“Candidates have hitched their wagons to ballot measures before,” said Jessica Levinson, an election law professor at Loyola Law School and a former president of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. “It’s a very specific way of showing your support on an issue.”
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:
1/29- KFI AM 640
FROM THE SUPREME COURT TO HOLLYWOOD
Thought’s on President Biden’s pick for Supreme Court with insight from regular guest commentator and friend of the program; Loyola Law Professor Jessica Levinson…PLUS – Hollywood is facing an even steeper uphill climb in the face of Omicron on KFI AM 640.
1/28- Los Angeles Times
BUSCAINO: DOCK L.A. LEADERS’ SALARIES IF SUFFICIENT PROGRESS ISN’T MADE ON HOMELESSNESS
1/26- KCRW
CONSENSUS BUILDER JUSTICE BREYER TO RETIRE. WHO COULD REPLACE HIM?
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire after nearly 30 years on the bench. The dean of the court’s liberal wing, he was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1994. Breyer’s decision sets off what will likely be another contentious confirmation battle in the evenly divided Senate. President Biden has promised to appoint a Black woman to the post.
Guest: Jessica Levinson, Professor, LMU Loyola Law School.
1/25- CNN
"Whether it's fair or not to point the finger at (Gascón), the finger is being pointed," said Professor Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "I don't think we have the statistics to show how these new directives are really impacting what's happening on the streets of LA."
1/24- The Hill
GERRYMANDERING IS PUTTING US IN MAD MAX TERRITORY
The Supreme Court decisions, Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, has pointed out, have put the United States in “Mad Max territory now; there are no rules.”
1/23- San Diego Union-Tribune
TWO DECADES LATER, JANE DOROTIK AGAIN PRESSES INNOCENCE CLAIM IN VISTA COURT
1/22- MSNBC
ROE V. WADE REMAINS LAW, BUT THE SUPREME COURT ISN'T ACTING LIKE IT
A majority of the Supreme Court is acting more like a political body than a judicial one. Its treatment of Texas’ abortion law and its looming decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which will for the first time overturn a case that provides a constitutional right, is merely part of the court’s lurch toward political activism.
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
1/20- CBS Los Angeles
FEDERAL COURT RULES CLOSURE OF GUN SHOPS AT START OF PANDEMIC UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Loyola Law Professor Jessica Levinson said the ruling showed just how much impact President Trump’s nominees to the federal bench have really had.
“This was a conservative decision. We have a three judge panel. Two judges were nominated by President Trump, one by President Reagan, and what we have is the Ninth Circuit overruling lower court decisions that ruled in favor of the government, saying it is in fact okay to shutdown nonessential places, including gun shops,” Levinson said.
1/19- Reuters
D.C.'S GANG DATABASE HIGHLIGHTS UNCONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEMS NATIONWIDE
Individuals added to the databases face serious repercussions, including immigration consequences, targeting by police and harsher charges and sentences. Studies have even shown that gang database information is sometimes shared with employers, landlords, and administrators in public housing and schools, according to a 2015 law review article by Loyola Marymount University Law School professor Kevin Lapp.
1/17- The Atlantic
HOW MANCHIN AND SINEMA COMPLETED A CONSERVATIVE VISION
But the blast radius of the Shelby decision extended far beyond the states directly freed from DOJ oversight, many analysts believe. “Shelby County in practical ways made a huge difference, and then in psychological ways, it also made a huge difference because it signaled to everybody that this is a Supreme Court that doesn’t really give a blank about your voting rights,” Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Marymount Law School who specializes in election law, told me.
1/14- ABC 7
SHERIFF VILLANUEVA BYPASSES DA, PURSUES FEDERAL CASE IN KILLING OF OFF-DUTY LAPD OFFICER
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor, says that while it's rare to see investigators skirt the DA's office, this time, because of the allegations, it may be appropriate.
The three men are accused of being members of the Florencia 13 gang, which has long been in the crosshairs of federal investigators.
"On this case, given the scope of it, and the gang that's involved, the nature of the crime, he found one where he could not only take it to the feds but sort of, criticize the DA in doing so," said Levenson.
1/13- MSNBC
SUPREME COURT'S COVID VACCINE MANDATE RULINGS HURT BIDEN — AND AMERICA
The conservative six-member majority of the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s vaccination-or-testing requirement for employees at large businesses Thursday after it concluded that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, stepped out of its lane when it implemented the mandate. But a bare five-member majority of the court upheld Biden’s vaccination requirement for health care workers at facilities that treat Medicare or Medicaid patients. In the first case, the three liberal justices — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — dissented. In the second case, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined them.
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
1/13- Sacramento Bee
GAVIN NEWSOM SOLICITED MASSIVE INCREASE IN PRIVATE DONATIONS TO FUND COVID RESPONSE
Behested contributions can allow elected officials to solicit donations for good causes, said Jessica Levinson, a government ethics expert at Loyola Law School. But she said they also might provide an avenue for donors who are “just trying to curry favor with the elected official,” or get around campaign contribution limits. Unlike campaign donations, behested payments are not capped.
1/13- Associated Press
TECH COMPANIES SPEND MILLIONS ON CALIFORNIA POLITICAL GIFTS
Campaign watchdogs fall into two camps on behested payments, said Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson, former president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.
Some believe such contributions “are the devil’s work, and they’re clearly a loophole around contribution limits and people just give them to curry favor with elected officials,” she said.
She tends to fall into the second camp, that money will inevitably flow through politics and would otherwise go to campaign accounts or independent expenditure committees.
“So if people are going to try and curry favor with elected officials, which they will, then let’s at least have that money go to a good cause,” she said.
1/10- New York Times
ROBERT DURST’S DEATH COMES WITH A BIZARRE LEGAL TWIST
1/10- San Francisco Chronicle
JUDGE TO DECIDE WHETHER SWALWELL’S LAWSUIT AGAINST TRUMP OVER CAPITOL INSURRECTION CAN PROCEED
1/7- Reuters
ANALYSIS: NO GUARANTEE OF NEW MAXWELL TRIAL AFTER JUROR'S REVELATIONS, EXPERTS SAY
"The system does not favor overturning verdicts. We value finality," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, adding that the judge has "broad discretion" in this case.
1/6- CBSN Los Angeles
CBSNLA TOWN HALL: JESSICA LEVINSON
Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson says one of the difficulties in moving forward after the January 6 insurrection is that, as a country, people disagree on basic facts, rather than have policy disagreements. "January 6: One Year Later" streaming now.
1/6- KTLA
LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR JESSICA LEVINSON REFLECTS ON CAPITOL INSURRECTION, 1 YEAR LATER
Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson joined us to talk about the lessons learned from the Capitol insurrection and the latest on the investigation.
For more information on Professor Levinson and her podcast “Passing Judgement,” click here.
1/4- CNN
ELECTION FRAUD ISN'T REALLY A THING, PART INFINITY
One study by Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt, tracking US elections from 2000 to 2014 in search of voter fraud -- or, as he put it, "specific, credible allegation that someone may have pretended to be someone else at the polls" -- found 31 such instances out of more than a billion votes cast. Thirty-one! A five-year study on voter fraud commissioned by the George W. Bush administration reached that same conclusion back in 2007. The New York Times wrote at the time: "The Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections." And there's lots more!