Politics

Unless liberal interest groups uncover something extreme about Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, he should survive the nomination process and earn confirmation, says University at Buffalo political science professor Mark Hurwitz, an expert on judicial politics.

If history is any guide, the timing may be right for President Bush to nominate a hard-line conservative for the Supreme Court, according to University at Buffalo political scientist Mark Hurwitz, Ph.D., an expert on the judicial process.

Constitutional battles over civil liberties could intensify at the state level -- continuing a more than two-decade-long trend -- if the Supreme Court becomes more conservative under President Bush with the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, according to University at Buffalo Law Professor James A. Gardner.

University at Buffalo School of Law Professor Lee A. Albert is available as an expert source to media covering today's surprise retirement announcement by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

History is replete with "black legends," conflations of truth, myth and bad press that have caused individuals, families, and whole nations to have what English poet and dramatist John Dryden called "a name to all succeeding ages curst." The term "Black Legend" originated as a reference to the world-wide loathing of Spain during its conquest of the New World, but an expert in the production of such cultural narratives says history, in one sense, may be repeating itself.

The battle over judicial nominees and filibustering rules currently taking place in the U.S. Senate is symptomatic of the bitter partisanship that for years has gripped the U.S. House of Representatives and has now overtaken the Senate, according to a University at Buffalo expert on the judicial process.

The influx of foreign aid to areas hardest hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami presents an opportunity for the region to address long-standing economic inequities, according to Jessie P.H. Poon, Ph.D., associate professor of geography at the University at Buffalo.

Frank C. Zagare, professor and chair of the Department of the Political Science in the UB College of Arts and Sciences, has been elected vice president of the International Studies Association for 2006-07.

Although both political parties are marshalling significant legal resources to challenge election results on the basis of voter fraud and eligibility, voter discrimination may be the most explosive issue to emerge after Election Day in November, according to an election-law expert at the University at Buffalo School of Law.

Just days before the presidential election, problems with voting systems that were identified in the 2000 election persist because engineering solutions have not been applied, says a University at Buffalo industrial engineer.