News & Events

Faculty News 2006

  • Apple filing to tell all on options
    December 29, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in The New York Times on Apple Computer's highly anticipated annual report which is expected to answer questions about backdated options granted to CEO Steve Jobs and other executives. (Registration required)
  • Plaintiffs in Station nightclub fire suits hire conflict specialist
    December 29, 2006
    Professor Francis McGovern is hired as special master in Rhode Island Station nightclub fire suits, reports the Boston Globe.
  • N.C. bar files ethics charges against Duke lacrosse prosecutor
    December 28, 2006
    Professor Tom Metzloff comments in the Winston-Salem Journal on ethics charges brought against Durham DA Mike Nifong by the North Carolina Bar.
  • Charges filed, but Haditha saga is just beginning
    December 23, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discusses in Stars and Stripes the military legal process as it relates to the Haditha case.
  • Mayor’s arm takes a hit
    December 23, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says in the Los Angeles Times that despite a rejection of his school takeover plan by a Superior Court judge, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa "may well prevail on appeal."
  • Rape charges dropped, others remain
    December 23, 2006
    Professor James Coleman comments in The News & Observer on District Attorney Mike Nifong's decision to dismiss rape charges against three former Duke lacrosse players.
  • Spitzer’s successor less likely to take on corporations
    December 23, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in American Business Daily on the likelihood of Attorney General-Elect Andrew Cuomo exerting the same amount of energy in the battle against corporate malfeasance as his predecessor, Elitot Spitzer.
  • Web error reveals censure of U.S. judge
    December 23, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law & Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments on the decision to not make public the censure of a federal judge.
  • A dose of mercy helps heal immigration
    December 22, 2006
    Writing in The News & Observer Professor Hans Linnartz calls for amnesty to help address "the mess that is U.S. immigration policy.
  • Tucson military recruiters ran cocaine
    December 17, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security comments in the Arizona Daily Star on public corruption scandal involving military recruiters who were secretly taking bribes to transport cocaine.
  • DA: Case remains open in shooting
    December 15, 2006
    Charles L. B. Lowndes Professor of Law Sara Beale comments in the Star-News on the likelihood of a second grand jury indicting a New Hanover County sheriff in the shooting death of 18-year-old Peyton Strickland.
  • New rules for CEO compensation in effect
    December 15, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says on "Markeplace" that the amended SEC disclosure rules for executive compensation could slow the rapid rise in CEO pay. (Audio required)
  • Regulators ease post-scandal rules
    December 15, 2006
    Commenting to Businessweek.com, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says that a plan proposed by the SEC allowing corporate managers more flexibility in assessing the strength of internal financial controls may prove detrimental to investor protection.
  • Cigarette maker down, not out
    December 13, 2006
    Professor James Cox comments to The News & Observer on Durham cigarette maker Wellstone Filters' plans to consolidate its stocks and triple the number of shares it can issue.
  • NFL rookie bonuses must stay with players, arbitrators rule
    December 11, 2006
    Commenting to Bloomberg.com, Professor Paul Haagen says that a new ruling allowing NFL rookie players to keep bonus compensation even if they quit the team before their contract expires might lead to shorter contracts and smaller bonuses.
  • Lifting the lid: Plaintiff s’ bar takes hits from U.S. courts
    December 8, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says that the trend of pretrial dismissal in class-action pleadings is evidence that the life of the plaintiffs' lawyer has gotten more difficult, reports Reuters .
  • Suit by Iraqis and Afghans claims Rumsfeld ordered torture
    December 8, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman , executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, says in The Christian Science Monitor that an ACLU suit charging that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called for the torture of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan will face an uphill battle.
  • Presidential signing statements
    December 5, 2006
    Charles S. Murphy Professor of Law and Public Policy Christopher Schroeder takes part in Annenberg Center debate on the "use and abuse" of presidential signing statements. (Audio required)
  • The Iraq alternative
    December 4, 2006
    Professor Donald Horowitz says in The Wall Street Journal that the Bush administration should seize the opportunity to change course in Iraq with the creation of an "undivided federal Iraq," limited regional authority, and a new agreement for distributing oil revenue among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. (Subscription required)
  • ABA panel on detaining and prosecuting terrorists
    December 1, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, participates in a roundtable discussion on detaining and prosecuting terrorists on C-Span. (Audio)
  • McGuire’s big freeze
    December 1, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on the freezing of million of dollars of former UnitedHealth CEO William McGuire's retirement benefits and stock options.
  • Report on corporate rules is assailed
    December 1, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in the Washington Post on a controversial report that seeks to slash corporate regulations.
  • Where is the Roberts’ Court on race
    December 1, 2006
    Professor Neil Siegel says in Newsweek that the Supreme Court's ruling in two cases on race-conscious school assignment plans could mark the final legacy of Brown v. Board of Education.
  • Lawyers debate why blacks lag at major law firms
    November 29, 2006
    Professor James Coleman says in The New York Times that large law firms' failure to provide mentoring, encouragement and good assignments, not law school grades, may explain why minority associates are less likely to make partner than their white counterparts.
  • New push for less regulation
    November 29, 2006
    Professor James Cox questions the need for limits on securities regulations and lawsuits proposed in a report by a panel of businessmen and academics linked to the Bush administration.
  • Wall Street’s watchdogs plan to merge
    November 29, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in the Los Angeles Times on the proposed merger of the NASD and the NYSE to form single regulatory body.
  • Doriane Lambelet Coleman
    November 28, 2006
    Ivy @ 50 profiles the remarkable athletic career of Professor Doriane Coleman.
  • Mind maps for those who prefer a picture
    November 28, 2006
    The Times calls William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle one of "the world's clearest thinkers on the impact of the internet."
  • New standard for patently obvious
    November 28, 2006
    Professor Arti Rai comments on a patent dispute before the Supreme Court that could impact current patent system on APM's "Marketplace."
  • Renowned Constitutional scholars ask First Circuit to consider “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Challenge
    November 27, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky joins a group of top constitutional scholars asking the First Circuit to consider a challenge to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
  • Spitzer battles Wachovia’s dream team in state-power case
    November 27, 2006
    Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger is part of the legal team representing Wachovia against Michigan banking regulators in a case involving what he calls "the single most important legal doctrine" for many U.S. industries, reports Bloomberg.com
  • Upcoming Supreme Court cases could write final chapter in Brown v. Board of Education
    November 27, 2006
    Professor Neil Siegel says that two cases on race-conscious school assignment plans that will come before the Supreme Court December 4 "could be the final chapter in the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education."
  • Duke professors picked for advisory panels
    November 23, 2006
    Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law Curtis Bradley, Professor Madeline Morris, and James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science Donald Horowitz appointed to Secretary of State advisory committees, reports The News & Observer.
