UC Berkeley Law

Can California Set Its Own Car Emissions Standards? Trump's Climate Reversal May Force the Issue Withdrawal of federal climate authority could ironically give California broader power to regulate emissions and sue oil companies.

“California is struggling with wildfire costs ... which are linked strongly to a warming climate. I think that opens up a lot of legal avenues for states like California,” @ethanelkind.bsky.social, director of the @cleeberkeley.bsky.social Climate Program to @calmatters.org: https://bit.ly/4rIYUZI

Opinion | A Grand Jury Will Indict a Ham Sandwich? Not in the Trump Era.

“A Grand Jury Will Indict a Ham Sandwich? Not in the Trump Era.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/o... Criminal Law and Justice Center Executive Director Chesa Boudin & @ucdavislaw.bsky.social Prof. Eric S. Fish via @nytimes.com

Don't miss the biennial 2026 Clark Kerr Lectures on Feb. 24th and 26th featuring Christopher L. Eisgruber, President of Princeton University, for a lecture series: “The American University in Crisis.”
RSVP: https://bit.ly/4apxkcY
@berkeleycshe.bsky.social @goldmanschool.bsky.social @princeton.edu

Big Oil’s Sacramento cash splash Oil majors maintained near-record lobbying muscle in 2025, while utilities and insurers ramped up as lawmakers revisited wildfire liability and energy costs.

.@cleeberkeley.bsky.social's new analysis of California data centers’ water use and list of policy recommendations is featured in @politico.com: https://politi.co/4kBjNDS #BerkeleyLaw

Contributor: Why tech giants shouldn't be liable for creating addictive platforms A new case in L.A. Superior Court claims platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Instagram were built specifically to be harmful for children.

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky: Why tech giants shouldn’t be liable for creating addictive platforms www.latimes.com/opinion/stor... #opinion via @latimes.com

Berkeley Law GRIL Clinic’s first cohort with human-centered designer Ariel Sim, second from left; clinic director Laurel E. Fletcher, center; and data and technology clinical supervisor Valentina Rozo Angel, far right.

Highlight: Berkeley Law's Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic uses data science and digital storytelling to uncover insights, build cases and develop advocacy tools.

Top law schools for international law International law is no longer confined to treaties and courtrooms abroad. Across law schools in the United States, the field is becoming more practical, more interdisciplinary and more directly tied ...

A+ in International Law

nationaljurist.com/top-law-scho...

Combating Public Corruption to Protect & Sustain Democracy: From Watergate to Now & Beyond Hosted by the Edley Center for Law & Democracy. This panel brings together three experienced former federal prosecutors — one from the Watergate era and two from the last several […]

Join the Edley Center for Law & Democracy on March 4th for a panel feat. three experienced former federal prosecutors & the President of Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington to discuss the democracy harm of unchecked public corruption.
RSVP: https://bit.ly/4abYm8V

Interesting statistical analysis of California Supreme Court activity in 2025 ranging from opinion output to case types and results. Courtesy of SCOCAblog a joint project of the California Constitution Center and UC Law Journal at UC Berkeley @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social. scocablog.com/scoca-year-i...

Black at Berkeley Law A display of Black community and excellence, featuring Law Students of African Descent — Berkeley’s chapter of the National Black Law Students Association — the Berkeley Journal of Black Law & Policy,...

Wonderful new exhibit, "Black at Berkeley Law" on the first floor @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social
www.law.berkeley.edu/news/on-disp...

Dave Jones (@cadavejones.bsky.social), Director of the Climate Risk Initiative at @cleeberkeley.bsky.social, was named to the @washingtonpost.com "Post Next: 50 people shaping our society in 2026" list: www.washingtonpost.com/post-next/in...
#BerkeleyLaw

The gerrymandering mess Courtly Observations is a recurring series by Erwin Chemerinsky that focuses on what the Supreme Court’s decisions will mean for the law, for lawyers and lower courts, and for people’s lives. […]

"The Supreme Court’s allowing this to happen is sure to encourage constant redistricting and ever more extreme partisan gerrymandering." — Opinion by Dean Chemerinsky in his recurring series, Courtly Observations, on @scotusblog.com: https://bit.ly/3O9s0D7

Trump’s OCR resolved no K-12 sexual harassment, assault complaints in 2025, data shows The Education Department contends "it has restored commonsense safeguards against sexual violence by returning sex-based separation in intimate facilities."

“The Trump administration has chosen a small handful of issues that it is interested in enforcing through civil rights, and it’s noisy about those and noisy about its disdain for everything else,” says Catherine E. Lhamon @catherinelhamon.bsky.social to K-12 Dive: https://bit.ly/3Ojd998 #BerkeleyLaw

Thousands Of Law Students Demand Congress Allow The Constitution To Apply To ICE - Above the Law Congress could solve the immunity problem... they just don't want to.

"The effort grew out of a late-night idea by Berkeley Law students — including Amelia Dal Pra, Zadie Adams, Isaiah Paik, Shree Mehrotra, and Kaylana Mueller-Hsia — inspired by Times opinion piece from Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky & Prof. Burt Neuborne." https://bit.ly/4aoT3BT @abovethelaw.com

ICE Officers Should Be Held Accountable. These Law School Students Know How. Over 2,600 students and legal academics have signed a letter calling on Congress to close a loophole to allow individuals to sue federal officers for violating the Constitution.

"A coalition of law students is demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials be held to account for their violence across our nation." — 3L Amelia Dal Pra via @thenation.com: https://bit.ly/462x4iJ

How Do Judges Cope With Mounting Caseloads and Political Pressures? | Law.com A conversation with Michele Statz, who recently signed on to be the inaugural Director of Judicial Wellbeing at the Berkeley Judicial Institute.

