Faculty in the News
USC Law professors are frequently sought by the media to serve as legal experts. This section highlights news citations in which faculty are quoted.
Fall 05 - Spring 06 | Fall 06 - Spring 07 | Fall 07 - Spring 08
May 1, 2008
Daily Journal
re: Elyn Saks
A story featured a memoir by Prof. Elyn Saks about her struggle with schizophrenia. “I feel that there is so much stigma, particularly with schizophrenia, that we need to have people coming forward and put a human face on the disease,” Saks said. More schizophrenics could reach their full potential if given the resources, and if clinicians did not counsel them to lower their expectations, she added. Reaction from Saks’ colleagues has been “strongly enthusiastic and supportive,” said Michael Shapiro of the Gould School. Saks is an associate dean at the Gould School, the article noted.
May 1, 2008
San Diego Jewish Journal
re: Elyn Saks
A story reviewed the memoir by Prof. Elyn Saks about her experience with schizophrenia. “My brain was the instrument of my success and my pride, but it also carried all the tools for my destruction,’ Saks wrote. Since its publication in August 2007, “The Center Cannot Hold” has garnered much attention, the story noted. “It’s just more gratifying than I can possibly imagine,” Saks said. “Colleagues and friends, and people I don’t even know who have just seen me in the newspaper, stop and have just been very supportive.” Saks will speak about her book in San Diego on May 28.
May 1, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about Barack Obama and his controversial ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright. “Enough is enough, certainly when it comes to his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. On Tuesday, the Illinois senator finally did what he should have done a month ago, which was to express outrage at Wright’s comments, make clear that he is running as the antithesis of everything Wright wrongly stands for and, in political terms, throw him overboard. But will that put an end to the controversy? Of course not.”
April 30, 2008
The Arizona Republic
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about John McCain’s plan to campaign actively in California despite the state’s history of favoring Democratic presidential candidates. Of all the candidates who sought the Republican nomination, only McCain could have a shot in California, Crayton said. “McCain tends to have a position on most issues that is actually much closer to the average California voter than the state Republican Party is,” Crayton explained. “He skews pretty moderate on a lot of issues but is conservative on fiscal issues. Generally speaking, that’s pretty much where the average California voter is, so it’s not unthinkable that he could perform well here.”
April 30, 2008
New York Magazine
re: Susan Estrich
A story cited a column by Prof. Susan Estrich about Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his relationship with Barack Obama. Deciding to raise his profile after the controversy had calmed down is the worst thing Wright could have done for his friend and former parishioner, Estrich wrote. But in the end, Wright’s reemergence could benefit Obama by putting everything out there now, she added.
April 29, 2008
The New York Times
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was quoted about her involvement in the creation of Democratic superdelegates. In 1982, Democratic officials decided to make sure that a sizable percentage of delegates to the 1984 convention would be uncommitted PLEOs (“party leaders elected officials”). “I wrote a column as well as a memo using the term super-delegates ‹ I don’t know if/how I made it up or not ‹ the idea was to be derogatory, to suggest that the super-delegates would hold more power than the equally divided pledged convention delegates,’ said Estrich, who opposed the creation of such delegates. Newsweek’s David Alpern used Estrich’s term “super-delegate’ in 1983, and since then it has lost its hyphen and become a mainstream political term, the story noted.
April 28, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about Bill Moyers’ interview with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial former pastor of Barack Obama. “What is Jeremiah Wright doing? That’s easy. He’s helping himself. Trying to save his reputation. Smiling for the cameras,’ Estrich wrote. “What can Barack Obama do about it? Not much.’
April 28, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was quoted about the record-setting spending by Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s unclear whether such spending has actually changed the dynamics of the race, the story stated. “Ironically, the money is less important in this [election] than it would be in a congressional race,” Estrich said. “Money doesn’t guarantee you victory, but you need it for gas for the airplane.”
April 24, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about coverage of the presidential election. “I hate pundits who remind you when they were right, and conveniently forget all the times we’re wrong,” Estrich wrote. “Half the fun of being a pundit is that it really doesn’t matter; that unlike the situation when you’re running a campaign, our mistakes don’t count for anything but amusement.”
April 24, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was quoted about Hillary Clinton’s win over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primaries. “Hillary had a great night,” Estrich said. “It went exactly according to script.”
April 23, 2008
Los Angeles Daily Journal
re: Gillian Hadfield
Prof. Gillian Hadfield wrote an op-ed about the settlements that most families of Virginia Tech shooting victims accepted in lieu of litigation. “The impulse to avoid litigation is increasingly widespread in American society,” Hadfield wrote. “The impulse is troublesome. The real issues at stake in the trend to wholesale lawsuit avoidance are about democracy and the critical role that courts play in achieving the ideals of self-government in a public, accessible and open forum. When things go wrong, those who have suffered losses want to know what happened, who did or did not do their jobs and how the problems will be fixed in the future.”
April 22, 2008
The Bakersfield Californian
re: Jean Rosenbluth
Prof. Jean Rosenbluth was quoted about unusual objects brought as evidence into courtrooms. Bugs, saliva and a car’s data recorder have been presented recently in Kern County courts, the story reported. Attorneys can try to use almost anything as evidence, Rosenbluth said. “Evidence is evidence,” she explained. “Anything that has a tendency to show an issue one way or another is relevant.”
April 20, 2008
Law & Health Weekly
re: Edward McCaffery
A study by Prof. Edward McCaffery was featured. After surveying 3,300 people via phone and the Internet, McCaffery and a colleague found that men tolerated hypothetical discrimination more than women did. "Many political struggles of our time, in the United States as elsewhere, amount to clashes over the appropriate boundary between permissible and impermissible forms of discrimination," McCaffery said. "We have found that, while discrimination in its traditional forms - based on race and gender - may be receding somewhat, discrimination in other domains, as based on appearance, persists. Here we found that people are more willing to accept discrimination against poorly educated immigrants, for example, than so-called genetic discrimination. Men are more willing to accept discrimination, but both men and women converge when we did a telephone survey and there was a live interviewer - women became more, and men less, openly tolerant of discrimination."
April 19, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the still undecided race for the Democratic presidential nomination. “Anyone who tells you they know the last scene, how it will play out, is just lying,” Estrich said. “Or guessing. All we can do is review possibilities.”
April 18, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Jean Rosenbluth
Prof. Jean Rosenbluth was quoted about the trial of two women in their seventies accused of murdering homeless men in order to make false life insurance claims. Over the past few days, the judge in the case has released verdicts on some counts, while the jury continued to deliberate on others. This practice was unusual, but not necessarily prejudicial to the defense, Rosenbluth said. “It certainly bears the mark of something that would be appealed,” she said. “But I don¹t think that ultimately it would be a successful claim.”
April 17, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan wrote about Barack Obama saying that many Americans are bitter. “Is it so bad to be bitter?” Estrich asked. “Or, more to the point, to recognize that many people are? Of course, we all strive for a state of grace, for a sense of security, for the peace and calm that comes with knowing that, just for that moment, all is well with the world. But it’s hard to feel that way when you’re afraid and insecure.”
April 15, 2008
The Wenatchee World
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the recent Federal Aviation Administration tightening up safety inspections. “Every time I leave for a trip, my son makes me promise to come back safely,” Estrich wrote. “I try to hedge because I know it’s not within my control, but even three-quarters asleep, as he usually is when I leave, he is never mollified. You’ll be safe,” he says to me, and I usually do. Which is to say, I put my trust in the FAA and the airlines.”
