Faculty in the News
El País (Edição Brasil) —September 2, 2018
O dia em que as redes nos venderam (Portuguese)
In his book The Attention Merchants (Atlantic Books), Tim Wu writes that the basic modus operandi is "to attract attention with seemingly free things and then resell it." And he adds: "What was supposed to be relevant to your desires and interests ends up being a studied exploration of your weaknesses."
[Note: Professor Wu is also quoted in BBC News Mundo and CBC Radio on the subject of the attention economy.]
NJ.com—September 3, 2018
With lawmakers oblivious, Murphy prevents a homeowner headache | Editorial
"The bill would exempt a class of polluters that shouldn't be exempted," said Ed Lloyd, the Columbia law professor who has few peers in environmental legal issues. "The Spill Act is a strict liability statute: It says those responsible for the spill clean it up, and that's appropriate. But this bill, rather than (enforcing) liability, would require proof that the supplier knew about it and intended it.
Vox—September 3, 2018
The emerging plan to save the American labor movement
In another report released by the Center for American Progress in fall 2016, Madland called for “transforming unions from individual firm-level bargaining units into organizations or structures … that negotiate for higher wages and benefits across an entire industry or sector." Columbia law professor Mark Barenberg wrote a report for the Roosevelt Institute in 2015 urging the same.
The Verge—September 4, 2018
IT’S TIME TO BREAK UP FACEBOOK (Article and audio)
Tim Wu thinks it’s time to break up Facebook. Best known for coining the phrase “net neutrality” and his book The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, Wu has a new book coming out in November called The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age. In it, he argues compellingly for a return to aggressive antitrust enforcement in the style of Teddy Roosevelt, saying that Google, Facebook, Amazon, and other huge tech companies are a threat to democracy as they get bigger and bigger.
[Note: Professor Wu is also quoted or referenced in Axios, Boing Boing, The Daily Mail, Financial Times, and PerthNow on the subject of U.S. antitrust policies and how they apply to “Big Tech.”]
Bloomberg—September 4, 2018
Why Musk and Tesla Bulls Shouldn’t Worry Much About an SEC Ban
John Coffee, director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia Law School, called Musk’s seemingly misleading comment about having lined-up funding for a buyout “reckless.” But Coffee said it won’t lead to a ban. “The time that the SEC uses that bar -- generally, it’s used in insider trading,” he said.
Associated Press—September 4, 2018
Court: Cities can’t prosecute people for sleeping on streets
The ruling shows it’s time for Boise officials to start proposing “real solutions,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, whose attorneys were among those representing the homeless residents. “Criminally punishing homeless people for sleeping on the street when they have nowhere else to go is inhumane, and we applaud the court for holding that it is also unconstitutional,” Foscarinis said in a statement.
[Note: Maria Foscarinis is a lecturer-in-law and alumna. This story appeared in multiple major news outlets nationwide.]
POLITICO Magazine—September 5, 2018
The New Socialism Is More American Than You Think (And Also More Radical)
By Jedidah Purdy
“The new socialism is both thoroughly American and pretty damned radical. Much of today’s ‘socialism,’ like Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, has deep roots; it’s basically the left wing of New Deal and Great Society liberalism, promising free higher education and universal health care, stronger unions and more support for affordable housing.”
[Note: Jed Purdy will join the Columbia Law faculty in Jan. 2019]
The New York Times—September 5, 2018
Laws Punishing Homeless People for Sleeping in Public Are Cruel and Unusual, Court Rules
These issues have taken on increased significance as urban neighborhoods gentrify, said Maria Foscarinis, the executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, a Washington nonprofit that helped argue the Boise case.
Gizmodo—September 5, 2018
Thousands of Cities and Counties Are Fighting Trump's Fuel Efficiency Rollback
“Local governments are on the front lines of climate impacts,” Michael Burger, the executive director of Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, which filed the brief on behalf of the groups, told Earther. “When a storm hits or a heat wave strikes or land is being lost, the first entity to be directly impacted is the locality where the event is taking place.”
The Washington Post—September 5, 2018
Corporatism is infringing on your backyard like never before
States have long taken a role in local government. But what has changed since 2011, as Columbia University governance expert Richard Briffault explained, is the intentional, extensive and punitive nature of preemptive laws.
Reuters—September 5, 2018
At '5 minutes to midnight', rights group calls time on climate change
So far more than a thousand climate-related cases have been filed, according to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.
Hindustan Times—September 6, 2018
Section 377: SC has distinguished itself as an institution invested in protection of all Indians
By Menaka Guruswamy
“What is freedom? Does it smell different, or feel different from a time lacking it? A new freedom is a sparkle in the eye, that spring in the step, that confidence of being recognised as a citizen worthy of the protection of a supreme court, a Constitution and a country.”
