NEW | Prof. Darrell A. H. Miller, a Con Law and Second Amendment scholar, discusses the perils of relying on analogical reasoning in applying SCOTUS’ new 𝘽𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙣 test — and how to avoid them — in his Duke Law Journal article “Historical Analogy and the Role Morality of Reason-Giving.” ➡️ duke.is/m/q5ec

Good morning from Duke Law! ☀️😎

NEW📝: “Increasing Compliance with Int’l Pandemic Law” — Duke Law Professor Laurence Helfer, et al suggest 6 politically feasible monitoring mechanisms for a draft global health treaty to induce positive changes in state behavior. Read here: 👉 duke.is/5/k8zh

LISTEN 🎧 | “Universities can take proactive steps, for example, in educating their community about what civil discourse looks like...” First Amendment Clinic Dir. Sarah Ludington chats w/ @npr.org about 1A protections for students and faculty protesting on college campuses.

While on a typical date for the couple, Aditi Mishra LLM ’24 never expected to receive a proposal from her longtime boyfriend, Jai Singh LLM ’24. But just a couple of months ago, she got what she had hoped for. 🌻🌹💍 Read their story ➡️ duke.is/5/8amj

“It’s moving quickly, but it’s about to grow exponentially.” Author of “The Battle for Your Brain,” Duke Law Professor Nita Farahany talks to the @nytimes.com about future of neurotech industry as new Colorado law extending protections to brain data garners national attention.

Prof. Neil Siegel's “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧” presents new insights on the structure and purpose of the founding document. Siegel provides a broad but deep theory of the U.S. Constitution's basic structure, drawing from the disciplines of law, history, political science, and economics.

We’re thrilled to share news of our Assoc. Dean for DEI Alison Ashe-Card and Sylvia James ’96 being elected to leadership positions for the National Association for Law Placement. Ashe-Card was voted president-elect and James as VP for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Read more ➡️ duke.is/v/vmtt

Alan LeBlang ’24 is one of 14 law students selected for a law fellowship that uses the conduct of legal professionals in Nazi-occupied Europe as a framework for approaching ethical responsibility in the legal profession today. “I wanted to start my legal career with a strong ethical foundation....”

What was it like to clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor? We heard from 3 of her former clerks—Duke Law Profs. Lisa Kern Griffin ('97-'98) and Matt Adler ('92-'93) and NC Deputy AG Sarah Boyce '12 ('15-'16)—at yesterday's 2024 Bolch Prize event recognizing Justice O'Connor as this year's recipient.

We’re thrilled to see our own Assoc. Clinical Prof. Crystal Grant highlighted as a #Duke100 Trailblazer 🤩 for her thoughtful, innovative, and interdisciplinary approach to working with students in the Duke Children’s Law Clinic. Read more about Prof. Grant ➡️ duke.is/9/azy6

WATCH | We’re kicking off a new four-part video series exploring judicial clerkships! ⚖️👩‍⚖️ In Ep. 1, Prof. Veronica Root Martinez shares why she chose to clerk after law school, how it honed her legal skills as an attorney and academic, and ways to broaden the clerkship applicant pool.

Speaking to WRAL-TV News, Professor Paul Haagen says he doesn't see a return to large-scale sports betting scandals, says players' activity is easier to monitor with legal online gambling. "Once you make it legal, you can have some greater control in monitoring the market,” Haagen said.

“Highlighting the nation’s failure to protect journalists, Reporters Without Borders recently declared that the United States is ‘no longer a champion of press freedom, either at home or abroad,’” writes Second Amendment Prof. Joseph Blocher in his essay for @knightcolumbia.org ➡️ duke.is/j/atbc

Tuesday at Duke Law: Israeli Supreme Court Justice Daphne Barak-Erez 👩‍⚖️ spoke about her new 📖, “Biblical Judgments: New Legal Readings in the Hebrew Bible,” which considers today's dilemmas of law and government, social justice, and human rights through the perspective of the Hebrew Bible.