April 12, 2008
The National Law Journal
re: USC Gould School of Law
The USC Gould School of Law jumped from No. 20 to No. 14 in an annual ranking of the number of graduates getting jobs at the nation’s top 250 law firms (as determined by the National Law Journal). Of the Gould School’s 195 J.D. graduates in 2007, 85, or 43.6 percent, took jobs with top 250 firms, compared with 36.3 percent in 2006. USC was among 10 California schools to make the list, a San Diego Business Journal Story noted.
April 12, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote that the Democratic race for president isn’t over. “Once you have that list of delegates, the majority, committed to voting for you, there is nothing Hillary or I or anyone else can do to take it away,” Estrich wrote, “But until you do, it’s not over.”
April 12, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Jean Rosenbluth
Prof. Jean Rosenbluth was quoted about the trial of two elderly women accused of murdering homeless men after taking out life insurance policies on them. “The prosecution has to be worried, somewhere deep down inside, at some level, that one or more jurors will feel sorry for these two old women,” Rosenbluth said. “But it’s not enough to overcome the ruthlessness of the crime in the minds of the jury if the evidence is there. It’s pretty bad stuff.”
April 11, 2008
CBS News
re: Simon Wilkie
Prof. Simon Wilkie was interviewed on Los Angeles affiliate KCBS-TV about the federally approved plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages. The likelihood that cell phone users would make panicked calls upon receiving a national alert would bottleneck the network, Wilkie warned. Wilkie is executive director of USC’s Center for Communication Law and Policy.
April 10, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the still uncertain Democratic presidential nomination. “The good news is, there will be a finish,” Estrich wrote. “At some point, someone will have 2024 delegates. At some point, superdelegates who haven’t decided yet will get pressure from both sides to make up their minds. At some point, someone will win.”
April 8, 2008
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich recalled receiving college admissions letters. “It was more than 30 years ago that I came home from school to find the stack of skinny envelopes, and the one fat one,” Estrich wrote. “We all knew what that meant. A skinny envelope meant a rejection, a have a good life, we don’t want you, no enclosures necessary. A fat envelope was a yes.”
April 8, 2008
The Wenatchee World
re: Susan Estrich
In a widely carried column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about being diagnosed with arthritis. “It started with my hands,” she wrote. “They hurt. They were numb and tingling, and the pain went up and down my arms. I did not like it. Getting old beats the alternative, but not by a lot.”
April 8, 2008
Hartford Courant
re: Susan Estrich
In a widely carried column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about how the divisive Democratic presidential nomination process could help John McCain. In a recent poll, 20 percent of both Clinton and Obama supporters said they would support McCain if the Democrat who wasn’t their first choice ended up running against him, Estrich wrote. “This is how a Democrat could lose an election after eight years of a Republican administration that has taken the economy into recession, the country into an unpopular, costly and dubious war, and bailed out Bear Stearns instead of the thousands of hard-working Americans who were taken advantage of by subprime lenders and are now losing their homes and life savings,” she noted.
April 8, 2008
The Times-Picayune
re: Jean Rosenbluth
Prof. Jean Rosenbluth was quoted about the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In some instances, a judge could hold a hearing in chambers to determine whether an assertion of Fifth Amendment rights is valid, Rosenbluth said. Rosenbluth is a former federal prosecutor, the story noted.
April 4, 2008
The Sacramento Bee
re: Edward McCaffery
A study by Prof. Edward McCaffery was featured. After surveying 3,300 people via phone and the Internet, McCaffery and a colleague found that men tolerated hypothetical discrimination more than women did. “Men seem to tolerate discrimination more than women in every domain,” McCaffery said. “They’re more likely to think it’s OK to keep Arab Americans off the plane, more likely to think it’s OK for police to engage in profiling by stopping African American motorists,” he added. The story was also covered by Diverse Issues in Higher Education, City News Service, Los Angeles Pacifica Radio affiliate KPFK-FM and Los Angeles stations KFI-AM and KFWB-AM.
April 3, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote that the Democratic presidential nomination race is not over yet. “Barack Obama is right,” Estrich wrote. “Hillary Clinton should stay in the race for the presidency as long as she wants, meaning at least until someone wins. Which, it should be noted, hasn’t happened yet.”
April 3, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was quoted about Hillary Clinton comparing herself to the film hero Rocky. “I’m not sure why everybody wants to be Rocky, unless they can rewrite the ending,” Estrich said.
April 2, 2008
NBC News
re: Scott Altman
Prof. Scott Altman was interviewed on “NBC Nightly News” about surrogate motherhood, which has sparked bioethics debate. “Some people see it as a form of baby selling,” Altman explained. “They think that they’re treating children like just another commodity, like a car or a stereo or a pet.”
April 2, 2008
ABC News
re: USC Gould School of Law
A story on “ABC World News” mentioned the USC Gould School. Laptops aren’t allowed in some classrooms at the Gould School, an example of measures in many law classes, schools and workplaces to reduce the distracting influence of some technologies, the story reported.
April 2, 2008
The San Diego Union-Tribune
re: George Lefcoe
Prof. George Lefcoe was quoted about laws and ethics regarding real estate transactions. “The real estate broker has an obligation in good faith to tell the buyers what he knows about pricing information and that there were houses selling for less than what the buyer was prepared to buy,” Lefcoe said. “And the buyers have an obligation to wake up and smell the roses before they buy and get as much information as they can.”
April 1, 2008
Knoxville News Sentinel
re: Susan Estrich
In a widely carried column, Prof. Susan Estrich recalled the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination process, during which some argued that superdelegates shouldn’t vote according to their home states’ primary and caucus results. “We called it the robot rule,” Estrich recalled. “I still have an old and slightly rusty pin showing a robot with a red slash through it,” she added” ŒDelegates are not robots was our rallying cry.”
March 31, 2008
The New York Times
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted in a widely carried Associated Press story on America’s dialogue about race. Some credit Barack Obama’s recent speech on the subject as launching a new national dialogue, but Obama wasn’t the first to propose such a discussion, the story stated. “In some ways, he is joining in a conversation already in progress,” Crayton said.
March 27, 2008
Los Angeles Daily News
re: Thomas Griffith
Prof. Thomas Griffith was quoted about a Web site that allows people to rate the performance of police officers. While similar systems for rating teachers or restaurants are fine, it’s different when applied to police officers, Griffith said. People can’t choose their officers, as they do with teachers or restaurants, Griffith noted. “A mechanism with unconfirmed reports that can be over-praising or condemning is not the best way to ensure accountability,” he explained.
March 25, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich co-hosted “Hannity and Colmes,” during which she discussed Republican attitudes towards Barack Obama, in light of the controversy over his former pastor. “A lot of conservatives I’m hearing from now are saying that while three weeks ago they were sort of quietly rooting for Hillary because they thought Obama was going to be tougher to beat, now they are sort of drooling for Obama,” Estrich said. “Is that fair? Is that right? They think this stuff is so powerful that they can use it to beat him?”
March 25, 2008
The Columbus Dispatch
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about Sen. Barack Obama’s controversial relationship with his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Questions still linger about why Obama did not quit the church, why he didn’t confront Wright personally about sermons with which he disagreed, and why he continues to support Wright, Crayton said. Republicans will use Wright to exploit doubts among working-class white voters in Ohio and other states where Obama has struggled to get their support, Crayton added. “We’ll see, if he is the nominee of the party, whether he can weather that storm and change the subject to something that is a winner for Democrats,” Crayton said. “So long as the conversation is about race or about the potential in the eyes of some for him to be on the wrong side of these questions about Wright, he’s going to be in trouble.”
March 25, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the Democratic presidential nomination fight. “If you do the math, you quickly come to the conclusion that neither candidate, barring some truly unexpected landslide, is going to win this nomination on the basis of pledged delegates alone,” Estrich wrote. “Unless you want to change the rules in the middle of the game, the fact is that it will be up to the superdelegates to do what they were put there to do: decide who is most electable, and cast their votes accordingly.”