  • Fate of Flanders’ judgeship uncertain
    November 20, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in The Providence Journal on the Whitehouse's failure to nominate former State Supreme Court Justice Robert G. Flanders Jr. for a seat on the 1st United States Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • IRS files tax lien on lawyer’s property
    November 20, 2006
    Professor Lawrence Zelenak and the Director of Duke's Low-income Taxpayer Clinic Alan Weinberg, comment on an IRS tax lien filed against the property of Durham Lawyer in the Durham Herald-Sun.
  • Professors want to tweak, not overhaul, patent law
    November 20, 2006
    Wisconsin Technology Network article discusses Professor Arti Rai's criticism of Bayh-Dole, the landmark law that gave universities the right to patent their inventions.
  • Staying in the trade game
    November 20, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox argues on American Public Media's "Marketplace" that in order for markets to be attractive, they must be trustworthy
  • Breaking the deal
    November 17, 2006
    Writing in the Financial Times, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle calls outrageous a U.K. proposal to extend the copyright term on recorded music.
  • Human rights interview
    November 17, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, argues on Public Radio International that the U.S. is aggressively working to regain its status as a world leader in respect for human rights.
  • On You Tube, Popularity can be a curse
    November 16, 2006
    William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle discusses YouTube and intellectual property in the information age on NPR's "Talk of the Nation."
  • U.S. civil rights group filed suit in Germany against Donald Rumsfeld and other U.S. officials
    November 14, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethis and National Security, comments on CNN's "Situation Room" on Germany's Center for Constitutional Rights' call for an investigation of Donald Rumsfeld on charges of war crimes.
  • Cops think beating some suspects acceptable
    November 11, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says that a recent video showing LA police officers beating a suspect underscores a national debate: "Was the force reasonably necessary under the circumstances?"
  • An electorate open to immigration
    November 10, 2006
    Writing in The News & Observer, Senior lecturing fellow Hans Linnartz '80 says that electorate is open to comprehensive immigration reform.
  • Startling findings in probe of Tillman’s death
    November 8, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethcis and National Security, comments in the San Francisco Chronicle on whether the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act is a viable option for charging three of the four shooters of soldier Pat Tillman who are now out of the army.
  • FCC backtracks on 2 charges of indecency
    November 6, 2006
    Professor Stuart Benjamin comments in the Los Angeles Times on the FCC's recent reversal of a March ruling regarding charges of indecency.
  • Medical marijuana remains in legal limbo
    November 6, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the federal government's position on medical marijuana in the San Diego Union Tribune.
  • He is a seniors’ antidote to fraud
    November 5, 2006
    Senior Lecturing Fellow Carol Spruill says in The News & Observer that North Carolina's efforts to stop consumer fraud owe much to David Kirkman, a state assistant general.
  • Profs drawn to spotlight
    November 5, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in The News & Observer on his contribution to the public policy arena.
  • SEC enforcement cases decline 9%
    November 3, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says in The Washington Post that a decline in the number of enforcement cases brought by the SEC last year is directly related to budget cutbacks in the Commission's enforcement arm.
  • Army recalls acquitted soldier
    November 2, 2006
    In The News & Observer, Professors Robinson Everett and Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discuss the recall to active duty of a retired soldier for possible court martial
  • Questions about torture may slow trials
    November 2, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman,  comments in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on how questions about the CIA's interrogation tactics might impede U.S. military trials of high-level terrorist's suspects.
  • Chairman of Cedant is convicted of fraud
    November 1, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in the International Herald Tribune on the conviction of former Cendant chairman Walter Forbes on charges of accounting fraud.
  • Culture skirmish
    November 1, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says in The Independent Weekly that regardless of people's reactions to her work, police should not have asked that paintings by a local artist be removed from exhibition at West Village Apartments because, as a legal matter, they are not obscene.
  • U.S. Supreme Court hears argument in Oregon Case
    October 31, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in the Oregonian on an Oregon case before the Supreme Court that could impose a limit on punitive damage awards.
  • Urging presidents to step up
    October 31, 2006
    Professor Paul Haagen comments in Inside Higher Ed on the level of faculty involvement in sports governance at Duke.
  • Roberts, Alito will decide punitive damage caps at High Court
    October 30, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments to Bloomberg.com on the possible impact of an Oregon case that could limit punitive damage awards.
  • Businesses seek protection on legal front
    October 28, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox criticizes proposals to scale back provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in The New York Times, calling them unnecessary and "an escalation of the culture wars against regulation."
  • The Supreme Court’s crusade: Fairness for the powerful
    October 26, 2006
    New York Times opinion page writer Adam Cohen endorses Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky's argument for a constitutional theory of excessive punishment that covers human and corporate wrongdoers equally.
  • War critics try to recruit military
    October 25, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells ABC News that the increasing criticism made by military members is a relatively new phenomenon resulting from an increasingly unpopular war.
  • Inspire may face SEC lawsuit
    October 24, 2006
    Brained Currie Professor of Law James Cox says in The News & Observer a recent lawsuit filed by the SEC against Inspire Pharmaceuticals "is a big deal, "especially for a company with no products of its own on the market."
  • GOP vs. Jerry Brown: What the law says
    October 20, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says in the Los Angeles Times that the most important factor in determining Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's eligibility for attorney general is that he passed and was admitted to the bar, not his inactive status, as suggested in a suity filed by the GOP.
  • Media experts examine rape case coverage
    October 20, 2006
    Professor James Coleman joins media panel examining coverage of the Duke lacrosse rape case, reports the Durham Herald-Sun.
  • Will the courts uphold the constitution
    October 20, 2006
    Writing in The San Diego Union-Tribune, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky calls for federal judges to "stand up to Congress and the president" and declare unconstitutional key provisions of the Military Justice Act of 2006.
  • SEC drops probe of Hollinger directors Thompson, Burt, Kravis
    October 19, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments to Bloomberg.com on the SEC's decision to drop the probe of Hollinger International Inc. directors.
  • Law’s reach extends to jails in U.S.
    October 18, 2006
    Commenting in the Los Angeles Times, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says the question of whether the application of the military tribunal bills to "unlawful enemy combatants" detained within the US is a constitutional suspension of habeas corpus is an unresolved one because it is unprecedented.
  • UnitedHealth to pay departing CEO $5.1 M
    October 17, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says UnitedHealth's departing CEO may have to give up some or all of his 5.1 M per year benefits package after criticism that its provisions are too generous, reports the Benton Crier.
  • Boy scouts face setback in Supreme Court
    October 16, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in The Washington Post on the Supreme Court's refusal to take a case in which a Boy Scouts sailing group was denied the use of a public marina because the organization bars atheists and gays.
