Media Contacts
Vanderbilt has a campus broadcast facility with a dedicated fiber optic line for live TV interviews and a radio ISDN line. Vanderbilt News Service (615-322-2706) has 24/7 on-call information.
April 18, 2007: Suzanna Sherry comments on the Supreme Court’s decision on late-term abortions
Suzanna Sherry, Vanderbilt's Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, said the Supreme Court had two main issues to deal with in the ruling, handed down in a 5-4 vote on April 18, 2007, upholding a ban on a type of late-term abortion. The court found that the national Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, passed in 2003, does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. Sherry said the court first had to determine whether the federal law can be distinguished from a Nebraska law that the court struck down in 2000. In holding the new law constitutional, the court found that unlike the Nebraska law, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act clearly explains what procedures are prohibited, so doctors know what they’re not allowed to do. Sherry said the Supreme Court also held that because the act explained precisely what type of late-term abortion is prohibited, it allowed other second-trimester abortions to remain legal, again unlike the Nebraska law. Second, the Supreme Court considered was whether the law was unconstitutional because it offered no exception allowing for the procedure to be performed to save the health of the woman. Sherry said the Supreme Court held that there was no medical consensus on whether this type of late-term abortion is necessary, so Congress did not have to put in an exception. “But the court left the door open for future challenges,” said Sherry. “The Supreme Court says the ruling can be challenged if that specific type of abortion is determined to be the safest medical option for particular medical circumstances.” Sherry, who is the author of more than 70 books and articles on constitutional law and the Supreme Court, is considered one of the top scholars in the field of constitutional law and the Supreme Court. Email: suzanna.sherry@vanderbilt.edu
Supreme Court Decisions, Environmental Law
Mike Vandenbergh, Professor of Law, and Lisa Bressman, Professor of Law - Mike Vandenbergh and Lisa Bressman can both comment on the April 2, 2007, 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court that the federal government has the authority to regulate the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by motor vehicles. Email: michael.vandenbergh@vanderbilt.edu and lisa.bressman@vanderbilt.edu
International Criminal Tribunals, War Crimes, Military Law
Mike Newton, Acting Associate Clinical Professor of Law
Mike Newton helped establish the Iraqi Special Tribunal and led the training in international criminal law for its judges, including holding sessions in Baghdad. He still advises the tribunal and is part of the academic consortium supporting it. He helped establish the leading online source of information regarding the trial, www.law.case.edu/saddamtrial, and has been a frequent commentator online and in broadcast media on the trial. Prior to his retirement from active duty, he taught international law at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Formerly on faculty at the Judge Advocate General’s School, he also was senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, where he implemented policies relating to international criminal law and the law of armed conflict. He was one of two U.S. delegates negotiating the Elements of Crimes document for the International Criminal Court. He has extensive national media document for the International Criminal Court. He has extensive national media experience. Phone: 615-322-2912, News Service 615-322-2706 E-mail: mike.newton@vanderbilt.edu
International Law, International Criminal Tribunals, War Crimes, Criminal Law
Allison Marston Danner, Professor of Law
Allison Danner is a strong resource in international law and criminal justice, and currently teaches public international law and criminal law courses. She can discuss the legal issues surrounding prisoner abuse reports, Geneva Conventions, international criminal tribunals and legal responsibility for war crimes. She has authored amicus briefs on the law of war in litigation over the rights of enemy combatants, advised the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and has published numerous journal articles on the subject. Phone: 615-322-6762, News Service: 615-322-2706 E-mail: allison.danner@vanderbilt.edu
Corporate and Securities Law, Executive Compensation, Stock Option Plans
Randall Thomas, John S. Beasley II Professor of Law and Business; director, Law & Business Program
Randall Thomas has earned a reputation for being one of the most productive and thoughtful corporate and securities law scholars in the nation. His work, which incorporates his background in economics, includes articles on executive compensation, corporate voting, corporate litigation and the structure of firms. Those articles include “Litigating Challenges to Executive Pay: An Exercise in Futility?”; “The Globalization Trend for Executive Pay”; and “Should Shareholders Have a Greater Say Over Executive Pay? Learning from the U.S. Experience.” Phone: 615-343-3814, News Service: 615-322-2706. E-mail: randall.thomas@vanderbilt.edu
Corporate Bankruptcy, International Bankruptcy Law, History of Bankruptcy
Robert K. Rasmussen, Milton Underwood Chair in Law; director, Law & Human Behavior Program
Bob Rasmussen is a leading scholar in the field of corporate bankruptcy. His work examines the extent to which market forces can improve the operation of corporate reorganization law. Rasmussen’s recent work demonstrates how private actors have changed bankruptcy practice so that, by the time a firm files for bankruptcy, most of the important decisions will either be made by or heavily influenced by the firm’s major creditors. Phone: 615-322-2810, News Service: 615-322-2706 E-mail: robert.rasmussen@vanderbilt.edu
Corporate Law, Corporate Governance
Margaret Blair, Professor of Law
Margaret Blair is a leading scholar in corporate law. A former senior fellow of the Brookings Institute, she is an expert on corporate governance. She had a prior career as a journalist, serving as bureau chief for Business Week magazine in the late 1970s and early 1980s.Phone: 615-322-6087, News Service: 615-322-2706. E-mail: margaret.blair@vanderbilt.edu.
