June 2019

Loyola faculty members pride themselves on being accessible to the media and part of the public discourse on news of legal significance. Visit Loyola's Summary Judgments faculty blog to read faculty opinions on current legal issues. Highlights of recent media appearances and quotations include:

CBS News – 06.29.19

SUPREME COURT BLOCKS CENSUS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION FOR NOW

The Supreme Court issued two major rulings on voting rights. One involved temporarily blocking the Trump administration's efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census and the other said federal courts cannot rule on questions of partisan gerrymandering. Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, and Bob Cusack, editor-in-chief of The Hill, joined CBSN to discuss.


Tribune Star – 06.29.19

HIGH COURT TELLS REFORMERS TO FIX IT THEMSELVES

Justin Levitt, an election law professor at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told National Public Radio the decision might not bode well for 2021 when lawmakers across the country begin drawing new legislative and congressional districts.


MSNBC – 06.29.19

IS GEORGIA’S HEARTBEAT LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL?

A federal lawsuit has just been filed, challenging Georgia’s law that bans abortion at about six weeks into pregnancy. Attorney and Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson joins Ali Velshi to discuss whether it is unconstitutional.


Leader-Telegram – 06.29.19

LA LUZ DEL MUNDO’S LEADER FACES CHARGES, BUT ‘GOD HAS HIS PLAN’N CONGREGANTS SAY

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former prosecutor, said the church’s decision to open its doors to reporters is not typical for religious organizations whose leaders have been accused of abuse.


PBS NewsHour – 06.28.19

WHAT THE SUPREME COURT’S GERRYMANDERING DECISION MEANS FOR 2020

“State legislative races are more important than ever,” said Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, who wrote an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case in opposition of partisan redistricting.


Hollywood Reporter – 06.28.19

EXPERTS WEIGH HARVEY WEINSTEIN CASE AMID LEGAL TEAM SHAKE-UPS

"This happens in a lot of cases," says Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson. "They just don’t get as much public scrutiny." Still, Levinson, a former prosecutor who teaches criminal law and procedure, said it can be difficult to keep focus with so many moving parts — and in a high-profile case public perception is also a challenge. "You have to worry about the messaging to the outside world," she says. "There may be no problem at all, but everyone starts reading the tea leaves."


Associated Press – 06.28.19

STATES POISED TO TAKE UP FIGHT OVER PARTISAN GERRYMANDERING

But “if voters are sufficiently ticked off ... they may often be able to overcome partisan gerrymandering through sheer electoral force,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who tracks redistricting nationwide. “It’s not realistic to expect that would happen everywhere, but it may happen in enough places to send a message.”


CBS – 06.28.19

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INDICTS ANOTHER PARENT IN COLLEGE ADMISSION SCANDAL

Laurie Levenson, a professor at LMU’s Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor, said even more could be coming.

“As they continue to prosecute more cases, they continue to get more information and prosecute more people,” she said.


NBC News’ Think – 06.27.19

SUPREME COURT’S GERRYMANDERING DECISION IS AN ABDICATION OF ITS DUTY TO PROTECT VOTERS

In an op-ed reflecting on the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Rucho v. Common Cause, Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson writes: The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday abdicated its responsibility to protect the right of qualified citizens to vote. In a 5-4 split between conservative and liberal justices, the court handed state lawmakers virtually unfettered discretion to draw district lines that dilute our votes.


Reuters – 06.27.19

U.S. CHIEF JUSTICE'S 'SWING' ROLE SHOWN IN CENSUS, GERRYMANDERING RULINGS

“I think this is now clearly the Roberts court. Chief Justice Roberts is no moderate but he is the swing vote,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.


The Intercept – 06.27.19

WITH CENSUS DECISION, TRUMP’S GOP FALTERS IN MARCH TOWARD WHITE MINORITY RULE

“As a practical matter, any observer knows there was never a legitimate reason to do this,” said Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department Civil Rights Division lawyer, who noted that citizenship data was not needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act during his tenure as the top enforcer of voting rights law.


Yahoo News – 06.27.19

WHAT UNIVERSE IS JOHN ROBERTS LIVING IN?

[Chief Justice John] Roberts has a reason for neglecting the realities of politics, said Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official who is now a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “He’s not that stupid. He’s not that naive. It’s not that I think he doesn’t understand how it works, it’s that he’s searching for an excuse,” Levitt said.


