EXPERT COMMENT FOR PENDING  U.S. SUPREME COURT RULINGS

from the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Oct. 23, 2006

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1

  Whether a public school district's consideration of a student's race in school assignments as part of an effort to achieve racial diversity violates the constitutional guarantee of equality

Nathaniel Persily, professor of law

Area of expertise: Constitutional law

Gonzales v. Carhart, Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood

  Whether a federal ban on partial  birth abortion violates a woman's right to end a pregnancy

Theodore Ruger, professor of law

Areas of expertise: Constitutional law, health law

Carey v. Musladin

  Whether an appeals court erred in throwing out a jury's murder conviction because the judge permitted the victim's relatives to wear buttons with the victim's picture on them during the trial

David Rudovsky, professor of law

Areas of expertise: Criminal law, police powers, police misconduct, death penalty

Whorton v. Bockting

  Whether a 2004 Supreme Court decision barring the introduction at trial of certain out-of-court statements applies retroactively to criminal cases that were pending at the time

Kermit Roosevelt, professor of law

Areas of expertise: Constitutional law, conflict of laws, federalism

Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency

  Whether the EPA has the authority to regulate pollution from tailpipe emissions linked to global warming and whether the agency may decline to issue emission standards for vehicles

Theodore Ruger, professor of law

Areas of expertise: Constitutional law, health law

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