Elisabeth Haub School of Law News

Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman also writes an op-ed in amNewYork warning about President Trump’s escalating use of the death penalty. He traces Trump’s long history with capital punishment — from the Central Park Five ads to a surge of federal executions — and argues that his renewed push represents a dangerous expansion of prosecutorial power and political theater. In Roll Call, Professor Gershman comments on a controversial Senate payout provision, noting that the structure defies typical legal concepts and raises serious concerns about corruption and prosecutorial integrity.

In Gothamist, Haub Law Professor Emeritus Michael Mushlin is credited as a key architect behind a proposal that would require New York judges to spend a day visiting prisons and jails before making detention and sentencing decisions. Mushlin, one of the nation’s leading experts on prisoners’ rights law, convened a committee of judges and practitioners to strengthen the existing, rarely enforced visitation rule. The updated proposal is designed to ensure judges better understand the conditions they are consigning people to when they impose custodial sentences.

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In amNewYork, Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman pens a powerful op-ed examining how President Donald Trump’s towering monuments, incendiary rhetoric, and erosion of democratic norms signal a deeper moral and structural deterioration within American civic life. Professor Gershman writes that this sweeping “uglification” is reshaping the nation’s public landscape and unsettling the democratic foundations that once held firm.

Pace Haub Law Professor Emeritus Michael Mushlin was featured in THE CITY regarding a landmark proposal that would require New York judges who make sentencing or detention decisions to conduct meaningful annual visits to prisons and jails across the state. As chair of the subcommittee that developed the proposal, Professor Mushlin has helped lead the effort to ensure that judges better understand the realities of incarceration and the consequences of their decisions from the bench. If adopted, the rule would make New York the first state in the nation to mandate such visits.

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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Trial Advocacy Program continued its outstanding record of success this fall, earning top honors at two prestigious sports law competitions hosted by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Pace Haub Law Trial Advocacy teams competed in both the Villanova Baseball Filing Day Competition and the inaugural Villanova Law Hockey Negotiation Competition. These Competitions tested students’ negotiation, advocacy, and analytical skills in simulated professional sports settings.

In The Washington Times, Professor Gershman comments on the surge of vindictive prosecution claims against the Justice Department, offering his trademark candor on prosecutorial ethics and accountability.

Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman writes a piece in amNewYork exploring the power of nonviolent movements and their capacity to transform societies. The piece highlights compelling research showing that when just 3.5 percent of a population participates actively, meaningful change almost always follows.

In Law.com, Haub Law Professors Emeriti Michael Mushlin and David S. Cohen co-author an op-ed, urging judges to visit correctional facilities annually to better understand the realities of incarceration. The proposal, now under public comment, reflects their ongoing leadership in advancing humane and informed criminal justice reform.