Public Interest News
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Consumer financing expert Paige Marta Skiba seeks to prevent a wave of consumer bankruptcies as unemployment aid ends
Skiba cochairs an interdisciplinary group of scholars who recommend interventions to protect households from debt collection, foreclosure, eviction, and bankruptcy, and to position the bankruptcy system to respond to consumer needs during the pandemic. Read MoreAug. 17, 2020
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Jennifer Prusak to launch new Housing Law Clinic at Vanderbilt Law
Prusak has joined Vanderbilt’s clinical law faculty. She has more than 15 years of experience advocating for low-income tenants and fair housing Read MoreAug. 13, 2020
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Stanton Foundation First Amendment Clinic wins case for Tennesseans for Sensible Election Laws
Students in the clinic, directed by Gautam Hans, worked with Daniel Horwitz ’13 to defend a nonprofit group’s satirical mailer criticizing a Tennessee state representative. Read MoreAug. 10, 2020
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Taylor Owings ’13 named acting chief of staff of U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division
Owings joined the Justice Department as counsel to the assistant attorney general in February 2018. She had previously practiced antitrust law in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Read MoreJul. 28, 2020
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Blumstein and Yadav appointed to Tennessee Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
James F. Blumstein, a noted expert in constitutional law and health law and policy, and finincial regulatory expert Yesha Yadav will serve four-year terms on the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the US. Commission on Civil Rights. Read MoreJul. 14, 2020
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Free Justice, a new book by Sara Mayeux, chronicles the history of public defenders in the U.S.
Legal historian Sara Mayeux’s book focuses on the legal struggle for due process in twentieth-century America. Read MoreJul. 10, 2020
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Immigration Practice Clinic students work pro bono to support communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19
Cloe Anderson ’21, Grace Ko ’21 and Sarah Dvorak ’22 help draft resolution passed by the Nashville Metropolitan Council drawing attention to increased harassment and discrimination directed at Asian immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read MoreJul. 8, 2020
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Anti-discrimination law expert Jessica Clarke discusses the Supreme Court DACA case and its implications for discrimination law
The Supreme Court's DACA decision has given Dreamers new hope, but it could have dangerous implications for anti-discrimination law, by suggesting that courts should not consider the biased statements of policymakers in evaluating whether their policies were motivated by discriminatory intent. Read MoreJun. 25, 2020
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Chris Slobogin proposes substantive reforms to federal criminal courts and sentencing
In a forthcoming California Law Review article, Slobogin proposes the establishment of separate federal courts specializing in criminal cases, backed by a National Court of Criminal Appeals, along with a “modernized regime” of indeterminate sentencing to relieve overcrowded dockets in the federal justice system and reduce the federal prison population. The article is discussed in a June 12 article, "The Case for Federal Criminal Courts and Sentencing Reform," published by The Crime Report. Slobogin directs the Criminal Justice Program at Vanderbilt. Read MoreJun. 12, 2020
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Time to Act: A Message from Dean Chris Guthrie
The recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and countless others form part of a long and tragic history of racial violence and injustice. It is time for us to act. Read MoreJun. 5, 2020