Merton C. Bernstein, the Walter D. Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, died at his home in Brewster, Mass., on Aug. 3, 2019. He was 96.

During the July 30 Democratic presidential debate, candidate Pete Buttigieg renewed his calls to “depoliticize the Supreme Court with structural reform.” Buttigieg has endorsed a Supreme Court reform proposal offered by Daniel Epps, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court passed away on July 16, 2019. Greg Magarian, the Thomas and Karole Green Professor of Law, served as a justice clerk for Stevens and offers this remembrance.

Attorney General William Barr announced July 15 a new Trump Administration plan, effective the next day, barring Central American immigrants from seeking asylum in the United States unless they seek it first in other Central American countries, a move that a Washington University in St. Louis immigration expert says “violates the clear language of the law.”

Two students in John Inazu’s first-year “Criminal Law” class embodied the lessons taught during the class about theories of punishment, questions of whether criminal justice can remedy injustice and issues of equity in sentencing.

The Supreme Court’s June 27 decision to kill all federal constitutional complaints about partisan gerrymandering is a tremendous loss for our democratic process, says a constitutional law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

Andrew Tuch, professor of law, will present “Reassessing Self-Dealing” at the 2019 Stanford/Yale/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum June 5 and 6 at Yale Law School.

Testifying on U.S. gun violence in Bogota, Colombia. Presenting on privacy in the digital age. Writing a dissertation on clinical whole-genome sequencing data. Making the Dean’s List. All in a day’s work for Jiyeon Kim, who will be graduating with a doctor of law from the School of Law and who plans a career focused on health and technology law and policy.

Five School of Law graduates were honored as Distinguished Alumni during a recognition ceremony April 11 for their outstanding contributions to the field of law. They are: Max Margulis; Simon Mui; husband and wife Ganesh Natarajan and Faye Katt; and Ester Saverson.

The U.S. Justice Department has narrowed its interpretation of the foreign emoluments clause, allowing foreign countries to court President Donald Trump through patronizing his hotels, condos and golf courses and through granting him trademarks, suggests a new article by ethics expert Kathleen Clark of Washington University in St. Louis.