Law & Politics

  1. College athlete unions: Would they be effective?

    In a first for college sports, the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that men’s basketball players at Dartmouth College are school employees and ordered a union vote. Sports economist Richard Paulsen, assistant professor of sport management at U-M’s School of Kinesiology, discusses how unions might look for college athletes.

  2. Michigan Minds podcast: Presidential election season ‘will not be normal’

    The 2024 election season is underway — as more voters pay close attention to which candidates and policies best serve them. But unlike previous years, the battle for the White House will be anything but normal because democracy could be jeopardized, says University of Michigan political expert Vincent Hutchings.

  3. ‘We need to make truth our national purpose’

    A self-governing democracy can’t survive in an ecosystem of disinformation, especially when the lies and propaganda are homegrown, says law professor Barbara McQuade, BA ’87/JD ’91. In her new book, ‘Attack from Within,’ she explains why we are so vulnerable to domestic chaos — and what we can do about it.

  4. Kris Sarri: Combating climate change with a policy pen

    A thriving environment depends on engaging people in its stewardship, says Kris Sarri, MPH ’97. She has spent two decades in Washington, D.C., where her commitment to public health weaves together environmental protection and community development.

  5. Veterans Legal Clinic helps a family avoid homelessness

    While studying at Michigan Law and working with the Veterans Legal Clinic, Will Hanna jumped at the opportunity to write a brief and argue in court to help a fellow veteran and her family stay in their Ann Arbor home.

  6. Coming home: A Vietnam Veteran in the Law School

    With a West Point diploma and two Purple Hearts, Tom Carhart, JD ’72, arrived on the Law Quad at the height of the anti-Vietnam War movement. At first, Carhart was appalled by the student protests. Soon, he joined in.

  7. From indigenous student to endowed professor

    ‘I kept my head down,’ says Matthew Fletcher, BA ’94/JD ’97, of the culture shock he endured at U-M while pursuing his boyhood ambition of becoming a lawyer. This fall, the Native American legal scholar and tribal court chief justice returned to Michigan as a distinguished law professor.

  8. U-M teach-out Aug. 18: What’s next for abortion access?

    Experts on abortion access and legal challenges present a free, online teach-out to help foster thoughtful discourse on the issue of abortion, its history of litigation, and what could be expected in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling.

  9. The action was affirmative

    Roger Wilkins, BA ’53/JD ’56/HLHD ’93, was a civil rights activist, professor, journalist, and member of the LBJ administration. But as a U-M student, this future leader’s grades were unimpressive, so he asked why he’d been admitted to the Law School. The answer surprised him.