We're thrilled to share news of this year’s Mock Trial Board winning awards at the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition and reaching the semi-finals at the John L. Costello National Criminal Law Trial Advocacy Competition! 🏆⚖️👏 https://duke.is/5/ywrd

🗣️ 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞? Duke Law Prof. Jeff Powell, a constitutional law scholar, argues that it is not. "The common life of the United States centers on the U.S. Constitution to a degree unparalleled elsewhere, and if that center is out of date, we have a serious problem," Powell writes.

WATCH 👩‍💻📱 | PBS docuseries “Returning Citizens: Life Beyond Incarceration, Testimony” featured Asst. Clinical Prof. Lauren Fine ’11 talking about her work in juvenile justice. Fine is the co-founder and immediate past co-director of the Philadelphia-based Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project.

Ready ➡️ Set ➡️ Go! Have a great Monday!😃🌞

An honor to have Harvard Law Prof. Ruth Okediji with us yesterday for this year's Lange Lecture in Intellectual Property, exploring how the interplay among U.S. identity politics, foreign relations crises, and the dynamics of European integration have shaped new frontiers in int'l IP lawmaking.

Kudos to Profs. Doriane Coleman, Emily Ryo, Veronica Root Martinez & Sara Sternberg Greene on receiving distinguished professorships from Duke. They are among 32 recognized this year, including Prof. Elisabeth de Fontenay, who was awarded a distinguished professorship in Oct. Story ➡️ duke.is/n/tvfy

4th Circuit rulings on 3 Second Amendment cases will help shape the post-Bruen landscape, says Andrew Willinger, executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law “We’re still in that period where these appellate decisions are going to go a long way toward shaping the post-Bruen landscape.”

“The rule has been under enormous stress primarily because large economies...are increasingly interested in the kinds of activities that their consumption supports overseas,” said Prof. Tim Meyer on the trend of countries imposing tariffs and regulations on the production of goods elsewhere.

Happy first day of spring from Duke Law! #FirstDayOfSpring

In this Guardian op-ed, Duke Law Prof. Nita Farahany, a leading scholar on the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging tech, is calling on Congress to adopt "a nuanced, risk-based framework" toward TikTok and other social platforms.

Duke Law is home to thought-provoking discussions like yesterday’s ‘Law and AI in China and the US’ talk exploring tech advancement and legal frameworks. Speakers: Profs. Shitong Qiao and Arti Rai, Duke Engineering’s Profs. Yiran Chen and Jian Pei, and Prof. Jun Yang, from Duke’s Dept of Comp Sci.

More wonderful alumni news! John Macy ’22, known for immersing himself in courts and the judiciary while at Duke Law, will have a front row seat this fall at the nation's highest court. Macy has been selected to clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito for the upcoming term.

We’re thrilled to share news of Duke Law alum Donovan Stone ’20 being selected to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson! 👏⚖️👏 “I am incredibly excited to start the clerkship,” Stone said. Full story ➡️ duke.is/y/tvvy

Griffin Baker ’21, an associate in the tax department of Weil Gotshal, is serving as the firm’s 14th Lend-A-Lawyer in the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, dedicated to increasing and enhancing pro bono legal services to the poor in Dallas. Read more ➡️ duke.is/4/rkvw

Recently, 4 Duke Law students—Noah Buyon ’25, Amy Hartzell JD/LLM ’24, Korede Sotubo LLM ’24, and Tatiana Varanko JD/LLM ’24—joined the nation’s top students in international law in D.C. for the prestigious 2024 Cutler Fellows weekend. Read their full story here ⤵️

Quincy Amerson, a 49-year-old man who spent more than 20 years behind bars, is free after the Wrongful Convictions Clinic presented new evidence that exonerates him in the 1999 death of a child “We are very happy for Quincy and his family. However, there was never any doubt that he was innocent.”

PRO BONO IN ACTION: Recently, our faculty and students participated in NC Bar Foundation’s 17th Annual 4ALL Statewide Service Day. 2L Raashi Shastry, "The 4ALL event is one of my favorite pro bono events at the law school because it is an opportunity to provide service to the greater NC community."

Our annual 1L Blueprint for Success event—featuring 300+ representatives from 70+ law firms around the country visiting Durham to meet first-year Duke Law students— helps our 1Ls get a jump on charting their legal career during their law school experience. 👔🤝💼

7 days until spring! 😍🌷🌼

WATCH: Bryan Stevenson, a noted civil rights lawyer, relies on Inclusive Juries Project report in recent testimony during the Racial Justice Act hearings. The hearing could allow 100+ people on death row in NC to challenge their sentencing. (▶️ For Stevenson, go to 2:09:20 in the video on WRAL.com.)

