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, , 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.
In amNewYork, Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman pens a powerful op-ed examining how President Donald Trump’s towering monuments, incendiary rhetoric, and erosion of democratic norms signal a deeper moral and structural deterioration within American civic life. Professor Gershman writes that this sweeping “uglification” is reshaping the nation’s public landscape and unsettling the democratic foundations that once held firm.
Pace Haub Law Professor Emeritus Michael Mushlin was featured in THE CITY regarding a landmark proposal that would require New York judges who make sentencing or detention decisions to conduct meaningful annual visits to prisons and jails across the state. As chair of the subcommittee that developed the proposal, Professor Mushlin has helped lead the effort to ensure that judges better understand the realities of incarceration and the consequences of their decisions from the bench. If adopted, the rule would make New York the first state in the nation to mandate such visits.
The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ý Trial Advocacy Program continued its outstanding record of success this fall, earning top honors at two prestigious sports law competitions hosted by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Pace Haub Law Trial Advocacy teams competed in both the Villanova Baseball Filing Day Competition and the inaugural Villanova Law Hockey Negotiation Competition. These Competitions tested students’ negotiation, advocacy, and analytical skills in simulated professional sports settings.