News 6 - College of Law

6 faculty present research and provide commentary at St. Louis University Colloquium on Law, Behavioral Science, and Social Science

Professors Jennifer Robbennolt, Kenworthey Bilz, Arden Rowell, Verity Winship, and Bob Lawless pose for a group photo during a colloquium at St. Louis University.

The College of Law was well-represented at the recent St. Louis University Colloquium on Law, Behavioral Science, and Social Science. Professor Jennifer Robbennolt presented a work-in-progress called “’The Rule of Law’ Silo” that is co-authored by Professors Verity Winship and Colleen Murphy. The paper presents the results of a survey to understand what people understand the phrase “the rule of law” to mean.

Professor Arden Rowell presented a paper called “Why Behavior?” The paper develops a model to systematize how different scholarly traditions approach the question of why law & behavior matters.

Professor Bob Lawless and recent graduate Emily Woo ’25 presented a paper that they co-authored with Jennifer Robbennolt and Angela Koo ’25, entitled “Who Gets the Last Word? Interruptions and Floor Control on the Supreme Court.” The paper, forthcoming in the University of Illinois Law Review, began as Emily and Angela’s class project for Empirical Methods. Using data scraped from transcripts of Supreme Court oral arguments, the paper reinforces past findings about gendered patterns of interruptions between the justices and also builds a more complex story by focusing on which justices retain floor control after being interrupted.

Finally, Professors Kenworthey Bilz, Lesley Wexler, and Verity Winship were commentators for papers at the colloquium.

Research from Muhawe JSD ’23 instrumental in Apple settlement

The incoming class listens intently during Dean Jamelle Sharpe's remarks at Orientation

Lopez v. Apple Inc., brought about due to the intrusive recording of private conversations by Apple’s Siri voice assistant, concluded in late 2025 with a landmark $95 million settlement. The research of Christopher Muhawe JSD ’23 proved to be vital to the determination; his article with Masooda Bashir was a cornerstone of the legal strategy from the plaintiffs that swayed the court.

Science quotes Rowell on nuclear energy rule changes

The federal government’s moves to reform the rules surrounding nuclear energy plants might have had the effect of streamlining the process of bringing new reactors online and, thus, creating more nuclear energy for the United States’ power grid. Federal agencies making changes behind closed doors, without input from experts, has chilled scientists, however. Moving quickly and creating uncertainty, Professor Arden Rowell tells Science, could backfire and slow progress.

Read the full article from Science.

Brubaker and Lawless add commentary to ABI post on Texas Two-Step bankruptcies

Professors Ralph Brubaker and Robert Lawless were both featured in the commentary featured on the American Bankruptcy Institute’s blog, Rochelle’s Daily Wire. Their commentary discussed the most recent decision in the ongoing controversy over the propriety and legitimacy of so-called “Texas Two-Step” mass-tort bankruptcies. The decision, from the Fourth Circuit, continues to stoke opinion and Lawless writes that it sets up “a Supreme Court decision in the coming years.”

Read their commentary in Rochelle’s Daily Wire.

SCOTUS must invalidate birthright citizenship order, Mazzone and Amar write

President Donald Trump issued an executive order that would end birthright citizenship as commonly understood. More than a year later, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the case, and Professors Jason Mazzone and Vikram Amar believe the order should be invalidated. Writing at Justia Verdict, the professors argue, again, that the order violates the first sentence of Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment, and it also flouts the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.

Read their full article on Justia Verdict.

Good Morning America quotes Leipold on Justice Dept. cases

The Justice Department’s efforts to return indictments against six members of Congress were turned down by a grand jury in what Professor Andrew Leipold called a “rare” denial. Good Morning America spoke to Leipold for their investigation of the cases, with Leipold commenting, “The most obvious answer is that the government is being aggressive in prosecuting federal crimes, and grand juries are simply not in agreement.”

Read the full article from Good Morning America.

Sherkow publishes perspective in NEJM

Drug labels required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are meant to help ensure safe and effective use of prescription drugs; however, recent court decisions have problematically treated those labels as key evidence in patent infringement cases, with drug companies engaging in what Professor Jacob Sherkow calls “patent gamesmanship” that could potentially limit access to affordable generic drugs. In his latest scholarship, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Sherkow and his co-authors urge the Supreme Court to address this trend.

Read the article in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Wilson quoted in Salt Lake Tribune for work on Utah bill

Professor Robin Fretwell Wilson recently helped craft draft legislation with Utah Representative Mike Peterson that would empower college students to opt out of assignments if the coursework violates their “sincerely held religious and conscience beliefs.” She testified before the Utah Senate Education Committee on February 25 at the invitation of Peterson on Utah House Bill 204 and was quoted in an article from the Salt Lake Tribune about the bill.

Read the Salt Lake Tribune’s coverage of Utah HB204.

U.S. not safe for immigrants, Aronson writes

An American flag flies over Memorial Stadium.

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, deploying forces to large cities and deporting individuals without due process, has created a “terrifying and vindictive America,” Professor Lauren Aronson writes in a letter to the editor published by the Chicago Sun-Times. “My heart has been broken over and over again by my clients’ suffering, and the only solace that saved me for the work is the knowledge that the services my clinic provides give these individuals a second chance to live meaningful, productive, and most importantly, safe lives in the United States. I no longer feel like I can offer that,” she continues.

Read her full letter on the Sun-Times website.

Mazzone’s work cited in New York Times

Professor Jason Mazzone speaks during a panel

Holding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents responsible for constitutional violations might lie with state legislatures. The New York Times, investigating legal mechanisms by which individuals could bring cases against ICE, cited Professor Jason Mazzone’s work examining the Illinois Bivens Act, which has promise according to Mazzone.

Read the full New York Times article.