March 24, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about Sen. Barack Obama’s recent speech on race. Obama’s description of himself as a “post-racial” candidate whose white mother and black father gave him unique insights into the country’s racial divisions was compelling but incomplete, Crayton said. “I don’t think the speech resolved all of his political problems,” Crayton added.
March 24, 2008
The Honolulu Advertiser
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about the role of superdelegates at the Democratic National Convention. The idea behind superdelegates is that they would consider broader issues such as electability and what is best for the party in the long term, rather than which candidates are favored by their home states, Crayton said.
March 22, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the possible court challenges that could influence the Democratic presidential nomination process. There are unlikely but possible scenarios under which Florida could sue the national party to force it to allow the state’s delegates at the convention, Estrich wrote. “Who knows? As Bush v. Gore so clearly demonstrated, elections can be decided by five votes, as well by many millions,” she explained. “What’s clear is that there is no state that offers as many opportunities for creative election lawyers as Florida.”
March 18, 2008
The Wenatchee World
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote that race is part of Barack Obama’s appeal to voters. “I don’t think [Geraldine Ferraro] in any way meant to put Obama down by pointing to his race as an essential element of his appeal,” Estrich wrote. “It is an essential element of his appeal. That doesn’t mean he’s the affirmative action candidate. It doesn’t mean he’s unqualified or undeserving. Recognizing that race matters is exactly what critical race theorists have been arguing for years,” she added.
March 17, 2008
New York Review of Books
re: Elyn Saks
“The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness” by Prof. Elyn Saks was given a glowing review. “There is a long tradition, published and unpublished, of first-person accounts of madness, but of those I’m familiar with, Elyn Saks’s is the most remarkable of all,” the reviewer wrote. “I know of no other account that allows us to begin to experience what being in this condition must be like,” he added. “While Elyn tells the story of her life in beautifully observed detail, she also steps outside it to become the most trustworthy of participant-observers,” the review continued. “Elyn Saks may be anomalous in many ways - in her will, her illness, her treatment, her luck, and her exceptional gifts - but she is not anomalous in her own sense of human experience, and one great virtue of her book is that it reminds us of what, to use her words, makes our lives worth living.”
March 14, 2008
Los Angeles Daily Journal
re: Scott Altman
A story featured research led by Associate Dean Scott Altman. Altman studied divorce negotiation tactics and found that over a one-year period, more than 60 percent of divorce attorneys reported receiving threats of custody litigation from their opponents to extract more favorable child-support arrangements. “There are definitely financial reasons why some men seek child custody,” Altman said. Furthermore, Altman found that attorneys who represented women exclusively or predominantly received such threats three times as often as their counterparts.
March 14, 2008
KNX Radio
re: Michael Chasalow
Prof. Michael Chasalow was interviewed about a symposium sponsored by USC’s Small Business Clinic that offered legal advice to small business owners. “A lot more people are starting small businesses because many are out of work and they’re looking for new things to do and ways they can take care of themselves by striking out on their own,” Chasalow said. “We’re educating entrepreneurs about myths and mistakes that people make when setting up their businesses,” he added. Chasalow directs the Gould School’s Small Business Clinic, the story noted.
March 14, 2008
Boston Herald
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich wrote a column on the sex scandal involving New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. “I met Eliot Spitzer during his first semester in law school, my first year teaching criminal law at Harvard,” Estrich wrote. “There is only one obvious explanation for why a smart man would commit such a self-destructive act: He didn’t think he would be caught,” she added. “Eliot Spitzer knew better, but he clearly forgot that the rules apply to all.”
March 13, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote that the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal is bad for Hillary Clinton. The scandal evokes memories of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, especially the fact that Clinton stayed with her husband, as Spitzer’s wife currently is doing, Estrich wrote. “Ironically, many women had an easier time forgiving the president for straying than they did forgiving his wife for staying,” Estrich added. “What made it worse, for Hillary, in the eyes of women, was the idea that she kept her marriage together because of her own ambitions.”
March 13, 2008
Associated Press
re: David Cruz
Prof. David Cruz was quoted in a widely carried story on a ruling that denying immigration detainees medical treatment is “beyond cruel.” The recent decision will allow the family of a detainee who died from cancer to sue the federal government, the story reported. “The ruling is important because it seems to provide the first federal judicial recognition that the Public Health Service Act still allows suits for money damages against individual federal employees,” Cruz said. Cruz was also quoted in the Los Angeles Daily Journal about the ruling.
March 13, 2008
The Kansas City Star
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about talk of a Clinton-Obama “dream ticket.” For Obama, there¹s the argument that he¹s been running a different kind of campaign, and Clinton’s the old politics, Crayton said.
March 13, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Susan Estrich wrote that the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal is bad for Hillary Clinton. The scandal evokes memories of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, especially the fact that Clinton stayed with her husband, as Spitzer’s wife currently is doing, Estrich wrote. “Ironically, many women had an easier time forgiving the president for straying than they did forgiving his wife for staying,” Estrich added. “What made it worse, for Hillary, in the eyes of women, was the idea that she kept her marriage together because of her own ambitions.”
March 12, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was interviewed on “On The Record” about the sex scandal involving New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Estrich knows Spitzer from her first year teaching criminal law, when Spitzer was her student, the story reported. ”He was ambitious about politics then,” Estrich said. “I told him if he wanted to get elected as a Democrat, he should go be a prosecutor. And I stayed in touch with him over the years. I’m very sad today. Guys get stupid when it comes to sex. And boy, did he ever get stupid.”
March 12, 2008
The Wenatchee World
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the dilemma the Democratic Party faces regarding the Michigan and Florida primary elections, held too early to secure delegates. “In a race that’s shaping up to be the closest any of us have seen to a tie in our lifetimes, disenfranchising two states with the result that the decision on the nomination depends on party leaders just doesn¹t have the right feel to it,” Estrich wrote. One option being considered is having the party pay to redo the primaries in those two states, she noted. “[T]he party’s paying for Florida and Michigan would be cheap compared with the price it would pay for letting this fight go on until August.”
March 11, 2008
The Alantic
re: Susan Estrich
A story noted that Prof. Susan Estrich, in her role on the Hunt Commission, coined the phrase “super delegates” to describe what had previously been called “automatic delegates.” The phrase stuck, the article noted.
March 11, 2008
Pasadena Star-News
re: Thomas Lyon
Prof. Thomas Lyon was quoted about a child custody case that may include charges of abuse. “Judges are pretty cautious about abuse charges in a custody case,” Lyon said. “Making allegations can make the accuser look vindictive, and lead to judicial backlash,” he added. Lyon is a law professor and psychologist who has investigated custody cases for the county and argued as a lawyer in family courts, the story noted.
March 10, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Thomas Lyon was quoted about a child custody case that may include charges of abuse. “Judges are pretty cautious about abuse charges in a custody case,” Lyon said. “Making allegations can make the accuser look vindictive, and lead to judicial backlash,” he added. Lyon is a law professor and psychologist who has investigated custody cases for the county and argued as a lawyer in family courts, the story noted.
March 7, 2008
KPCC-FM
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was interviewed on “Air Talk” about Tuesday’s presidential primaries. Barack Obama’s losses may force him to face tough questions about his ability to carry large swing states, Crayton said. “He’s going to have to answer some questions from people who think that he doesn’t have the goods to go the distance,” Crayton explained.
March 6, 2008
The Arizona Republic
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about John McCain’s campaign strategy as the presumptive Republican nominee for president. "The key for him is that he no longer needs to prove himself as the person who can win the Republican nomination," Crayton said. "The question now is going to be whether or not he can heal whatever wounds exist on the social-conservative right in order to prepare the party to go into the general election,” he added.
