Author: Neil Schoenherr

U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier introduced on July 14 a long-delayed federal bill that would outlaw nonconsensual pornography in the United States. While he supports the law, Neil Richards, privacy law expert at Washington University in St. Louis, think it’s important that the bill be drafted in such a way as to not be a tool for censorship that can threaten our commitment to free expression.

A few dozen St. Louis area high school students gathered for a summit this summer to discuss how system dynamics can affect gun violence in the community. The second annual Changing Systems Student Summit was sponsored by the Brown School’s Ferguson Seed Fund and Social System Design Lab and the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis.

Lee Epstein, the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor, will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association at the association’s annual meeting in September in Philadelphia.

The Supreme Court ruled June 27 to throw out a Texas law making access to abortion more difficult in the state. The move is an important win for women and their access to reproductive health care, said Susan Appleton, a noted expert on family law and reproductive rights.

Melissa Jonson-Reid, professor at the Brown School and director of the Center for Violence and Injury Prevention, has been installed as the Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work. A lecture and reception to celebrate the occasion were held May 2 in Brown Hall Lounge.

State legislators who prioritize cancer control may be more receptive to basing their decisions on research evidence than policy makers interested in other issues, finds a new study from Washington University in St. Louis.

Marriage may not be the protective mechanism it was thought to be when it comes to poverty and child well-being among low-income urban young women, particularly those who have experienced trauma, finds a new Brown School study.

The city of Philadelphia on June 16 passed a 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugary drinks, making it the first major city in the nation to impose such a tax. The move is poised to be a watershed event in public health policy, said a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis.

Martha N. Ozawa, former Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy and professor emerita at the Brown School, died May 3, 2016, at her home in St. Louis. She was 82.

John Inazu, associate professor of law, discusses his research on the concept of “confident pluralism,” the idea we can and must live together peaceably in spite of deep differences over politics, religion, sexuality and other important matters.