Faculty News 16 - College of Law

Mazzone and Amar publish article on executive orders targeting law firms

Executive orders from the White House targeting law firms have disrupted Big Law firms; however, many firms have negotiated deals with the administration so as to be removed from its blacklist. Professors Jason Mazzone and Vikram Amar write at Justia Verdict that there is not “much doubt that the executive orders are blatant violations of the First and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution,” and that “the law firms collectively would be better off…if none of them settled and the administration’s executive orders were forcefully and repeatedly rebuffed by courts all the way to the Supreme Court.”

Wexler and Ghiotto publish new article on the transgender military ban

Writing at Justia Verdict, Professors Lesley Wexler and Tony Ghiotto discuss the latest developments around the Executive Order banning transgender individuals from the United States’ military, including a new Action Memo from the Department of Defense and the Equal Protection aspects of the Talbott v. Trump and Shilling v. United States litigation challenging the ban. “We worry the administration will continue to publicly make attempts to discredit and attack these judges, transgender service members, and any public effort…to oppose the administration’s efforts to ban transgender members,” they write.

Read the full editorial on Justia Verdict.

ABA Rapid Response features Ghiotto discussing military legal reform

After Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s removal of senior uniformed lawyers and suggestions of further reforms among Judge Advocates General, Professor Tony Ghiotto joined the American Bar Association’s Rapid Response program to discuss threats to military rule of law. Changes among the JAG corps create risk that the military’s lawyers will be less capable of complying with domestic civil rights laws, military justice, and the international law of war.

Watch the full video online.

Gerke organizes Life Sciences AI Summit

Professor Sara Gerke was co-organizer of the Life Sciences AI Summit – Europe, which took place March 25–26, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium. The conference covered the ways in which artificial intelligence in the life sciences is affecting topics such as drug discovery and development as well as improving patient outcomes. Another important aspect of the conference was an examination of legal, regulatory, compliance, liability and ethical challenges that must be addressed to ensure responsible, safe, and effective use of AI technologies.

Learn more on the conference website.

Ghiotto publishes article on the military and presidential immunity

“The fact that the President may have his own personal criminal immunity for ordering either the assassination of his rival or a coup does not make these orders lawful. And while military members have a legal obligation to follow lawful orders, they have a similar obligation to disobey unlawful orders,” Professor Anthony Ghiotto writes in a new article published in the NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy. Following Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent from Trump v. United States, in which she employs a hypothetical of the President ordering SEAL Team 6 to execute his rival, Ghiotto posits that the military may become the vanguard of a presidential coup, instead of the final check against it.

Read his full article online.

The Big Ten Law Schools present Rule of Law in 2025

A stack of rare books at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library

The Big Ten law schools have coordinated a series of virtual panel discussions that examine the Rule of Law in 2025 after an unprecedented series of executive orders, legal interpretations, and administrative actions by the Trump administration over the last several months. Distinguished panelists will present a broad range of perspectives and nuanced views on the rule of law during a period of constitutional, legal, and governmental recalibration.

Panels will take place on Wednesdays, 4:00 – 5:00 pm (CST) from March 26 to May 28, 2025. Attendees may join virtually: https://law.unl.edu/ruleoflaw/

March 26 | The Ohio State University Moritz School of Law
Rule of Law and Separation of Powers, Part I: Executive Authority and Compliance with Court Orders
Panelists: Danielle Jefferis, Schmid Professor for Excellence in Research, University of Nebraska College of Law; Brandon Johnson, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Nebraska College of Law; Peter Shane, Professor of Law Emeritus, Moritz College of Law; Ilan Wurman, Julius E. Davis Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School; Steve Huefner, C. William O’Neill Professor in Law and Judicial Administration, Moritz College of Law (moderator).

