News

Professor Vikram Amar and Professor Emeritus Alan Brownstein wrote an April 25 essay for Justia’s Verdict on the Trump administration’s April 11 demand letter to Harvard.

Professor Courtney Joslin co-authored a chapter in the new book Seminal: On Sperm, Health and Politics (NYU Press).

Co-authored with Professors Douglas NeJaime (Yale Law School) and Katherine Kraschel (Northeastern Law School), the chapter is titled “The High Stakes of Gamete Regulation in a Post-Dobbs World.”

Congratulations to environmental law students Adriana Chavez ’26 and Rachel Kennard ’27 on receiving 2025-26 scholarships from The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law.

Chavez was awarded a $7,500 Francis Hartogh Diversity Outreach Scholarship and Kennard received a $6,750 Foundation Scholarship.

The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law is an educational nonprofit dedicated to the study of all aspects of natural resources and energy law.

Professor Courtney Joslin  testified before two Illinois General Assembly subcommittees on behalf of the Equality for Every Family Act. Joslin also helped draft the bill, which would update Illinois’ parentage statutes to ensure that all children and families are protected.

CBS Sacramento interviewed Professor Albert Lin for a May 22 report on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s and Attorney General Rob Bonta’s vows to sue the federal government after the U.S. Senate voted to block California’s mandate to phase out new sales of gas-powered vehicles in favor of electric vehicles.

On May 23, Professor Courtney Joslin presented her article “Sperm Rules” at the Law and Society Association Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The article is forthcoming in the Boston University Law Review.

Professor Darien Shanske spoke at a May 30 forum held by Congressional Representatives Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) and Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) to discuss the potential impact of congressional Republicans’ so-called “Big Beautiful” budget bill on the Sacramento region and surrounding areas.

The Illinois Appellate Court cited Professor Shayak Sarkar’s 2024 UC Davis Law Review article “Capital Migration” in PepsiCo, Inc. v. Department of Revenue.

Professor Nila Bala was awarded the 2025 Ian Kerr Best Paper Award at the Privacy Law Scholars Conference, held May 29-30 at UCLA School of Law.

By Carla Meyer

Nolan Gerlach ’23 took an unusual route to practicing law in his home state.

Now a clerk for Alaska Supreme Court Associate Justice Jennifer Henderson, Gerlach was born in Anchorage but moved around with his father’s Air Force posts before settling in Dixon, California for high school.

The Cruz Reynoso Bar Association awarded Professor Amagda Pérez its 2025 Defensor de Justicia Award at a May 2 ceremony in Sacramento.

On May 17, Professors Kevin R. Johnson and Amagda Pérez  discussed “Hot Topics in Immigration Law” at Unity Bar Summit 2025 at McGeorge School of Law. Johnson and Pérez focused on the evolving landscape of immigration policy and the vital role advocates play in protecting the rights of immigrant communities.

Professor Raquel Aldana and Jordan Porterfield ’25 spoke as part of the Chicana/o/x Studies Department’s spring symposium “Humanizing a Dehumanized Experience: The Voices of Resistance at UC Davis” on May 12. The event was co-sponsored by the Undocumented Student Resource Center and the Cross Cultural Center.

Professor Raquel Aldana delivered the keynote address at the César Chávez Youth Leadership Conference and Celebration on May 10 at the University Credit Union Center.

Presented by UC Davis’ Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the conference included opening remarks by Chancellor Gary S. May. KCRA Channel 3 news anchor Andrea Flores served as the event’s emcee.

Professor Kevin R. Johnson spoke to the Sacramento Bee for a May 27 story about three men reportedly arrested by federal immigration enforcement officials at Sacramento Immigration Court.

Professor Karrigan Börk and Michigan State University Associate Professor Mariah Meek wrote a May 13 piece for The Conversation responding to a proposal by President Donald Trump’s administration

Professor Lisa Pruitt spoke to The Guardian for a May 16 story about how recent federal cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration are causing concern even in Trump strongholds like Shasta County.

Such unease highlights the potential effects the cuts pose to far northern California, where rural communities with smaller tax bases are more reliant on federal support.

Professor Eric Fish spoke to the New York Times for a May 15 story on Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard researcher from Russia who now faces felony smuggling charges.

Professor Nila Bala was invited to participate in a May 20 roundtable on children’s online safety at the Citizen Hotel in Sacramento.

Presented by the Family Online Safety Institute, the closed-door discussion gathered California policymakers, industry leaders and online safety experts to address what FOSI calls “the growing need for collaboration at the state level.”

The Systemwide Academic Freedom Congress, co-sponsored by the Office of the UC Provost, the UC Academic Senate's Committee on Academic Freedom, and the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement, will host a virtual meeting on June 2 about the origins of academic freedom, its enduring presence, and contemporary c

Professor Peter Lee recently presented a paper at the Intellectual Property & Innovation Researchers of Asia (IPIRA) conference at Waseda University in Tokyo. Professor Lee presented a work in progress entitled “Techno-Optimism in Innovation Law and Policy.” The piece, which is forthcoming in the Emory Law Journal, contrasts policymakers’ highly laudatory view of innovation with several underappreciated costs of technological progress.

Jennifer Carbuccia ’07 has served as the General Counsel at Sweetwater Union High School District for over a decade. Previously, she directed labor relations at San Diego Unified School District and served in leadership in labor relations at the City of San Diego. Before that she was an attorney at Currier & Hudson, advising school district, college, utilities, and other public agency clients in San Diego and Imperial County.

On April 25, Professor Shayak Sarkar presented his paper “Financial Assimilation” at the Wharton Financial Regulation Conference at the University of Pennsylvania. The article is forthcoming in the California Law Review.

Shayak Sarkar's scholarship addresses the structure and legal regulation of inequality. His substantive interests lie in financial regulation, employment law, immigration, and taxation.

Professor Mary Ziegler’s book Personhood: The New Civil War Over Reproduction was released April 22 by Yale University Press and has generated extensive coverage from top media outlets including the New Yorker, New York Times, The Guardian and PBS.

Media outlets scrambling to understand reproductive rights issues have been relying on Professor Mary Ziegler’s expertise. Ziegler is one of the world’s foremost historians of United States debates surrounding abortion, IVF, and reproduction. She regularly provides analysis for major news outlets. She has also advised governors and members of Congress and submitted congressional testimony. She lectures worldwide on the history and law of reproduction.