Loyola Law School 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:
2/28- KCRW
TRUMP DRAWS SUPPORT FOR POSSIBLE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN, SKIRTING FUNDRAISING RULES
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando over the weekend, former President Trump implied strongly that he’ll run for president again in two years. Trump hasn’t formally declared or filed paperwork to run. But in a straw poll, nearly 60% of CPAC attendees said he’s their favorite for the 2024 GOP nomination. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis trailed Trump by 30 points.
Guest: Jessica Levinson, Professor, LMU Loyola Law School.
2/25- Fox 40
INSIDE CALIFORNIA POLITICS: DISCUSSING BIDEN’S APPOINTMENT OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
President Joe Biden has chosen Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Jackson currently sits on Washington DC’s federal appellate court. California Supreme Court associate justice Leondra Kruger was reportedly a finalist for the position. Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson joined Inside California Politics’ Frank Buckley to discuss that decision by Pres. Biden.
2/22- KCRW
CA’S ANTI-GUN BILL IS MODELED ON TEXAS’ ANTI-ABORTION LAW. IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL?
Governor Gavin Newsom said at the time that he might try the same move in California when it comes to guns. On Friday, he followed through by unveiling four bills. One tightens restrictions on ghost guns, another one bans the marketing of certain weapons to children. The big one is modeled after Texas’ abortion law — it lets private citizens sue anyone who makes, distributes, transports, imports into California, or sells illegal assault weapons, guns that take .50 caliber ammunition, ghost guns, or ghost gun kits.
Guest: Jessica Levinson, Professor, LMU Loyola Law School.
2/21- The Counter
A CALIFORNIA LAWMAKER WANTS TO CRACK DOWN ON EMPLOYERS THAT EXPLOIT FARMWORKERS. WILL IT HELP?
“Despite some progress, California continues to have the highest number of victims of human trafficking in the U.S. over the last two decades,” said Joseph Villela, policy director at Loyola Law School’s Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative.
2/18- San Franscisco Chronicle
JUDGE ALLOWS 'ONE-OF-A-KIND' LAWSUIT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP OVER JAN. 6 RIOT TO PROCEED
“This is a big moment in the effort to hold former President Trump accountable for the events of Jan. 6,” said Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “Even though we have robust protection for political speech in our country, and even though presidents have significant protection for what they say and do in office, here we have a judge concluding that Trump’s speech could be viewed as ‘incitement to imminent lawless action.’”
2/18- MSNBC
TRUMP KIDS' LEGAL ARGUMENTS WORK BETTER FOR TV THAN A COURT OF LAW
Justice scored a win this week in the ongoing battle between former President Donald Trump and the legal system when a New York judge ordered Trump and his adult children to comply with subpoenas issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
2/15- Los Angeles Times
SPRING TRAINING FUELED BOOM IN ARIZONA'S CACTUS LEAGUE. OWNERS' LOCKOUT PUTS IT IN JEOPARDY
2/15- MSNBC
SARAH PALIN LOSING DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE NEW YORK TIMES IS DOUBLY SATISFYING
In the case of former vice presidential nominee and “Masked Singer” contestant Sarah Palin against The New York Times, Palin is a double loser — at least for now. A unanimous nine-person jury ruled against her Tuesday, a day after the federal judge presiding over the case said that because Palin’s team didn’t present sufficient evidence, he was dismissing the case, no matter how the jury ruled. Palin is likely to appeal, but her inability to persuade the judge or the jury gives her a slim chance of success.
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
2/15- Los Angeles Times
SANDY HOOK $73 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH REMINGTON IS NOT JUST ABOUT MONEY
2/14- KCRW
HOW WIDE-REACHING IS NEW BILL THAT WOULD END WORKPLACE MISCONDUCT ARBITRATION?
“We know arbitration really does favor the company or the employer and … we’re just comfortable with that anymore, and again I think it really is a result of our behavior changing, our notions of what’s acceptable changing, and then the law catching up with that,” says Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
Guest: Jessica Levinson, Professor, LMU Loyola Law School.
2/12- Los Angeles Times
RICK CARUSO HAS ENTERED THE MAYOR'S RACE. WILL L.A. ELECT A BILLIONAIRE?
For Caruso, “there should be enough of a wall between him as a potential mayor and him as a businessperson that people aren’t wondering, ‘Who is he making this decision for, us or himself?’” said Jessica Levinson, an election law professor at Loyola Law School and former Los Angeles City Ethics Commission president.
2/9- Los Angeles Times
'HOW FAR DOES CONSENT GO?' LEGAL EXPERTS CONSIDER THE DECISION NOT TO CHARGE TREVOR BAUER
Legal experts say that L.A. prosecutors’ decision not to file criminal charges against Trevor Bauer will propel evolving conversations about how the judicial system handles cases that hinge on questions of consent, and where boundaries should be drawn in instances involving rough sex.
“This case raises the question of how far does consent go?” said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. “Where are the limits?”