April 2 | Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Rule of Law and Separation of Powers, Part II: Executive Authority and the Administrative State
Panelists: Monica Haymond, Assistant Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; John O. McGinnis, George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; Daniel B. Rodriguez, Harold Washington Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; James B. Speta, Elizabeth Froehling Horner Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; Hari M. Osofsky, Dean and Myra and James Bradwell Professor of Law, Professor of Environmental Law and Culture (Courtesy), Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (moderator).

April 9 | Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Rearticulation of Sex and Gender
Panelists: Valena Beety, McKinney Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Katie Eyer, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School; Marc Spindelman, Isadore and Ida Topper Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; Deborah Widiss, John F. “Jack” Kimberling Chair and Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Christiana Ochoa, Dean and Herman B Wells Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law (moderator)

April 16 | Rutgers Law School
International Law and U.S. Threats to Sovereignty
Panelists: Karima Bennoune, Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School; Jean-Marc Coicaud, Distinguished Professor of Law and Global Affairs, Rutgers Law School; Adil Haque, Professor of Law and Judge Jon O. Newman Scholar, Rutgers Law School; Brian Lepard, Harold W. Conroy Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Nebraska College of Law; Sarah Dadush, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School (moderator)

April 23 | University of Minnesota Law School
Rule of Law and Separation of Powers, Part III: Executive Authority to Enforce the Laws

April 30 | University of Nebraska College of Law and Penn State Dickinson Law
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging as part of the First Amendment and Academic Freedom
Panelists: Erik Girvan, Bernard B. Kliks Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Oregon School of Law; Stacy Hawkins, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School; John O. McGinnis, George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern; University Pritzker School of Law; Danielle Conway, Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson Law (moderator) and Richard Moberly, Dean and Richard C. & Catherine S. Schmoker Professor of Law, University of Nebraska College of Law (moderator).

May 7 | University of Wisconsin Law School
Citizenship and Immigration

May 14 | University of Oregon School of Law
What is the “Rule of Law”?

May 21 | University of Illinois College of Law
The States’ Role in Protecting the Rule of Law

May 28 | UCLA School of Law
Judicial and Presidential Dismantling of Administrative Capacity

Changes to CFPB will affect the average person, Lawless tells News Bureau

“It’ll just be a steady drip, drip, drip of companies trying to game the system and nickel and dime people via aggressive practices,” Professor Robert Lawless told the Illinois News Bureau about changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He noted that laws preventing actions like those taken by banks preceding the subprime mortgage crisis will still be in effect, but other protections are very much at risk. “Over the long run, it’s going to affect people. It’ll be the frog and the boiling pot of water. It’ll be a steady ratcheting up of unfair practices, and there will be no more cops left to police the beat,” he added.

Read his full interview with the Illinois News Bureau.

Mazzone joins CBS to discuss deportations

The Trump administration’s moves to arrest Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and decision not comply with a federal judge’s orders to halt deportation flights raise questions about the rights enumerated in the Constitution as well as its constraints. Professor Jason Mazzone made an appearance on CBS Chicago to share his expertise on how constitutional law can be applied to these situations.

Watch his appearance on the CBS Chicago website.

Ghiotto and Wexler examine the executive order on transgender military members

An American flag flies over Memorial Stadium.

In a new post on Justia Verdict, Professors Tony Ghiotto and Lesley Wexler do a deep examination of the Prioritizing Military Excellence Order, President Trump’s executive order on transgender individuals in the military. The article seeks to answer whether the order represents a complete transgender service ban or a variation of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” as well as its legal impacts and possible solutions. “The best mechanism to oppose the ban, and to deter future bans, is judicial and will require transgender members to continue leading the efforts for their right to serve,” the authors conclude.

Read the full article on Justia Verdict.

New York Times quotes Thomas on Greenpeace case

In March, a North Dakota jury awarded a Texas-based pipeline company more than $660 million in damages related to protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Greenpeace is expected to appeal the decision, in part because of their issue with jurors who had ties to the oil industry. Professor Suja Thomas, an expert in jury trials, told The New York Times North Dakota courts do not use “blanket disqualifications of jurors just because they might have some kind of interest.”

Read the full article from The New York Times.