Everyday thousands of humans and millions of nonhumans endure solitary confinement. Human prisoners held in this way are confined for 22 to 24 hours a day for weeks, months, or even years on end in cells the size of a parking space. For these humans, the experience is tortuous. Captive animals held in solitary confinement similarly spend much of their lives locked into tiny spaces, isolated, and deprived of the types of interactions and environment essential to their wellbeing. And, like humans, they are driven mad. In human and nonhuman settings, the agony of solitary is chillingly alike and harmful. And, in neither setting is it justifiable or necessary.
In their article, Powerless Beings: Solitary Confinement of Humans and Non Humans in America, published in Nebraska Law Review, Haub Law Professors Michael Mushlin and David Cassuto use a comparative format to examine the moral, penological and scientific shortcomings of solitary confinement across species. The article sheds light on the importance of empowering all creatures subjected to solitary confinement. “If we adequately protect all vulnerable beings, the unnecessary suffering inflicted by solitary confinement will finally end,” they write.
Law Professor Bennett Gershman provides expert legal analysis to amNewYork on the distinction between New York City’s corporation counsel and chief counsel. Gershman explains that while the Law Department represents the city in litigation, the chief counsel serves as the mayor’s personal legal adviser, operating under attorney-client privilege on sensitive policy and legal matters— and New York Metropolitan Magazine has the story.
In her recent op-ed published in the Albany Times Union, Pace Haub Law Professor Bridget J. Crawford examines a new federal tax rule that would allow tipped workers to claim a deduction—unless their tips come from what the Treasury Department defines as “pornographic activity.” Professor Crawford argues that this exclusion is not a question of morality, but of labor and tax fairness, warning that it disproportionately harms the modern digital workforce, especially women who earn income through subscription-based platforms. She notes that creators on sites like OnlyFans and Fansly are already taxed as independent contractors and receive 1099s like other freelancers, raising a critical question: why should one group of tipped workers be denied a benefit available to everyone else? “Tax policy should meet women where they actually work, not exclude them from deductions,” writes Professor Crawford. “The IRS’s job is to review income, not to judge women’s bodies or the way they earn a living. Women working in digital creator spaces deserve the same neutrality, fairness and access to deductions that the tax code offers other workers.”
The Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic is featured in a recent Sierra Magazine article examining the successful effort to protect the 1011 2nd Avenue Forest, one of the last remaining waterfront forests in Troy, New York. In the case, the Clinic provided pro bono representation challenging the City of Troy’s environmental review and rezoning decisions, arguing that the City improperly issued a negative declaration under New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and failed to adequately assess potential environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed development. As Managing Attorney Todd Ommen notes in the piece, the case reflected the Clinic’s core mission: representing environmental groups in matters where legal advocacy can play a critical role in protecting the natural environment.