Obituary: Merton Bernstein, emeritus professor of law, 96
Merton C. Bernstein, the Walter D. Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, died at his home in Brewster, Mass., on Aug. 3, 2019. He was 96. More information
Leila Sadat and Madaline George Op-Ed on Gun Rights/Human Rights
Two more public mass shootings. More thoughts and prayers. We are staring down the barrel of 25 years of legislative failure. The last major federal gun control measure was the Brady Act, enacted in 1993. Although the House passed two significant gun control measures earlier this year, the bills didn’t get a hearing in the…
Javad Khazaeli, JD ’02 Discusses His Work In Ferguson
Javad Khazaeli, JD ’02, contributes to Chapter 2 of the In St. Louis project, which focuses on the fifth anniversary of the conflict in Ferguson, MO. The project is designed to explore — through the experiences, scholarship, work, and voices of St. Louisans — what it means to be in St. Louis today. It was developed…
Professor Dan Epps Discusses How to Save the Supreme Court
During the July 30 Democratic presidential debate, candidate Pete Buttigieg renewed his calls to “depoliticize the Supreme Court with structural reform.” Buttigieg has previously endorsed a Supreme Court reform proposal offered by Daniel Epps, associate professor in the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. Epps’ article, “How to Save the Supreme Court,”…
Professor Greg Magarian Remembers Justice John Paul Stevens
Constitutional law expert Greg Magarian, the Thomas and Karole Green Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, served as a judicial clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. He offers this remembrance of the former justice: “John Paul Stevens was one of the greatest justices who ever graced the…
WashU Expert: Latest Trump asylum change is illegal
Attorney General William Barr announced July 15 a new Trump Administration plan, effective the next day, barring Central American immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States unless they seek it first in other Central American countries, a move that a Washington University in St. Louis immigration expert says “violates the clear language of the…
Professor Brian Tamanaha wins 2019 Book Prize for best book in Legal Philosophy from 2016-18
Brian Tamahana, John S. Lehmann University Professor, has received the 2019 Book Prize for best book in Legal Philosophy from 2016-18 for his publication, Realistic Theory of Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017). The award, given by the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, was awarded last week in Lucerne at their biennial…
Crime and punishment: Two students embody lessons taught in law school class
Students in the first-year “Criminal Law” class of John Inazu spent a semester learning about theories of punishment, questions of whether criminal justice can remedy injustice and issues of equity in sentencing. But 1L’s Elizabette (Liz) Privat and Grayson Cornwell embodied the lessons taught by Inazu. Learn more
Professor Marion Crain to Serve as Washington University Interim Provost
Washington University in St. Louis will begin a national search this summer for its next provost, according to Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. A nine-member committee will be tasked with finding a successor for Holden Thorp, who will conclude his term on July 15 after serving in the role since 2013. Marion Crain, who holds a…
WashU Law Alumni Deliver Great Performances in Mediation & Negotiation Competitions in Rome and Paris
Alumni of Washington University in St. Louis Deliver Great Performances in Mediation & Negotiation Competitions in Rome and Paris.
Faculty Scholarship: Teacher for the Nation by Daniel Epps
Abstract In these brief remarks, delivered at the Hastings Law Journal’s Symposium on the Jurisprudence of Justice Kennedy, I discuss Justice Kennedy’s impact on American law. I reflect on the events that led to Justice Kennedy’s appointment to the Supreme Court and discuss his vision of the Justices as teachers for the nation and how…
Faculty Scholarship: Holmes, Humility, and How Not to Kill Each Other by John Inazu
Abstract Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s dissent in Abrams v. United States is one of the intellectual anchors of modern First Amendment doctrine. In that opinion, Holmes sets out two core aspects of his free speech jurisprudence: his pragmatic concern about majoritarian control and his quasi-libertarian preference for the “competition of the market.” In the century…