  • Rape accusation has ruined lives, stduents say
    October 16, 2006
    Professor James Coleman comments in The New York Times on the conduct of the Durham district attorney in the Duke lacrosse case.
  • Duke rape suspects speak out
    October 15, 2006
    Professor James Coleman discusses the Duke lacrosse rape case on CBS' 60 Minutes.
  • Recusal means new start in Wecht case?
    October 15, 2006
    Commenting on the case of former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says that by filing a recusal motion, attorneys risk further alienating the judge should the motion be denied.
  • San Francisco police conduct plan behind schedule
    October 15, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky tells the San Franscisco Chronicle that it is unlikely that the city's police department will be able to reform itself; as such reform usually involves major change that is difficult to do from within.
  • City Council gets its own attorney
    October 13, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in the Los Angeles Times on the appointment of an independent attorney to handle legal matters for Los Angeles City Council.
  • At YouTube, a copyright conundrum continues
    October 11, 2006
    William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle points out on globeandmail.com that YouTube's business model remains untested against a tough new U.S. copyright law.
  • The Luten Bridge
    October 10, 2006
    Rockingham County v. Luten Bridge Co.: Professor Barak Richman finds a wealth of North Carolina history in a classic contracts case on WUNC. (Audio required). 
  • Defenders still draw praise
    October 8, 2006
    Professor James Coleman tells The Fayetteville Observer that should a military court convict Tim Hennis for the Eastburn murders, the attorneys who won his 1989 acquittal should not be condemned for doing their jobs.
  • Fathers deserve opportunity to parent too
    October 8, 2006
    Senior Lecturing Fellow Kathryn Bradley discusses the rights of unwed fathers in adoptions in The News & Observer.
  • Spy scandal goes to court
    October 8, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells The Sunday Times that the Hewlett Packard scandal involving allegations that its chairman spied on HP directors and journalists will spark calls for tighter privacy laws.
  • Apple manages options probe damage
    October 7, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells Scotsman.com that Apple's CEO Steve Jobs' assertion that he didn't understand the implication of backdating may help him when the company goes before the SEC.
  • Apple’s stock-option probe clears Jobs
    October 5, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments to the San Francisco Chronicle on the resignation of Apple's director and former chief financial officer Fred Anderson.
  • Suspect trading in Harrah’s before bid
    October 5, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells BusinessWeek that an unusual volume jump in the tradings of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. is a sign of possible insider trading.
  • Labor board ruling bad for workers, unions say
    October 4, 2006
    Professor Catherine Fisk comments in The Plain Dealer on a National Labor Relations Board ruling that says nurses running hospital shifts are management employees and ineligible for union membership.
  • For Supreme Court’s new term: Rise of a new centrist
    October 2, 2006
    Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger comments in The Christian Science Monitor on the Supreme Court's new term.
  • New terrorism trial rules could face Supreme Court Scrutiny
    October 1, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells the Boston Globe that Congress' approval of the new military trial rules proposed by the Bush administration is no guarantee that it "will pass constitutional muster before the Supreme Court."
  • Legislating violations of the Constitution
    September 30, 2006
    Writing in the Washington Post, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says that The Public Expression of Religion Act recently passed by the House of Representatives is intended to prevent challenges to unconstitutional government actions advancing religion.
  • New trial laws ‘could violate rights,’
    September 30, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells The Australian that Congress’ approval of the new military trial rules proposed by the Bush administration is no guarantee that it “will pass constitutional muster before the Supreme Court.”
  • Tribunal bill sets up an ironic legal limbo
    September 30, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discusses provisions of the new detainee legislation and how it might stand up to constitutional challenge on KTLA5.
  • A view from (under) the long tail
    September 29, 2006
    William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle writes about his interest in the much-hyped arrival of the "long tail" economy in the Financial Times.
  • Detainee bill nears passage
    September 28, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security tells Newsday.com that rather than tying the president's hands, the pending detainee legislation "actually enhances his authority."
  • Tortured justice
    September 28, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells Salon.com that the president's move to have the new detainee legislation signed before mid-term elections is politically motivated.
  • Detainees and the Constitution
    September 27, 2006
    Writing in The News & Observer, Professor Neil Siegel argues that the compromise on the trial of suspected terrorists reached between the White House and Senators Warner, McCain, and Graham still fails to meet constitutional requirements of due process.
  • Protest spurs questions of Constitution
    September 27, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law & Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky discusses in The Charlotte Observer whether the police shutdown of a weekend protest violates the Constitution.
  • SEC accuses investor’s aide in insider trading case
    September 27, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox calls insider trading "pervasive" and "insidious" while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, reports The Wall Street Journal.(Subscription required).
  • Heated court fight expected over schools plan
    September 25, 2006
    Commenting in the Los Angeles Times, Alston & Bird Professor of Law & Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky weighs in on a new law that provides the mayor of Los Angeles substantial control over the L.A. Unified district.
  • Detainee legislation driven by Court decision
    September 24, 2006
    Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger discusses compromise on detainee legislation reached between the White House and Senate Republicans in light of the Supreme Court's Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision on NPR's "Weekend edition." (Audio required). 
  • Keeping sources confidential
    September 24, 2006
    Writing in the Orlando Sentinel, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky calls for Congress to adopt laws to protect reporters who keep their sources confidential, after two reporters are given 18-month sentences for failing to disclose sources of leaked grand jury testimony in the BALCO investigation.
  • Detainee deal deserves a closer look
    September 22, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discusses the compromise reached between the White House and Senate Republicans on the detention and trial of terrorism suspects on NPR. (Audio required). 
  • U.S. prosecution of Padilla no slam dunk so far
    September 22, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethcis and National Security, says in The Belleville News-Democrat that should alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla be acquitted due to in insufficient body of evidence, "it will be a severely embarrassing moment for the government."
  • Duke sports idea roils professors
    September 21, 2006
    Professor Paul Haagen discusses in The News & Observer his idea to pair Duke faculty with the University's sports teams in hopes of creating "more meaningful" interaction between academics and athletics on campus.
  • A corporate nanny turns assertive
    September 19, 2006
    Commenting in The New York Times, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox calls a retired judge's prompt to dismiss the CEO of Bristol-Myers Squib "a new standard" for independent corporate monitors.
  • University, officials celebrate 219 years of the U.S. Constitution
    September 18, 2006
    Professor Christopher Schroeder comments in the Durham Herald-Sun on the tension between individual rights and national security in times of external threat.
  • Cohabiting no longer illegal in N.C.
    September 14, 2006
    Commenting in The News & Observer, Professor Erwin Chemerinsky sheds light on a Superior Court judge's injunction of a North Carolina law barring cohabitation.
