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:
3/31- Aperture
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE AMERICAN DREAM OF HOMEOWNERSHIP REACHES MEXICO?
“For more than a decade, Alejandro Cartagena has photographed Mexican suburbs transformed by the rapid construction of new homes,” wrote Loyola Law School professor Yxta Maya Murray in her article.
3/27- The Press-Enterprise
INLAND COURTS TRY TO BALANCE JUSTICE AND SAFETY IN CORONAVIRUS-FORCED CHANGES
The government code that the chief justice used “gives the court a lot of flexibility,” said Professor Laurie Levenson at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
3/27- Western Journal
OBAMA-LINKED #METOO ORG WON'T INVESTIGATE BIDEN, DESPITE EX-STAFFER'S GRAPHIC ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS
According to Ellen Aprill, a tax law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, the fund is acting “too conservative” in its own analysis.
“As a legal matter,” Aprill explained to The Intercept, “if the group is clear regarding the criteria used as to whom it is taking to court, show that these are long-established neutral criteria, and they are being applied to individuals completely independent of their running for office, it would not be a violation of tax law.”
3/27- Los Angeles Daily News
JOHN LEE FACES NEW CALLS TO RESIGN AFTER HIS FORMER BOSS PLEADS GUILTY IN CORRUPTION CASE
Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor who teaches election law at Loyola Marymount University, said the news might be harmful to Lee’s career.
“Politically speaking, this is damaging for John Lee because there was such a close connection between Englander and Lee,” she said. “In politics, appearances really matter and if you look at the nexus between Englander and Lee and if you look at where he was even physically during some of the alleged illegal act, it’s not good for Lee.”
3/27- Los Angeles Times
A. COUNTY SUPERVISORS AND SHERIFF IN STANDOFF OVER CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY RESPONSE
3/26- Orange County Register
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JUVENILE HALLS RELEASE LOW-LEVEL OFFENDERS EARLY IN RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS
Megan Stanton-Trehan, director of the youth justice education clinic at Loyola Law School, works with children in the Los Angeles County system.
“What we’re seeing (now) is clients locked in their room all day. … Pretty much the only way to (accomplish social distancing) is by isolating kids, so it’s like solitary confinement,” Stanton-Trehan said. “The situation needs to be addressed by releasing most of the kids.”
3/26- Bloomberg Tax
NONPROFIT ADVOCATES HOPE COACH TAX RULES EASE EMPLOYEE CONFUSION
People are looking for guidance on what is and isn’t a related entity of a nonprofit, said Ellen Aprill, chair of tax law at Loyola Marymount University Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
3/24- The Intercept
Ruling out federal candidates marks as off-limits any member of Congress running for reelection, as well as President Donald Trump. Ellen Aprill, a professor of tax law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that Time’s Up’s analysis is too conservative, and the group wouldn’t be putting its tax-exempt status at risk by taking a case involving a candidate for federal office as long as it followed its standard criteria for taking on cases. “As a legal matter, if the group is clear regarding the criteria used as to whom it is taking to court, show that these are long-established neutral criteria, and they are being applied to individuals completely independent of their running for office, it would not be a violation of tax law. Groups are allowed to continue to do what they have always done,” she said.
3/23- KCRW
5 DESIGN THINGS TO WATCH MARCH 26 - APRIL 1
On Feb 13, 2020 the Hammer Museum hosted a panel discussion on how spending has changed in political elections over the past two decades, how social media and Citizens United affect the equation and whether all the money is beneficial or destructive to the democratic process. in a discussion moderated by Jessica Levinson, a Professor of Law at Loyola Law School and regular commentator on KCRW's Press Play.
3/23- KCRW-FM
LA HAS THE BUSIEST COURT SYSTEM IN THE US. HOW IS CORONAVIRUS AFFECTING CASES?
“There are still some issues that unfortunately are pressing, and we are basically trying to determine what’s more pressing, physical distance or things like restraining orders, if you look at the list of items that are still ongoing in the court system, there are cases that do not wait for a pandemic,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law school.
3/22- Los Angeles
DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, HOW WILL L.A. COURT SYSTEM FUNCTION?
3/20- Vox
HOW TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE CAN VOTE DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
As Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School who oversaw much of the Justice Department’s voting rights work during the Obama administration, told me, election officials “gotta know where the people are, and it’s got to be accurate.”
3/17- Los Angeles Times
YOUTH IN DETENTION SHOULD BE RELEASED TO REDUCE CORONAVIRUS RISK, ADVOCATES SAY
3/16- Detroit News
MYSTERY DONOR MONEY QUIETLY FUNDED MICHIGAN SENATE LEADER ARLAN MEEKHOF'S NONPROFIT
The $19,448 described as "reimbursement" seemed "odd" to Ellen Aprill, a professor at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who has practiced nonprofit law for more than 30 years. But Aprill said it would take more information to prove whether something was legally wrong or not.
3/13- BuzzFeed News
WHAT HAPPENS IF TRUMP TRIES TO CANCEL THE ELECTION BECAUSE OF THE CORONAVIRUS?
His answer jibes with Justin Levitt’s, who led the Justice Department’s Voting Section during the Obama administration. “The president saying we are not having an election until X date has as much authority as me saying it, which is zero,” he said in a phone call. “He might well try, even thought the answer is, ‘No, he cannot.’”