Roll Call – 06.25.19

SUPPORTING TRUMP, NOT ALLEGED CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATIONS, LED TO CHARGES

The motion is likely designed “more for public consumption than likely to lead to the dismissal of the case,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and a professor at Loyola Law School.


Vox – 06.25.19

ELIZABETH WARREN HAS A NEW PLAN TO MAKE VOTING EASIER

Loyola Law School Professor Justin Levitt studied voter impersonation, the kind of fraud that voter ID laws target. He found 35 total credible accusations between 2000 and 2014, constituting a few hundred ballots at most.


NBC – 06.25.19

EXPERTS WARN CENSUS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION COULD HURT BLUE AND RED STATES

“People have a stereotype about who will be hurt by this,” said Justin Levitt, professor of law at Loyola Law School. “People have been assuming that it will be targeted to the people who don’t answer the census. It’s not. It will affect all of the surrounding communities.”


KCRW-FM -06.24.19

THE GOVERNMENT’S RATIONALE FOR DENYING BASIC SANITARY PRODUCTS TO MIGRANT KIDS

Jessica Levinson is here to explain why the government might make such an argument. She’s our regular legal eagle and a law professor at Loyola Law School. “So the basis for this argument is actually a very old 1985 case and I think we should start by saying this is a very aggressive legal argument,” said Levinson.


Microsoft News – 06.23.19

SEX ABUSE CHARGES AGAINST LA LUZ DEL MUNDO LEADER 'TIP OF THE ICEBERG,' PROSECUTORS SAY

Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor, said the issue is not one of religious discrimination but, rather, whether the church’s followers are “willing to put up their money when there’s a high chance he is going to abscond. 


KCAL-TV – 06.22.19

LOYOLA LAW PROFESSOR DISCUSSES UPCOMING ICE RAIDS

Loyola Law Professor Jessica Levinson sat down with CBSLA's Amy Johnson to discuss the upcoming ICE raids planned for Sunday. “I think he is making good on what was really the center piece of his campaign which is to be tough on legal and illegal immigration and I think that this is part of that,” said Levinson.


The Tennessee Star – 06.22.19

SUPER BOWL CHAMPION BURGESS OWENS BLASTS REP. STEVE COHEN’S SLAVERY REPARATION HEARINGS

The list of Panel 2’s eight witnesses included Mr. Ta-Neheisi Coates, Distinguished Writer in Residence, Arthur J. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University; Mr. Danny Glover, actor and activist; Mr. Katrina Browne, documentarian, “Traces of the Trade;” Mr. Coleman Hughes, writer, Quilette online magazine; Mr. Burgess Owens, speaker and writer; Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, Episcopal Church of Maryland; Dr. Julianne Malveaux, economist and political commentator; and Mr. Eric Miller, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University.


Orange County Register – 06.21.19

WITH JUDGE CARTER OUT IN KEY CASE, HOW WILL HOMELESS LAWSUITS WORK IN ORANGE COUNTY?

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former federal prosecutor with Anderson, described him as “by the book.” “I don’t think he has the same style as Judge Carter,” Levenson said. “But I don’t know that his ultimate resolution will be that different. It depends on where the facts go.”


PolitiFact – 06.21.19

NO, THE ONLY REASON TO OPPOSE VOTER ID LAWS ISN’T BECAUSE 'YOU PLAN TO CHEAT'

Research shows that voter fraud is uncommon in American elections. An investigation conducted by Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Professor Justin Levitt found 31 credible incidents of voter fraud in over 1 billion ballots cast during general, primary, special, and municipal elections from 2000 through 2014.


Talking Points Memo – 06.20.19

HOW REPUBLICANS STOPPED WORRYING ABOUT THE RIGHT TO VOTE

Justin Levitt, an election law scholar and associate dean at Loyola Law School, says, “The Republican redistricting after 2010 was a normal mode of politics but amped up on steroids. Amped up on meth.”


Good Morning LaLa Land – 06.20.19

STANLEY GOLDMAN DISCUSSES HIS NEW BOOK

Loyola Law School Professor Stanley Goldman joins Good Morning LaLa Land to discuss his book "Left to the Mercy of a Rude Stream: The Bargain That Broke Adolf Hitler and Saved My Mother.” Listen as he unravels the mystery of his mother's improbable release from a WWII concentration camp.


ABA Journal – 06.20.19

MOST DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES OPPOSE DEATH PENALTY; WHERE DOES BIDEN STAND?

