Miami Law Explainer

U.S. companies are increasingly taking stands on social issues. Think Dick’s Sporting Goods and Levi’s signaling their support for gun control; and now Salesforce, the business software behemoth announced barring business that sell assault weapons from using its customer relationship management system. Mary Anne Franks, whose latest book The Cult of the Constitution looks at the deadly devotion to guns and free speech, unboxes both the debate and the divide. Recorded on June 12, 2019.

From Alexa and Florence, the chatbot nurse, to privacy exposure on social media to blockchain and artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the landscape of compliance. Corporate governance and social responsibility expert unpacks the brave new world facing compliance leaders. Recorded on May 16, 2019.

All law schools must evolve to stay current in the legal marketplace, arming attorneys with pertinent skills to the practice. Miami Law Dean Patricia D. White drills into the future of legal education.

Drew Adams is, by every definition, a young man, yet the county school board where he lives wants him to use the gender-neutral or girls’ facilities at his high school. The Florida high school senior’s case has made it to the U.S. Court of Appeals with the support of 21 attorneys general. Constitutional expert Charlton Copeland unlocks the historical and contextual debate. Recorded on April 9, 2019.

More than 60 Americans traveled to Syria to join ISIS. Capture fighters have been returned to the U.S. to face justice but the brides of the caliphate are being held in legal limbo. Immigration law and historian Kunal Parker unboxes the bride brouhaha.

On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court waded into the fray during arguments over the partisan manipulation of congressional districts, or gerrymandering. Miami Law's Frances Hill’s scholarship often focuses on the intersection of tax law, federal election law, and the constitution. She is a highly-sought after commentator, has authored an amicus brief and has been a signer on other briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court over campaign finance issues. Recorded on March 28, 2019.

Last week, a Florida jury deadlocked on attempted manslaughter charges against a white policeman in the shooting of a Black mental health therapist. The officer testified that he was aiming at an autistic man who he thought was holding the therapist hostage when he fired three bullets. Seven years ago, a self-appointed neighborhood watch volunteer gunned down a black teenager walking back from a convenience store. From the shooter’s acquittal by a Florida jury grew the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Criminal and constitutional law expert Donald Jones looks at how the landscape has changed through the lens of the movement. Recorded on March 20, 2019.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that they are returning the Gilded Coffin of the Priest Nedjemankh after evidence was unearthed that it was looted during the Arab Spring in 2011. The FBI has asked for governments’ assistance in returning from more than 40,000 cultural artifacts from everywhere from the Indo-Pacific region to the bones of 500 Arikara Native Americans that were illegally amassed by an Indiana collector. Art and museum law expert and lifetime member of the Archaeological Institute of America Stephen Urice digs in on the context and significance of these events. Recorded on March 8, 2019.

“Making a Murderer” docu-series star Steven Avery served 18 years for a sexual assault and attempted murder he did not commit. Soon after release, the same county arrested and convicted him of murder. Twelve years into his current sentence, he has won the right to an appeal. Innocence Clinic Director Craig Trocino walks us through the case. Recorded on March 8, 2019.

With states positioning to act if the landmark Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, the woman’s right to choose is more at risk today than at any other time since its passing in 1974. Constitutional law expert Caroline Mala Corbin makes sense of the flurry of legislative activity. Recorded on February 22, 2019.

As dozens of lawsuits were filed at the end of January in Indiana, home of the NCAA, the future of football is under fire. Sports law expert and director of Miami Law’s Sports Law Track tackles the gridiron of the legislation. Recorded February 14, 2019.

Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezo’s salvo aimed dead on at American Media Publisher David Pecker’s threat to publish salacious images. Miami Law cyber civil rights expert Mary Anne Franks answers the question: journalism or extortion? Recorded February 12, 2019.

Verifiable information and truth have been replaced with hyperbole and alternate facts in some sectors of the American consciousness in the topsy-turvy time of Trump. Communications law expert Lili Levi untangles the media morass.

At the heart of Frank v. Gaos, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, is an $8.5 million settlement from Google that ended up squarely in the pockets of everyone except those who were harmed by the tech giant’s violation. Class action expert Sergio Campos untangles not just the money trail but the possible outcomes. Recorded on January 31, 2019.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Texas ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, even as even more Americans kept their coverage. Health rights expert JoNel Newman diagnoses the program’s past, present, and future. Recorded on January 23, 2019.