Medical Ethics, Law and Genetics, Health Legal Issues
Ellen Wright Clayton, Professor of Pediatrics; Professor of Law; Rosalind E. Franklin Professor of Genetics and Health Policy
As a physician and attorney, Clayton provides a unique perspective to medical ethics issues. Her primary research interest is in the ethical, legal and social implications of recent developments in genetics. She also specializes in medical ethics and legal issues affecting children and families. She has been an active participant in policy debates, advising the National Human Genome Research Institute and numerous bodies concerned with the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects. Phone: 615-322-1186, News Service: 615-322-2706. E-mail: ellen.clayton@vanderbilt.edu.
Health Policy Law, Medical Ethics, Medical Malpractice, Health Care Regulation and Antitrust, Supreme Court Decisions, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Voting Rights
James Blumstein, University Professor of Constitutional Law and Health Law and Policy; Director, Health Policy Center, Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies—Jim Blumstein has been principal investigator on a number of grants concerning managed care, hospital management and medical malpractice. He co-authored a major study on TennCare, one of the first statewide experiments in universally enrolling Medicaid patients in managed care. He has been elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and is co-editor of a leading casebook on health law and policy. He has extensive experience with national media outlets. Phone: 615-322-0045, News Service: 615-322-2706. E-mail: james.blumstein@vanderbilt.edu.
Torts, Tort Reform, Punitive Damages and Contracts
John C.P. Goldberg, Professor of Law; Associate Dean for Research—John Goldberg has established himself as a leading thinker in the area of torts and tort reform. He also can discuss punitive damages and damages caps. Phone: 615-343-6133, News Service: 615-322-2706 E-mail: john.goldberg@law.vanderbilt.edu.
Mass Torts, Class-Action Lawsuits, Class-Action Reform, Complex Litigation
Richard A. Nagareda, Professor of Law; Director, Cecil D. Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program
Richard Nagareda has done numerous interviews on complex litigation and mass torts. He has commented on class-action litigation involving a wide range of defendants, from tobacco companies to breast implant manufacturers and fast food chains. He is an expert on the Class-Action Fairness Act, which is attempting to reform the way class-action lawsuits are tried. He has written a new book Mass Torts in a World of Settlement, to be published in 2007, which addresses contemporary litigation such as that involving Cox-2 inhibitors and efforts to craft asbestos reform litigation. Phone: 615-322-5250, News Service: 615-322-2706. E-mail: richard.nagareda@law.vanderbilt.edu.
International Law & Human Rights, Intellectual Property & Litigation; Gay and Lesbian Rights,
Larry Helfer, Professor of Law; Director, International Legal Studies Program
Helfer advises and provides assistance to non-governmental organizations that engage in human rights advocacy. He has published numerous law review articles and lectured widely on international human rights, gay and lesbian rights, intellectual property and litigation and disputes. He also serves as an expert adviser to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which has published his book, Intellectual Property Rights in Plant Varieties: A Revised Overview with Options for National Governments. Phone: 615-322-6761, News Service: 615-322-2706. E-mail: larry.helfer@vanderbilt.edu
Civil Rights Law & Employment Law
Robert Belton, Professor of Law
Robert Belton is a leading scholar in the fields of employment law and civil rights law. Before joining the law faculty in 1975, Professor Belton was a nationally prominent civil rights attorney, first as Assistant Counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and then as a partner in one of the first racially integrated law firms in the South. His 2004 casebook (with Avery, Ontiveros and Corrada) on employment discrimination law is the first to extensively integrate critical race and feminist theory in a published set of teaching materials on employment discrimination law. Professor Belton has also authored a number of important articles on employment discrimination law. He is currently writing a book on Griggs v. Duke Power Company, a landmark civil rights case. Email: robert.belton@vanderbilt.edu
Judicial Politics & Decisions
Stefanie Lindquist, Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science
Stefanie Lindquist can also discuss controversial federal Court of Appeals cases. Lindquist has written or co-written numerous articles and made presentations concerning “The Impact of Presidential Appointments to the U.S.Supreme Court”; “Not the Whole Story: The Impact of the Justices’ Values on Supreme Court Decision Making”; “Weakening the Ties that Bind: Cohesive and Divisive Voting within Presidential Blocs on the U.S. Supreme Court”; and “Judicial Review in the Rehnquist Court: Explaining Justices’ Responses to Constitutional Challenges.” She also has written about “Congressional Responses to Federal Circuit Court Decisions” and is working on an article about judicial activism in the Supreme Court. Lindquist clerked for Judge Anthony Scirica at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia and was a research associate at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. Email: stefanie.lindquist@vanderbilt.edu.
