Loyola faculty members pride themselves on being accessible to the media and part of the public discourse on news of legal significance. Visit Loyola's Summary Judgments faculty blog to read faculty opinions on current legal issues. Highlights of recent media appearances and quotations include:
APRIL 2019
KSMU-FM Online – 04.30.19
TRUMP SUES 2 BANKS TO BLOCK DEMOCRATS FROM INVESTIGATING HIS FINANCES
Trump's lawsuit may slow down the congressional investigations but is unlikely to stop them in the long run, says Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
"I think the president is fully aware that down the road the court will allow some of these subpoenas, especially the ones that focus on him and his transactions," she says.
Vice News – 04.30.19
HERE’S WHY BILL BARR IS FREAKING OUT OVER HIS UPCOMING HOUSE TESTIMONY
“Witnesses who aren’t inclined to answer questions can filibuster, particularly trained lawyers know how to use the clock to their advantage,” said Justin Levitt, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General and now professor of Constitutional law at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Courthouse News – 04.29.19
VERDICTS TWIST ROAD AHEAD IN MONSANTO CANCER LITIGATION
The latter could shift momentum to Monsanto. According to Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, a finding the expert evidence was improperly admitted would mean retrying the case on other, weaker, science.
Fox News – 04.29.19
CALIFORNIA VS. TRUMP: NEW STATE LAWS TAKE ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND WHITE HOUSE ENERGY AGENDA
“California has positioned itself as the center of the Trump resistance,” Jessica Levinson, a clinical law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told Fox News. “It’s bloody combat.”
Los Angeles Times Online – 04.28.19
LA COUNCILMAN HAS VOTED ON DECISIONS INVOLVING HIS WIFE’S CLIENTS
Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson, who previously served on the City Ethics Commission, said that the votes at a minimum "raise an appearance issue."
"If the story is that Del Richardson does business for these companies, and Curren Price takes votes on these companies, that erodes public trust," Levinson said.
Truth Out – 04.26.19
CORPORATE CASH LEAKS INTO DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGNS DESPITE ANTI-PAC PLEDGE
Jessica Levinson, the director of Loyola Law School’s Public Service Institute in Los Angeles, pointed to the potential consequences for candidates who swear off this stream of campaign money. “[Candidates] are not as well-funded and they are fighting a campaign with one hand behind their back,” she said.
San Quentin News – 04.25.19
SNITCHES OFTEN HELP CONVICT INNOCENT PEOPLE
As prosecutors build their case against defendants, they have no incentive to fact-check informants’ testimony, said Loyola Law School Professor Alexandra Natapoff in her study titled “How Snitches Contribute to Wrongful Convictions.”
Our Weekly L.A. – 04.25.19
‘PROJECT FOR THE INNOCENT’: LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL ON A MISSION TO EXONERATE INMATES
“The Loyola Project of the Innocent” has been around since 2011, and was founded by Professor Laurie Levenson, and former student, and now Program Director Adam Grant. So far LPI freed eight people in eight years, Price said.
The Telegraph – 04.25.19
The panel, which also consisted of actors Daryl Mitchell and RJ Mitte, “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Krista Vernoff, Bunim/Murray Prods. co-founder and “Born This Way” executive producer Jonathan Murray, Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation director at Loyola Law School Katherine Perez and actress/philanthropist Holly Robinson-Peete, who served as the moderator, offered different perspectives on how to open the door for more people with disabilities to have careers in Hollywood.
The Bulletin – 04.24.19
CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT PANEL DIRECTS THE INSPECTOR GENERAL TO CONDUCT INQUIRY INTO SECRET LASD SUBGROUPS
“We look forward to this long-awaited inquiry,” said Sean Kennedy, L.A. County Civilian Oversight Commissioner and Executive Director of Center for Juvenile Law & Policy at Loyola Law School. “This is an issue that has been impacting communities for decades, and we are looking forward to the results of this investigation so we can move forward in recommending solutions to this issue.”
AP News – 04.24.19
CALIFORNIA COURT IS LATEST TO WEIGH MANSON FOLLOWER’S PAROLE
Courts in general can be reluctant to interfere in parole matters, said Samuel Pillsbury, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
“It is highly emotional,” Pillsbury said. “The voters have decided the governor should have a veto on this, so the courts would prefer to let this process play out.”