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told the San Francisco Chronicle that very few candidates would oppose the death penalty if they thought that it would hurt them at the ballot box. She thinks the consensus among the candidates is “this is where public opinion is or is about to be.”


MSNBC – 06.20.19

CLARENCE THOMAS PRESENTS RADICAL VISION FOR US RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

But in a piece for NBC News, Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, highlighted a detail of particular interest. “Look behind the curtain and we have justices putting forward opinions that would fundamentally re-shape our understanding of the Establishment Clause,” said Levinson. 


NBC – 06.20.19

MARYLAND PEACE CROSS RULING REVEALS SUPREME COURT SPLIT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE

Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School says, “One of the big legal issues facing our country is where and how we are going to draw the line between religion and the government. And church and state arguably got a bit closer this week — before the end of the decade, we may find them in a full embrace.”


C-Span – 06.19.19

HEARING ON SLAVERY REPERATIONS

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Professor Eric J. Miller uses 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre to make a case in a U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties to discuss slavery reparations.


NBC – 06.19.19

DID TRUMP WALK HIMSELF INTO A POST-PRESIDENTIAL INDICTMENT?

“President Donald Trump is enormously effective at courting legal controversy. Most recently, he appears to be tempting the gods of federal indictments,” writes Jessica Levinson a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.


Local Memphis – 06.19.19

CONGRESSMAN STEVE COHEN CHAIRS HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON SLAVERY REPARATIONS

The 9:00 a.m. CT hearing is expected to include Professor Eric Miller of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and a handful of other witnesses.


NBC – 06.19.19

TRUMP KICKS OFF 2020 CAMPAIGN, CHARGES IN MH17 ATTACK & EVOLUTION OF PUPPY DOG EYES

Trump may have just walked himself into a post-presidential indictment, Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School, writes in an opinion piece.


U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary – 06.19.19

HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARING ON H.R. 40, LEGISLATION TO STUDY SLAVERY REPARATIONS

Professor Eric Miller of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles says, “The race based disparities brought about by federal, state and local government discrimination remain, baked into, our governmental institutions as well as the persistently segregated private social ordering those institutions brought about.”


WBBM-AM – 06.18.19

PAUL MANAFORT WILL NOT BE TRANSFERRED TO RIKERS

“This is actually highly unusual. You don’t ordinarily have someone who is number two in the justice department intervening on where somebody is going to be awaiting trial, “says Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.


Raw Story – 06.17.19

DUNCAN HUNTER THREW HIS WIFE UNDER THE BUS BUT NOW IT APPEARS SHE’S COOPERATING WITH PROSECUTORS

“[The plea deal] is not good news for Duncan Hunter,” said former federal prosecutor and Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson. “I suspect she will be very helpful.”

“The only wildcard is, when she testifies, how much of the dirty work will she point the finger at him for? And to what extent will she implicate herself and fall on the sword?” Levenson said.


KCRW-FM – 06.17.19

SUPREME COURT ON GERRYMANDERING, DOUBLE JEOPARDY AND MORE

“This was all about standing which is another way of saying who gets to walk into federal court and sue. Who has the injury that can be recognized and who had the injury that will be remedied if they win,” says Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and our regular Monday legal eagle.


ITESO – 06.12.19

MÉXICO DEBERÍA TENER UNA POSTURA MÁS FUERTE ANTE TRUMP ("MEXICO SHOULD HAVE A STRONGER STANCE AGAINST TRUMP")

Marissa Montes, codirectora de la Clínica Jurídica para la Justicia de Inmigrantes de la Loyola Law School en Los Ángeles, California, considera que el país debería dar la bienvenida a los migrantes y ofrecer refugio, independientemente de la política intimidatoria del presidente de Estados Unidos.


Roll Call – 06.17.19

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER’S DEFENSE COULD BE A ‘LOSER,’ LEGAL EXPERTS SAY

“It’s not good news for Duncan Hunter,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and a professor at Loyola Law School. “I suspect she will be very helpful.”


KNX-1070 AM – 06.16.19

CONVICTED FELONS TO SERVE AS JURORS

According to Laurie Levenson a professor at Loyola Law School, the bill faces some pretty strong opposition. “Prosecutors are nervous that by allowing former felons on a jury, those people will automatically vote not guilty. But in the jury selection process prosecutors will get a chance to argue to the judge this is a bias juror,” says Levenson.