Calling for tougher guidelines on single-use plastics, the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Duke has submitted comments on the General Services Administration’s proposed new rule for reduction of single-use plastic packaging

Today at Duke Law: We’re celebrating 10 years of “Whiskey in the Courtroom!” Clinical Prof. Jamie Lau and Sarah Olson, forensic resource counsel for the N.C. Indigent Defense Services, welcomed attendees to a discussion of evolving trends in forensic science with a focus on mental health evidence.

Speaking to Daily Journal, Clinical Prof. Jeff Ward says Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI raises larger questions about governance of emerging tech “This doesn’t fit neatly as a contracts case, as the agreement among founders seems perhaps unclear,” Ward said. For the full story ➡️ bit.ly/49Xp8yH

Can AI commit a crime? 🧠 Will we hold it legally responsible if it does? 🤔 Prof. Nita Farahany, a leading scholar on the ethical, legal & social implications of emerging tech, joins Preet Bharara's Stay Tuned podcast to discuss who is accountable if an AI chatbot aids in the commission of a crime.

NEW📝: Prof. Veronica Root Martinez’s “Supreme Impropriety? Questions of Goodness and Power” argues that a broad acceptance of SCOTUS’ Code of Conduct requires a mechanism for the public to objectively assess the goodness of the justices’ actions and conduct. 🤔 Read here ➡ bit.ly/4bRGvCY

Kudos to Kathrynne Curtis ’26, Fernanda Yanez JD/MA ’26, Emma Cline ’26 & Nicholas Quatraro JD/MA ’26 for prevailing in the final round of the Twiggs-Beskind Mock Trial Competition! ⚖️🏆👏 A big 👏 also to finalists Victoria Rea LLM ’24, Jody Messick ’26, Joelle Jarjoura JD/LLM ’26 & Alex Martin ’26.

19 days until spring! 🌞🌷🌸

NEW: “Understanding Multidimensional Fragility in South Sudan,” by Prof @mararevkin.bsky.social et al and the Intl Org for Migration South Sudan, assesses the political, legal, social, economic, security & environmental challenges for peace-building efforts in a fragile South Sudan. ➡️ bit.ly/3STtFvo

Prof. Brandon Garrett, executive director at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, says racial disparities in Houston's pretrial jail rates for misdemeanors "vanished" after implementing bail reform

New draft of our paper @benckrick.bsky.social & @jonpetkun.bsky.social "Civilian Harm & Military Legitimacy in War": Iraqi civilians exposed to the Coalition's self-described shift "from attrition to annihilation tactics" in Mosul view armed forces as less legitimate: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Today at Duke Law: Max capacity for the 29th Annual Natl Security Law Conference! Warm welcomes from 🗣️ Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., USAF (Ret.), executive director of Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and Natl Security (LENS) & 🗣️ Prof. Joseph Blocher, senior associate dean of faculty. (1/2)

Kudos to Christopher Richardson, a Duke Law 2007 alum, on being named to The Post and Courier’s “12 Black Leaders to Know in South Carolina” list. 👏👏 “It’s a real honor to be featured in the The Post and Courier as one of the 12 Black Leaders to Know in South Carolina,“ Richardson said.

Congrats to 3L Casey Witte! Last night, he prevailed to win the 2024 Dean’s Cup competition, making history with three wins as an individual moot court competitor during his Duke Law career. 👏⚖️🏆 Read full story ➡️ bit.ly/3ux8vuZ

Duke Law Prof. Tina Jones and Geovanny E. Martinez, executive director for the Center on Law, Race and Policy at Duke, have received a grant to conduct an oral history project documenting Prof. Jerome Culp’s prolific life, scholarly work, and impact on race and the law.

Prof. Stuart Benjamin in leadership role on $5 million SMART Hub research center, bringing together experts to optimize use of increasingly congested wireless frequencies for critical military, national defense needs. “This puts a premium on finding spectrum more efficiently," Prof. Benjamin said.