San Francisco Chronicle – 04.24.19
OPEN FORUM: H-2A VISA HELPS FARMERS BUT ALSO WIDENS DOOR FOR LABOR ABUSES
By Camilla Benoni, Ben Bira, Gustavo Boldrini, Meggie Davenport and Sam Schlegel; students in the Human Trafficking Seminar at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
KPCC-FM – 04.23.19
We’re talking with Eric Miller, professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, “Take Two” explored the types of cases where defendants might be required to pay fines -- “things like traffic offenses where you’re driving without a license, DUI cases or any sort of misdemeanor case where the court doesn’t sentence you to prison.”
Info Wars – 04.23.19
SUPREMES TO SCRUTINIZE TRUMP’S CENSUS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION
Looking to the future, Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt suggested in a forthcoming paper that granular citizenship data could serve as a basis for redistricting and apportionment in the future, instead of total population. Whether federal law allows this, he added, is an open question.
KPCC-FM – 04.23.19
Laurie Levenson, former federal prosecutor and professor of law at Loyola Law School, joins discusses a class action lawsuit filed by 31 Jane and John Does in Florida accuses authorities of illegally videotaping customers getting massages at Orchids of Asia.
KPCC-FM – 04.23.19
DOES THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECT SHERIFF’S DEPUTY CLIQUES AND TATTOOS FROM SCRUTINY?
One of the commissioners – Sean Kennedy, a Loyola Law School professor - is challenging the county's long-held legal position that deputy cliques and tattoos are protected under the First Amendment.
TV Confidential – 04.22.19
SHOW NO. 439, SEGMENT 1 WITH GUEST STANLEY A. GOLDMAN
Ed welcomes Stanley A. Goldman, Loyola Law School professor, longtime television and radio legal analyst, and the author of Left to the Mercy of a Rude Stream: The Bargain That Broke Adolf Hitler and Saved My Mother, the remarkable story of how Stan’s mother, Malka, along with a thousand other Jewish women, was spared from death at the German concentration camp in Ravensbruck by Nazi interior minister Heinrich Himmler—and the role those negotiations ultimately played in the demise of Adolf Hitler.
Gosport Times – 04.21.19
JOHN PODESTA: MUELLER REPORT ‘LAYS OUT DEVASTATING CASE’ AGAINST TRUMP
"There is a wink, and a nod, and another wink to Congress that I have a lot of evidence and now the ball is in your court", said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "I have no reason to believe, based on his actions since he became attorney general, that he is going to be fair in this matter".
MSN – 04.21.19
SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF TRUMP CAN ADD CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO CENSUS
Cabinet secretaries do have broad authority to enact policy, but that discretion is “not unbounded,” said Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official who is now a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Daily Press – 04.19.19
WHY MUELLER DIDN’T MAKE A RECOMMENDATION ON WHETHER TRUMP OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE
“If there had been an underlying crime, there would have been a much stronger case,” said Laurie L. Levenson, a professor at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “But there’s no break-in at the Watergate Hotel that needed to be covered up.”
The Guardian – 04.19.19
THE KEY UNASWERED QUESTIONS FROM THE MUELLER REPORT
Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, said Mueller’s decision to punt stemmed from three factors: the understanding within the justice department that a sitting president cannot be indicted; Mueller’s inability to interview Trump in person and confirm that the president did, in fact, have “corrupt intent”; and the “leeway” granted to presidents on hiring and firing personnel.
LA Times – 04.19.19
EUROPE IS RIGHT. SOCIAL MEDIA TITANS SHOULD PAY UP TO USE CREATIVE CONTENT
Justin Hughes is a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He negotiated trade treaties for the Obama administration, and helped craft the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the Clinton administration.
Big Law Business – 04.18.19
GUNS, PRIESTS, AND DRUGS: NEW TARGETS FOR OLD CONSUMER LAWS
State consumer protection claims also require less proof than other legal theories because they relax the requirements for establishing liability and causation, according to Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. And the laws don’t ordinarily require plaintiffs to show they relied on a defendant’s misstatements or unlawful practices, said Zimmerman.
Los Angeles Sentinel – 04.18.19
ONLINE COURSE TEACHES LEGAL SIDE OF BUSINESS
These new courses are looking to revolutionize the way executives, entrepreneurs and students learn the law. Hamilton Chan, director of executive education at Loyola Law School shared how the series of tangible legal skills taught online, on campus and at on-site company locations will benefit CEOs and entrepreneurs.
