Law

The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy recently conducted a national poll about Americans’ opinions on topics including higher education, the state of the economy under President Donald Trump’s administration and immigration, among other key issues. The results reveal interesting nuances in public sentiment, as well as divisions among those Republican voters who identify as part of the Make America Great Again movement and those who identify more with the traditional Republican Party. Read More

The VPA recently announced a new phase of growth, with the addition of key senior staff, distinguished senior fellows and renowned advisory committee members. This expansion further solidifies its leadership in policy areas such as AI and Technology, Competition and Regulation, Industrial Policy and Economic Security and Public Options and Governance. Read More

AdvancED spent it's first official year leveraging the collaborative potential of three university functions: online and lifelong learning, pedagogical support and educational technology. Look back at 2024's successes and milestones. Read More

The latest semiannual, statewide Vanderbilt Poll reflects that the election had little impact on Tennesseans’ stances on key issues. A notable exception was increased approvals for state lawmakers since May, despite often holding positions on some issues that are out of step with Tennesseans.   Read More

With 1,100 enrolled students, the number speaks for itself—PSCI 1150: U.S. Elections is a hot commodity on campus. The elective course offered every four years by the College of Arts and Science is a highly anticipated deep dive into how elections work in the U.S., blending a robust  understanding of history with extensive research from political science. Read More

While practicing public interest law upon graduation has become more popular amongst law students, it still falls outside of the status quo. Assistant Dean and Martha Craig Daughtrey Director for Public Interest Beth Cruz, in partnership with the Career Services Office, held an informational panel for Vanderbilt Law students interested in practicing public interest law after graduation. The panel offered guidance on how to navigate an interest or passion for public interest law as a current or prospective law student.  Read More

With the first presidential debate of 2024 quickly approaching, the American public is expressing widespread concern about the state of democracy and our Constitution. There is also consensus among Americans that free speech is fundamental to democratic governance, according to the most recent Vanderbilt Unity Poll measuring Americans' views of unity and beliefs on government and democracy.  Read More

The semiannual, statewide Vanderbilt Poll showed in its most recent survey that slightly more than half of the state’s voters support a woman’s right to an abortion, that there is significant bipartisan support of IVF procedures as well as modest gun control legislation, and that views about many state and national issues differ significantly by gender.  Read More

Americans saw an uptick in unity for the first time in over a year, with widespread agreement that the U.S. political system needs to be more responsive and an overall distrust of social media influencers, according to the most recent Vanderbilt Unity Poll measuring Americans' views of national unity and the democratic process. Read More

A new paper by Farhang Heydari chronicles what started as an attempt to promote traffic safety that evolved quickly into a tactic to ferret out drug traffickers, criminals, and even terrorists, straying far from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's mission to “save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes.” Read More

An analysis by Kip Viscusi finds that the post-9/11 wars may have resulted in more than twice as many indirect deaths back home as were lost in battle, due to the diversion of war costs from the U.S. economy and the subsequent impact on the nation’s health. Read More

Robust public options for retirement, banking, child care and other broadly beneficial services – beyond health care – would position more Americans to participate equally in society, argues Vanderbilt law professor Ganesh Sitaraman in a new book. Read More

A popular proposal to limit the term of Supreme Court justices to 18 years could introduce unprecedented instability into the constitutional doctrine on polarizing topics, according to Vanderbilt law scholars. Read More

Oversight of the Treasury market hasn't kept up with new technology, leaving these very safe investments unexpectedly vulnerable to major shocks, says Vanderbilt law professor Yesha Yadav in a new paper. Read More

As society becomes more automated, our trial system needs to identify new ways to cross-examine evidence generated by processes and machines, without requiring human witnesses to vouch for it. Read More

Law professor Ganesh Sitaraman says it may be possible to remove or reduce the influence of politics on the Supreme Court by leveraging the federal court of appeals. Read More

Legal immigrants with darker skin are paid up to 25 percent less than those with lighter skin, a wage penalty that widened significantly several years after receiving permanent legal status. Read More

Vanderbilt law professor Jessica Clarke has developed a legal toolkit for making policies and regulations more inclusive of nonbinary gender identities. Read More

Too often, courts will exclude or minimize evidence of explicit bias when considering discrimination claims out of an overabundance of caution, but that approach only further entrenches the inequality that gave rise to the claim in the first place, finds law professor Jessica Clarke. Read More

Carbon labeling may be an effective way to not only help consumers to choose foods with smaller carbon footprints, but also incentivize companies to make environmentally positive changes to their supply chains. Read More