Media Mentions

Barely two weeks remaining before he’s due to leave office, President Barack Obama, J.D. ’91, has written an emotional plea for criminal-justice reform in the January 2017 edition of the Harvard Law Review, arguing for the role of the presidency in reducing mass incarceration. Obama was president of the Law Review in 1990-91, as a third year at Harvard Law School. “Those privileged to serve as President and in senior roles in the executive branch have an obligation to use that influence to enhance the fairness and effectiveness of the justice system at all phases,” he writes in the article’s introduction. “How we treat citizens who make mistakes (even serious mistakes), pay their debt to society, and deserve a second chance reflects who we are as a people and reveals a lot about our character and commitment to our founding principles.”

After eight years as the head of Harvard Law School, Dean Martha Minow is stepping down from her role to return to teaching and research at the Law School. Her resignation is effective as of this July. The Record talked to Dean Minow about her thoughts looking back and looking forward. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and organization. The Record: What made you decide to step down as dean? Dean Minow: I made the decision just before the holidays. I want to participate in the events of the day. And I’m late in a contract for a book. So I’m looking forward to working on all of that.

The Harvard Law Review, one of the most prestigious legal journals in the country, often receives submissions from some of the country's top lawyers and law professors. Never, though, has a sitting President of the United States published a piece in the Law Review—until Thursday. In an article titled “The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform,” President Barack Obama reflects on the Obama Administration's efforts to limit the use of solitary confinement and start mentoring programs to guide young people away from committing crimes, among other criminal justice reforms. ... In a call with members of the press organized by the White House, Michael L. Zuckerman ’10, the president of the Harvard Law Review, said that editing a piece by written by the President was particularly engaging, especially considering Obama’s ties to the Law Review. “For our team, the President’s piece provided an editing experience we will never forget,” Zuckerman said. “We put all of our pieces through a rigorous editing process, and this piece was no exception, just on a compressed timeline given the President’s schedule.”

An op-ed by John Stubbs, former Senior Advisor to USTR in the George W. Bush Administration and is currently an affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University: President-elect Donald Trump was elected by a wave of populist sentiment with promises to aggressively renegotiate deals in place, litigate grievances and fundamentally change the way the United States looks at trade policy. While the process for progress on the trade agenda is uncertain, it is clear that the incoming Trump administration is preparing for major changes. Among these changes should be making trade policy more transparent and inclusive for the people who elected Trump.

Harvard Law School has confirmed that dean Martha Minow will step down from her post at the end of the current academic year. Ms Minow has served at the helm of arguably the most prestigious law school in the United States for the last eight years. A statement released via a spokesperson said that Ms Minow intends to remain an ‘active member’ of the Harvard Law faculty after she steps down from her role as dean in May: ‘I also want to devote more time studying and speaking about issues of inequality, access to justice, and discrimination in the current economic and social climate – issues that have been at the centre of my life’s work and are more pressing than ever,’ she said. Harvard University president Drew Faust said in a statement released yesterday that the university would ‘welcome advice from across the law school community’ as the search for Ms Minnow’s successor begins.

An op-ed by Noah Feldman: In a major blow to civil liberties, an appeals court has upheld the Minnesota system that civilly commits sex offenders after they’ve served their prison terms, a confinement from which no one has ever been fully released. The decision, filed Tuesday, used the wrong legal standard, making it too easy for the state to lock people up indefinitely for future dangerousness. Worse, the U.S. Supreme Court might not review the decision, despite its being egregiously wrong, because there is no clear disagreement among the circuit courts.

President Barack Obama returns to his roots at the Harvard Law Review on Thursday, penning an article about progress his administration made in reforming the criminal justice system — and the challenges that remain for the next administration. His commentary, "The President's Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform," addresses how presidents can exert influence over the criminal justice system, and how those who serve the president have a responsibility to translate that vision into practical results.

