Faculty News 19 - College of Law

Mazzone speaks with Wall Street Journal about state “divorce”

Fall view of Illini Union from north of Green Street.

“New Illinois” comprising all counties but Cook may have passed nonbinding votes in 33 of Illinois’s counties, but it is still far from becoming reality according to Professor Jason Mazzone. In an article examining the phenomenon of red counties seeking to divorce from their blue states, the Wall Street Journal shares data and anecdotes driving the movement and quotes Mazzone. ““It seems far-fetched. But we live in uncertain times. So if you’ve got the right people in Congress—and I don’t think we do have the right people in Congress—you could do it,” he said.

Read the full article.

SPOTLITE data used in report on police-involved killings

Data from the SPOTLITE project, of which Professor Jennifer Robbennolt is a co-principal investigator, was featured in an in-depth report about efforts to create more transparency in Illinois around police-involved killings. Illinois law requires departments to release a report on police-involved killings if no charges are filed, but the patchwork system of reporting leaves many gaps in the record. Illinois Public Media’s reporting helps fill in gaps thanks to data collected by Robbennolt and her fellow researchers.

Read the full report.

Amar and Mazzone publish article on rule of law in Pennsylvania

Are state executive officials in Pennsylvania are allowed, under the state constitution, to decline to enforce a statutory provision if the executive officials conclude that the provision violates the state’s highest law, the state constitution? That’s the primary concern of a new article by Professors Vikram Amar and Jason Mazzone. Writing at Justia Verdict, the pair investigate how the rule of law and precedent should apply to this case and how local officials and justices have failed in equal measure.

Read the full editorial online.

CBS quotes Lawless on when to file bankruptcy

When struggling with debt, many people delay filing for bankruptcy as long as possible; however, delaying may be more harmful than many realize. “People misunderstand bankruptcy and wait too long to see a bankruptcy lawyer. Most people would benefit by going earlier,” Professor Robert Lawless told CBS in a new article about the timing of personal bankruptcy filings. Lawless also shares tips for those who may need to file and his opinion on how the system could be improved.

Sherkow talks about Myriad’s importance a decade later

Researchers work on lab projects with a syringe and vial.

Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. was a cultural phenomenon when the Supreme Court’s ruling was issued, with the outcome taking a place on the front-page of most major newspapers in the United States. Reflecting more than 10 years on from the decision, however, Professor Jacob Sherkow tells the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology that the Myriad decision ended up having little impact on biotechnology research.

Mazzone pens op-ed on presidential election effects on SCOTUS

Ionic column at the Smith Memorial Hall.

“In any presidential election, the Supreme Court is on the ballot,” Professor Jason Mazzone writes in the News-Gazette. He details some of the ways in which the election of Donald Trump to a second term might affect the makeup of the Supreme Court. “The first Trump presidency generated a long list of novel legal issues, many of which reached the Supreme Court. Trump’s current bold agenda and the opposition it will produce will mean many more lawsuits in the next four years,” he concludes.

Read his full editorial online.

Nature quotes Sherkow on researcher who treated her own cancer

Self-treatment is a risky and controversial choice, as detailed in a new Nature article about a cancer researcher who decided to do research and treat her own breast cancer. In the article, Professor Jacob Sherkow is quoted about the dangers of publishing this kind of work; his comments are also included in a story for Futurism.

Read both the Nature article and the Futurism article online.

Thomas speaks at Survival of the Jury symposium

On Friday, October 25, 2024, Professor Suja Thomas spoke at the Survival of the Jury at George Washington Law School in Washington, DC. The symposium focused on the past, present, and future of the jury in the U.S. legal system and Professor Thomas spoke about how federal judges in the U.S. dismiss far more employment discrimination cases before trial than judges in the United Kingdom.

See the full symposium schedule.

Markus ’86 discusses Russia sanctions with News Bureau

Hallene Gateway at University of Illinois

“Much depends on our leaders and whether a judicious long-term approach to easing sanctions is taken. A president should also be cognizant of responses from our allies in a changing world order,” Taisa Markus ’86 told the Illinois News Bureau. She spoke at length about the sanctions the United States has placed on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and how those might change under a new administration.

Read her full interview on the Illinois News Bureau site.

Francis Boyle, long-time College of Law faculty member, passes away

The sun rises over the Illini Union. The Illini Union, which was dedicated in 1941, serves students and the campus in many ways, including housing the Illini Union Hotel, a credit union, a convenience store, information services, CITES (Campus IT) instructional facility, quick-service restaurants, a bowling alley and arcade, student performance spaces, and office space for Registered Student Organizations, student government, Student Legal Services, Student Tenant Union, LGBT Resource Center, and Union administration.

Professor Francis Boyle passed away on Thursday, January 30, 2025. Professor Boyle, an internationally recognized scholar of human rights and international law, was a member of the College of Law faculty for 47 years and touched the lives of generations of students, not to mention his colleagues.

Over his career, Professor Boyle represented national and international bodies including the Blackfoot Nation (Canada), the Nation of Hawaii, and the Lakota Nation, as well as numerous individual death penalty and human rights cases. He advised numerous international bodies in the areas of human rights, war crimes and genocide, nuclear policy, and bio-warfare. He served as counsel to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the Provisional Government of the Palestinian Authority. He also represented two associations of citizens within Bosnia and was involved in developing the indictment against Slobodan Milosević for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1991-92, he served as Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations.

Professor Boyle served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International, as a consultant to the American Friends Service Committee, and on the Advisory Board for the Council for Responsible Genetics. He was involved in drafting the U.S. domestic implementing legislation for the Biological Weapons Convention, known as the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, that was approved unanimously by both Houses of the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.

Professor Boyle received an AB (1971) in Political Science from the University of Chicago, then a JD degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, and AM and PhD degrees in Political Science from Harvard University. Prior to joining the academy, he practiced tax law with Bingham, Dana & Gould.

Professor Boyle is survived by his wife, Betsy, and their children.

Full obituary at legacy.com.