San Francisco Chronicle – 06.16.19

NEARLY ALL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES OPPOSE DEATH PENALTY AS PUBLIC OPINION SHIFTS

If candidates “thought they were going to hurt themselves by coming out against the death penalty, I really think very few would do it,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in election law and governance. “I think the consensus (among candidates) is, this is where public opinion is or is about to be.”


CBS News – 06.16.19

25 YEARS AFTER MURDERS OF NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON, RON GOLDMAN, O.J. JOINS TWITTER

“The biggest impact of the O.J. case is all of a sudden the courtroom, trials became a spectator sport,” said Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson who served as the trial’s legal analyst for CBS News. She believes the case forever changed the public’s perception of the legal system.


Los Angeles Times – 06.16.19

WITH ITS APOSTLE ACCUSED OF RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE, LA LUZ DEL MUNDO COMES OUT FIGHTING

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former prosecutor, said the church’s decision to open its doors to reporters is not typical for religious organizations whose leaders have been accused of abuse. “There’s always a risk to this openness,” she said.


Los Angeles Times – 06.15.19

TRUMP SAID IT’S OK TO TAKE CAMPAIGN DIRT FORM FOREIGN POWERS. IS IT LEGAL?

That applies not just to money, but also to such things as donated furniture, said Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. The definition of a “thing of value” can be open to interpretation, however.


KNX-1070 AM – 06.14.19

CONGRESSMAN HUNTER SHOULDN’T COUNT ON SPOUSAL PRIVILEGE TO PROTECT HIM FROM HIS WIFE ON THE WITNESS STAND

“I think undoubtedly she’ll be able to talk about things they did together,” says Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson. “Any criminal activity or fraudulent activity, she’ll probably be able to testify to that. There may be limitations on individual conversations between them.”


Law 360 – 06.14.19

3 TAKEAWAYS AS ‘NEGOTIATION CLASS’ IDEA JOLTS OPIOD MDL

Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School, noted that there are different types of defendant companies, different time periods at issue, and differences in how various localities have seen their health care programs and criminal justice systems affected.

“It will be difficult to show that there are common issues and [that] those common issues predominate over all those individual ones,” Zimmerman said.


CNS News – 06.14.19

HOUSE PANEL TO EXAMINE SLAVERY REPERATIONS; 2020 DEMOCRATS HOPEFULS BACK LEGISLATION

On the witness list are Hollywood actor Danny Glover, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, documentary maker Katrina Brown, Episcopal Bishop of Maryland Eugene Taylor Sutton, economist Julianne Malveaux, and Loyola Law School Professor Eric Miller.


Los Angeles Times – 06.14.19

CALIFORNIA’S HIGH COURT HAS THE CHANCE TO FIX OUR ‘UNSAFE AND UNFAIR’ MONEY BAIL SYSTEM

Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, says “This year, a landmark case challenging the constitutionality of money bail is expected to come before the California Supreme Court. This is the culmination of an effort to reform the state’s troubled money bail system, pitting justice-reform advocates against the for-profit bail industry.”


KNX-1070 AM – 06.13.19

MARGARET HUNTER HAS A CHANCE TO TESTIFY AGAINST HUSBAND AND CALIFORNIA REP. DUNCAN HUNTER

“There are two types of privileges from the marriage. One is one that you get by just being married to someone and if they don’t want to testify against you, they don’t have to but if they do they can. But there another confidential communication privilege and that might be the one he tries to invoke,” says Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.


Los Angeles Times – 06.13.19

TRUMP HIT WITH BIPARTISAN CRITICISM FOR WELCOMING FOREIGN HELP IN 2020 ELECTION

Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor who tracks campaign finance issues, said it was “mind-boggling” that Trump said he might do the same thing that nearly led to criminal charges against his son. 


The New York Times – 06.13.19

TO AVOID BIAS IN COURT, PROSECUTORS TRY LEAVING SUSPECT’S RACE OUT OF IT

Although there have been few detailed academic studies about bias among prosecutors, a 2017 report by Carlos Berdejó at Loyola Law School found that white defendants in Wisconsin were 25% more likely than their black counterparts to have criminal charges dropped or reduced to less serious crimes.


CBS News – 06.12.19

25 YEARS AGO: MURDERS OF NICOLE BROWN-SIMPSON, RON GOLDMAN LEADS TO ARREST, OJ SIMPSON ‘TRIAL OF THE CENTURY’

“For a lot of people, this was the first time that they actually saw what happened in the courtroom, and much of it bothered them,” said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School who served at the trial’s legal analyst for CBS News. “The issues of race bothered them, the celebrity lawyers bothered them, the theatrics bothered them. And we’re still living with some of that effect.”