  • Bristol-Meyers ousts its chief at monitor’s urging
    September 13, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells the Washington Post that a change in leadership at Bristol-Meyers shows that prosecutors are willing to put the pressure on companies engaged in wrongdoing.
  • Bush’s get out of jail card
    September 12, 2006
    Commenting on Salon.com, Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, weighs in on the implications of the White House bill authorizing the establishment of military tribunals to try terrorism suspects.
  • Donnelly error taken in stride
    September 12, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells The News & Observer that while negligible, R.H. Donnelley's delay in correcting an overstatement of the education of CEO David Swanson is questionable.
  • Duke Gitmo Clinic
    September 12, 2006
    Professor Madeline Morris and Chris Murray '07 talk about their work in the Law School's Guantanamo Defense Clinic on WUNC's "The State of Things."
  • IRS record: GSK to pay $3.1 billion
    September 12, 2006
    Professor Richard Schmalbeck comments in The News & Observer on GlaxoSmithKline's record $3.1 billion settlement to the IRS.
  • Unity, politics renewed, then squandered
    September 12, 2006
    Writing in The Charleston Gazette, Professor Jedediah Purdy reflects on Sept. 11 and its impact on foreign policy.
  • Bush’s end run around the law
    September 8, 2006
    Writing in The Star-Ledger, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerisnky urges the American people and Congress to see through the Bush administration's justification for legislation authorizing military tribunals, and insist that the country "follow the letter and spirit of the law."
  • Experts heap criticism on Bush plan to try detainees
    September 8, 2006
    Commenting in the San Francisco Chronicle, Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, calls the White House Bill authorizing military commissions unnecessary and, "from a legal view, fatally flawed."
  • Military lawyers dispute tribunal plans
    September 8, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security Scott Silliman comments in The Seattle Times, on the legal implications of President Bush's plan for trying terrorism suspects.
  • Tribunal bill stalled
    September 8, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, comments in Newsday on how the division among Republicans regarding the military tribunal bill might impact President Bush's national security agenda.
  • Corporate fraud policy should be revised, former officials say
    September 7, 2006
    Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger joins former top U.S. Justice Department officials in a letter to the Bush administration urging the revision of its corporate fraud policy aimed at compelling cooperation from potential defendants, reports Bloomberg.com.
  • Mixed messages on torture
    September 7, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman comments on the president's plan for trying terrorism suspects on Salon.com.
  • Transporting terror suspects
    September 7, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director for the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discusses North Carolina's role in transporting terror suspects to the CIA's "secret" prisons on WUNC's "The State of Things."
  • Bush revives goal of Guantanamo Bay tribunals
    September 6, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director for the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discusses President Bush's disclosure of secret CIA prisons and his call for Congress to quickly authorize trials of suspected terrorists by military tribunals on NPR's "Talk of the Nation."
  • Duke prof: Proposed military commissions bill illegal
    September 6, 2006
    Professor Madeline Morris comments in the Durham Herald-Sun on president's plan for trying terrorism suspects.
  • Experts don’t back branch
    September 4, 2006
    Professor Paul Haagen comments in The Boston Globe on the two grievances filed by receiver Deion Branch against the New England Patriots and whether he will emerge victorious.
  • Ruling denies public access to police officer records
    September 1, 2006
    Commenting in the Los Angeles Times, Professor Erwin Chemerinsky calls a ruling by the Supreme Court of California which denies public access to police records "a stunning loss for the public and the right to know."
  • Dex volume jumped before deal revealed
    August 31, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in The News & Observer on new research that suggests the possibility of insider trading among companies targeted for acquisition.
  • Dex volume jumped before deal revealed
    August 31, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in The News & Observer on new research that suggests the possibility of insider trading among companies targeted for acquisition.
  • The attorney general looks abroad
    August 31, 2006
    Writing in The News & Observer, Professor Ralf Michaels questions the genuineness of Attorney General Albert Gonzales' recent request for a review of anti-terror law.
  • Exacting Easterbrook to be Chief of 7th Circuit
    August 29, 2006
    Professor Mitu Gulati lauds the work of Judge Frank H. Easterbrook's as he ascends to the position of Chief Justice of the 7th Circuit.
  • Prudential to pay $600 million to avoid fund trial
    August 29, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in the Washington Post on Prudential Financial Inc.'s $600 million settlement to the SEC, one of the last arising from the 2003 mutual fund scandal
  • Apple settles iPod suit
    August 24, 2006
    Professor Arti Rai comments on the iPod lawsuit settlement on NPR's "Marketplace Report."
  • Treasury official Henry due 20 percent of Gleacher fund profits
    August 24, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law Jim Cox says, 'the clean breach is the best breach," in a discussion of the ethical implications of a treasury official's severance deal on Bloomberg.com.
  • Young lawyers flock to Chertoff & Rumsfeld
    August 21, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the center on Law, Ethics and National Security, comments in The New York Observer on the increasing number of law students interested in national-security-related-issues.
  • Ex-CIA medic guilty of abusing Afghan detainee
    August 19, 2006
    Commenting in the Taipei Times, Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, says that despite the conviction of civilian David Passaro, it is unclear whether similar cases involving civilians will follow.
  • Law schools must increase diversity
    August 19, 2006
    Professor James Coleman comments in the Contra Costa Times on the ABA's call for increased diversity in law schools.
  • Every executive needs a limit
    August 18, 2006
    Writing for Slate.com, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says that in ruling to invalidate the NSA's warrantless surveillance program, Judge Ann Diggs Taylor followed basic constitutional principles.
  • Jon Benet burning questions
    August 18, 2006
    Commenting on recent developments in the Jon Benet Ramsey case for ABC News, Professor Madeline Morris says that a failure by Thai authorities to read John Mark Karr his Miranda rights "does not jeopardize the case."
  • Passaro convicted of assaulting Afghan
    August 18, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, comments in The News & Observer on the conviction of former CIA contractor David Passaro.
  • Ex-CIA contractor guilty in Afghan death
    August 17, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman comments in the Washington Post on the conviction of former CIA contractor David Passaro
  • Freedom of information: Copyrights and its discontents
    August 16, 2006
    LA Weekly includes "Bound by Law?" published by the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, in its discussion of copyright and its impact on filmmaking.
  • Despite early forecast, CIA contractor’s trial has been open
    August 14, 2006
    Charles L.B. Lowndes Professor of Law Sara Beale tells the Sun News that the best way to protect national security in the trial of former civilian contractor David Passaro is to close portions of the trial and to deny the defense access to information.
  • Taking from the till
    August 13, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells The News & Observer that "the first line of defense against embezzlement is an adequate internal control system."
