Pace University News

Cindy Kanusher, Executive Director of the Pace Women’s Justice Center, is featured in a Metro UK article examining the cultural impact of Making a Murderer—and the often-overlooked human cost of true crime storytelling. In the piece, Kanusher underscores the responsibility filmmakers and audiences share to center victims and survivors, particularly in cases involving gender-based violence, and to resist narratives that sensationalize trauma or erase lived experience. Her perspective highlights how true crime can do more than entertain—it can educate, foster empathy, and promote accountability—if it is framed responsibly.

Dyson Professor Matthew Bolton, co-director of Pace’s International Disarmament Institute, contributed several chapters to a major new report from Norwegian People’s Aid examining the enduring global impacts of nuclear weapons testing. The landmark study warns that decades-old atmospheric nuclear tests are projected to cause at least two million additional cancer deaths worldwide, underscoring that the human and environmental consequences remain ongoing.

In a Newsweek article examining the debate over the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett L. Gershman offered important legal context on the limits of retroactive justification in use-of-force cases. Professor Gershman emphasized that the new videos surfaced from an earlier encounter between Pretti and federal immigration agents “do nothing to exculpate or excuse the conduct of the federal agents” involved in the January 24 killing. His remarks highlight a core constitutional principle: the legality of lethal force turns on whether an imminent threat existed at the moment it was used—not on efforts to recast prior conduct after the fact.

In this article, Cindy Kanusher, Executive Director of the Pace Women’s Justice Center, examines proposed New York legislation that would create a publicly searchable registry of persistent domestic violence offenders. As lawmakers consider whether such a database could enhance prevention and accountability, Kanusher offers a critical, survivor-centered perspective highlighting both the potential benefits and the serious limitations of registries, particularly given the widespread underreporting of domestic violence and the risk of unintended harm to survivors. Her comments underscore an essential point: tools aimed at accountability must be carefully designed, with survivor safety and privacy at the forefront.

Dyson Political Science Professor Laura Tamman appears on Spectrum News NY1’s Inside City Hall to discuss Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s handling of New York City’s projected $12 billion budget gap. Professor Tamman noted that while new mayors often blame predecessors for fiscal shortfalls, Mamdani is also signaling pressure on Governor Kathy Hochul by framing future responsibility around state action. She emphasized that regardless of prior conditions, the mayor ultimately owns the budget, and cautioned that navigating state–city fiscal dynamics requires experience and long-term strategy.

Professor Gershman also pens an op-ed in amNewYork examining the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and video evidence, he challenges official narratives defending the use of deadly force and questions whether government responses adequately reflect constitutional protections and accountability standards. In a separate New York Law Journal piece, “A Diminished Constitution,” Gershman and co-author Theodore A. Keyes warn that escalating political rhetoric and post–January 6 actions are eroding democratic norms and weakening public trust in constitutional safeguards.