KCRW – 04.18.19
ANALYSIS OF THE MUELLER REPORT
We are joined by Jessica Levinson, law professor at Loyola Law School and of course a regular legal eagle.
KNX – 04.18.19
Continuing our team coverage, former federal prosecutor, Laurie Levinson with Loyola Law School, Los Angeles tells KNX that the attorney general, in her opinion, wanted to get a clear message out, “I do think that there was a very political aspect to this.”
KPCC – 04.18.19
DOJ RELEASES REDACTED MUELLER REPORT TO THE PUBLIC
Guests: Laurie L. Levenson, professor of law at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor and Justin Levitt, professor of law at Loyola Law School and former deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under President Obama. (waiting on audio)
CBC News Network – 04.18.19
WHAT WE LEARNED IN THE MUELLER REPORT
What did we learn from this report? “Well I would say we that maybe based on your introduction, it’s both. It’s a legal document with political implications and a political document with legal implications,’ said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Daily Magazine – 04.17.19
SHOULD THE CENSUS AS ABOUT CITIZENSHIP? SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH IN
"I think people have misunderstood the likely impact," says Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "Immigrant and minority communities [will be affected], but so will everyone around them."
KCBS-AM – 04.16.19
TWO PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS BRIBERY SCANDAL
Laurie Levinson is a professor of law at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor. She says there are many factors in play here.
The Daily Herald – 04.16.19
BATTLE OVER TRUMP TAX RETURNS COULD EXTEND INTO 2020 ELECTION
A law from 1924 says that the IRS "shall furnish" any tax return requested by the chair of the Ways and Means committee. "If you look at the plain language of the statute, Neal is on strong footing here," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
The New York Times – 04.15.19
THE SUPREME COURT WILL SOON CONSIDER WHETHER THE CENSUS WILL INCLUDE A CITIZENSHIP QUESTION
But Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official in the Obama administration who teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the court should not lose sight of “Job 1” of the census. “It’s perfectly fine for the Census Bureau to ask for a lot of information,” said Professor Levitt, who has filed a brief supporting the challengers. “That information is tremendously valuable. But to the extent that asking a question this toxic in this prominent a forum undermines ‘Job 1,’ that ought to be out of bounds.”
Bustle – 04.15.19
HOW TO FIGHT GERRYMANDERING SO THAT EVERY VOTE YOU CAST COUNTS FOR SOMETHING
"Legislators aren't typically terribly interested in changing the rules when they're the ones abusing the power," Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt tells Bustle. Because it's hard to pressure state legislators to fix gerrymandering, bypassing state officials is often a better bet. Some states allow citizens to directly put an initiative on the ballot if they collect a requisite number of signatures.
C-Span - 04.14.19
AUTHOR DISCUSSION ON POLITICS AND THE DIGITAL WORLD
This portion of the 2019 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books featured a discussion on politics and digital technology with authors Douglas Rushkoff, Team Human; Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels, Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century; and Jennifer Rothman, The Right of Publicity.
LAist – 04.12.19
A CONTROVERSIAL EAST LA SHERIFF’S STATION LOGO WAS BANNED. SHERIFF VILLANUEVA JUST BROUGHT IT BACK
"I think that Sheriff Villanueva's position on logos and gangs has been a real step backward," said Kennedy, a former federal public defender in L.A. and a Loyola Law School professor who's studied the department's history of cliques.
Desert Local News – 04.12.19
RANCHO MIRAGE’S TOLERANCE EDUCATION CENTER PRESENTS A SPELLBINDING NARRATIVE
On Wednesday, April 10, the Tolerance Education Center hosted Stanley A. Goldman, professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and the founding director of the Loyola Center for the study of Law and Genocide.
ABC News – 04.12.19
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE COULD STILL THREATEN TRUMP POLITICALLY
Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, told me that because Mueller never interviewed Trump, meeting this burden of proof is particularly tough, as it’s very difficult to clarify the reasoning behind his actions without talking to him.
Albany Times Union – 04.11.19
PEOPLE WHO WIN BIG PRIZES SHOULDN’T GET TAXED WHEN THEY GIVE THEIR WINDFALLS AWAY
When former President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he didn’t keep the approximately US$1.4 million… Ellen P. Aprill, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
CBC News – 04.10.19
WEDNESDAY DEADLINE FOR TRUMP TO RELEASE TAX RETURNS ISN'T MET, COURT FILING INCREASINGLY LIKELY
"There is a high likelihood this ends up in the courts, which is, in a way, unusual because typically when there's a request like this by Congress, the matter is settled more politically with a compromise," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in political process law. "But in this case, both sides have really dug in."