March 6, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her ‘Blue Streak’ column, Prof. Susan Estrich warned Democrats to be careful of internal divisions as the close race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continues. “We have the two strongest candidates to run for president since Bill Clinton,” Estrich wrote. “We need to be careful to remember that our two candidates agree on far more than they disagree, that the opponent is John McCain and not Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton,” she added.
March 6, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Ariela Gross
Prof. Ariela Gross was quoted in an obituary for George Fredrickson, an authority on the comparative history of racism. “He was a pioneer," Gross said. "He published [his book] 'White Supremacy' at a time when most people studying slavery in the United States were doing groundbreaking work but very locally focused,” she noted. “Now everybody is doing comparative and transnational work, 25 years later [that he did]." Fredrickson advised Gross for her doctoral dissertation, the story noted.
March 5, 2008
KPCC-FM
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was on “Air Talk” with Larry Mantle. He discussed discuss the results and ramifications of Tuesday's Presidential contests in Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
March 5, 2008
The Washington Post
re: Daria Roithmayr
Prof. Daria Roithmayr was quoted about the lead in delegates held by Barack Obama despite yesterday’s victories by Hillary Clinton. “I don’t discount that there is a path to victory [for Clinton] that we just don’t know yet, that there is a major story that we don’t know that changes the trajectory,” Roithmayr said. “I just don’t see her winning as significantly as she needs to pull out a victory.” Roithmayr is a former aide to Sen. Edward Kennedy, the article noted.
March 5, 2008
The Arizona Republic
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about the Democratic presidential race. Wins in both Ohio and Texas allow Hillary Clinton to make a very strong argument that she’s the candidate who can excel in the bigger, electoral-vote-heavy states crucial to victory in November, Crayton said.
March 3, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the importance of tomorrow’s Texas and Ohio primaries for Hillary Clinton¹s presidential campaign. “If she wins, even if she wins narrowly, she’ll be en route to Pennsylvania,” Estrich wrote. “If she loses, even the best spinners will get dizzy trying to argue that it isn’t fatal. And that’s when all the coulda, woulda, shouldas will be heard,” she added.
March 2, 2008
Corpus Christi Caller Times
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich addressed waning support for Hillary Clinton. ‘For many Hillary supporters, especially the many strong women who admire the guts and determination she has shown in this campaign, the troubling question is not whether race is defining this campaign, but whether sex - or to put it bluntly, sexism - is,” Estrich wrote. “If the problem is that so many people really don’t like Hillary, and reading the blogs is certainly enough to suggest that, the question is why.”
March 1, 2008
NPR Radio
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich discussed Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy on NPR’s “Weekend Edition. “I think there’s a sense it’s not over yet. She has a base of very loyal supporters. … Look down the road to Tuesday in Texas and Ohio, and we’ll see what happens.” Estrich said her advice to Clinton is to “play the hand that is dealt to you... Her hand is based on experience and in part the accomplishments of the Clinton years… I think she’s playing it as effectively as she can.”
February 29, 2008
Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
re: Heidi Rummel
Prof. Heidi Rummel was quoted about a Japanese businessman arrested in Saipan on a 1988 murder warrant alleging that the man arranged for his wife to be killed in Los Angeles in 1981. The businessman now faces extradition and trial in California, despite having been tried and acquitted in the case in Japan. Despite the previous acquittal in Japan on similar charges arising out of the same events, double jeopardy does not preclude a prosecution in California, Rummel said.
February 29, 2008
Daily Yomiuri (Japan)
re: USC Gould School of Law
Profs. Heidi Rummel and Jean Rosenbluth were quoted in several stories about a Japanese businessman arrested in Micronesia on a 1988 murder warrant alleging that the man arranged for his wife to be killed in Los Angeles in 1981. The businessman now faces extradition and trial in California, despite having been tried and acquitted in the case in Japan. Double jeopardy does not apply in this case, because of a 2004 law passed by California’s legislature, Rummel said. Rummel was also interviewed by The Asahi Shim bun (Japan) and Aera Magazine, and Rosenbluth was interviewed by Kyodo News (Japan) and Aera Magazine.
February 28, 2008
Variety
re: USC Gould School of Law
A story noted that David Simon, the creator of HBO series “The Wire,” will speak at USC Gould School of Law on Monday.
February 28, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was quoted about the latest Democratic presidential debate. “Whoever you were for going in, won,” Estrich said. “There was no knockout punch and, frankly, Hillary could use a knockout punch.”
February 28, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about double standards in how the media and public treat Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. “When it comes to Hillary Clinton, there’s no doubt that, whether it’s the first or second question, her response is likely to be subject to strict scrutiny, which, as we say in the law, tends to be strict in theory and fatal in fact, while her opponent gets judged by a sort of rational basis test that means if there’s any conceivable version of what he’s saying that makes sense, he gets a pass,” Estrich wrote.
February 26, 2008
Voice of America
re: USC Gould School of Law
Prof. Jonathan Orszag's Center for Communication Law and Policy was interviewed about rising consumer credit card debt in the U.S. American consumers are woefully uninformed about the high fees and interest rates associated with late payments, Orszag said. ”Financial literacy in America is horrible - that’s a simple way to say it,” he added. “And so we need to start young and get people to understand financial products.”
February 25, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the First Amendment and The New York Times, which recently published a story alleging an improper relationship between John McCain and a lobbyist. “[T]he definition of all the news that’s fit to print has changed if it includes a collage of anonymous anecdotes proving nothing more than that some of the senator’s aides might have been troubled by the appearance that he was too close to a woman lobbyist at a time when he was running against the influence of big money in politics,” Estrich wrote.
February 22, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich addressed new fundraising tactics by Hillary Clinton. “Why are a group of California billionaires teaming up with a couple of experienced operatives to create an independent group to finance pro-Hillary ads in Ohio?” Estrich asked. “And more important, is it good news or bad news for the Hillary campaign? The answer, in a word, is both,” Estrich wrote. “Both good news and bad news. A sign that the campaign is struggling, but that the fight is not over.”
February 22, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Jean Rosenbluth
Prof. Jean Rosenbluth was quoted about an eyewitness who recanted testimony identifying a man as a murderer. It’s unlikely that a judge will grant the convicted man a new trial, according to the story. “As a judge, it’s hard to get in trouble for upholding a jury verdict,” Rosenbluth said. “But you can get flak for letting a convicted murderer out of jail,” she added. Rosenbluth is a former federal prosecutor, the story noted.
February 22, 2008
Yahoo! News
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the significance of plagiarism accusations against Barack Obama. “[T]his is politics, and in politics, copying lines from someone else, even if it’s only the result of having the same writer or handler, can be deadly if it goes to your character,” Estrich wrote.
February 22, 2008
Fox Business Network
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was interviewed about Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in light of Barack Obama’s success so far. “There is no taking away from the effectiveness of Obama’s accomplishments,” Estrich said. “But I think it’s still a race. I don’t think it’s over.”
February 19, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about how primary races come to a close. “Races end when a candidate puts down his hand, or her hand, or when the people who would never endorse while there was still a contest endorse, when all the money is flowing in one direction, and the only question is when and not if,” Estrich wrote. “That is, plainly, what is happening on the Republican side,” she added. “The Democratic side is another story.”
February 19, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: John Matsusaka
Prof. John Matsusaka of the USC Initiative and Referendum Institute was quoted about how some California ballot measures lock spending into the state Constitution. With the current multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, programs funded by these measures stay solvent despite a lack of cash for some essential services, Matsusaka said. “Are these really the programs we want to keep funding?” he asked.