  • Charges of options for phony workers
    August 10, 2006
    Commenting in the Los Angeles Times, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law Jim Cox calls "stunning" allegations that executives of tech company created fictitious employees in order to manipulate stock options.
  • Civilian on trial on charges of beating an Afghan prisoner
    August 9, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, participates in discussion of the military trial of civilian and former CIA contractor David Passaro on NPR's "All things considered."
  • WADA seeks to ban altitude tents for Spirit of Sport clause
    August 9, 2006
    Professor Doriane Coleman tells Inside Triathlon that WADA's definition of the "spirit of sport" as it relates to the ban of altitude tents "failed to provide clarity."
  • A closed mind about the world of open systems
    August 8, 2006
    Writing in the Financial Times, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle challenges society's bias against open systems, open networks, and non-proprietary production.
  • Outspoken LAPD critic a gang backer, police say
    August 6, 2006
    Commenting in the Los Angeles Times, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky calls lawsuits and injunctions filed against an outspoken critic of the LAPD, "a real abuse of power."
  • Decker case is tricky, unclear
    August 5, 2006
    Commenting to The Charlotte Observer, Charles L.B. Lowndes Professor of Law Sara Beale says the case of former state Rep. Michael Decker presents a "built in conflict between [an] effort to police the honesty of the political process and private financing of the electoral problem -- and, indeed, a right to participate in that way."
  • Ex-CIA contractor David Passaro to stand trial in Afghan beating
    August 5, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells the Charlotte Observer that by subjecting CIA contractor David Passaro, a civilian, to military justice, Congress is "moving [toward ensuring] that there is criminal accountability for civilians accompanying the forces.
  • Public polled before Brown’s massacre trial
    August 3, 2006
    Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law and Psychology Neil Vidmar tells the Chicago Sun-Times that pre-trial surveys, like that being conducted in the Brown's Chicken massacre trial, are "increasingly common – particularly in cases that have generated large amounts of publicity.
  • Signing statements: It's a president's right
    August 3, 2006
    In the Boston Globe, Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law Curtis Bradley responds to ABA Task Force report on signing statements.
  • A slip of the pen
    July 31, 2006
    Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger writes in The New York Times that it is a mistake to respond to President Bush's abuses of signing statements by denying presidents the right to decline to execute unconstitutional laws.
  • Hearing urged in vital NLRB cases
    July 31, 2006
    In The National Law Journal, Professor Catherine Fisk joins a group of labor law professors urging the members of the National Labor Relations Board, which hasn't heard oral arguments in major labor cases in nearly six years, to return to arguments in a trio of pending cases that could be among the most significant in the board's history. (Subscription required)
  • Landis is on message, but points are disputed
    July 29, 2006
    Commenting in The New York Times on the furor surrounding Tour De France winner Floyd Landis' positive test for heightened levels of testosterone, Professor Doriane Coleman says "innocent until proven guilty" is not the standard in cycling.
  • Still trying to make sense of children’s brutal deaths
    July 28, 2006
    Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law and Psychology Neil Vidmar tells the Baltimore Sun that "DNA evidence might not be sufficient to sway [a] jury" in the second round of the trial of two men accused of killing three children two years ago in a Northwest Baltimore apartment.
  • Pro and con, all under one roof
    July 27, 2006
    In the International Herald Tribune, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox calls a comment denouncing H.J Heinz stock by an analyst whose firm represents the company "striking," especially "when you are still finding significant biases in analysts' reports for companies who are clients of the investment bank."

  • July 26, 2006
    Hewlett Packard's recent announcement that it will acquire Mercury Interactive will do nothing to shield the software firm from a widening federal investigation into option backdating, says Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox in the San Jose Mercury News.
  • Live at Altitude? Sure. Sleep there? Hmm
    July 26, 2006
    Professor Doriane Coleman comments in The New York Times on the WORLD Anti-Doping Agency's consideration of whether to include "altitude rooms" on its list of of prohibited methods. (Subscription required)
  • Cox on the spot
    July 25, 2006
    Commenting to American Public Media's "Marketplace" on SEC Chairman Chris Cox's testimony before Congress regarding his possible role in a politically motivated halt on an insider trader investigation, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says that should there be evidence that the pull back was a result of Congressional pressure, it would "put the SEC in the same class as the Chicago Black Sox scandal of years past."
  • Law and society
    July 25, 2006
    Professor Jedediah Purdy takes part in a discussion of whether and when law should lead social change or follow social custom on WUNC's "The State of Things."
  • Massey settles dispute over board seats with hedge fund
    July 25, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells the Daily Press that even the small stakeholders on a company's board of directors can be influential, as demonstrated by Kirk Kerkorian, who holds one seat on General Motors Corp. board of directors but is still influential.
  • Speakers cornered
    July 25, 2006
    Writing for Slate.com, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky, one of the lawyers representing former CIA operative Valerie Plame and former envoy Joseph Wilson in a civil suit against Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove, says there was "a concerted effort" within the White House administration to punish his clients.
  • Duke Law prof has pick of high-profile cases
    July 23, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky discusses his cases and career in The News & Observer's "Tar Heel of the Week" profile.
  • GOP lawmakers take aim at U.S. judiciary
    July 23, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in the Baltimore Sun on Congress' pursuit of 'jurisdiction stripping' as a means of judicial protest.
  • Las Vegas mayor suggests medieval stocks for graffiti vandals
    July 23, 2006
    In the Las Vegas Sun, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky calls a mayoral proposal that punishes graffiti vandals by placing them in medieval style stocks, giving the public a chance to paint their faces, a violation of the eighth amendment and offensive to evolving standards of decency.
  • Unsettling days for king of class actions
    July 23, 2006
    Professor Francis McGovern comments in the Los Angeles Times on the impact of attorney Bill Lerach on class-action suits.
  • Irish-American concern at extradition treaty
    July 21, 2006
    Professor Madeline Morris, testifying before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Friday, says there is nothing in the proposed US-UK extradition treaty that "threatens or impinges on the peaceful exercise of … civil and political rights," reports the Financial Times. (Subscription required)
  • The game’s not over, Round 2: Anderson’s woes may worsen if he won’t testify before new grand jury
    July 21, 2006
    Charles L.B. Lowndes Professor of Law Sara Beale comments in the San Francisco Chronicle on how covening a new grand jury to investigate charges of steroid abuse against Barry Bonds might benefit the prosecution's case.
