School of Law

Though recent protests by NFL players during the national anthem are not protected by the First Amendment by law, they matter as free speech, said Greg Magarian, an expert on constitutional law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Private equity firms are more financially stable and pose less systemic risk to the global economy than the large investment banks that went defunct during the financial crisis of 2007-2009, finds a new analysis by a financial regulation expert at the School of Law.

The Trump administration on Sept. 4 announced plans to end DACA, which protects nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. The president’s decision is not only regrettable, it was entirely unnecessary, says Stephen Legomsky, the John S. Lehmann University Professor Emeritus and renowned expert on immigration law.

Peggie R. Smith, the Charles F. Nagel Professor of Employment and Labor Law, has been named the new ombuds for the Danforth Campus faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Provost Holden Thorp.

The School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis hosts a panel discussion Friday, Sept. 1, to address the NAACP travel advisory in Missouri. Participants include Gerald Early in Arts & Sciences; former Missouri governor Jay Nixon; and the law school’s Peggie Smith and Elizabeth Sepper.

In the wake of the Aug. 12 confrontations between protesters and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, some progressives are calling for legal restrictions on the display of the Nazi flag. These arguments are entirely understandable, but they often misapply existing First Amendment law, and they suppress free speech values that progressives — more than anyone else — should want to defend, says a constitutional law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Should physicians be required to disclose their religious beliefs to patients? How should we think about institutional conscience in the health care setting? How should health care providers deal with families with religious objections to withdrawing treatment? These questions and more are tackled in a new book co-edited by an expert on health law at Washington University in St. Louis.

As Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia continue to become more prevalent, it may not be long before there is a push for legalizing physician-assisted death in dementia cases in the United States. American officials must thoroughly consider the moral and social consequences of such an action, says an expert on medical ethics at Washington University in St. Louis.

The 21st Century Cures Act and key changes made during its drafting remain controversial and show the need for a more informed comment period for future health care legislation, says an expert on health law at Washington University in St. Louis.

The justices of the nation’s highest court have a bird’s-eye view of the nation’s discord. But Lee Epstein trains her binoculars on them as they do their work.