News Bureau

The surge in unaccompanied children seeking refuge across the U.S. border can be attributed to poverty, natural disasters and the rise of gang recruitment in their home countries. But the biggest factor is that their countries of origin – Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico – are effectively as violent as war zones, says Lauren R. Aronson, an associate clinical professor of law and the director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Illinois College of Law.

Indexing capital gains to inflation could be a simple fix to stimulate a teetering economy, but several significant implementation hurdles remain, said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

Cutting the payroll tax could represent the middle-class tax cut that President Trump campaigned on – although changes would need to go through the legislative process and any economic stimulus likely wouldn’t been seen until after the November 2020 election, said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

The pending Supreme Court case Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org will test the legality of a state copyrighting its own laws, which could pose a challenge to legal research, scholarship and public access to the law, said U. of I. copyright law expert Sara R. Benson.

Courts have consistently affirmed that parents and guardians have significant latitude in making decisions on how to raise children. But in the juvenile justice context, the traditional role of parental authority has been supplanted or nearly eliminated by the child’s attorney, said Margareth Etienne, a professor of law at Illinois.

The primary reason why current bankruptcy law doesn’t work well is that it dates back to 1978, before the explosion of consumer credit, says Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert. Lawless served as reporter for the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy, which recommended several changes to the law.

The development of place-based investment tax incentives such as opportunity zones can be explained as a predictable result of the “pro-gentrification legal, business and political environment that produced them,” said Michelle D. Layser, a professor of law at Illinois.

A new paper from University of Illinois law professor and education law expert Margareth Etienne explores the fictional portrayal of popular educational policy reforms favored by academics in the fourth season of “The Wire,” the critically acclaimed TV show on HBO from 2002-08, and reviews what the show got right and wrong in its depiction of how a large, urban public school functions in a community.

In reversing an Obama-era decision that effectively allowed internet gambling, the Department of Justice has revitalized the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, an anti-gambling statute championed by then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to fight organized crime, said John W. Kindt, a professor emeritus of business administration at the University of Illinois and a leading national gambling critic.

President Trump’s approach to undocumented immigrants and migratory laborers follows the example of past presidents who relied on racial animus to scapegoat foreigners during times of cultural change, says U. of I. labor professor Michael LeRoy.

Research by Michael LeRoy, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois, indicates that presidential powers over immigration have been significantly hamstrung by the courts, with plaintiffs winning all or part of 89 percent of the rulings in cases that consider immigration orders that affect employment relationships.

In adopting the 14th Amendment, Congress unambiguously intended that the children of immigrant workers would have birthright citizenship in the U.S., said University of Illinois labor and employment relations professor Michael LeRoy, an expert on immigration and employment law.

A spate of Supreme Court decisions on the tension between religious freedom and the protective function of government has caused a sense of unease among religious people, says Robin Fretwell Wilson, the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law at Illinois and editor of the book “The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law.”

The lasting impact of Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee will be the image of a lone woman speaking truth to power, says Lesley Wexler, a University of Illinois law professor who studies anti-discrimination law.

Without the #MeToo movement and the high bar of a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, it’s doubtful that the sexual assault allegations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would have surfaced, says Lesley Wexler, a University of Illinois law professor who studies anti-discrimination law.

Changes to the age for required minimum distributions from retirement accounts could be made after the 2018 mid-term elections, said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on tax policy and retirement issues, and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has been the court’s “pivot point” between its liberal and conservative elements since Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement in 2006, said Vikram Amar, dean of the University of Illinois College of Law and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law.

An Illinois political scientist talks about the politics of replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy and the future direction of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court “punted” this week on the issue of partisan gerrymandering, but left the door open to future action. An Illinois professor hopes her research can be part of the solution.

A new paper by University of Illinois legal scholar Robin B. Kar argues that same-sex marriage doesn’t have to be a flashpoint in the ongoing culture war between secular and religious values.

A pending U.S. Supreme Court case could lead to the most significant changes in labor relations since the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

A new study of trial court judges suggests these arbiters of the law sometimes let their personal ideas about gender roles influence their decision-making.

