Michael Meltsner

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

There’s more to October than Halloween. Check out this month’s events.

Discuss issues of racial justice amid the pandemic. Prepare for the 2020 election. Learn about the history of social justice movements in the U.S. These and other virtual events are on tap in October.

by Irvin Zhang October 1, 2020

Before she was a Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg taught law in a clinical program at Columbia Law School. Photo by Michael Jenkins/Library of Congress

Working with Ruth: A law professor reflects upon his time with RBG

In 1970, Michael Meltsner—who is currently the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished Professor of Law at Northeastern—was hired by Columbia University to create a clinical program within its law school. Several lawyers were hired afterward who helped run the program. Among them? Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

by Molly Callahan September 23, 2020

picture of protestors clashing with federal agents in Portland in July

How 9/11 and the US Civil War provided the framework for federal agents in Portland

Reconstruction-era jurisdiction changes, coupled with national security legislation passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks provide the framework for federal presence in Portland, Oregon and other U.S. cities, says Northeastern law professor Michael Meltsner.

by Molly Callahan July 31, 2020

Special Counsel Robert Mueller exits St. John's Episcopal Church after attending services, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019. Mueller closed his long and contentious Russia investigation with no new charges, ending the probe that has cast a dark shadow over Donald Trump's presidency. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

The Mueller report found no collusion between Trump and Russia. But the saga of the Russia investigation is not over.

Following the partial disclosure on Sunday of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report that cleared Trump of collusion, the House of Representatives is likely to demand the release of any underlying documents and testimony from various players, including Mueller himself, says Northeastern law professor Michael Meltsner.

by Khalida Sarwari March 24, 2019

In this Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 courtroom sketch, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sits in federal court in Boston. On Friday, May 15, 2015, Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. (Jane Flavell Collins via AP, File)

Here’s why two law professors believe a new jury should decide the fate of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Northeastern law professors Michael Meltsner and Daniel Medwed are among eight Boston-area lawyers who say that a new jury outside of the city should decide the fate of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was sentenced to death in 2015 for his role in the Boston Marathon bombings. They recently signed onto an amicus brief submitted on the behalf of Tsarnaev.

by Molly Callahan January 11, 2019

Michael Cohen leaves Federal court on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in New York. Cohen has pleaded guilty to charges including campaign finance fraud stemming from hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Cohen implicated the president in a federal crime. Does that mean we’ll see Trump in court?

Can a sitting president be charged with a crime? It’s a tricky question, says Northeastern law professor Michael Meltsner. “The question of whether you can or cannot indict a sitting president is a matter of law that’s never been decided.”

by Molly Callahan August 22, 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

Michael Meltsner, the George J. and Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished University Professor Law, has argued before the Supreme Court six times and written more than a half dozen books, novels, and plays. Photo by David Leiter.

‘A true renaissance man’: Northeastern to honor law professor Michael Meltsner

Michael Meltsner, a national leader in the fight for civil rights and the abolition of the death penalty, has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court six times and paved the way for desegregation in the Jim Crow South. The School of Law will host a two-part panel discussion to honor his work on Friday in Dockser Hall.

by Jason Kornwitz October 26, 2017

Constitutional law professors Jessica Silbey and Michael Meltsner consider the constitutionality of President Trump's immigration executive order. Photo via iStock.

Law professors examine the constitutionality of Trump's travel, refugee ban

Law professors Jessica Silbey and Michael Meltsner, both constitutional law experts, examined President Trump’s sweeping executive order banning travelers from certain majority-Muslim countries. Silbey called the order unconstitutional. Meltsner said that “incompetence is not the same as unconstitutionality,” but there is reason to think “the courts may strike (the order) down.”

by Molly Callahan January 31, 2017

Expert: Trump’s conflicts of interest are ‘a potential minefield’

Donald Trump has business holdings in at least 20 countries, posing an unprecedented source of potential conflicts of interest for the president-elect. Legal expert Michael Meltsner says that to have any credibility, “Trump must keep his family out of the business,” while political economy and crisis theory specialist Daniel Faber described Trump’s situation as “a potential minefield” that “could cripple his presidency.”

by Molly Callahan December 7, 2016