In the News - October 26, 2020

Media Highlights

How Should We Use Public Lands? Voters Will Help Decide
Aspen Public Radio—October 23, 2020
John Leshy: “I think it’s fair to say the Trump administration’s policies aim at nothing less than a complete upending of many decades of bipartisan policy making concerning public lands.”

Why the U.S. President Can’t Mandate a COVID-19 Vaccine
Quartz—October 22, 2020
Dorit Reiss: The Tenth Amendment of the constitution says that any law the constitution doesn’t cover goes to the states—and “the constitution doesn’t mention the words ‘public health.’”

Stressing Freedom, Vaccine Opponents Rebranding in Virus Era
Washington Post—October 22, 2020
Dorit Reiss: “I do think we are seeing an increase in people in support of them just because more people are vulnerable, upset and distrustful. And the anti-vaccine movement knows exactly what to say.”

Google Has Monopoly Over Android App Market, Suit Says
The Daily Journal—October 22, 2020
Samuel Miller: “Courts say, ‘Well, every company has control over its brand. But you have to look at what other alternatives consumers can turn to to consider whether there are competitive restraints on a dominant company.” (paywall/subscription req.)

Conservatives Accuse Facebook, Twitter of Censoring Free Speech as Election Day Nears
ABC7 News—October 21, 2020
Drew Amerson: “What Section 230 really did at its core is open up the internet. It allowed free speech to flourish.”

D.C. Attorney General Sues Washington Hebrew Congregation Preschool, Contends It Failed to Protect Children from Alleged Sexual Abuse
Washington Post—October 21, 2020
Shanin Specter: “These civil charges are a necessary step in the right direction. But they are not sufficient to achieve justice for our clients or the other families who have suffered enormously these past two years.”

Coronavirus in Jails and Prisons
The Appeal—October 21, 2020
Hadar Aviram: Aviram notes that the decision leaves the method of population reduction to CDCR’s discretion.

PA Supreme Court OKs Jurisdiction in $12.85M Pelvic Mesh Case, Limiting Impact of Defense-Friendly SCOTUS Ruling
The Legal Intelligencer—October 21, 2020
Shanin Specter: “Given that the defective mesh that brutally injured Patricia Hammons was made in Pennsylvania, this was never a close call. We do, however, expect [Johnson & Johnson] to seek relief in the U.S. Supreme Court. We expect to win there, too.”

Green Groups Plot Challenges to Land Plans Following Court Ruling
Bloomberg Law—October 20, 2020
John Leshy: To determine the vulnerability of other land bureau plans outside of Montana, “one would have to comb the decision-making record in each instance to see where Pendley’s fingerprints are.”

California Court of Appeals Orders 50% Population Reduction at San Quentin Prison
ABC7—October 20, 2020
Hadar Aviram: More than 1,000 inmates need to be released or transferred to another facility so they [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] can provide measures to protect against COVID-19.

San Quentin Must Release or Transfer Half Its Prisoners Because of Lack of COVID Care, Court Rules
San Francisco Chronicle—October 20, 2020
Hadar Aviram: “I think we may have saved some lives.”

The Fate of Gig Workers Is in the Hands of California Voters
Wired—October 20, 2020
Veena Dubal: “The economics of ride-hailing is not likely to create a better scenario for employees.”

Gig Companies Are Making Their Workers Promote Prop. 22
KQED—October 20, 2020
David Levine: What these gig companies have made workers do “could be in violation of California labor code sections 1101 and 1102.”

California Will Review COVID-19 Vaccines Independently Amid Distrust of Trump Administration
USC Annenberg Media—October 20, 2020
Dorit Reiss: “It might be better for the states to highlight the three federal expert committees that exist and require transparency.”

Trump’s Other Wall: How the U.S. President Quietly Won his War on Migration
The Telegraph—October 15, 2020
Karen Musalo: “To pretend that Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are safe is divorced from reality and it is in violation of U.S. law, which stipulates third countries must have a full and fair asylum system for determining refugee status. These countries do not.” (paywall/subscription req.)

What Does Insulin Cost and What’s Behind the Skyrocketing Prices?
VeryWell Health—October 15, 2020
Robin Feldman: “Insulin is a very old drug. We’ve known about it for a long time. Patients shouldn’t be paying through the nose for it now a hundred years later.”

COVID-19: Your Job and Your Rights
Court Radio—October 11, 2020
Shanin Specter: Specter discusses tort issues related to COVID-19. Listen here.

Can the President Be Sued for COVID Transmission?
Radio.com—October 10, 2020
Shanin Specter: Specter was interviewed about whether President Trump may be civilly liable for COVID transmission. “The president, like all of us, has a duty to act reasonably.” Listen here.

College and Community Stories

SCOTUS to Hear CGRS’ Challenge to ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy
The Supreme Court has agreed to review a Ninth Circuit decision that held illegal a Trump administration policy that forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico in dangerous conditions as their claims for protection in the United States are considered.

Scholarly Leadership

Binyamin Blum: Published his chapter, “From Bedouin Trackers to Doberman Pinschers: The Rise of Dog Tracking as Forensic Evidence in Palestine,” in Global Forensic Cultures.

Robin Feldman: Received the Leon I. Goldberg Lecture Award from the University of Chicago Pritzker Medical School for her work on pharmaceutical innovation, pricing, and access. She was the first non-medical professional to receive the award in its nearly 30-year history. In conjunction with the award, Feldman delivered a “grand rounds” lecture on her research to medical faculty, staff, and students at the University of Chicago.

Upcoming Events

Faculty Colloquium: Oct. 27, Populist Prosecutorial Nullification
Join Kerrel Murray of UNC Law as he discusses his research on prosecutors who choose not to charge certain crimes. Open to students, staff and the public.

CNDR: Oct. 28, Lunch and Learn Series
Professor John Lande will describe how practitioners can combine supposedly inconsistent negotiation models based on the framework his new book, Litigation Interest and Risk Assessment: Help Your Clients Make Good Litigation Decisions.

UCLA Anderson/UC Law SF: Nov. 10, 3rd Annual Regional Outlook
San Francisco Economic Outlook and Pension Policy. Join Jared Ellias and economic experts from UCLA as they unravel the many layers of events affecting the outlook for the State and Bay Area, provide insights about where the economy is headed, and where it might lose its footing.

Office of the Academic Dean: Nov. 10, Post-Election Consequences on the Domestic Front
Join Sarah Hooper, Shauna Marshall, Zachary Price, Jodi Short, and Rory Little as they explore domestic implications of the November 3rd election, including issues of health care, race, criminal justice, administrative law, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Faculty Colloquium: Nov. 12, Corporate Community Lawyering
Join Alina Ball, founding director of the Social Enterprise & Economic Empowerment Clinic, as she discusses Corporate Community Lawyering. Open to students, staff and the public.

Office of the Academic Dean: Nov. 12, What’s Next? Foreign Policy and International Affairs in the Next Administration
Join Chimène Keitner, David Takacs, Karen Musalo, Joel Paul, and Naomi Roht-Arriaza as they discuss foreign policy, immigration policy, climate change, and the pandemic. Free and open to the public.