A new paper from a team of U. of I. legal scholars explores restorative and transitional justice in the #MeToo movement.

Schools have a limited ability to challenge cyberbullies, but an Illinois professor has made a legal study on how to change that.

The boilerplate text that nobody reads when signing up for an online service has very tenuous legal footing, said Robin B. Kar, a University of Illinois legal scholar and internationally recognized expert in contract law.

The current tax bill fits with a 30-year trend that doesn’t favor income from work, says sociologist Kevin Leicht

Women often don’t report sexual harassment because grievance procedures frequently take on the feel of litigation, an Illinois professor says.

Even though several states have these regulations on the books, they’re really a last resort for collecting student loan debt, says Professor Angela Lyons

Richard Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy, discusses the Republican tax overhaul plan now before Congress

Bankruptcy attorneys have little knowledge of the racial disparities that exist within the bankruptcy system, relying instead on common stereotypes about race, responsibility and debt, according to research co-written by Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert.

Judges can unilaterally dismiss sexual or racial harassment cases through summary judgment, a legal maneuver that ends up favoring employers over employees, says Law professor Suja Thomas

Bankruptcy attorneys are increasingly encouraging clients to file for the more expensive “no money down” option of Chapter 13 bankruptcy – a tactic that’s used more often with blacks than with whites, according to research co-written by Robert M. Lawless, the Max L. Rowe Professor of Law at Illinois and a leading consumer credit and bankruptcy expert.

President Trump’s much-hyped tax overhaul plan is tantamount to a 'tax-reform wish list,' said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy

The proper way to register dissent with speech one finds offensive doesn’t involve blockades or threatening violence. It’s more speech, says lllinois law dean Vikram Amar

An Illinois expert on affirmative action in higher education talks about the Justice Department’s plans to investigate possible racial discrimination in college and university admissions policies

Labor and employment relations professor Michael LeRoy discusses his research about confronting a resurgent white supremacy movement.

No provision of the Constitution prohibits it, but the threat of impeachment should function as a check on the president's clemency powers, said law professor Jason Mazzone

"...fixing the major problems that Illinois has – both in policy and in finances – is going to require the governor to work in cooperation with rather than in opposition to the majorities in the General Assembly, and vice versa"

A style of governance that relies heavily on “deal-making” also has the potential to render President Trump’s administration prone to incompetence and corruption, said Robin B. Kar, a University of Illinois legal scholar.

The failure of federal watchdog agencies to require admissions of guilt from the targets of civil enforcement can trigger calls for greater accountability from the public, says a new paper from U. of I. law professors Verity Winship and Jennifer K. Robbennolt.

The controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture gets a well-deserved bad rap, says U. of I. law professor and criminal law expert Kenworthey Bilz.

Tom O'Rourke, a professor emeritus of community health at Illinois, has spent much of his professional career examining the nation's health care system. He spoke with News Bureau Life Sciences Editor Diana Yates about the prospects for Obamacare.

With the demise of the American Health Care Act all but rendering health care reform a moribund issue, tax reform likely will present its own challenges for President Trump and Congress, says Professor Richard L. Kaplan.

Constitutional crisis scenarios have yet to occur under Trump, U. of I. law dean and constitutional scholar says.

Law professor Robin Fretwell Wilson: Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch similar to the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

University of Illinois political scientist Alicia Uribe-McGuire describes the politics involved in the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

The executive order on immigration sets U.S. policy back more than 50 years, says Illinois labor and employment relations professor Michael LeRoy, an expert on immigration and employment policy.

The University of Illinois College of Law will host a panel discussion at noon Friday on President Trump’s executive order on immigration. The discussion will be moderated by U. of I. law professor Lesley Wexler.

Special education professor James Shriner on a case recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the educational benefits that public schools are required to provide to students with disabilities.

Professor and copyright librarian Sara R. Benson explains an upcoming Supreme Court case at the intersection of copyright and patent for functional designs.