"I think we can see that across the judiciary in the U.S.—the increasing quantification of decision-making. Everything has to be done within a certain amount of time. Dockets are really exploding," says Michele Statz, PhD, Director of Judicial Wellbeing at @bji.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/3ZuCAXK

How a Berkeley Law team helped uncover the truth about the assassination of Berta Cáceres Human Rights Clinic Director Roxanna Altholz ’99 relied on support from the law school on an explosive probe of the 2016 murder.

“Getting to the bottom of the murder is of global significance because Berta’s leadership was part of the global effort to protect land, water & biodiversity in a climate emergency.”
—Clinical Professor & Human Rights Clinic Director Roxanna Altholz ’99: https://bit.ly/4aNdjxp

Mary Robinson and the UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society logo. Text reads: “Dean’s Distinguished Lecture on Shared Futures. March 31. Mary Robinson. From Justice to Climate Justice to Planetary Guardianship.”

Join us on March 31 at noon for the CDSS Dean’s Distinguished Lecture on Shared Futures with Mary Robinson! This event is free and open to the UC Berkeley community.

🔗 Register now: https://bit.ly/46HruCD

@berkeleychemistry.bsky.social @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social

Deportation Data Project releases new immigration enforcement analysis Berkeley Law Professor David Hausman co-directs the project, which tracks the government’s own records to understand what ICE is doing.

The Deportation Data Project, co-directed by Berkeley Law Professor David Hausman, recently released a report analyzing immigration enforcement in the first nine months of the Trump administration: https://bit.ly/3Mk6ZoA #BerkeleyLaw

Entrepreneurial 3L Alex Belkin makes his mark by launching two cutting-edge tech-focused student organizations Blockchain & Law at Berkeley and AI @ Berkeley Law offer students timely insights, valuable programs, and networking opportunities.

3L Alex Belkin launched two cutting-edge tech-focused student organizations, Blockchain & Law at Berkeley and AI @ Berkeley Law, which offer students timely insights, valuable programs, and networking opportunities: https://bit.ly/4ajlJw3 #BerkeleyLaw

A Discussion on Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times Please join Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Edley Center Faculty Co-Director Daniel Farber for a discussion on Campus Speech and Academic Freedom on Monday, February 9, 2026, from 1:00 – 2:00 […]

Join Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Edley Center Faculty Co-Director Daniel Farber @dfarber1950.bsky.social for a discussion on Campus Speech and Academic Freedom on Monday 2/9, 2026, from 1-2 pm.
RSVP: https://bit.ly/3Ma0u7Y

Trump canceled EV incentives. Newsom has a $200 million plan to make up for it A new proposal outlines California’s $200 million EV rebate plan, including who qualifies, how it works and how far the money could go.

Ethan Elkind, climate program director at @cleeberkeley.bsky.social, told @calmatters.org structuring the incentives as grants allows the state to set the terms automakers must meet to access the money, giving California leverage over manufacturers: https://bit.ly/3O1iNgb @ethanelkind.bsky.social

YouTube video by UC Berkeley School of Law Can a teacher be punished for refusing to use a students pronouns?

Can a teacher be punished for refusing to use a student’s pronouns? https://youtube.com/shorts/2nzMIihsf_w?feature=share
#ItstheLaw #BerkeleyLaw

Billionaires march leader ID'd, says effort sincere Startup founder not billionaire, but supports them.

The reduction in billionaire wealth growth might be “worth somebody’s time to march against, but for me, it’s something I would march in favor of,” said Professor Brian Galle to @sfexaminer.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/4r0Srcy @bdgesq.bsky.social

Big win for consumers in California.
Courts just ruled that breaking the law is enough to sue — even without proving damages.
That keeps courthouse doors open and stops corporations from dodging accountability. A major step forward for economic justice. bit.ly/4rwh0Ot

Ten teams of student innovators awarded impact funding The program provides an opportunity for students to advance community health while building skills in social entrepreneurship and community partnership.

Supported by a generous gift from Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao, UC Berkeley Public Health has awarded $100k to ten student teams via the Impact Innovators program. The teams will work with community partners to solve pressing #PublicHealth challenges.

ow.ly/eKgv50Y8XaS

How I Made Practice Group Chair: 'Leadership Is Fundamentally About People,' Says Nadira Clarke of Hogan Lovells | Law.com "The role requires skills across several areas, which is part of what makes it challenging. Having a co-leader helps because we balance one another’s strengths and weaknesses. But above everything, yo...

"But above everything, you must be able to communicate, engage with people, and support them. Leadership is fundamentally about people—the rest can be learned." Hogan Lovells Partner Nadira Clarke '92, practice area leader for the environment & natural resources practice. www.law.com/2026/02/06/h...

Meet the mastermind behind Trump’s definition of "woman" May Mailman’s anti-trans crusade could threaten gender equality for all.

“At the moment, the most painful, prejudicial consequences are for trans people, [but] the executive order absolutely has implications for heterosexual, cisgender women,” says Professor Kathryn Abrams to @motherjones.com: https://bit.ly/4rEiJl3

UCLA fires DEI Director after social media posts on Charlie Kirk’s death Former UCLA DEI director Johnathan Perkins, who was fired over his posts after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, said he plans to sue the university.

Dean Chemerinsky told @latimes.com it would probably “violate the First Amendment for professors at public universities to be disciplined or fired for such speech.” https://lat.ms/4ax2xfr

Faculty Crack the Code to the World’s Most Selective Finance Journals Berkeley Law ranks No. 2 among law schools for faculty publishing in the world’s three most selective peer-reviewed finance journals — the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and […]

Berkeley Law ranks No. 2 among law schools for faculty publishing in the world’s three most selective peer-reviewed finance journals — the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies: https://bit.ly/45S7JYS