School of Law

Two nationally recognized law professors who served on the legal team representing Anita Hill during the Justice Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and the author of “Guantanamo: What the World Should Know” are part of the spring lineup for the School of Law’s 10th annual Public Interest Law and Policy Speakers Series. Titled “Access to Justice: […]

A $10 million commitment has been made to Washington University by alumnus and philanthropist Harry Seigle, and his wife, Susan, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. It is the lead gift for the building currently under construction on the western end of the Danforth Campus that will serve academic functions for the three social science departments in Arts & Sciences and for the School of Law. When it opens for the fall 2008 semester, it will be known as Harry and Susan Seigle Hall. The name is significant, for it represents the first academic building on the Danforth Campus to be named for an alumnus living outside of St. Louis.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is bringing together a distinguished group of scientists, legal scholars, jurists and philosophers from across the country to help integrate new developments in neuroscience into the U.S. legal system.

“It is unlikely that a dispute over proper ownership of sports memorabilia would receive this sort of attention if it did not involve O.J. Simpson,” says Christopher A. Bracey, associate professor of law and of African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “If the past is prologue, his celebrity status may also prove to be his ‘get out of jail free’ card, reinforcing his reputation as a man who operates ‘above the law.’ On the other hand, recent celebrity cases suggest that celebrated athletes and entertainers will no longer receive a free pass when it comes to the criminal justice system. In the case of Michael Vick — and perhaps OJ — one might argue that celebrities are now, in some sense, being targeted for prosecution.” Bracey is following the Simpson case and is available for interviews.

“I always thought the fashion police were a myth, but they seem to be real,” Richards says.A growing number of cities have enacted laws that would make wearing saggy or low-slung pants indecent exposure. “It’s an interesting question whether these laws would violate the First Amendment as currently understood,” says Neil Richards, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Saggy pants laws form a hybrid case. They are regulating in terms of indecent exposure but seem to be directed at the expression of identity through clothing.” Richards is available to discuss the constitutional issues surrounding these laws.

“Universal health care is getting the attention it deserves, but unfortunately, the proposals receiving the most attention ignore the ‘Big Leak,'” the enormous non-benefit costs incurred by health care providers who must match their billions of billings with thousands of differing private health care plans,” says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. “Putting everyone under the Medicare umbrella would eliminate that leak,” he says. Bernstein is available to discuss current universal health care proposals as well as the Medicare-for-all option.

Presentations about Guantanamo and the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy are among the highlights of the School of Law’s 10th annual Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series.

Presentations about Guantanamo and the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy are among the highlights of the School of Law’s tenth annual Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series, which begins Sept. 10. All lectures will be held at noon in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall. They are free and open to the public.

Below is a link to the Washington University news release about the U.S. News & World Report undergraduate rankings for 2004-05: http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/3627.html To view a full listing of U.S. News magazine, book and Web-only rankings for 2004-05, please visit the U.S. News & World Report site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

“If all of the other defendants accept plea deals, and Vick does not, Vick will become the last man standing,” says Christopher A. Bracey, associate professor of law and of African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis. “This means that he will not only bear the brunt of a focused prosecution, but one substantially assisted by his former co-defendants.” He is following the case and is available for interviews.