An op-ed by Elizabeth Bartholet and Chuck Johnson: The outgoing and incoming administrations are battling over pending regulations and appointments. The Obama administration wants to solidify its policies, and the transitional Trump team wants a free hand implementing new policies. Understandably, there is little room for agreement on many of these issues. But there is one area where the president and the president-elect should be able to unite — protecting children globally against the horrors of institutional life, and enabling prospective parents to bring those children into their homes and hearts.

This was supposed to be the awards season when Hollywood, having been scorched by consecutive #OscarsSoWhite years, avoided tumult over race. Not so. ... Jeannie Suk Gersen, a professor at Harvard Law School who teaches criminal law and sexual harassment law, said the reason could be far simpler: Mr. Parker’s case was criminal and Mr. Affleck’s was civil. “People carelessly conflate rape with the entire range of sexual misconduct that can occur,” Ms. Suk Gersen said. “It’s all repulsive. But both morally and legally there are distinctions — degrees of behavior. Parker was accused of something far more serious.” (Ms. Suk Gersen is particularly attuned to Mr. Parker’s case, having contributed an article in September to The New Yorker, “The Public Trial of Nate Parker.”)

An article by Michael Zuckerman ’17, president Harvard Law Review: Since its founding in 1887, the Harvard Law Review has been a student-run journal dedicated to advancing conversation about the law. Doing this work is a privilege — it offers us a collaborative education in legal thinking, writing, and editing, as we begin our own legal careers. We are enormously proud to publish The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform, which explores vital questions of crime, punishment, and redemption. These issues are central to any legal system, and a rising chorus from across our political spectrum emphasizes how much they matter now. As we consider the future of criminal justice in America, understanding our system’s complex web of stakeholders and decision-makers is crucial for charting the best path forward.

An op-ed by Charles Fried. I was one of many Republicans who stated publicly and vehemently that we considered Donald Trump so unsuited to be president that our duty to the country required that, holding our noses, we support his Democrat opponent. We did not prevail. Donald Trump is our president for the next four years. The correct response to this fact is the one Barack Obama took after he met with the president-elect at the White House: We must hope that he succeeds. This reaction is the opposite of what the once good and patriotic politician Mitch McConnell told his party during the midterm elections in 2010: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Of course, if Obama failed, so did the country.

On Tuesday, Harvard Law School announced that Martha Minow, its 62-year-old dean, would step down from her role after the end of the academic year. Minow, over an eight-year tenure, was known for adding clinics in areas such as criminal law, policy, immigration and needs of military veterans, the school said. Over the past year, a group of law students protested the school’s logo, a shield which is modeled on the family crest of an 18th century slaveholder. Minow recommended to retire the shield in 2016 and the school approved the change. Big Law Business posed a number of questions to Minow, via, email about her career, diversity in the legal profession, her future plans and more.

An op-ed by Cass Sunstein. The last time progressives were this alarmed about a presidential transition, there were just two Star Wars movies, "Dallas" was the most-watched show on TV, and Ronald Reagan, dismissed by many as an actor and an extremist, was about to become commander-in-chief. At the time, I was a young lawyer in the Department of Justice, fortunate enough to witness important aspects of Reagan’s first year up close. Reagan and his team did two exceedingly smart things early on, providing a remarkably stable foundation for the first term of his transformative presidency.

An op-ed by Noah Feldman. The stealth Republican move Monday night to weaken the ethics oversight office in the House of Representatives is a good reminder that the U.S. Constitution provides only limited protections when a single party rules. But the swift rollback of the plan on Tuesday is also a good reminder that the Constitution does have an oversight mechanism built in: the press. When one party controls the legislature and presidency, the “Fourth Estate” isn’t just a metaphor. It’s a necessity for functioning free government.

Closing arguments are set for tomorrow in the death penalty case of Gary Lee Sampson. The court is deciding whether to uphold Sampson's 2003 death sentence. We analyze the trial so far with WBUR legal analyst and former Judge Nancy Gertner.