February 18, 2008
Los Angeles Daily News
re: Gregory Keating
Associate Dean Greg Keating was quoted about a case involving an ex-convict, employed by a church, who attacked a woman. The woman’s family has filed a negligence suit against the church for not informing the surrounding community of the convict’s presence. The case raises interesting legal questions, Keating said. “You could say, ‘We have a charitable institution and if we impose these restrictions, they won't provide these services [to ex-convicts] and these people will be out on the street,” Keating said. “The counterargument is, ‘Why is the cost on the woman?’”
February 17, 2008
Daily Journal
Prof. Rebecca Lonergan was quoted about celebrity witnesses at trials. You don't want the attention being on the celebrity instead of the case, Lonergan said. “On the other hand, when they are famous and not infamous, they are generally well-respected and they carry that with them into the courtroom,” she added. Lonergan is a former federal prosecutor, the story noted.
February 17, 2008
Whittier Daily News
re: Noel Ragsdale
Prof. Noel Ragsdale was quoted about California labor law. Under state law, unionized employees can vote by secret ballot to approve a longer work day without overtime, Ragsdale said.
February 15, 2008
Daily Journal
Prof. Rebecca Lonergan was quoted about the differences between criminal and civil law. The two are just different beasts, Lonergan said. “After 20 years as a criminal litigator, I would never consider myself qualified to step in as lead counsel in a civil case,” she said.
February 15, 2008
In Business Las Vegas
re: Rob Saltzman
Associate Dean Rob Saltzman was quoted about dramatic tuition increases at law schools. While unusual, such increases can occur after a new law school lures enough students with very low prices, Saltzman said. “Initially tuition is low but once the law school really takes off, then tuition can raise very quickly,” he explained. “There's some precedents for that,” he noted.
February 14, 2008
The Telegraph
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the possibility that superdelegates may decide the Democratic presidential nominee. This is the first time the race on the ground has taken on the appearance of a tie, and the superdelegates look to actually be, potentially, decisive, Estrich wrote. These are people who get picked, not elected, she noted, referring to members of the Democratic National Committee, who constitute a good portion of the superdelegates.
February 14, 2008
ABC News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was interviewed on Los Angeles affiliate KABC-TV about the election returns from the Super Tuesday primary elections.
February 14, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about increased congressional oversight over major league baseball. It’s normal for Congress to monitor big business, and baseball is a huge business, Crayton said. It’s also normal for politicians to perform for the spotlight, creating justifiable cynicism, the story stated. “They want to show they’re on top of important, pressing issues,” Crayton explained. “In some ways it’s easier than trying to get control of our involvement in Iraq. It gets much more publicity and attention.”
February 14, 2008
San Franciso Chronicle
re: USC Gould School of Law
A story noted that Dorothy Nelson LLM ‘56, a judge on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, was one of few women to head a major U.S. law school when she was appointed dean of the USC Gould School in 1968.
February 14, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. “McCain’s great strength also is his great weakness,” Estrich wrote. “The reason Democrats fear him also is the reason so many Republicans don’t like him,” she added. “McCain’s appeal to independents, his record of opposing the Bush tax cuts, leading the fight for campaign finance reform and working with Ted Kennedy to come up with a fair compromise on immigration is the reason conservatives don’t trust him.”
February 13, 2008
The Columbian
re: Susan Estrich
In a widely carried column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about Republican presidential candidate John McCain. “Make no mistake, McCain may have run and won, ultimately, as an independent Republican, as the least conservative of the conservatives, but that is not how he will be positioned by Democrats,” Estrich wrote. “Speeches at Liberty University? A hundred-year war? McCain may not have won the support of conservatives in the early days of his campaign, but that will not stop Democrats from reminding voters of how hard he tried to be George Bush’s best friend and conservatives’ first choice.”
February 13, 2008
Editor & Publisher
re: Susan Estrich
A story noted that Prof. Susan Estrich of is among the columnists to be featured on the new Web site The Cagle Post.
February 12, 2008
GMTV News Hour
re: Edwin Smith
Prof. Edwin Smith was interviewed about the recent Russian overflight of the USS Nimitz in the Sea of Japan. Smith said that this was not a dangerous reprise of Cold War tensions; however, it was an assertion of a moderate renewal of Russian capabilities for power projection.
February 11, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: USC Gould School of Law
A story reported that Tom Tomlinson has been appointed to the top fundraising post at Occidental College.
February 11, 2008
BBC News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was interviewed on ‘BBC World Service’ about last week’s Super Tuesday elections. Crayton discussed the importance of Latino and African-American voters.
February 10, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her ‘Blue Streak’ column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about prejudice and the presidential elections. “No one doubts, or at least no one who is honest does, that both racism and sexism come into play as people decide between Clinton and Obama, but could it be that people are more willing to admit that they won¹t vote for the woman than that they won’t vote for the black?” Estrich wrote. “If this is happening even among us good Democrats, what does that say about Obama’s strength in a general election?” she added.
February 8, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Jody Armour
Prof. Jody Armour was quoted about Roger Clemens’ defamation suit against Brian McNamee, who says he injected the baseball star with steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens alleges that McNamee made that claim after being threatened with prosecution by federal investigators, and jurors will decide whether such duress makes it more or less likely that McNamee lied, the story reported. “Would a threat like that be more likely to make someone who’s been lying tell the truth or be more likely to make someone who’s been telling the truth lie?” Armour said. “It’s going to be a real fight.”
February 7, 2008
Pasadena Star-News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about the aftermath of Tuesday’s presidential primaries. In Southern California, Obama's well-organized campaign headquarters in Pasadena did a good job of mobilizing supporters in that area, he said in the story.
February 7, 2008
The Christian Science Monitor
re: John Matsusaka
Prof. John Matsusaka of the USC Initiative and Referendum Institute was quoted about the Indian gaming propositions that passed in California’s election Tuesday. The huge spending on ads by proponents and detractors of these and other ballot initiatives showed the power of money to influence elections, the story stated. "The ballot-proposition landscape is increasingly dominated by interest groups with huge economic interests at stake," Matsusaka noted. "This election, the gambling industry, primarily a handful of tribes, ... virtually monopolized the airwaves in the last couple of weeks,” he added.
February 7, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the Democratic Party’s proportional representation rules, in which presidential candidates obtain delegates in proportion to their primary results. “So how does a Democrat ever win in a system that encourages losers to keep losing and racking up the delegates, provided they exceed a 15 percent threshold (that was part of Edwards’ problem) that guarantees them their share?” Estrich wrote. One answer is “super delegates,” unpledged delegates who go to the party convention without having to commit to a candidate, she wrote.
February 7, 2008
San Franciso Chronicle
re: Daria Roithmayr
Prof. Daria Roithmayr was quoted about the low African American turnout in Tuesday’s election in California. The low turnout might represent a self-fulfilling prophecy by black voters who discounted Obama's chances in the state, Roithmayr said. "There was a sense among black voters I talked to that Obama was going to lose anyway, since Latino voters were going to turn out in force," she explained.
February 7, 2008
Boston Herald
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about the aftermath of Tuesday’s presidential primaries. Both Clinton and Obama each “carry some strengths and some weaknesses” into a showdown with McCain, who is expected to become the Republican nominee. “[Obama] does have the benefit of being a person who does not necessarily have the baggage,” he added. As for Clinton, “she’s got a very committed group of voters who are all supportive of her and will vote for her under any circumstances,” he added.
February 7, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about next steps in the Democratic nomination process. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain in fierce competition that may be resolved only by the uncommitted “super-delegates,” Estrich wrote. “The good news for Democratic voters is that the next two months - and my guess is that it will take that - will be a time to judge the candidates not only in terms of how they measure up against each other, but more importantly, how they will measure up against McCain, without question the Republican who will be the toughest for Democrats to beat,” she noted.