WGN-AM– 06.12.19

PROFESSOR STAN GOLDMAN’S NEW BOOK “LEFT TO THE MERCY OF A RUDE STREAM.” THE STORY OF HIS MOTHER’S EXPERIENCES IN DEATH CAMPS AND HOW SHE SURVIVED

This week, Paul goes behind the curtain with law Journalist (CNBC, Fox) and Professor Stanley Goldman at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles who wrote a book on his mother’s experiences and struggle to survive a life in the death camps of Nazi Germany. 


KPCC-FM – 06.12.19

GUESS WHICH STATE FIRST PASSED A CHEMICAL CASTRATION LAW THAT ALABAMA IS COPYING? CALIFORNIA

Professor Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles joined in to discuss Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey a bill that would require certain sex offenders to be chemically castrated before their parole.


CNN – 06.11.19

TRUMP IS TURNING HIS TARIFF THREAT TO CHINA

“It really feels to me that you are watching a toddler who just found one part of a new toy and that part worked once with Mexico. And now that is what he will use over and over again because that is the one tool in his toolbox,” said Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson.


The Sun Online – 06.11.19

DEFENSE IN McSTAY FAMILY MURDER TRIAL WILL NOT PRESENT PENALTY PHASE EVIDENCE

“That strategy can seem risky, but sometimes it makes sense,” said Loyola Law School of Los Angeles Professor Laurie Levenson. “The downside is that the jury didn’t see doubt when they convicted.”


KCRW-FM – 06.10.19

PREVIEW OF SUPREME COURT RULINGS, AND KAMALA HARRIS’ CHALLENGE TO NEW ABORTION RESTRICTIONS

“I think the biggest case for this term is whether the department of commerce can add a question about citizenship to the census. I think that the next rung down is the partisan gerrymandering cases and the question there is whether or not federal judges can police when state lawmakers can draw legislative district lines to try and maximize their political power,” said Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson.


Medium – 06.10.19

THE GREEN NEW DEAL – BE-LABORED?

Union opposition to the GND is part of a larger problem. The relationship between union labor and Democrats is complicated. Jessica Levinson, former president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission and a professor who teaches politics Loyola Law School, suggests the Green New Deal…divides the Democrats on a fault line, which is more of the elites against the working class Democrats who are concerned about losing their jobs.


The American Prospect – 06.10.19

AS CONSUMER PROTECTIONS DWINDLE, SCHOOLS PUSH FINANCIAL LITERACY

All of this was driving Lauren Willis, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, up the wall. Willis was studying predatory mortgage lending, and noticed that Bernanke had praised financial literacy as a way to avoid personal ruin. “I remember looking at the literature [Bernanke] cited and I was just aghast at their quality,” she recalls.


San Francisco Chronicle – 06.10.19

CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST PG&E COULD SEND MESSAGE IN NOTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

“If a corporation has caused people to die, the message needs to go out that this is the equivalent of murder or manslaughter,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and longtime criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.


Cal Matters – 06.09.19

IF YOU PROTEST IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING, PERHAPS YOU HAVEN’T SUFFERED FROM DISCRIMINATION

White defendants facing misdemeanor charges are nearly 75 percent more likely than black defendants to have all charges carrying potential imprisonment dropped, dismissed, or reduced to lesser charges, according to  a 2017 Loyola Law School study by Professor Carlos Berdejó.


Legal Desire – 06.07.19

FASHION LAW AND ITS SCOPE

A couple of different schools have initiated educational programs and coursework in the region of fashion law also, like Loyola Law School, the University of Buffalo Law School, New York Law School, and New York University.


Forbes – 06.06.19

HOW TESLA, CRONY CORPORATE WELFARE AND THE NEW GREEN DEAL PERTEND A COMING POLITICAL REALIGNMENT

Jessica Levinson, a professor who teaches politics at Loyola Law School, said, “The Green New Deal may be the darling of the Democratic Party — but it really divides the Democrats on a fault line, which is more of the elites against the working class Democrats who are concerned about losing their jobs.”


ABC News – 06.06.19

DECISION TO CHARGE PARKLAND SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER SCOT PETERSON FOR INACTION LIKELY UNPRECEDENTED

“I can’t think of a case where someone has been charged with not going into harm’s way.” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "Basically, they’re charging him with being a coward."