3/13- TaxProf Blog
OVER 100 LAW SCHOOLS HAVE MOVED ONLINE DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS
All 199 ABA-accredited law schools in the United States have moved entirely online due to the coronavirus.
3/12- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MANY ELIGIBLE GEORGIA VOTERS WERE CANCELED IN NATION'S LARGEST PURGE
Canceling registrations for inactivity is an imprecise way of removing people suspected of no longer being Georgia voters, said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School who oversaw voting rights cases in the Justice Department during the Obama administration.
3/12- USA Today
HARVEY WEINSTEIN IS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL AND FACING A TRIAL IN LA: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Moreover, a Los Angeles County trial would not necessarily be a slam dunk, says Laurie Levenson, law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "Jurors sometimes have wacky notions of what they consider double jeopardy," Levenson said. "They may think he's already gone through this, and with the same witnesses and the same credibility issues."
3/9- KCRW-FM
THE STATE GOVERNMENT’S LEGAL POWER IN FORCING CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINES.
“We have power from the federal government, state government, and county government so every level of government has the power to say basically we are scared out of our minds by you, if you can just stay over there in that semi undesirable area, that would be great, the federal government has power from the constitution and from a statute.” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law school.
3/9- Government Technology
HOW LOS ANGELES’ ELECTION INNOVATION FELL SHORT OF GOALS
While it’s too early to diagnose what exactly went wrong, rolling out a complex new voting system in a high-turnout presidential primary was a challenging task, said Justin Levitt, associate dean for research at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
3/8- Los Angeles Times
AFTER WHIRLWIND WEEK, D.A. JACKIE LACEY HAS AN ELECTION, AND A FAMILY MATTER, HANGING IN THE BALANCE
3/7- Orange County Register
MAIL BONDING: AFTER MARCH ELECTION MELTDOWNS, IS IN-PERSON VOTING LOSING ITS APPEAL?
“I think it’s inevitable we’re going to move more to vote by mail,” said Jessica Levinson, director of Loyola Law School’s Public Service Institute and an expert on campaigns. “It seems like the train has left the station.”
3/5- Fresno Bee
CAN BIDEN CUT INTO SANDERS’ CALIFORNIA LEAD? AT LEAST 3.4 MILLION BALLOTS REMAIN UNCOUNTED
Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, said Biden statistically has a chance to overtake Sanders but not a practical one.
“Biden would need such consistency in terms of really winning the vast majority of the late votes, and there is something to be said for the conventional wisdom that young people and minorities (vote later),” Levinson said.
3/5- Talking Points Memo
TRUMP’S DOJ HAS NOT FILED A SINGLE NEW VOTING RIGHTS ACT CASE
“It’s not that there is an absence of enforcement opportunities. Private plaintiffs continue to bring cases, some quite vigorously,” said Justin Levitt, an election law professor who served as a deputy assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division under President Obama. “The fact the department is currently involved in none of them is disturbing.”
3/5- Los Angeles Times
ON HEELS OF SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT SCANDAL, L.A. COUNTY VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY BACK STRONGER OVERSIGHT
3/3- NBC News
SUPREME COURT'S CFPB CASE POTENTIALLY IMPACTS ANYONE WITH CREDIT CARD DEBT OR A MORTGAGE
“Supporters of the CFPB argue that it provides a vital check on Wall Street financial institutions. Critics contend that the CFPB is the embodiment of overly burdensome government regulation that harms economic development.” Wrote Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson in her article.
3/3- Los Angeles Times
SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT ACCUSED OF 'COVER-UP' OVER BRYANT CRASH PHOTOS
3/2- CNN
OBAMACARE ARGUMENTS PUT SUPREME COURT AND HEALTH CARE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SPOTLIGHT
"Many Americans, and at least one member of the court (cough, cough, Chief Justice Roberts), aren't excited to relive another battle between those two bodies, so soon after the impeachment," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law school.
3/2- AOL
GRAND JURY HEARING EVIDENCE ON TYLER SKAGGS' DEATH AS POTENTIAL CRIMINAL CHARGES LOOM
Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor, called the involvement of a grand jury “significant.”
Said Levenson: “It means there’s at least some concern about how widespread this incident might be by those who provided drugs, were involved in the activities, knew about them, may have made misrepresentations, whatever the connection might be.”
3/2- NBC News
SUPREME COURT'S NEW ABORTION CASE FOCUSES THE SPOTLIGHT ON CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS
“If people associate one issue with the U.S. Supreme Court, it is typically abortion. Pro-choice advocates see the constitutional right to abortion access hanging by a thread. Pro-life advocates see the same thing; they just view that as a victory,” writes Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson in her article.
3/2- Sacramento Bee
A SANDERS BLOWOUT OR A DELEGATE SPLIT? CALIFORNIA TO SHAPE OUTCOME 0F 2020 PRIMARY RACE
Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, is unsure how they’ll get it from California.
“I think that things will coalesce a week from today, but we don’t know exactly how,” Levinson said. “My suspicion is it’ll be Bernie Sanders and the not-Bernie side of the party.”