Paul Collins, Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, says it’s unlikely U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett will recuse herself from an upcoming LGBTQ+ rights case because of her former role on the board of of Christian private schools that reportedly barred admission to children of same-sex parents. Collins says, “The allegations of a conflict are too broad to be meaningful and could apply to membership in a wide array of religious organizations that would effectively preclude many justices from ever hearing cases about any issues that remotely involve religion.” (Newsweek, 11/22/22)

Charli Carpenter, Professor of Political Science and Director of Human Security Lab, and Hunter Fairchild, undergraduate research fellow and senior political science major, write that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s policy that restricts most men ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country could damage morale in the country’s war with Russia. She says research she conducted with the Human Security Lab at UMass Amherst found most Ukrainians oppose the ban. (Foreign Policy, 11/14/22) 

On the television news program Basic Black, Tatishe Nteta, Provost Professor of Political Science and Director of the UMass Poll, discusses take-aways from last week’s midterm elections. Nteta says, “The Democratic party effectively spoke to issues like the health of the democracy and mobilized individuals to vote based on these fears and concerns.” (GBH, 11/11/22)

Former graduate student Kira Tait has just published an article (co-authored with Whitney Taylor) in Law & Social Inquiry, one of the top journals in the Law and Society field. The article, entitled "The Possibility of Rights Claims-Making in Court: Looking Back on Twenty-Five Years of Social Rights Constitutionalism in South Africa" is based on her dissertation research. You can congratulate Kira at ktait@sandiego.edu!