February 6, 2008
McClatchy Newspapers
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted in a widely carried story on Hillary Clinton’s strong performance in yesterday’s primary elections. Clinton’s organizational strength among key leaders was a factor in this success, according to the article. “Clinton seemed to have the support of every available Latino politician,” Crayton said.
February 6, 2008
Fox Business Network
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was part of a roundtable discussion about the presidential primary results.
February 6, 2008
The Arizona Republic
re: USC Gould School of Law
Prof. Daria Roithmayr was quoted about hypothetical match-ups for the presidential general elections. An Obama-McCain faceoff would be “the fresh young voice of unity and hope versus the slightly cynical Straight Talk Express in a battle for the independents,” Roithmayr said. On the other hand, a McCain-Clinton battle represents “a much more standard matchup” and “all of the energy, I think, goes out of the election,” she added.
February 6, 2008
Bloomberg News
re: John Matsusaka
Prof. John Matsusaka of USC’s Initiative and Referendum Institute was quoted about California’s Proposition 91. The initiative’s original backers urged voters to reject the measure, saying the problem it aimed to address was already solved, the story reported. “It demonstrates that there should be a mechanism to pull things off the ballot,” Matsusaka said. “If a group doesn’t want its initiative anymore, it should just be allowed to pull it.”
February 5, 2008
HDNET
re: USC Gould School of Law
Profs. Kareem Crayton and Daria Roithmayr were interviewed on “Dan Rather Reports” during an election night special broadcast live from USC. The USC legal experts analyzed the historic primaries and provided their political analysis on Super Tuesday.
February 5, 2008
ABC News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton served as an analyst on the evening of Super Tuesday for KABC. The day after Super Tuesday, Crayton was interviewed by KABC about what comes next for the candidates on both the Democrat and Republican side. He was also asked about the delegate system and how California’s delegates will be apportioned on Wednesday.
February 2, 2008
CTV - Canada
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was interviewed about the upcoming Super Tuesday primary. He was asked about the importance of the Latino and African-American vote in California and the strategies each of the candidates were employing leading up to the big day.
February 2, 2008
The Telegraph
re: Susan Estrich
In a widely carried column, Prof. Susan Estrich reflected upon John Edwards’ terminated presidential campaign. During this bid, Edwards’ platform didn’t resonate with voters, Estrich wrote. “John Edwards, the angry populist, didn’t feel right,” she explained. “It didn’t seem like it was really him. And it certainly didn’t seem like it was really us.”
February 2, 2008
Las Vegas Sun
re: Jean Rosenbluth
Prof. Jean Rosenbluth was quoted about whether a Nevada judge once accused of misusing campaign funds should recuse himself from a case involving the same crime. “Can a judge who has a drunken driver charge preside over a drinking and driving case? Yes,” Rosenbluth said. However, whether or not an actual bias exists, judges should “always want to take those extra steps to preserve even the appearance of impartiality,” she said.
February 1, 2008
E! Online
re: Martin Levine
Prof. Martin Levine was quoted about the attempt by Britney Spears’ family to obtain legal conservatorship over her. Conservatorships are difficult to obtain, according to the story. “You see people on the street who are not doing so well, but if they were brought before a court and the judge says they are getting by with the minimum food, clothing and shelter, then the statute does not allow for the state to take control of their lives,” Levine said.
February 1, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain. “I’m beginning to think that the Republicans might just Š have settled on the candidate who will be toughest for Democrats to beat, precisely because his independent streak makes him more appealing to those in the middle than he might be to the true believers on the far right,” Estrich wrote. “A McCain nomination is not good news for the Blue Team, but it is for the country, which I’m still old-fashioned enough to believe is the most important thing.”
January 31, 2008
Yahoo! News
re: Susan Estrich
In a column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about a recent study finding that happiness declines in people in their 40s, and then rises again in old age. Estrich speculated as to the reason for middle-age unhappiness: “Your parents get sick and die. Your kids grow up and leave home. Your professional life hits the brick wall of reality as you realize that, no, you aren’t going to be president or CEO, or have your own show or that house on the beach.” There’s another side to this phase of life, which is figuring out how to live, and being less judgmental and kinder to oneself, Estrich wrote.
January 31, 2008
ABC News
re: David Cruz
Prof. David Cruz was interviewed on Los Angeles affiliate KABC-TV about the legal status of paparazzi. The Constitution protects the paparazzi so long as they aren’t breaking any existing laws, Cruz said.
January 30, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her ‘Blue Streak’ column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain. “I’m beginning to think that the Republicans might just have settled on the candidate who will be toughest for Democrats to beat, precisely because his independent streak makes him more appealing to those in the middle than he might be to the true believers on the far right,” Estrich wrote. “A McCain nomination is not good news for the Blue Team, but it is for the country, which I’m still old-fashioned enough to believe is the most important thing.”
January 30, 2008
Associated Press
re: Niels Frenzen
Prof. Niels Frenzen was quoted in a widely carried story on the hundreds of illegal immigrants transferred from Los Angeles to Texas last October. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lost its bid to change hearing venues for the cases to Texas, but government attorneys are ignoring judicial rulings against the venue changes, Frenzen said. “What ICE has done is file a second round of motions to change venue,” he added. Frenzen is representing one of the immigrants who was moved, according to the story.
January 29, 2008
Daily Journal
re: Niels Frenzen
Prof. Niels Frenzen was interviewed for a story about hundreds of immigrants who had their court venues changed after they were abruptly transferred from a San Pedro detention center to a Texas facility. "What ICE has done is file a second round of motions to change venue," Frenzen said. "To suggest the government filed the motions, but it is the immigration judges who decide, is ridiculous. The government is getting two bites at the apple." Frenzen said immigration officials lost their bid to move his client's case to South Texas but refused to bring the immigrant back to California. Frenzen said the transfers and venue changes are hardest for unrepresented detainees, who must now fight their cases far away from family, witnesses and free legal help.
January 28, 2008
Daily Journal
Prof. Rebecca Lonergan was interviewed about Terry Christensen, a lawyer charged in the federal wiretapping and conspiracy case involving several co-defendants, including private eye Anthony Pellicano. Christensen filed an interlocutory appeal arguing that the government shouldn't be able use wiretap tapes that violated his attorney-client privilege and his attorneys are asking to delay the trial until the appeal is decided. The other defendants want a severance so their trials won't be delayed. Lonergan commented that the court probably would not sever the trials because, where there is significant overlap in evidence, judges generally prefer the more efficient route of having a single trial.
January 28, 2008
Pasadena Star-News
re: Noel Ragsdale
Prof. Noel Ragsdale was quoted about a complicated overtime pay structure deemed illegal by a California superior court. Huntington Hospital varied its base hourly rate for its nurses depending on their shift length, according to the story. "The idea that the base rate would vary depending on the number of hours worked is fundamentally inconsistent with the whole overtime structure," Ragsdale said. "I think the court would look at the circumstances and see that this was all designed to basically avoid paying the overtime rate,” she added.
January 27, 2008
The Star
A story reported that Prof. Christopher Stone first proposed the concept of legal rights for nature in a 1972 article called ‘Should Trees Have Standing?’
January 27, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was interviewed about Barack Obama’s victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary. “I’ve been sitting here for 20 minutes and I’ve heard the words ‘race’ and ‘African-Americans’ about 20,000 times,” Estrich said while watching the returns. “The question is how it’s going to play in the coming states,” she added. Hostility remains between African Americans and Latinos in California, who make up a large part of the electorate there, and that could perpetuate the race factor, she said.
