School of Law

Microsoft’s challenge to the gag order provisions of the federal Stored Communications Act should be applauded by everyone who cares about civil liberties, whether in the physical or digital worlds, said Neil Richards, a privacy law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

The School of Law is expanding its Clinical Education Program with the addition of a Guardian ad Litem Clinic and an Urban Revitalization Practicum beginning in fall 2016. The new offerings bring to 19 the clinical opportunities for law students to provide free legal services to the community while learning professional skills.

On April 5, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law House Bill 1523, a controversial “religious freedom” bill, which says that the state government cannot punish public employees, social service providers and businesses that refuse to provide services to people because of a religious opposition. The law is unconstitutional, said Elizabeth Sepper, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

The School of Law will celebrate the outstanding achievements of five individuals on April 7 at its 43rd annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner.

The August 2014 death of unarmed Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer captivated the nation and touched off a heated debate about the nature of law enforcement in the United States. A new book edited by Washington University in St. Louis’ Kimberly Norwood explores the underlying fault lines that cracked and gave rise to the eruption in Ferguson, Mo.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry this week said that the United States has determined ISIS’ actions against Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria constitute genocide. The allegations of genocide by the United States government reinforce similar findings made last year by United Nations bodies and provide a clear path for ISIS leaders to be tried in international and domestic courts for their crimes, said Leila Sadat, an expert on crimes against humanity in the School of Law.

President Barack Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland, could make Senate Republicans think twice about stonewalling the nomination process, especially as the presidential election nears, said Greg Magarian, constitutional law expert at the School of Law.

As the Republican Party continues to roll toward selecting its presidential nominee, some party leaders and members of the media have begun to speculate about the possibility of a brokered convention. Such a move would almost certainly hurt the Republicans in the general election, said Washington University election law and constitutional law expert Greg Magarian.

President Barack Obama this week announced his intention to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The decision to open the facility in the first place was a bad idea in theory, made even worse in practice, said Leila Sadat, professor of law and renowned expert on international criminal law.

Zubik v. Burwell, a new challenge to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, wants to deliver a knockout punch to the mandate, according to Elizabeth Sepper, associate professor of law and an expert on health law. At stake is whether employees of religiously affiliated organizations such as universities, hospitals and charities, can be stripped of their rights to contraceptive coverage.