Kirsten Matoy Carlson, professor of law and adjunct professor of political science at Wayne State University, wrote an article for The Conversation about former President Donald Trump’s various criminal charges. She writes: “Trump, who may become the first former president of the United States to be indicted by a court of law, is not the first modern president with legal problems. But the question of whether a president – sitting or former – should be charged with a crime has come up three times in the last half-century. As a legal scholar, I understand the important questions raised about the rule of law within U.S. democracy by the possible indictment of a former president. The rule of law means that no one is above the law. It ensures that the rules are made by and for the people. Those rules are enforced equally and adjudicated through well-established procedures. For the rule of law to prevail, any decision to indict a former president – or not to – has to be credible, independent and supported by evidence.”

Wayne State University Law School will present the Paul A. Rosen Constitutional Law Lecture on Wednesday, January 18, from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m. in-person in Partrich Auditorium in Detroit and online via Zoom. Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, will be speaking.  Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that focuses on improving systems of democracy and justice.  The center is a leading national voice on voting rights, money in politics, criminal justice reform, and constitutional law.  Waldman, a constitutional lawyer and writer who is an expert on the presidency and American democracy, has led the Center since 2005.

In the spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a group of Wayne State University racial justice leaders collaborate every January to host the National Day of Healing from Racism. This day-long event — free to attend and open to all — is focused on learning how to talk about racism’s impact and how to use practices to guide people on their journey of healing from racism. This year’s event is on Tuesday, January 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Wayne State University’s Student Center Ballroom, with doors opening at 9:50 a.m. The Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL), an initiative of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at the Law School, will host this year’s event in collaboration with the WSU Office of Multicultural Student Engagement and the WSU Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.  

Racial justice leaders are hosting a day-long event at Wayne State University on Tuesday designed to help people heal from racism. The National Day of Healing from Racism, held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Student Center Ballroom, is focused on learning how to discuss racism’s impact and how to heal from it. The event is hosted by the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL), an initiative of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at the Law School, in collaboration with the WSU Office of Multicultural Student Engagement and the WSU Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “We are thrilled to be back in person for this year’s event after successfully pivoting to a virtual format in 2021 and 2022," DEAL Director Asandi Conner said in a statement Wednesday. “We have a dynamic roster of practitioners, facilitators, faculty, and staff contributing to our collective effort to acknowledge and heal from racism’s wounds.”  

The Paul A. Rosen Constitutional Law Speaker Series Endowment was established in 2017 by Bernard Mindell, Wayne Law class of 1964; Barry Waldman, Wayne Law class of 1969; and Bob Garvey, a trial attorney in St. Clair Shores, to commemorate their friend Paul A. Rosen's passion for constitutional law. The series exposes students, staff, and members of the greater university community to dynamic speakers who are experts in the field of constitutional law. The fifth annual Paul A. Rosen Constitutional Law Speaker Series will take place on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, both in-person at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium and virtually via Zoom webinar. This year’s speaker is Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Waldman, who will be giving a lecture titled, "The Supreme Court and American Democracy.” 

Republicans have an opportunity to flip an important seat in 2024 following the announcement by Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow that she will not run for reelection the next cycle. Stabenow was the first Michigan woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, a position she has held since 2001. In a statement on Thursday, she said she is "inspired by a new generation of leaders" and ready to pass the torch once her current term concludes on January 3, 2025. The Michigan GOP tweeted Thursday that it is already eyeing a Republican replacement for Stabenow "in addition to electing a Republican president." Jim Townsend, a former Michigan representative and current director of the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School, told Newsweek that Stabenow "gave everything she had to being a U.S. senator." He also said a major strength of hers was her ability to be self-aware and focus on issues and not drama, which included routinely working across the aisle. "Michigan remains very much a battleground state," Townsend said. "Democrats had a tremendous year in the 2022 election but that doesn't guarantee success in the future. It suggests that voters are interested in problem solvers and not ideology." While not naming potential replacements for her seat, he expects a nominee who will not cater to extremes on either side of the partisan spectrum. "You have to be able to show people you are focused on Michigan's problems and that you're going to be someone who supports and listens to a broad spectrum of the state," he said. "I think candidates that only seek to appeal to their base—I think this could be true on either side—have a limited opportunity in Michigan." 

The Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University Law School on December 12 released a new edition of its "Portraits in Oversight" series that details the multiple congressional oversight investigations that exposed the deadly impact of the Love Canal environmental disaster and disclosed that it was just one of thousands of hazardous waste sites across the country. In response to these investigations and the public outcry that followed, Congress enacted the Superfund Program which provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority and funding to identify and clean up hazardous waste sites across the United States. Jim Townsend, director of the Levin Center noted, "Love Canal marked a turning point in Congress' willingness to acknowledge and investigate industrial waste sites poisoning American communities. The new Portrait in Oversight commemorates the bipartisan work that exposed and acted on a complex, nationwide environmental problem, reminding Congress and the public of what is possible."

By Khaled A. Beydoun Khaled A. Beydoun, professor at Wayne State University Law School, wrote an op-ed about the World Cup in Qatar, describing the momentous occasion of the FIFA World Cup unfolding in the heart of a Muslim nation where the Moroccan team has reached the quarterfinals, becoming only the fourth African nation and the first Arab country to do so. “…Things fall apart for Muslims, particularly as the War on Terror has stigmatized their identity and silenced their prayers,” Beydoun writes. “The Moroccan team did not defeat Islamophobia, but the World Cup stage, curated by Qatar, enabled a new stanza of resilience, and sublime chapters of resistance where Muslim identity stood tall, proud and victorious in the center of the world stage…”

Wayne State University Law School’s Moot Court program concluded its inaugural Peter Henning Moot Court Competition earlier this month. Of the 30 junior members who participated in the two-day competition, 2L Chloe Brueck prevailed as the Fall 2022 In-House champion.  During the competition’s Preliminary Rounds, judges evaluated oral advocates based on the substantive content of their arguments, knowledge of the record, extemporaneous abilities, and courtroom demeanor. The top eight oralists from the preliminaries advanced to the competition’s upper rounds the next day. 

By Louis Jacobson By all indications, former President Donald Trump is preparing to announce his 2024 presidential bid, possibly as soon as an event Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Could his status as a presidential candidate limit his exposure in several continuing legal battles? Legal experts told Politifact that Trump wouldn’t benefit in any official way by formally announcing his candidacy, especially two years ahead of the next election. And the unofficial benefits would be modest at best. “While being a declared candidate doesn’t afford him any legal protections, it does enable him to claim that any investigation is politically motivated,” said Elise Bean, a former congressional investigator for then-Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who now works for the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at the Wayne State University Law School.