[Note: Menaka Guruswamy, BR Ambedkar Research Scholar and Lecturer at Columbia Law, and Arundhati Katju ’17 LL.M., a current J.S.D. student, were the prime architects of a successful multi-year advocacy campaign to overturn a law in India that criminalized “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Guruswamy and Katju are also quoted or referenced on the landmark case in Bar & Bench, The Daily Beast, India Times, The New Indian Express, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Oneindia, Quartz India, The Times of India, and Times NOW.]
The New York Times—September 6, 2018
What Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg Taught Congress and Vice Versa
“I just don’t think we’ve begun to wrestle with the deep constitutional issues here,” David Pozen, a constitutional law professor at Columbia Law School, said. He pointed out that tech companies themselves enjoyed a First Amendment right against the government’s imposing rules on their services.
Reuters—September 6, 2018
CBS negotiating Moonves' exit and Viacom merger standstill: sources
“There’s an established legal doctrine that says you can potentially be sued for overpaying your CEO to go away,” said Eric Talley, a Columbia Law School corporate governance professor. “If you authorize payment of a big exit fee, you have to be acting in good faith to further shareholder interests.”
[This story appeared in multiple major news outlets nationwide.]
Daily Beast—September 6, 2018
The Men’s Rights Movement Now Has Its Own Law Firm
Professor Suzanne Goldberg, head of Columbia Law’s Center for Gender and Sexuality Law, said the “men’s rights” legal focus may become more prevalent in coming years. “It will not be surprising to see more lawyers saying that they are ‘men’s rights’ as the #MeToo movement evolves,” she said.
Fox News—September 6, 2018
Old Kavanaugh email questioning if Roe v Wade is 'settled law of the land' revealed
But even if Kavanaugh is appointed to the bench, the court probably wouldn’t have an impact on Roe anytime soon, Carol Sanger, a Columbia Law School professor, previously told Fox News. “The court can’t decide to change a case until it has a case before it,” Sanger pointed out.
The New York Times—September 7, 2018
Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea
With a single scholarly article, Lina Khan, 29, has reframed decades of monopoly law. … In early 2017, when she was an unknown law student, Ms. Khan published “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” in the Yale Law Journal. Her argument went against a consensus in antitrust circles that dates back to the 1970s — the moment when regulation was redefined to focus on consumer welfare, which is to say price. … Ms. Khan is set to start a fellowship at Columbia this fall, and is considering other projects as well.
[Note: Lina Khan recently joined Columbia Law as an academic fellow.]
The New York Times—September 7, 2018
Albany to City: Drop Dead
“I wouldn’t say that the level of state control in New York is uniquely draconian,” said Prof. Richard Briffault, a legislation expert at Columbia Law School. “It’s just that the relationship has seemed particularly dysfunctional lately.”
Just Security—September 7, 2018
New UN Report Says All Parties to Yemen Conflict May be Responsible for War Crimes
By Rahma A. Hussein, Alex Moorehead, Sarah Knuckey, and Radhya Almutawakel
“A damning new United Nations report, published last week, implicates all parties to the conflict in Yemen in possible war crimes. This includes the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the government of Yemen and the Houthi armed group.”
CNN—September 7, 2018
Reminder: The 25th Amendment requires political apocalypse
What would it take to employ the 25th Amendment? As we've written before, there are a few scenarios that leap to mind (and read these articles by Brian Kalt and David Pozen for some more context) in which the 25th Amendment could be invoked.
ThinkProgress—September 9, 2018
Brett Kavanaugh said he would kill Roe v. Wade last week and almost no one noticed
As law professor Jamal Greene first pointed out on Twitter, Glucksberg was “explicitly disavowed in Obergefell,” the Supreme Court’s 2015 marriage equality decision.
HuffPost India—September 9, 2018
The Draft Data Protection Bill Is Flawed. Here’s How To Fix It
By Eben Moglen & Mishi Choudhary
“As the report's authors observe, India must have a data governance regime that contributes to a "free and fair" digital economy in India, and it must protect the rights of Indian citizens. Having declared this, the experts quickly lose their grasp of the obvious and the reams of paper fail to deliver.”
The New York Times—September 10, 2018
The Left’s Guide to Reclaiming the Constitution
By Jedediah Purdy
“With Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, progressives see a dystopian future: a judicial gavel pounding down for decades on voting rights, workers’ rights, women’s rights and more. But rather than despairing or scheming for 1930s-style court packing, what progressives need most is a constitutional vision of their own, a vivid picture of what judges should do with the power of the courts.”
CNBC—September 10, 2018
With Les Moonves out, CBS is more likely than ever to join Viacom
But shareholders claiming losses won't have much of a case because CBS shares haven't fallen much since Ronan Farrow published two articles with allegations against Moonves, said John Coffee, a law professor and director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia Law School.
Financial Times—September 10, 2018
The case for maintaining net neutrality
The term was first coined by Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor. It enshrines the principle that internet service providers should provide all online content and services on an equal basis. When delivering data, ISPs should not discriminate by speed or price.