January 25, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her ‘Blue Streak’ column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the Nevada caucuses. A federal judge refused to shut down at-large caucus sites established in the casinos, a contentious issue between presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Estrich noted. “[I]t’s possible to make principled arguments on both sides of this dispute, about small democracy and whether it is served when workers and their bosses and union leaders caucus together in the open in the middle of the work day at the work site," she added.
January 25, 2008
BBC World Radio
re: Daria Roithmayr
Prof. Daria Roithmayr was interviewed about the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. She talked about the history of the abortion ruling, its impact and why it may play a role in current political debates.
January 25, 2008
Associated Press Television News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was interviewed about the Obama and Clinton presidential campaigns. The candidates’ visits to California show the state’s importance, including the influence of Hollywood and celebrity endorsements, Crayton said.
January 24, 2008
The Washington Post
re: Noel Ragsdale
Prof. Noel Ragsdale was interviewed by numerous publications about the California Supreme Court ruling that employers can fire workers who use medical marijuana. “It’s a real visceral blow to any kind of real ability to realize the benefits of that Compassionate Use Act,” Ragsdale said of the California law legalizing medical marijuana use. “The fundamental purpose of [the act] was to protect people from being disadvantaged or sanctioned unfairly,” she noted in a Daily Breeze story.
January 21, 2008
Los Angeles Business Journal
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich has joined the law firm Quinn Emanuel, a story reported. Estrich is currently a USC professor and political commentator for Fox News Channel, and will continue in both roles, according to the story.
January 20, 2008
Los Angeles Daily News
re: John Matsusaka
John Matsusaka, president of USC’s Initiative and Referendum Institute, was quoted about eminent-domain reform ballot measures. “Based on historically how these eminent-domain measures have done, I think the voters will probably like the idea of protecting property owners,” Matsusaka said. “But when you get into this issue of having to pay people for regulations, it makes people nervous,” he added. “They know [governments] are short of funds, especially in California. That changes the terms of the discussion.” Matsusaka is president of the institute, the story noted.
January 19, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Jody Armour
Prof. Jody Armour was quoted about NFL player Dana Stubblefield’s guilty plea in a federal case involving performance-enhancing drugs. “What people have called celebrity justice now has a second edge,” Armour said, referring to the idea that the famous often skirt tough punishment in legal cases. “These well-known athletes aren’t getting off easy. Instead, the government can now send a powerful social signal, that anyone participating in a criminal investigation better tell the truth, or they’ll be prosecuted.”
January 19, 2008
The Record
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich wrote a column about Republicans Mike Huckabee and John McCain, who have scored early wins in the presidential race. “I’m supposed to be the one trashing the Republican winner, but I don¹t have to say a thing,” Estrich wrote. That¹s because conservative pundits, who don¹t think the duo are conservative enough, are doing the criticizing, she wrote.
January 18, 2008
Corpus Christi Caller Times
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich wrote a column about the delicate race and gender issues recently stirred up by the Clinton and Obama presidential campaigns. “It was probably inevitable,” Estrich wrote. “Even if [Clinton] was running as the most experienced candidate and [Obama] was running a campaign to transcend race, dynamite ultimately explodes,” she added. “The problem is that playing with fire, as Clinton and Obama have been doing in the latest edition of the race war, risks everyone getting burned.”
January 17, 2008
La Opinion
re: Simon Wilkie
Prof. Simon Wilkie was quoted about the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of a new frequency bandwidth, for which more than 200 media outlets are competing. It’s unfortunate that the FCC didn’t reserve a part of the spectrum exclusively for new participants, like it did a decade ago during the first such auction, Wilkie said. The FCC should re-establish limits on how much one company can purchase, he added. Wilkie is executive director of the Gould School’s Center for Communication Law and Policy, the story noted.
January 16, 2008
USA Today
re: Gillian Hadfield
Prof. Gillian Hadfield was quoted about whether baseball fans could sue over the sports doping scandal. Fans who purchased tickets could have a case if they’re willing to spend the time and money to litigate, according to the story. “Sure, you make a contract claim since what they promised was different from they delivered,” Hadfield said. “It may be too little money worth pursuing, and it can become tricky.”
January 15, 2008
CNN
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was interviewed on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” about the Republican presidential primary in California. The state’s Republican Party has decided to forbid independents from participating, unlike the Democratic Party. “For party elites and people who are diehard Republicans in terms of social and economic conservatism, it may be their effort at reasserting authority over who becomes the standard bearer in these nominating primaries,” Crayton said. Crayton was also interviewed on KABC and KTLA about the New Hampshire primary.
January 14, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Lee Campbell
Prof. Lee Campbell was quoted about a suicide case in Lake Los Angeles, Calif. Authorities have been building a case against the grandfather of a teenage boy who committed suicide, alleging that abuse contributed to the boy’s action, the article reported. “A suicide note would help: ‘I’ve been abused, so I’m going to kill myself.’ But it still would be the sort of creative, pushing-the-envelope argument a judge might not like,” Campbell said. “There are kids that have that much abuse or more and they don’t commit suicide. So to argue that that is the cause of the suicide, that strength of connection isn’t there as a matter of logic, even if it is as a matter of intuition.”
January 14, 2008
Sunday Mail (U.K.)
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about Hillary Clinton’s chances in California’s important presidential primaries. “The economic issue has spread across the country and, at the end of the day, California is the big prize,” Crayton said. “It plays into what [Clinton] has argued for years is a core concern of people, and it helps herwhere she has run strongest, among working-class, blue-collar people,” he explained.
January 13, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote that an anti-sexist backlash may push Hillary Clinton into the White House. Cable TV host Chris Matthews’ recent on-air comment that Clinton’s success in politics is due to her husband’s marital infidelity exemplifies the sexism faced by Clinton, Estrich wrote. “Comments like Matthews’ can only serve to remind voters, especially women, of the depth of the sexism that Hillary Clinton is facing in her historic run for president,” Estrich added. “It isn’t just that Matthews is wrong, but that he needs a lesson to be taught to him, once and for all, to give credit to a woman who this week had the courage and the perseverance and the determination to stand up to the pundits and the pollsters and prove them wrong.”
January 13, 2008
Pasadena Star-News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about the possibility that the 800 super-delegates in the Democratic Party could end up being decisive in choosing a presidential nominee. Since thesuper-delegates aren’t bound to vote for the winning candidates in each primary or caucus, they could make a difference if the race remains close, the story stated. “That would depend on whether neither candidate walks away from the primaries as the clear winner,” Crayton said. However, such a winner will likely emerge well before the convention, he predicted.
January 11, 2008
Associated Press
re: Susan Estrich
A widely carried story reported that Prof. Susan Estrich was among legal experts who argued that the activities of the Muslim charity Care were protected by the First Amendment. Three former leaders of the group were recently convicted for fraudulently obtaining tax-exempt status by hiding the group’s pro-jihad activities, the article reported.
January 9, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was interviewed on ‘On The Record’ about the presidential elections. “Iowans take their voting as seriously as we Trojans take our football,” Estrich said. Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement may be a boon to Barack Obama, she added. “It is certainly helpful in the sense that she got him huge crowds at rallies,” Estrich explained.
January 9, 2008
National Public Radio
re: Elyn Saks
Prof. Elyn Saks was interviewed on ‘Justice Talking’ about involuntary psychiatric restraint and her experiences with schizophrenia. Saks recently published the memoir “The Center Cannot Hold” in the hopes that sharing her experience could help others, the story noted. While attending law school at Yale University, Saks suffered a breakdown and was involuntarily restrained. “I can’t describe how horrible an experience it was for me, and after 10 to 12 hours, it’s extremely painful,” she recalled. “[But] I think it was a reasonable response; it was wrong, it made me worse, but it wasn’t negligent or anything like that.” Saks credits psychoanalysis, medication, family and work to her recovery. “I’ve been very, very fortunate,” she said.