  • Joe and Valerie’s lawyer
    July 20, 2006
    On Radio Blogger, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky discusses the Valerie Plame case and the just war doctrine as it applies to the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
  • Soldiers accused of rape and murder in Iraq face military justice
    July 20, 2006
    In The Mercury News, Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, helps explain the military procedure involved in trying four soldiers charged with raping a young girl and murdering members of her family in Iraq. (Subscription required)
  • Switching signals: TV about to go digital
    July 20, 2006
    The shift from analog to digital signals in broadcasting will have broad effects, says Professor Stuart Benjamin on CNN.com.
  • Impeachment inquiry of judge sought
    July 18, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky tells the Los Angeles Times that an investigation, lead by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, into the conduct of federal court judge Manuel Real shows that when "the judiciary's self-policing system fails, there is 'no alternative to impeachment.'"
  • When the boss gets option grants, it’s time to buy, study finds
    July 18, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments to Bloomberg.com on whether it is ok for investors to time stock purchases according to publicly disclosed option grants.
  • LAPD ‘Warrior Cops’ test city’s will
    July 16, 2006
    Altson & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments in the Los Angeles Times on efforts to curb LA's "warrior cops," saying that any genuine attempts to curb the LAPD's more aggressive, "proactive" police officers must include the implementation of computerized officer-tracking system as well as steps to break down the department's notorious "code of silence."
  • Law a little fuzzy
    July 16, 2006
    Charles L. B. Lowndes Emeritus Professor of Law William Reppy weighs in on the issue of pets as property in the St. Petersburg Times.
  • Scholars agree that Congress could reject conventions, but not that it should
    July 15, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells The New York Times that like any other law, the Geneva Treaty can be overridden by a new piece of legislation – meaning Congress can legally restrict the application of the Geneva conventions. (Subscription required)
  • Cheney, Rove and Libby are sued in agent’s unmasking
    July 14, 2006
    The Los Angeles Times reports that Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky is part of legal team representing former CIA operative Valerie Plame, and her husband, former envoy Joseph C. Wilson IV, in a suit against Vice President Dick Cheney and his former aide Karl Rove for their part in a federal leak, which Plame charges ruined her career and was meant to avenge her husband's critiques of the administration.
  • Feds investigating backdated options probe of scandal could involve at least 25 Bay Area companies
    July 14, 2006
    Professor James Cox tells the San Francisco Chronicle that indictments could come soon in an investigation by a special task force assembled to determine whether Bay Area companies and their executives fraudulently backdated stock-options grants.
  • USA anerkennen Gefangenen-Rechte -- USA recognizes prisoner rights
    July 14, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman comments in Switzerland's St. Galler Tagblatt on the Bush administration's acceptance of the applicability of Geneva Conventions to prisoners of the war on terror.
  • Medical Courts
    July 13, 2006
    Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law and Psychology Neil Vidmar discusses tort reform proposals currently before Congress, among them the establishment of medical courts on WUNC's "The State of the Things." (Audio required)
  • Senate: How much leeway for Bush?
    July 13, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells The Christian Science Monitor that in order to develop a fair and appropriate system for trying Guantanamo detainees, Congress and the White House must work together.
  • Sexual harassment case against Dorrance revived
    July 13, 2006
    Professor Tom Metzloff comments in the Knoxville News Sentinel on a a rare decision by the Virginia U.S. Circuit of Appeals to rehear an appeal by a former UNC soccer player, who sued her coach for sexual harassment, en banc – meaning all 15 circuit judges will sit together to hear oral arguments. (Subscription required)
  • Will US military treat detainees differently now?
    July 13, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells The Christian Science Monitor that a Pentagon memo extending the protections of the Geneva Conventions to detainees of the war on terror represents a "course correction" for the Bush administration.
  • Geneva policy won’t halt U.S. interrogations
    July 12, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security comments to Reuters on the level of protection extended under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and the protections accorded prisoners of war.
  • Terror and Power: Bush takes a step back
    July 12, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman comments in The New York Times on a Pentagon memo, which states that Geneva Conventions apply to Guantanamo detainees. (Subscription required).
  • Biopolitics
    July 10, 2006
    Professor Jedediah Purdy discusses the intersection of two trends: declining birth rates and the retirement of the baby boomer generation on WUNC's "The State of Things.
  • Congress argues the recrafting of terror tribunals
    July 10, 2006
    Noting that the U.S. is under attack for atrocities in Iraq and treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, Professor and executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman says in The Christian Science Monitor that a "higher standard" for detainee treatment would signal to the rest of the world "that we are treating these people under the rule of law.
  • Russel Norman: Free trade costs local liberty
    July 10, 2006
    In The New Zealand Herald, Professor Joost Pauwelyn says that a special exemption enacted by the US to protect laws banning internet gambling is yet another example of "how deeply WTO commitments may penetrate the regulatory powers of its member countries."
  • His hipness, John G. Roberts
    July 9, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science  Erwin Chemerinsky comments in The New York Times on the clarity of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' writing as demonstrated by his first-term opinions, noting that "his prose style is clear and easy to follow." (Subscription required).
  • Survey: Majority opposes student database
    July 8, 2006
    Professor Erwin Chemerinsky tells the Durham Herald-Sun that a proposal by the federal commission to create a national database to collect personal information from college students poses an "inherent security risk."
  • Courts-martial can put terror on trial
    July 6, 2006
    Writing in The News & Observer, Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman advocates for the use of courts-martial as a way of tryingGuantanamo detainees now that the Supreme Court has ruled the use of military commissions as a means of prosecution illegal.
  • Ex-GI accused in Iraq rape had rocky past
    July 6, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells The New York Times that an ex-GI's psychiatric diagnosis will not make it easier for his attorneys to plead insanity in the face of Iraq rape and murder charges.
  • Iraqi rape and murders
    July 6, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, explains on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" why an ex-GI accused of raping and murdering an Iraqi woman and members of her family is to be tried in federal court and not a military court-martial.
  • Lifting the lid: Murdoch meeting raises disclosure issues
    July 6, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments to Reuters about a possible violation of U.S. selective disclosure laws by News Corp., owners of MySpace.com.
  • Another Merck drug is under legal attack
    July 5, 2006
    Professor Francis McGovern tells the Los Angeles Times that the relatively low number of lawsuits filed against Merck's Fosamax, compared to the company's pain reliever Vioxx, is evidence that trial lawyers have become more cautious about the number and quality of cases they take on.
  • Supreme Court more conservative, fragmented
    July 4, 2006
    Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger calls Hamdan the “single most important decision on limits on presidential power in the history of the Supreme Court," on NPR's "Morning Edition.
  • Supreme Court Roundup
    July 3, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, discusses the Supreme Court's decision on Guantanamo Bay military commissions on NPR's "The Diane Rehm Show." (audio)
  • The merits of the new NBA age restriction
    July 3, 2006
    Professor Paul Haagen tells the Augusta Free Press that while it is possible for legal challenges to be brought against the NBA's new age restriction, it is highly unlikely.
