Daniel J. Urman

President Donald Trump announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court at the White House on Saturday. AP Photo by Alex Brandon

Could the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett backfire on Republicans?

President Donald Trump’s controversial selection of Judge Amy Coney Barrett has deepened the U.S. partisan divide in a way that may influence the election in November, says Dan Urman, a Constitutional law expert at Northeastern.

by Ian Thomsen September 26, 2020

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died at her home in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18 from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, will be memorialized as an iconic figure who faced and overcame discrimination in her personal life to make history as the second woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court. AP Photo/Craig Fritz

Ruth Bader Ginsburg leaves behind an unmatched legacy. How might her death shape the 2020 election and beyond?

The 87-year-old Supreme Court Justice will be memorialized as an iconic figure who faced and overcame discrimination to make history as the second woman to ever serve on the nation’s highest court. “Ginsburg basically changed the way that the Supreme Court and American culture understand gender equality and the meaning of sex-based discrimination,” says Dan Urman, a Constitutional law expert at Northeastern.

by Khalida Sarwari September 20, 2020

The Supreme Court is opening up the phone lines. Here’s what to listen for.

The court will hear arguments by telephone to comply with public health guidelines in response to COVID-19. For the first time, the public can listen live, and we might see that the justices are “human, just like us,” says legal scholar Dan Urman.

by Molly Callahan May 1, 2020

Libby Adler and Dan Urman think it’s unlikely the Supreme Court will even hear the abortion case, because there are one or two conservative justices who have shown themselves to be reticent to toss out precedent wholesale. Photo by iStock.

Here’s what’s next for the Alabama abortion law

The most restrictive anti-abortion bill in the nation has been signed into law in Alabama, but stands little chance of overturning a person’s constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade, say two legal scholars at Northeastern University.

by Molly Callahan May 17, 2019

Robert Mueller testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the

What’s next for the Mueller investigation?

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation could play out in three plausible ways now that President Donald Trump has fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, said two Northeastern law professors.

by Molly Callahan November 8, 2018

President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, speaks as he officiates at the swearing-in of Judge Britt Grant to take a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018, at the U.S. District Courthouse in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Four things to watch for during Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings

Tuesday is the first day of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearings. “A particularly disastrous or a particularly strong” performance by Kavanaugh could sway the senators who are still on the fence about which way they’ll vote, said Dan Urman, who teaches a Northeastern course on the Supreme Court.

by Molly Callahan September 3, 2018

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, his Supreme Court nominee, in the East Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s Supreme Court choice would tilt America dramatically to the right

The balance of power in the Supreme Court will lurch dramatically to the right with the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, says Supreme Court expert Dan Urman. Kavanaugh’s position that sitting presidents should be shielded from prosecution may have been the persuading argument for President Trump’s selection, he says.

by Bill Ibelle July 10, 2018

Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy testifies before a House Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2015. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

What Justice Kennedy’s retirement means for the country

Justice Anthony Kennedy on Wednesday announced he will retire from the nation’s highest court at the end of July. Supreme Court experts Dan Urman and Michael Meltsner weigh in on what it means for the future of the court and whether political conflict is inevitable in the nomination process.

by Greg St. Martin June 27, 2018

Using a very narrow reading of the facts of the case, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled 7-2 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Photo by iStock.

‘Is this a case about cake or about the people trying to buy a cake?’

The cake issue is solved. But questions about the reaches of protections for religious freedom versus protections for gay rights remain wide open. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled 7-2 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The ruling, however, still leaves a major question unanswered, according to law professor Dan Urman: “Is this a case about cake or about the people trying to buy a cake?”

by Molly Callahan June 5, 2018

In a number of major Supreme Court cases this term, Northeastern legal scholars say Justice Anthony Kennedy is likely to tip the scales one way or the other. Photo via iStock

Cases to watch in Supreme Court’s blockbuster new term

The Supreme Court will be busy this term, hearing cases on voting rights, the First Amendment and discrimination, collective bargaining, and privacy in the age of cellphones. We asked legal scholars Dan Urman and Michael Meltsner to weigh in on which cases they’re watching, and both said Justice Kennedy may tip the scales in a number of significant ones.

by Molly Callahan October 12, 2017

Daniel Urman All Experts

Daniel Urman In the Media

Boston Globe

Boston Globe

The Globe and Mail

The Star

Los Angeles Times

Ozy

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Metro Boston

Ozy

Yahoo!

Daniel Urman for Northeastern