A group of more than 1,100 law school professors from across the country is sending a letter to Congress on Tuesday urging the Senate to reject the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for attorney general. The letter, signed by professors from 170 law schools in 48 states, is also scheduled to run as a full-page newspaper ad aimed at members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be holding confirmation hearings for Sessions on Jan. 10-11...“We are convinced that Jeff Sessions will not fairly enforce our nation’s laws and promote justice and equality in the United States,” states the letter, signed by prominent legal scholars including Laurence H. Tribe of Harvard Law School, Geoffrey R. Stone of the University of Chicago Law School, Pamela S. Karlan of Stanford Law School and Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California at Irvine School of Law.

Creditors, federal regulators, state attorneys general and jilted employees of ITT Educational Services have laid claim to the remaining assets of one of the nation’s largest for-profit college operators in bankruptcy court. Absent from the line of those seeking redress, however, are the thousands of students who say they were defrauded by the chain. That is, until now. A group of former students at ITT Technical Institutes on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the parent company to ensure participation in bankruptcy proceedings...“There are a lot of people making claims on the estate, and it’s really important to get students’ experiences out there and that they’re creditors of ITT as well,” said Eileen Connor, counsel for the students. She estimates the students’ claims at $7.3 billion, roughly the amount of student loan revenue ITT Tech took in over the past 10 years. Connor, who is also an attorney at the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard Law School, said it was critical to file the lawsuit now because the claim deadline is at the end of the month, something she suspects few students know.

Martha Minow, dean of Harvard Law School, will step down at the end of the academic year, the school announced Tuesday. Minow, 62, said she plans to return to teaching and advocacy, and will complete a book about law and alternative ways to resolve disputes. She has been a member of the Harvard Law faculty since 1981. "My plan was to do five years," Minow said in an interview Tuesday. "I've had the unbelievable privilege and good fortune since I was a young professor to be devoted to teaching and scholarship. I was surprised to be asked to be dean when Elena Kagan left for Washington. I was willing to step in at that time. Obviously, that was a time of transition for the school and a time of great challenges, given the economic crisis. I was glad to do that, but I stayed longer than planned."

Dean of Harvard Law School Martha L. Minow will step down at the end of the academic year to return to teaching full-time, ending an eight-year tenure as dean that spanned a global financial crisis, federal Title IX scrutiny, and widespread student protest...“Being a scholar and a teacher was my highest aspiration. I’ve loved it and I am eager to return to it,” Minow said in an interview...“I cannot imagine as good a dean for the Law School [as Minow],” Law School professor Laurence H. Tribe said. “I think that Drew Faust made a wise and brilliant selection in persuading Martha to become dean of the law school and I look forward to working with President Faust to finding a successor, but I think Martha’s shoes are impossible to fill.”...Nino Monea, the Law School’s student body president, said he enjoyed working with Minow, even as he challenged her and the administration to address student concerns...Law School professor Bruce H. Mann said he regarded Minow as someone who lives by her principles and has done a terrific job of leading the Law School.

An op-ed by Christopher T. Robertson, Holly Fernandez Lynch, and I. Glenn Cohen. In the waning days of his administration, President Obama encouraged Americans to take advantage of the opportunity to get health insurance in what may be the last open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act. Given the incessant chatter about the incoming administration’s plans to “repeal,” “repeal and delay,” or “repeal and replace” the act, is this just a fool’s errand — wasted effort adding more people to the slate of millions who will lose coverage if the ACA gets dismantled as promised? Perhaps. Or perhaps Obama is seeking to capitalize on the well-studied phenomenon known as loss aversion. In a nutshell, loss aversion means that it feels worse to lose something than never to have had it in the first place. Consumers, including those signing up for health insurance, tend to make relative judgments about their own welfare, rather than absolute judgments, and losses loom larger than gains.

Bay State educators struggling with a surge of student suicides and attempts are getting help this winter as a panel set up in response to the Sandy Hook massacre spells out how to assist teens suffering from panic attacks, substance abuse, neighborhood violence, eating disorders and self-harm. It’s being called the first such report of its kind nationwide that’s zeroing in on mental health fixes. “No other state in the country is doing this,” said Susan Cole, director of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, a joint program of Massachusetts Advocates for Children and Harvard Law School. “It puts us on the cutting edge.”