  • Kennedy Reigns Supreme on Court
    July 2, 2006
    Professor Neil Siegel comments to the Washington Post on Justice Kennedy's new prominence as a centrist "swing vote" on the Supreme Court.
  • Kennedy said to be relishing role as Supreme Court's 'swing vote'
    July 2, 2006
    Professor Neil Siegel, commenting in the Houston Chronicle on Justice Kennedy's new role as a centrist on the Court, says that more than some other justices, "Kennedy sees real values in conflict in the court's cases."
  • Kennedy--the new point man
    July 2, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky comments to the San Francisco Chronicle on the prominence of Justice Kennedy and the performance of Justices Roberts and Alito during the 2005-06 Supreme Court term.
  • The Court enters the war, loudly
    July 2, 2006
    Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law Curtis Bradley comments to The New York Times on the Hamdan majority's rejection of the argument that the president is free to ignore Congressional limitations on his power, noting that the Court might have "had in mind controversies like the N.S.A. terrorist surveillance program."
  • Analysts try to pinpoint next options subpoena
    July 1, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells The Seattle Times that in order for analysts to determine whether the markets have overreacted to the stock-options scandal, they will need to go beyond identifying which company will be investigated next.
  • Duke Law School says ruling a victory
    June 30, 2006
    Professor Madeline Morris, director of the Guantanamo Defense Clinic, tells Durham's Herald Sun that the Hamdan ruling means that international treaty law and the Geneva Conventions become directly enforceable in U.S. courts. Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law Curtis Bradley adds that the decision appears to bolster Congress' authority in wartime policy making.
  • Guantanamo Decision Puts President in Difficult Spot
    June 30, 2006
    Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law Curtis Bradley tells NPR's "Morning Edition" that the Hamdan decision should be viewed as more of a separation of powers decision than one concerning individual liberties.
  • Hamdan ruling a victory for the rule of law
    June 30, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky calls the Supreme Court's Hamdan decision "a huge victory for the rule of law." Orange County Register
  • High court rules against Gitmo trials
    June 30, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells Newsday that while the Supreme Court ruling on Guantanamo military commissions did not go as far as it could have in defining the war on terror, it told the administration the courts will not hestitate to get involved in determining its parameters.
  • Justices limit wartime powers
    June 30, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells the Baltimore Sun that though the Court didn't specifically tell the Bush administration that they had to comply with Geneva Convention protections outside the limits of military commissions, the Guantanamo ruling was "clearly a bowshot."
  • Making Sense of the Hamdan Ruling
    June 30, 2006
    Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger helps The Wall Street Journal make sense of the Hamdan ruling. (Subscription required).
  • The Breakfast Table: A Supreme Court Conversation
    June 30, 2006
    In Slate, Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger calls Hamdan "simply the most important decision on presidential power and the rule of law ever."
  • After the Ruling, Impact on Guantanamo Prisoners
    June 29, 2006
    Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law Walter Dellinger tells ABC News that in light of the Hamdan ruling, the treatment of Guantanomo prisoners must meet the standards of humaneness called for by the Geneva Conventions.
  • Court curbs Bush power, fans Guantanamo debate
    June 29, 2006
    Professor Scott Silliman, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, tells the Washington Post that while the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld only applies to 10 detainees, it opens the question about what to do with approximately 440 others.
  • Supreme Court Blocks Guantanamo Trials
    June 29, 2006
  • Professor Scott Silliman tells NPR's "Morning Edition" that the Hamdan ruling may give a boost to detainees challenging their detention in federal court, because both U.S. and international law, including the Geneva Conventions, must be followed.  

  • Supreme Court decides hot-button issues in latest term
    June 28, 2006
    Considering Justice Anthony Kennedy's centrist role in some of the Court's key cases this term, Professor Neil Siegel tells the Times Record News that, "at least until the next vacancy, this is now the Kennedy Court."
  • Is law on the side of Guantanamo?
    June 27, 2006
    Responding to Eric Posner's June New York Times op-ed, "A Threat That Belongs Behind Bars," Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinksy writes that Guantanamo detainees should be accorded the same procedural protections given to American solders. (Subscription required)
  • Pirates plundering films
    June 26, 2006
    William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle tells the Los Angeles Daily News that to lump the sharing of music legitimately owned with the mass-market copying of trademarked goods, under the label of piracy, is to do "ourselves an injustice"
  • The road from Guantanamo
    June 25, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinksy tells The Boston Globe that closing the Guantanamo detention center should not mean less procedural protection for its detainees.
  • High Court saves some best cases for last
    June 24, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinksy comments in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Justice Anthony Kennedy's role on the new Court.
  • Is the common good good
    June 22, 2006
    In a response to American Prospect Editor Michael Tomasky's May article "A Party in Search of a Notion," Professor Jedediah Purdy reflects on how progressives might address the issue of "the common good. (Registration required)
  • Professor criticizes medical court plan
    June 22, 2006
    At a Senate committee hearing, Russell M. Robinson II Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology Neil Vidmar criticized a bill that would move medical malpractice claims into a special health courts and impose damge caps in medical liability suits, reports the Durham Herald Sun.
  • Thinking outside the blog
    June 22, 2006
    Washington Post Columnist David Broder calls the first issue of "Democracy: A Journal of Ideas" "impressive," singling out Professor Jedediah Purdy's essay, "The New Biopolitics" as proactive.
  • Critics say antiporn effort could affect wrong sites
    June 21, 2006
    Commenting in The New York Times, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle cautions that the new Internet Safety Act, which is intended to curb child pornography on the Internet, could also limit content that is not pornographic. (Subscription required)
  • New arguments on affirmative action
    June 21, 2006
    Inside Higher Ed discusses affirmative action debates brewing in law reviews, including those stemming from an article written by Professors James Coleman and Mitu Gulati for the North Carolina Law Review.
  • Plans for new broadcasting rights anger podcasters
    June 21, 2006
    William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle discusses controversial new broadcasting treaty in Out-Law News.
  • The new biolpolitics
    June 21, 2006
    Writing in Democracy, Professor Jedediah Purdy explores the implications of such global demographic trends as low birth rates in Europe and Japan, the tendency to abort female fetuses in a number of Asian countries, and the growing "surplus" of single men. (Registration required)
  • Battling the copyright monster
    June 19, 2006
    In Wired News, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, discuss their comic book "Bound by Law? Tales from the Public Domain," which explores how copyright affects documentary filmmakers.
