Professor of Political Science with Programs in Legal Studies, Paul Collins comments about two cases now before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan. In Newsweek, he says, “I expect the Court will halt the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan down ideological lines, which will be a major blow to student loan borrowers trying to get out under mountains of debt.” In an interview on WGN Radio, he says, “The conservative justices in particular were pretty skeptical about the Biden administration’s authority to forgive student loans in this way.”  ( Newsweek, WGN Radio, 2/28/23)

A research team from the Center for Justice, Law, and Societies won the inaugural UMass Public Interest Technology (PIT) Fellowship for their project, "What Counts Count? How Information about Racial Disparities Informs the Public’s Evaluations of District Attorneys." PI Kelsey Shoub (School of Public Policy), along with collaborators Jamie Rowen (Legal Studies and Political Science), Youngmin Yi (Sociology), and Cindy Xiong (CICS) will use the award for a series of survey experiments to examine whether and how the visual presentation of racial disparity data and selection of information to be presented affects trust in DAs, evaluations of the office, and confidence in making decisions about whom to charge and prosecute. The results of these studies will inform the Northwestern District Attorney’s (NWDA), our local district attorney that we have partnered with for this broader project, plans to develop a public-facing data dashboard.

Provost Professor of Political Science and Director of the UMass Amherst Poll Tatishe Nteta is quoted in a story examining the state of Massachusetts’ Republican party under the leadership of new party chair Amy Carnevale.  “There is no candidate on the horizon that will compete for two of the [U.S.] Senate positions that are currently held by individuals over the age of 70 years old. I think this is the bottom, as it pertains to the party in the state,” Nteta says, adding that, “The thing we know about American politics is, just when you think a party is down and out, they can surprise you,” Nteta said. “That happens historically at the national level, and I think it potentially could happen here at the state level. But it’s going to need effective leadership and a vision and hard work to achieve the overarching goal.” (GBH, 2/1/23)

There is additional coverage on a recent UMass Amherst poll finding that 6 in 10 respondents support setting an upper age limit for the U.S. president. Professors of political science and co-directors of UMass Poll Jesse Rhodes and Ray La Raja are quoted in the article. (Boston.com, 1/20/23;  News Office release)