lack of worker protections related to wildfire smoke

Professor Arden Rowell recently spoke to Stateline about the lack of federal regulations to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke. Rowell, who has studied respiratory safety regulations, said that only three states — California, Oregon and Washington, which is in the process of finalizing its rules — have developed their own enforceable standards on worker […]

Mazzone speaks to Army Times about a court ruling that could overturn federal control of the National Guard

Should states or the federal government have control over the National Guard? A recent ruling from the 5th Circuit has set up a battle over this question and made the matter more complicated than before. Army Times spoke to Professor Jason Mazzone, who was cited in the 5th Circuit opinion, to help clarify some of […]

Mazzone speaks to ABC News (Springfield) about the end of affirmative action and how it will impact universities

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn affirmative action earlier this summer, Professor Jason Mazzone speculated that it would be harder for universities to achieve diversity goals, especially for schools that are more selective in their admissions process.  “If those schools became less selective in their admissions, then they wouldn’t have a […]