  • Seeking an exit strategy for Guantanamo
    June 18, 2006
  • Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics & National Security Scott Silliman tells The New York Times that America's failure to charge Guantanamo detainees has made other countries reluctant to incarcerate them, should the prison be closed. (Subscription required)

  • AF ‘unretires’ D-M sgt. for court martial
    June 15, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells the Arizona Daily Star that the Air Force's unretiring of an Air Force Base technical sergeant is rare and only done when "alleged crimes are deemed especially disgraceful."
  • Investigating the backdating game: Widespread exposure of stock options revision points to national scandal
    June 14, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells Newsday that while the dollar amounts gained in the options backdating scandal are not as significant as gains from the 2003 mutual fund scandal, options backdating has done more to "erode public confidence" in companies.
  • Bush faces mounting Guantanamo pressure after detainee suicides
    June 13, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells Bloomberg.com that the recent suicides of three Guantanamo detainees may threaten U.S. alliances in the war on terror.
  • James Boyle: Constitutional circumvention
    June 13, 2006
    Writing in the Financial Times, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle warns against the WIPO's proposal to extend intellectual property rights for broadcasters and to webcasting, saying the focus should be "on rules of conduct, not rights over content."
  • Beware the anti-freedom amendment
    June 9, 2006
    Writing in The News & Observer on the proposed amendment banning gay marriage, Professor Neil Siegel cautions against amendments to the Constitution that "narrow its promises of liberty and equality"
  • Bug chasers, a dangerous problem
    June 9, 2006
    Carolyn McAllaster, founder and director of the AIDS Legal Assistance Clinic, weighs in on the legal implications of "bug chasing," a phenomenon among a subculture of gay men who actively seek to contract HIV. (asap)
  • Court ruling undermines all our rights
    June 5, 2006
    Writing in the Durham Herald-Sun, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky says that by denying free speech protection to government whistleblowers, the Supreme Court has also denied "the right of people to know."
  • Options timing invites scrutiny
    June 4, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells the Palm Beach Post that the latest wave of companies suspected of backdating stock options is just another example of "individuals abusing their position to enrich themselves at somebody else's expense."
  • Ruling against integration plans could add to L.A. schools burden
    June 4, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky tells the Los Angeles Times that the Supreme Court's decision regarding the constitutionality of desegregation programs in Seattle and Louisville, Ky. could have application in Los Angeles.
  • Durham council decision clouded
    June 3, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells The News & Observer that it would be irresponsible for Durham officials to approve a deal with Rice Financial Products Co., a company embroiled in a California bribery scandal.
  • Lawyers go to war
    June 3, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman discusses in The Tampa Bay Tribune the merits of military lawyers at times of war
  • Haditha killings recall Vietnam’s My Lai
    June 2, 2006
    In The Washington Post, Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman calls direct comparisons between Vietnam's My Lai and civilian killings in Haditha, Iraq misinformed.
  • More alleged U.S. military atrocities?
    June 1, 2006
    Professor and Executive Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman tells Anderson Cooper of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" that a central question in the investigation of the alleged Haditha murders is "who knew and when did they know it?"
  • Scandal snares M-systems
    June 1, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells SmartMoney.com that M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers launching an internal probe of the company's past stock-options grants might be a smart move, given recent changes to laws and securities regulations.
  • Legal eagles eye Vonage
    May 31, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells The Street.com that recent allegations against telecommunications company Vonage could attract the attention of the SEC.
  • Live Today
    May 31, 2006
    Professor and Director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security Scott Silliman discusses the military's investigation into the controversial deaths of civilians in Haditha, Iraq.
  • Risks of DNA testing in search for ancestors
    May 30, 2006
    On NPR's "News & Notes," Professor of Law and William R. Kenan Professor of English Karla Holloway discusses the challenges of using DNA testing to discover ancestral heritage.
  • Sarbanes defends legacy measure
    May 30, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox tells the Baltimore Sun that the "rhetoric of the law's [Sarbanes-Oxley Act] opponent is largely uniformed and irrational."
  • When an ex moves, do the kids go too?
    May 30, 2006
    On NPR's "Morning Edition," Dean and A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law Katharine Bartlett comments on the courts ongoing struggle determining when and if it is ok to allow divorced parents to relocate with children, when the other parent objects.
  • The Duke Witch Hunt
    May 28, 2006
    New York Times columnist David Brooks praises depth and integrity of report by Duke Lacrosse Ad Hoc Review Committee, headed by Professor James Coleman. (Subscription required).
  • UNC might require prints
    May 27, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky tells The News & Observer that while a bill requiring students enrolling in any of the state's 16 public universities to undergo criminal background checks does not raise a constitutional problem, compelling students to get fingerprinted, also a provision of the bill, is "likely to face opposition."
  • Prosecutors target new business scandals
    May 26, 2006
    In the Houston Chronicle, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox says that the recent conviction of former Enron Corp. executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling will encourage prosecutors to look at corporations and their executives more closely.
  • GOP, Dem bigs blast FBI
    May 25, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky tells the New York Daily News that the FBI's search of a congressional office "risks things being taken that are clearly protected by the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause."
  • U.S. probe into options widens to rival fund scandal (Update 1
    May 25, 2006
    Commenting to Bloomberg, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox calls the recent investigation into U.S. companies suspected of backdating stock options the "biggest pervasive financial scandal in capital markets" since the 2003 mutual-fund scandal.
  • Hasteret, Pelosi both condemn FBI seizure of congressman’s files
    May 24, 2006
    In The Mercury News, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky, emphasizing the need to protect constitutionally protected material, suggests a possible alternative to the FBI's weekend seizure of congressional office files.
  • N.C. Mandate one of toughest in nation
    May 22, 2006
    Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Political Science Erwin Chemerinsky tells the Ashville Citizen-Times that the right to privacy upheld in Lawrence v. Texas could factor in the case against a Northern Buncombe High School teacher's assistant who is charged with having an affair with an 18-year-old student.
  • Cloudy and Fair
    May 19, 2006
    On NPR's "On the Media," William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law James Boyle argues that copyright holders have ushered in a "permissions culture" that ignores the laws governing fair use.
  • Lifting the lid: NY lawyer contender for torts crown
    May 19, 2006
    In the Washington Post, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments on the likelihood of John "Sean" Coffey and his firm, Bernstein, Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, replacing recently indicted Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP as the country's most prominent class-action firm.
  • McGuire’s future on the line
    May 19, 2006
    Brainerd Currie Professor of Law James Cox comments in the Pioneer Press on which factors might prompt UnitedHealth's board of directors to call for the resignation of Chairman and CEO William McGuire.
  • Youth, good looks a gold mine on LV strip
    May 19, 2006
    Professor Catherine Fisk tells the Las Vegas Sun that in order for trendy Las Vegas businesses to make the