San Francisco Chronicle – 06.06.19

CONNECTICUT WILL BE 1ST TO AMASS PROSECUTOR DATA

A review of more than 48,000 criminal cases and plea bargains in Wisconsin found that white defendants were 25 percent more likely than black defendants to have their charges dropped or reduced to lesser crimes, according to a study published last year by Loyola Law School Professor Carlos Berdejô. The racial gap was wider in plea bargains involving misdemeanors and low-level felonies, he found.


San Diego Tribune – 06.06.19

GARCETTI FACES HEAT OVER L.A.’S HOMELESSNESS CRISIS BUT REMAINS OPTIMISTIC

Garcetti is “affable and likable,” said Jessica Levinson, who teaches election law at Loyola Law School, but he’s now confronting “an emergency level” problem. “It may be that in five or 10 years, we look back and think Garcetti got us out of this mess,” she said. “But that’s not what we feel today.”


Yahoo – 06.05.19

CENSUS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION: PRACTICAL OR PARTISAN?

"This is looking less and less like an ideological battle between conservative and liberal judges and more like a Supreme Court controlled by partisan politicians in robes. And the census ruling could prove it,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.


Ignatian Solidarity Network – 06.04.19

JESUIT MIGRATION NETWORK CONVENES AT U.S. - MEXICO BORDER

Twenty-five members of the Jesuit network from across the U.S. gathered for a meeting of the Jesuit Migration Network of U.S. and Canada from April 23-26, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. Institutions represented at the meeting included: Cristo Rey Jesuit College Prep Houston, Encuentro Project, Jesuit Social Research Institute, Kino Border Initiative, Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic, Loyola Law School and more.


CNBC Online – 06.04.19

NEARLY EVERY US STATE IS NOW SUING OXYCONTIN MAKER PURDUE PHARMA

The volume of litigation is “unprecedented,” said Adam Zimmerman, a professor and an expert on complex litigation at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. He compared it to the tobacco master settlement agreement in the mid- and late-1990s in which the nation’s four largest tobacco companies reached a group settlement with 46 state attorneys general.


Mercola – 06.04.19

BAYER HUNTS DOWN JOURNALISTS

The news outlet continued, "Preemption is generally regarded as a 'silver bullet defense' because it stops claims across the board, said Adam Zimmerman, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles."


KCRW-FM – 06.03.19

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THE DOJ POLICY ON NOT INDICTING A SITTING PRESIDENT?

Here to talk about it is Jessica Levinson, Loyola Law School professor and our Monday regular legal eagle. “If you indict a sitting president you put that sitting president through the criminal justice process where they have to defend themselves against criminal charges, you’ve torpedoed their entire presidency,” said Levinson.


Wonkette – 06.03.19

HOW TO RIG THE CENSUS FOR FUN AND PROFIT AND WHITE SUPREMACY

Voting rights experts, including Loyola Law School Professor Jessica Levinson and UC Irvine Professor Rick Hasen, are already predicting the Supreme Court will continue to act as a political branch of the Trump government and let the citizenship question stand.


Politico – 06.01.19

LABOR ANGER OVER GREEN NEW DEAL GREETS 2020 CONTENDERS IN CALIFORNIA

“The Green New Deal may be the darling of the Democratic Party — but it really divides the Democrats on a fault line, which is more of the elites against the working class Democrats who are concerned about losing their jobs," said Jessica Levinson, former president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission and a professor who teaches politics and ethics at Loyola Law School.

Alumni News

The CW – 06.03.19

Military News – 06.11.19

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY ANNOUNCES OMAR LOPEZ AS NCIS DIRECTOR

Omar Lopez is a native of Pico Rivera City, California, but also considers Hermosa, South Dakota, his home. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with honors from California State University (Pomona). He also holds a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and practiced formerly in California and Washington, D.C.


The CW – 06.03.19

THOMAS GIRARDI INDUCTED INTO THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TOP PROFESSIONALS (IAOTP’S) HALL OF FAME

Thomas Girardi attended Loyola Law School and graduated in 1964. Mr. Girardi has also been an Associate Professor at Loyola Law School from 1976 to the Present and was recipient of the “Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997, and in 2005 named “Champion of Justice” from the law school. At Loyola Law School, Mr. Girardi also backed the construction of the Albert H. Girardi Advocacy Center which is named in his father’s honor.