BBC Radio 4—September 11, 2018
Episode 2: The Attention Economy, The New Age of Capitalism (Audio)
Feeling the need to check your smartphone, like or post on social media? Then you're part of the attention economy. David Grossman discovers why it's so hard to resist the billion-dollar industry of digital distraction. David talks to Tim Wu, author of 'The Attention Merchants, The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads' and former Google executive James Williams, author of 'Stand Out of Our Light, Freedom and Persuasion in the Attention Economy'.
Reuters—September 11, 2018
World's local governments rally in California to fight climate change
The gathering reflects a desire to bypass the slow progress of national governments in implementing Paris agreement goals, said Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at New York's Columbia University.
Popular Info—September 11, 2018
Trump's imaginary economy
On Twitter, Columbia law professor Jamal Greene agreed that, by embracing Glucksberg and pretending it was the court's standard moving forward, Kavanaugh was signaling he would overturn Roe.
ThinkProgress—September 11, 2018
Facebook’s idea of ‘fact-checking’: Censoring ThinkProgress because conservative site told them to
Our article also cited law professors Jim Oleske and Jamal Greene, both of whom reached similar conclusions regarding Kavanaugh’s embrace of Glucksberg.
The Arts Paper—September 11, 2018
With “120 Years,” Scott Lewis’ Story Revisited
After the screening, Annamaneni moderated a panel that included Lewis, Columbia Law School Vice Dean Brett Dignam, Connecticut Innocence Project Directors Vanessa Potkin and Darcy McGraw, and recent exoneree Bobby Johnson.
New York Law Journal—September 12, 2018
A Data-Driven Defense Against “Short and Distort”
By Joshua Mitts
“This essay makes four claims. First, a short-and-distort attack using derivatives like put options often constitutes illegal market manipulation. Second, trading ahead of the publication of whistleblower allegations can be illegal insider trading under Dirks and Martoma II. Third, manipulative options trading undermines loss causation in a shareholder lawsuit against the firm over the price decline. Finally, management and the board of directors should monitor derivatives trading and be ready with a rapid response to restore investor confidence after a short-and-distort attack.”
New York Law Journal—September 12, 2018
Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Discuss Strategic Litigation at Columbia Law School
Ruth Bader Ginsburg will participate in a discussion of strategic litigation as an approach to policy change on Sept. 21 at Columbia Law School.
S&P Global—September 12, 2018
Kavanaugh's 'major rules' theory could stymie future plans to cut CO2 emissions
Michael Gerrard, an environmental law and energy regulation professor at Columbia Law School, said in a Sept. 11 interview that examining Kavanaugh's track record can be even more illuminating than scrutinizing his legal theories.
Washington Blade—September 12, 2018
Kavanaugh’s answers leave LGBT legal experts unsatisfied
Katherine Franke, a professor of law, gender and sexuality studies at Columbia University, said Kavanaugh was tight-lipped in responses to Booker’s questions, but revealed more than what he stated. “The nominee adamantly refused to answer either question, on the grounds that the issue of protections for LGBT discrimination was being litigated in lower courts and Obergefell was the ‘law of the land,’” Franke said.
Lawfare—September 12, 2018
Responses to the Demagogue: “Unsung Heroes” and the Impeachment Process
Earlier this September, Yale University Press produced a new edition of Charles Black’s “Impeachment: A Handbook,” with substantial new scholarship added by Philip Bobbitt. It is Bobbitt's mission to reclaim for impeachment the status of a legal process, in which constitutional interpretation is guided by careful and rigorously argued attention to text, history, structure, doctrine, prudence and what he calls "ethos"—a concern with the "primacy of the rule of law."
Balkinization—September 13, 2018
By David Pozen
Crisis in the Archives
“One of the executive’s most worrisome information control practices has received relatively little attention, perhaps because it requires taking a longer view. Over the last several decades, as Matthew Connelly explains in a new essay on ‘State Secrecy, Archival Negligence, and the End of History as We Know It,’ our national archives have been quietly falling apart.”
CNN Money—September 13, 2018
10 years after the financial crisis, have we learned anything?
In combination with weaker tools to address financial failures when they occur, Columbia Law professor Kathryn Judge worries that these industry-friendly regulators again won't take action when they need to. "There's been a shift from safety to growth," Judge says. "But if you want to have a growth-oriented system, then you have to accept that there's going to be fragility. How are we going to deal with that fragility when it becomes manifest?"
Brookings—September 13, 2018
Why the government must help shape the future of AI
If so, even programs capable of learning from feedback and other evidence would never fully replace human decision-making and, as Kenneth Anderson and Matthew Waxman put it, no autonomous system could ever pass an “ethical Turing Test.”
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This report shares mentions of Law School faculty cited in print, broadcast, and online news outlets. It is not intended to be inclusive of every media mention.