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.
The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at ý is pleased to announce that Sam Bookman will be a Visiting Assistant Professor with the Law School for the Fall 2025 semester and he was also selected to serve as a Haub Visiting Scholar. While at Pace Haub Law, he will teach Climate Change Law and Constitutional Law.
In Bloomberg Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law Professor Emily Gold Waldman cautioned that new federal guidance promoting religious expression in the workplace could foster coercive dynamics—particularly between supervisors and employees—and lacks adequate safeguards to prevent pressure or retaliation.
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Professor Emily Gold Waldman speaks to Forbes about the legal gap around menopause in the workplace, noting that while no federal law mandates accommodations, agencies like the EEOC could issue guidance treating menopause-based bias as a form of sex or age discrimination.