Chris Slobogin

Media Appearances

• Derek Chauvin Is Sentenced To 22 1/2 Years For George Floyd's Murder

  "Because sentencing of a police officer for homicide is so rare, the judge was in somewhat uncharted waters," said Christopher Slobogin, a criminal law professor at Vanderbilt University.

  June 25th, 2021

• Police use of force on ex-Trump campaign manager familiar during crisis calls, experts say

  “What are cops trained to do?” said Christopher Slobogin, a law professor at Vanderbilt University. “They’re trained to use force. Acting completely in good faith and not ascribing any bad motives to them, they do what they’re trained to do.”

  September 29th, 2020

• Fact check: Obama administration implemented several police and prison reforms

  Christopher Slobogin, director of Vanderbilt Law School's Criminal Justice Program, pointed to consent decrees implemented by the Obama administration as proof of reform. A consent decree is a court-ordered agreement between law enforcement and the Department of Justice to correct systemic misconduct in police departments. Slobogin said because of the administration's negotiations with a dozen cities, it "substantially changed the structure and conduct of police departments."

  September 22nd, 2020

• Experts: Obstacles to charging police in Breonna Taylor case

  “It’s a tough issue. He has to figure out whether there’s probable cause to believe that there was an unreasonable use of force” by the officers, said Christopher Slobogin, director of the criminal justice program at Vanderbilt University. Slobogin said attorneys for the officers would certainly raise the warrant as a defense in a criminal case.

  August 4th, 2020

• Why this former inmate is struggling to rent a home, even with Kim Kardashian’s help

  Vanderbilt University law professor Christopher Slobogin told the Tennessean that “the law at both the federal and state level makes it very hard for an ex-felon to obtain subsidized housing, which is self-defeating if the goal is to reduce recidivism.”

  March 18th, 2019

• What's next in the Mueller investigation into Russian interference

  Christopher Slobogin, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, told ABC News that it could take “weeks and months” for any subsequent indictments to be announced. “It could take several months until they feel confident enough and have their ducks in a row,” he said of special counsel Robert Mueller and his team.

  December 5th, 2018

• What Consumers Should Know About Commercial DNA Testing

  In a recently published study, Vanderbilt University researchers James W. Hazel and Christopher Slobogin identified more than 90 direct-to-consumer genetic-testing and analysis companies in the U.S. alone, and found that their privacy policies varied widely on issues such as whether someone’s DNA sample would be destroyed after the test was run or whether an individual can later request to withdraw their genetic information from a company database.

  September 14th, 2018

• Does AG Barr’s summary of the Mueller report “exonerate” Trump? I asked 15 legal experts.

  Christopher Slobogin, law professor, Vanderbilt University If the summary is correct that the special counsel found no evidence that the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian attempt to influence our electoral process, then the claim that Trump obstructed the investigation into that attempt is significantly undercut. It is difficult to show a corrupt motive to obstruct an investigation into a crime that did not occur. At the same time, if there is weak to no evidence of collusion or obstruction, then concerns about tainting the grand jury are minimal and the full report should be released.

  March 24th, 2019

• FBI raids offices, home of Trump's personal lawyer: sources

  “The crime-fraud exception means the privilege does not apply to communications between the client and the attorney, if they are evidence of an ongoing crime or fraud, not just a past crime or fraud,” said Christopher Slobogin, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School specializing in criminal procedure and evidence.

  April 9th, 2018

• What is the future of privacy, surveillance and policing technologies under Trump?

  "I think we will see a push from the Trump administration to expand surveillance powers, and that of course could directly implicate Fourth Amendment protections," said Christopher Slobogin, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School who has studied and written on Fourth Amendment, privacy and surveillance issues for years.

  June 22nd, 2017