Mercola – 04.10.19
HOW TOP OPIOID MAKER SEEKS TO AVOID JUSTICE
‘If these allegations against the Sacklers are proven to be correct, that could dramatically change the potential reach of where the litigation goes to collect funds on behalf of the cities and states that are so desperately trying to get money to deal with the opioid crisis,’ said Adam Zimmerman, an expert on complex litigation at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
F3news – 04.10.19
CAN CONGRESS FORCE TRUMP TO HAND OVER HIS TAX RETURNS? I ASKED 11 LEGAL EXPERTS
Jessica Levinson, law professor, Loyola Law School: I expect the justices of the Supreme Court may well be the ones to answer the question. A reading of the plain language of the tax code indicates that Congress does in fact have the legal authority to request and obtain tax information from any filer, including the president. Therefore, if Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury, refuses Congress' request, he would be violating the law.
CALmatters – 04.09.19
THE GOVENOR GOES TO CENTRAL AMERICA
“This administration has been largely about painting contrasts between Sacramento and Washington, D.C.,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Going to El Salvador “feels about as far away from something Donald Trump would do as possible.”
KCRW-FM – 04.08.19
DEMOCRATS QUESTIONING TRUMP’S STATE TAX RETURNS
So who’s going to get their hands on these taxes? “You’re going to hear me say this a lot, that depends on what a federal judge says,” explains Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Pasadena Star-News – 04.08.19
GERRYMANDERING? CALIFORNIA DOESN’T, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN VOTING MAPS ARE EASY
California’s first redistricting commission, formed in 2011, held 34 public hearings statewide and received more than 20,000 written comments. Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who’s done extensive research on redistricting, gave its work high marks.
KCAL-TV – 04.06.19
TALKING POLITICS WITH LOYOLA LAW PROFESSOR JESSICA LEVINSON
Loyola Law Professor Jessica Levinson stopped by the KCAL 9 studio Saturday morning to talk politics, including President Trump's border wall visit and fundraiser yesterday in Beverly Hills.
The Center for Public Integrity – 04.05.19
THE TRUMP TAX LAW HAS ITS OWN MARCH MADNESS
But experts quickly agreed the provision would not have that effect. Ellen P. Aprill, who holds the John E. Anderson Chair in Tax Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, called the drafters’ understanding of the tax code provision a “misreading.” “This mistake is a serious one with far-ranging consequences,” Aprill said.
The World News – 04.05.19
7 WHO ACCUSED COSBY OF SEX ABUSE SETTLE DEFAMATION SUITS
"I don't think he has much to contest the cases with, given his conviction," said Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson. "I don't know how much resources (he has left). It probably makes sense for both sides to resolve it."
News Pronto – 04.04.19
VOTER ID LAWS DON’T SEEM TO SUPPRESS MINORITY VOTES – DESPITE WHAT MANY CLAIM
Legislators who support voter ID laws claim they want to protect the country’s elections from in-person voter fraud. However, this type of fraud is extremely rare: Voter ID expert Justin Levitt estimates that from 2000 to 2012, there were just 31 credible instances of in-person voter fraud, out of more than 1 billion votes cast.
Spectrum News 1 – 04.01.19
“HOW TRUMP’S TAX PLAN WILL AFFECT CALIFORNIA AND THOSE LIVING IN IT”
Loyola Law School Professor Ted Seto weighs in on Trump’s new tax plan and how will it affect the State of California and the people living in it.
Fox40 – 04.01.19
SUPREME COURT JUSTICES FEUDING OPENLY OVER DEATH PENALTY
"The stakes do not get higher than they do in death penalty cases, and the arguments between the justices and rifts in the court may only get louder and deeper," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.
Yahoo Finance – 04.01.19
EXTENT OF SACKLER FAMILY’S ROLE IN OPIOID CRISIS UNDER SCRUTINY IN NEW LAWSUITS
“If these allegations against the Sacklers are proven to be correct, that could dramatically change the potential reach of where the litigation goes to collect funds on behalf of the cities and states that are so desperately trying to get money to deal with the opioid crisis,” said Adam Zimmerman, an expert on complex litigation at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.