2/9- Sacramento Bee
CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT WANTS TO CRACK DOWN ON EMPLOYERS THAT EXPLOIT WORKERS. WILL THIS HELP?
Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula has introduced a new bill to the state legislature that would establish the Labor Trafficking Unit to investigate and prosecute perpetrators who force or coerce vulnerable people into jobs with little or no pay and often under unsafe working conditions, Arambula said in the news release. Assembly Bill 1820 is cosponsored by the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative at Loyola Law School. “Despite some progress, California continues to have the highest number of victims of human trafficking in the U.S. over the last two decades,” said Joseph Villela, policy director at Loyola Law School’s Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative.
2/9- MSNBC
SUPREME COURT LET ALABAMA CONGRESSIONAL MAP STAND, DISRESPECTING VOTING RIGHTS ACT
This Supreme Court is about to whittle away what little is left of federal voting rights protections. This week, a bare majority of the Supreme Court allowed Republican-drawn congressional districts to remain in effect in Alabama after a panel of three federal judges (two of whom then-President Donald Trump appointed) correctly ruled that Alabama’s congressional map likely violated Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
2/8- CBS News
SUPREME COURT RESTORES GOP-DRAWN CONGRESSIONAL MAP IN ALABAMA
2/7- Intelligencer
THE MAN WHO CRACKED THE CODE OF L.A.’S NOTORIOUS SHERIFF GANGS
In 1981, Cochran represented the family of Ron Settles, a 21-year-old Black college-football star who died in the custody of the Signal Hill Police Department. An initial autopsy concluded that Settles died by suicide at the jail, but a coroner’s jury found that Settles died “at the hands of another.” Cochran sued the department, and in 1983 the lawsuit was settled for $1 million — an enormous amount at the time. “Sweeney sat at the feet of the master trial attorney,” said Priscilla Ocen, a law professor at Loyola Law School and a member of the Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission.
2/7- Los Angeles Times
GARCETTI'S FORMER SPOKESWOMAN WANTS HIM CHARGED WITH PERJURY
2/6- Reuters
NEWSMAX COUNTER-SUES SMARTMATIC, WIDENING FIGHT OVER U.S. ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS
Newsmax's counter-claim has little merit, said Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who is not involved in the case.
Smartmatic has a strong defamation case that should proceed toward trial, Levinson added.
"The potential irony here is that if anyone is attempting to chill free speech, one could argue it's Newsmax," Levinson said.
2/4- Los Angeles Times
'IMPOSTOR' PERFORMS COVID TESTS ON KIDS AFTER SECURITY BREACH AT L.A. JUVENILE HALL
Typically, visitors to a juvenile facility must show identification and a professional credential validating their reason to be there, according to Brooke Harris, director of Loyola Law School’s Juvenile Justice Clinic.
“It’s distressing. The safety of youth and kids who are separated from their families is paramount, and in this situation, it sounds like it was compromised,” she said. “I hope probation is able to address this; I hope they can figure out how and why this happened.”
2/3- Los Angeles Loyolan
COLLEGE BOARD ANNOUNCES NEW DIGITAL SAT
“Making it shorter might make it more pleasant for the test taker ... I think the people who have the economic resources to take [preparatory] classes are ultimately going to benefit because they'll just be able to go that much faster,” said Kimberly West-Faulcon, professor of law and the James P. Bradley Chair in Constitutional Law at Loyola Law School.
2/3- MSNBC
SARAH PALIN'S NYT SUIT IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN DEFAMATION
In the defamation case of former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin against The New York Times, much more is on trial than the Gray Lady. Palin, a once rising political star whose last claim to fame was as a contestant on "The Masked Singer," sued the Times for an editorial that the publication ran, and later partly retracted, which incorrectly claimed that there was a connection between advertisements run by her political action committee and a 2011 shooting. That shooting killed half a dozen people and wounded more, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
2/3- KCRW
SUPREME COURT TO HEAR HARVARD AND UNC AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CASE
“These lawsuits are the product of a multi decade campaign to change the meaning of the Equal Protection Clause and to counteract and accomplish the elimination of race conscious remedies,” said Kimberly West-Faulcon, the James P. Bradley chair in constitutional law at Loyola Law School.
2/2- Bloomberg Law
BIDEN FAR FROM FIRST TO CONSIDER IDENTITY IN SUPREME COURT PICK
Loyola Law School professor Yxta Maya Murray said Collins’ and Cruz’s arguments ignore “that the Supreme Court has been built along the lines of male dominance and white supremacy since 1789.” That year’s Judiciary Act established the tribunal staffed by white men until Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice, was confirmed in 1967.
“When race and gender are described explicitly, and the idea that a Black woman—who of course is only going to have the most insanely impeccable credentials—is going to get elevated, then all of these really noxious accusations start getting bandied about,” said Murray, who wrote a play based on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, “Advice and Consent: A Play in One Act.”