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:
7/30 NBC News
TRUMP SUGGESTS POSTPONING NOVEMBER ELECTION. 'CONSTITUTIONALLY IMPOSSIBLE,' EXPERTS SAY
"The president's tweet is more an attempt to (improperly, and without any evidence) denigrate the election we're going to have than a real attempt to postpone," Justin Levitt, a constitutional law and democracy expert at Loyola Law School, said in a text message.
7/30- CALMatters
#METOO CLAIMS FILED AGAINST DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER, BUT WILL INVESTIGATIONS FOLLOW?
California’s political ethics law does not require lawmakers to disclose personal relationships with advocates for legislation they vote on. But legislators should do it anyway, said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.
7/29- Associated Press
FEDERAL COURT TO REVIEW 'PROTEST BANS' IN PORTLAND ARRESTS
“I can’t believe that they think this is constitutional,” said Aaron Caplan, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “It’s really broad and it’s hitting at something that is constitutionally protected.”
7/28- New York Times
NEW CENSUS WORRY: AN EXPEDITED COUNT COULD MEAN AN INACCURATE ONE
“What it means to fail to have a census has never been tested,” said Justin Levitt, an expert on the topic at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “How bad it has to be before it’s not a census anymore is something we have yet to decide.”
7/27- KCRW
FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS OREGON'S LEGAL EFFORT TO PUT RESTRICTIONS ON FEDERAL AGENTS THERE
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Federal Protective Service — accusing them of arresting protesters without probable cause. This was when protestors said they were picked up and put into unmarked vans, held for hours, and not charged. They said they didn’t even know who was arresting them. Guest Jessica Levinson - Professor, LMU's Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
7/13- Los Angeles Times
L.A.’S CORRUPTION PROBE INVOLVES DEVELOPERS, A COUNCILMAN — AND HIS 80-YEAR-OLD MOM
Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson said such pacts, also known as “queen for a day” agreements, can be a way for a possible target in a case to make the argument that “we’re better as your witness than as one of your defendants.”
7/12- Los Angeles Times
Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said Shaw’s inaccurate testimony was an “important warning sign” that should not be ignored.
“It is not best practice to have officers out there who have credibility problems unless you are absolutely sure they won’t continue to have these problems,” Levenson said. “I think it’s risky.”
7/9- Desert Sun
IS THE US SUPREME COURT HAVING A LIBERAL MOMENT? DON'T BE SO SURE, EXPERTS SAY
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
7/9- NBC News
WHY THE SUPREME COURT'S TRUMP TAXES VOTE WON'T HELP 2020 VOTERS
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
7/9- Patch
WITH CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS OPENING SOON, KIDS LACK NEEDED TECH TO LEARN REMOTELY
Many of the foster care and juvenile justice youth Megan Stanton-Trehan represents as director of the Youth Justice Education Clinic at Loyola Law School struggled to acquire technology for distance learning, and the efforts from schools to engage with them varied.
7/8- KCRW
SUPREME COURT RULES EMPLOYERS CAN OPT OUT OF OBAMACARE’S BIRTH CONTROL MANDATE
The Supreme Court ruled on two major cases today involving religious freedom. One ruling upheld a Trump administration regulation that lets employers out of the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate for religious reasons. In another case, the court ruled that federal employment discrimination laws don’t apply to religion teachers at schools run by churches. Guest Jessica Levinson - Professor, LMU's Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
7/7- CalMatters
SUPREME COURT RULES MEMBERS OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE MUST BE FAITHFUL – HOW THAT AFFECTS CALIFORNIA
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
7/7- New York Times
AS NOVEMBER LOOMS, SO DOES THE MOST LITIGIOUS ELECTION EVER
Justin Levitt, an election scholar and associate dean at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, is tracking nearly 130 pandemic-related election lawsuits. The firm of Marc Elias, a lawyer who frequently represents the Democratic Party, is pursuing more than 35 voting rights cases, a number he calls an order of magnitude greater than in the past. The Republican National Committee, which pledged this spring to spend at least $20 million fighting attempts to loosen voting rules, boasts of filing or intervening in 19 suits to date.
7/6- New York Times
DID THE POPULAR VOTE GET A WIN TODAY?
From a legal standpoint, you can’t draw a line between the court’s ruling on Monday and national popular vote efforts, but “politically speaking, you absolutely can,” said Jessica A. Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who studies election law and hosts a podcast on politics and the law.
7/6- CALMatters
WITH CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS OPENING SOON, KIDS LACK NEEDED TECH TO LEARN REMOTELY
This spring was more difficult for students already in need of greater attention from their schools.
Many of the foster care and juvenile justice youth Megan Stanton-Trehan represents as director of the Youth Justice Education Clinic at Loyola Law School struggled to acquire technology for distance learning, and the efforts from schools to engage with them varied.
7/3- PolitiFact
WILL 458,000 VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOTS GO TO CALIFORNIANS WHO HAVE DIED OR MOVED? EXPERTS ARE SKEPTICAL
Justin Levitt is associate dean for research at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he teaches constitutional law with a focus on election administration.
He said the Election Integrity Project California has made "some valuable contributions" in the past by pointing out possible instances of double registrations or double-voting, including during the March primary. In an April letter, the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that some of the 48 instances flagged by EIPCa warranted investigation while others could be explained as defects in an election-management system that caused a county to send the state duplicate entries for the same voter.
7/2- Vice News
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH JOHN ROBERTS?
The U.S. Supreme Court is having a moment and Chief Justice John Roberts is at the center of it. What's he up to? with LMU Loyola Law School professor Kimberly West-Faulcon.
7/1- NBC News
FIVE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CHURCH STATE MEANS
Article by LMU Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson.
7/1- NOLA.com
HOW THE TIMING OF JASON WILLIAMS' INDICTMENT CASTS A LONG SHADOW OVER THE DA ELECTION
“Generally, the feds are sensitive to how charges will impact elections, but if this investigation has been going on for two years, it doesn’t surprise me that they brought the charges,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and an expert in legal ethics.