January 9, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Jody Armour
Prof. Jody Armour of was quoted about the defamation lawsuit pitcher Roger Clemens has filed against a former trainer who claims to have injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone. St. Petersburg, Fla., police recently issued a report in which a detective wrote that the trainer lied several years ago during questioning concerning a rape case. A judge would probably keep the report out of evidence, but Clemens could argue it should be used for the limited purpose of helping a jury assess the trainer’s credibility, Armour said. “It’s going to be a real fight,” he added.
January 9, 2008
The Press-Enterprise
Prof. Rebecca Lonergan was quoted about monitoring of parents who are violent towards their children. Society simply has no provision for monitoring such violent offenders, Lonergan said. Though laws require sexual predators to register, they are not subject to ongoing supervision, she added. Lonergan was a criminal prosecutor for 20 years, the story noted.
January 8, 2008
The New York Times
re: David Cruz
Prof. David Cruz was quoted about a federal case in which school districts and a teachers union are challenging the No Child Left Behind Act. In a recent ruling, a federal appeals court found that the districts are justified in criticizing the law for requiring them to pay for testing and other programs without sufficient federal funding. The ruling could leave the district court judge little choice but to rule in favor of the districts and the teachers’ union, Cruz said.
January 8, 2008
Investor's Business Daily
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was cited in a story about Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. “Huckabee is a Democrat’s dream,” Estrich said on a Fox News program, according to the article. Estrich managed Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential run, the story noted.
January 8, 2008
Los Angeles Daily News
re: Kareem Crayton
Prof. Kareem Crayton was quoted about an increased presence of young voters at the California polls. Any issues that might pop up between now and the February 5 California primary could push more young voters to the polls, or drive them away, Crayton said. If youth voting rates increase in a state like California or South Carolina, “then we probably are going to be able to see a lot of evidence for the argument that the nature of politics, the landscape, has changed,” he added.
January 8, 2008
USA Today
Prof. Charles Whitebread was quoted about the legal conflict between pitcher Roger Clemens and a former trainer who claims to have injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone. Clemens and his attorney recently released a tape of a phone call between Clemens and the trainer in which the trainer repeatedly asks Clemens for guidance as to what to do. If Clemens had told the trainer what to do, the call might have been considered tampering, the story stated. “You have to be trying to affect an individual for it to be considered tampering,” Whitebread said.
January 6, 2008
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her ‘Blue Streak’ column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the role of the Iowa caucuses in presidential elections. “Only one Democrat and one Republican have won the Iowa caucus and then gone on to win the presidency,” Estrich wrote. “Why such a record of failure for a state that claims such legitimacy in the process and captures the eyes of the nation every four years?” she added. What it takes to win in Iowa is not necessarily what it takes to win the nation, Estrich wrote.
January 2, 2008
Los Angeles Times
re: Gregory Keating
Prof. Gregory Keating was quoted about a lawsuit in which a 60-year-old is suing an 8-year-old for $75,000 after a skiing collision. Keating said personal-injury lawsuits against children were rare but not unheard of. If the child was involved in an age-appropriate activity, Keating said, they have a lower standard of responsibility than an adult would, in recognition of their age.
December 26, 2007
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her "Blue Streak" column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote that finishing third in the Iowa Democratic primary can be more useful than taking first place.
December 24, 2007
Los Angeles Times
re: Niels Frenzen
Prof. Niels Frenzen was quoted about an immigration hotline at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. Frenzen, who runs the USC immigration clinic, said unscrupulous attorneys, or Enotarios, prey on illegal immigrants, so it’s important to have a place such as the coalition where people can go for trustworthy advice. Even if the coalition tells an immigrant that nothing can be done to help them, “that is valid and valuable because it means they are less likely to be ripped off,” Frenzen said.
December 23, 2007
The New York Times
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was quoted about the Bill Clinton era of the 1990s. “Clintonism was about winning,” Estrich said. “It was about grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat. If you were a Democrat of a certain age, it was like being a Red Sox fan; you never won. And even when you won, you lost, because you got Jimmy Carter. Clinton led us out of the desert when no one else could.” This quote was also cited in a column in The New Republic.
December 22, 2007
The Capital times
re: Susan Estrich
Prof. Susan Estrich was cited in a story about Teresa Vilmain, Hillary Clinton’s Iowa campaign manager. In a column, Estrich wrote about Vilmain’s organizing skills, the story noted. “Iowa politics is in her blood,” Estrich wrote.
December 16, 2007
The Telegraph
re: Susan Estrich
In an op-ed, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about Hillary Clinton supporter Bill Shaheen’s controversial comments about Barack Obama’s possible drug use. “The problem with Shaheen’s comments is not simply that they were wrong or unauthorized, or that they forced Hillary herself to repudiate him and them,” Estrich wrote. “He hurt the candidate he was trying to help. He helped the candidate he was trying to hurt.”
December 14, 2007
The Daily Trojan
re: Chloe Reid
According to a recent report by admissions and testing company Kaplan, USC ranked 24th in the nation in terms of the number of undergraduate students applying to its law school. “It’s actually more difficult to get in now. The class size has decreased over the last three years,” said Chloe Reid, associate dean for admissions at the USC Gould School. An overall decline in applications to law schools might reflect public perception of lawyers, the article stated. “There is a negative stereotype of lawyers, which may not be appropriate,” said Adrianna Kezar of the USC Rossier School.
December 13, 2007
Fox News
re: Susan Estrich
In her “Blue Streak” column, Prof. Susan Estrich wrote about the wide variability among poll results from early primary states. “The truth, as they say in Hollywood, is that no one knows anything,” Estrich wrote. These states may end up having less impact in choosing the nominee for each party than expected, she added. “We’re all going to spend a lot of time in the next few weeks following every in and out of the races in two states that, when we look back, may end up having less to do with picking winners this year than all the attention we give them would ever suggest.”
December 12, 2007
Washington Post
Prof. Rebecca Lonergan was quoted in an article about a Los Angeles family’s lawsuit against the HMO Cigna. The suit alleges the HMO’s refusal to pay for a liver transplant for the family’s 17-year-old daughter contributed to her death. The family’s attorney, Mark Geragos, is attempting to get the district attorney to press murder and manslaughter charges against Cigna. That would be difficult to prove unless the defense can show that the company somehow intentionally caused the victim’s death, said Lonergan. "My personal opinion is that this is a little bit of [legal] grandstanding."
December 12, 2007
PBS News
re: Michael Brennan
Prof. Michael Brennan was interviewed on “Life & Times” about a backlog affecting the cases of California death row prisoners. “We have some 200 inmates on death row in California who don¹t have any lawyers, no defense lawyers representing them,” Brennan said. “One of the major backlogs in terms of timing is the fact that California cannot find and recruit enough qualified defense attorneys to handle death penalty cases.”
December 12, 2007
San Diego Citybeat
re: Clare Pastore
Prof. Clare Pastore was interviewed about a 2005 study which found that 75 percent of family-court litigants and 90 percent of tenants had no lawyer, mostly because they could not afford one. “If you’re looking at a few days in jail, you get a right to a lawyer,” Pastore said. “But if you might lose your kids, or your house, or get deported, you get nothing,” she added. Pastore is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, the story noted. She also co-chairs the California Model Statute Task Force, which is working toward a policy requiring civil attorneys for people of modest income. Pastore was also interviewed about the study on KPBS in San Diego.