WashU Experts

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.

Male golfers, most of whom are on the PGA Tour, are dropping out of the Summer Olympics en masse. While they’re citing Zika concerns, Patrick Rishe, director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, said there’s another factor at play.

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.

By a 4-4 vote, a short-handed U.S. Supreme Court today let stand a lower court’s 2-1 decision to block President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. The decision is “deeply regrettable,” said Stephen Legomsky, a noted expert on immigration law at Washington University in St. Louis.

With Rio’s Olympic Games rapidly approaching, today the International Association of Athletics Federations upheld its ban on Russia’s track teams. Sports business expert Patrick Rishe says the move illustrates the economic effect and lasting impact of cheating in sports of all kinds.

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.

On May 16, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the Zubick vs. Burwell case, a challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement for employers, back to the lower courts for further examination, leaving women employees and students at workplaces around the country in limbo, says Elizabeth Sepper, associate professor of law and expert on health law.

A recent Supreme Court case that was expected to limit privacy laws actually has the potential to expand them, according to an expert on privacy law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Today, new rules go into effect that allow anyone to invest in a startup and receive shares of that startup. Previously, the Securities and Exchange Commission required investors backing private companies to have a certain amount of net worth. A Washington University in St. Louis faculty member says the measures will expand the entrepreneurial playing field, to a point.

Google’s decision this week to ban payday loan ads should be commended, but also highlights the need that many lower-income consumers have for affordable short-term loan options, says an expert on social and economic development at Washington University in St. Louis.