In the News Archive

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it won’t hear a challenge to a Pennsylvania school system’s transgender bathroom policy, leaving in place rules that allow some transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms of their preference. . . Scott Skinner-Thompson, a law professor at the University of Colorado, said the court’s move on Tuesday is consistent with federalism by deferring to a local school district policy rather than creating a national law. “Both cases ultimately illustrate the court doesn’t want to get involved too quickly,” he said. “It wanted to give lower courts the first bite at the apple.”

Podcast: Consent is a concept at the center of criminal law and sexual assault. So, why is it so difficult to accurately define? Sexual assault laws have evolved from requiring the victim to resist toward requiring consent. However, "consent" is defined in many ways. In this episode, two experts on the topic, Criminal Law Professor Aya Gruber and AEquitas Co-Founder and CEO Jennifer Long, discuss and debate the potential for success and failure of implementing an "affirmative consent" requirement, how we now understand that there is no expected behavior during or after a sexual assault, and how important is to treat every case individually.