Teachers in Michigan school district can pick from 32 phrases or face legal review over classroom posters
Haub Law Professor Emily Gold Waldman provides legal analysis to Chalkbeat on a Michigan school district policy requiring teachers to choose from a list of 32 pre-approved classroom messages or undergo legal review before displaying other signs. Professor Waldman says she has not seen another district adopt restrictions this specific, adding that the policy reflects broader efforts by school systems to avoid classroom discussions surrounding controversial topics.
The ‘time-consuming’ permits dozens of data centers are skipping
Haub Law Professor Sara Gonzalez-Rothi is featured in POLITICO discussing federal Clean Water Act permitting requirements for data centers. Professor Gonzalez-Rothi explains that public permitting processes give communities an important opportunity to understand and weigh in on projects with significant environmental impacts before construction begins.
Op-ed | How Donald Trump and Todd Blanche conspired to defraud the United States
Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman writes a piece in amNewYork examining a federal judge's ruling in Trump v. IRS. Gershman explores the court's findings that former President Donald Trump and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche orchestrated a fraudulent lawsuit for personal benefit, writing that the case raises fundamental questions about executive power, the independence of the Justice Department, and accountability under the law.
How Disabled Actors Can Break Into the Industry and Thrive, According to Professional Performers and Casting Directors
The Sands College of Performing Arts BFA program is highlighted in Backstage for its expanding accessibility efforts. Danielle Pretsfelder Demchick, co-vice president of advocacy for the Casting Society, points to Pace as an example of a university investing in accessibility, calling it "one of the top BFA programs in the country."
Yiran Zhang Receives 2026–2027 Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law
Professor Yiran Zhang, Proskauer Assistant Professor of Employment and Labor Law at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) and an Associate Member of the Cornell Law School faculty, has been selected as the recipient of the 2026–2027 Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law for her article Family Caregiving as Work?, forthcoming in the Minnesota Law Review.
Professor Yiran Zhang, Proskauer Assistant Professor of Employment and Labor Law at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) and an Associate Member of the Cornell Law School faculty, has been selected as the recipient of the 2026–2027 Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law for her article Family Caregiving as Work?, forthcoming in the Minnesota Law Review.
Zhang's article examines the rapidly growing class of publicly paid family caregivers under Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs, who are compensated as employees while remaining embedded in interdependent relationships with the family members for whom they care. The article identifies a “work contradiction” at the heart of current law: classifying family caregivers as employees extends workplace rights, qualifies caregivers for social insurance, and satisfies safety-net work requirements, but treating care payments as wages can simultaneously trigger the loss of means-tested benefits, such as Section 8 housing subsidies, or expose caregivers to income garnishment in bankruptcy. Zhang argues that neither work law nor welfare law alone can govern the realities of family caregiving, and calls for deliberately strengthening a hybrid work/welfare category that protects caregivers’ interests as laborers while sustaining the interdependency at the heart of caregiving relationships.
Professor Zhang's research studies the interaction among family, market, and state through the lens of care, other work, and money. Her current project employs a socio-legal approach to examine care subsidy programs in the United States, and she also writes about gender and the boundaries of work law. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the UCLA Law Review, Boston University Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Stanford Law & Policy Review, Law & Social Inquiry, among others. She holds an SJD and an LLM from Harvard Law School and an LLB from Tsinghua University.
Professor Margot Pollans, Haub Law's Associate Dean for Faculty Development, commented: “I’m thrilled the committee selected Professor Zhang for this award. Her article skillfully bridges family law and work law in order to take seriously the hybrid nature of family caregiving work. Focusing in particular on family caregivers who are eligible for payment through Medicaid, she explores the legal and personal consequences of classifying these payments as wages versus as welfare. Her account of the 'work contradiction' reframes a problem regulators and courts have struggled with for years, and it gives us real analytical tools for thinking about how the law should value care work going forward.”
The Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law is presented annually in recognition of outstanding legal scholarship related to gender and the law by a full-time law professor with five or fewer years of teaching experience. Papers are selected through a blind review process conducted by a committee of Haub Law faculty with expertise in gender and law. This year’s judges were Emily Gold Waldman, Jessica Miles, and Bridget Crawford. The award recipient will be invited to present her work to the Haub Law community during the 2026–2027 academic year.
Nominations for the 2027–2028 award are due by July 1, 2027, and should be emailed to Professor Bridget Crawford.
8 Under-the-Radar Film Programs in Los Angeles and New York
The Hollywood Reporter spotlights Pace University as one of eight under-the-radar film programs in New York and Los Angeles, highlighting its Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts filmmaking programs, hands-on curriculum, and industry-standard production equipment.
Mamdani defends rollout of new tax on luxury second homes amid confusion
Dyson Political Science Professor Laura Tamman joined Inside City Hall on Spectrum News NY1 to discuss the future of the Democratic Party, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's proposed property tax on second homes, and other New York City political issues. Tamman shared her analysis of the Democratic Party's ideological divisions and weighed in on the rollout of the mayor's proposed tax policy and appointments to the city's Judicial Advisory Committee.
Paris Jackson Battles Michael Jackson Estate Over Sealed Records and Executor Fees
Haub Law Professor Bridget Crawford is featured in OK! Magazine discussing the legal standards surrounding sealed court records in the dispute between Paris Jackson and the Michael Jackson estate. Professor Crawford explains that court proceedings are generally open to the public, with records sealed only under limited circumstances.
16 kids were found in a feces-filled house. Ohio law helped tragedy happen | Opinion
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Haub Law Professor Bridget Crawford pens an op-ed in The Columbus Dispatch examining how Ohio's remaining child marriage laws contributed to conditions that enabled the abuse of 16 children in Vinton County. Drawing on her own upbringing in the community, Crawford argues that closing the state's child marriage loophole and strengthening support for child welfare services are essential to preventing future tragedies.
Trump commuting R. Kelly's sentence would send wrong message | Opinion
Dyson Criminal Justice Professor and Department Chair Cathryn Lavery pens an op-ed in USA Today examining the broader implications of a potential presidential commutation for R. Kelly. Lavery explains that executive clemency is not only a legal power but also a reflection of national values, warning that granting mercy in high-profile sexual abuse cases could undermine public trust in the justice system and discourage survivors from coming forward.