September 24, 2026

Faculty Appearances: August Highlights

Our August faculty digest highlights Southwestern scholars advancing legal conversations through scholarship, international forums, public commentary, and national media.

Michael Epstein

• This summer, Michael was invited to lead the Remedies Discussion Forum at the Paris Dauphine-PSL University. While there, on June 22, Michael presented a new paper, In Search of a First Amendment Remedy: Anonymous Online Speech AfterMoody v. NetChoice, ___ Louisiana Law Review ___ (forthcoming 2026). In this piece, Michael argues that online social media platforms have a First Amendment right to accept anonymized content.
• On June 17, Michael attended the Free Speech and Media Law Discussion Forum at the University of Luxembourg Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance. There, Michael presented Free Speech and Democratic Accountability, ___ Mississippi Law Review ___ (forthcoming 2026) (co-authored with Russell L. Weaver) during a roundtable discussion.
• On June 16, Michael attended the Forum on Privacy and Governmental Transparency at Ludovika University in Budapest, Hungary. Michael presented his work-in-progress, Identities Compelled: Reforming the Identity Gap Under the Stored Communications Act. In this manuscript, Michael proposes legislative fixes to a gap in the SCA that permits disclosure of a subscriber's name, physical address, IP address, and device identifiers to non-threatening anonymous speakers without their knowledge or consent.
• On June 11, Michael attended an event entitled Democracy in the Twenty-First Century at the University Federico II in Naples, Italy. There Michael presented for the law faculty a forthcoming book chapter (in an anthology edited by Professor Roberto Mastroianni) entitled: Personalism and Amplification: Executive Power and Algorithmic Provocation in American Constitutional Governance.
• On May 11, Michael attended an event entitled Crisis del Estado de Derecho y libertad de expression at the University of Granada in Spain. There, Michael gave a presentation to the law faculty, Democracy Under Pressure: Executive Power, Free Speech, and the Rule of Law.

Andrea Freeman

• On August 25, Andrea met virtually with the New York City Mayor's Office and its Food Policy Book Club to discuss problems and solutions to food issues facing New Yorkers.

Andrew Gilden

• On August 7, Andrew attended the 26th Annual Intellectual Property Scholars Conference at Stanford Law School. There, Andrew presented his work-in-progress, Trans Patents, which discusses and analyzes the quickly growing body of patents for gender-affirming care.

Faisal Kutty

• On August 25, Faisal published an Op-Ed in Newsweek: Failed Canada Talks Show How U.S. Risks Losing Its Hidden Power. Here, Faisal connects the breakdown in bilateral trade negotiations with U.S. sanctions against International Criminal Court judges and the proposed sale of Canadian payment processor Moneris to an American private-equity firm. He argues that an underappreciated source of American global power lies in the infrastructure through which international commerce and financial transactions flow. Further, using this infrastructure as an instrument of political coercion may ultimately encourage allies to reduce their dependence on U.S.-controlled systems.
• Between August 10-12, Faisal published a three-part expert analysis series for Law360 Canada on prosecutorial independence in an era of political polarization. Using contemporary Canadian cases involving protests, hate-speech allegations, and terrorism charges arising in the polarized Israel-Palestine context, Faisal contends that prosecutorial independence is most important precisely when political passions are strongest, and he further argues that controversial cases must be assessed according to consistent legal and evidentiary standards rather than the identities or politics of those involved. Read the three-part series: “Prosecutorial Independence in an Age of Polarization: When Politics Surrounds the Criminal Process”, “Protecting Prosecutorial Independence from Political Pressure”, and “Prosecutorial Independence: Applying the Law When Politics Are at Their Hottest”.
• On August 1, Faisal published a piece for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs entitled: The U.S. Islamophobia Crisis Has Turned Mosques into Targets. Writing in the aftermath of the deadly May attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, Faisal examines how decades of anti-Muslim rhetoric, post-9/11 surveillance, and political demonization contributes to an environment in which American mosques increasingly require extensive security. He also examines disparities in how ideologically motivated violence is publicly characterized.
• On July 26, Faisal published Against the Myth of Eternal Religious War in Islamica Magazine. Responding to increasingly common claims that conflict among Muslims, Christians, and Jews reflects an inevitable “civilizational” or religious struggle, Faisal examines a longer and more complicated history of interfaith coexistence, legal protection, and mutual responsibility. Drawing on historical examples of communities protecting one another across religious lines, he argues that religious conflict is rarely inevitable and is more often constructed and then presented as destiny.

Philip Talbert

• On August 19, Philip was interviewed for a televised investigative report, which aired on NBC 7 and Telemundo 20 San Diego, about body-worn camera footage showing a police officer during a traffic stop threatening to kill a handcuffed 15-year-old with his service firearm. Philip discussed an implicated federal criminal civil rights statute, and he opined that an FBI investigation is warranted.

Rachel VanLandingham

• On August 28, Rachel published an Op-Ed in MS Now: Trump’s wars are leaving invisible scars on our military. Here, Rachel examines the concept of “moral dissonance" as a type of distress stemming from a clash between moral beliefs and one’s own actions or those of others. She then applies this principle to the U.S. service members currently serving in illegal and unnecessary wars, reasoning that our warfighters may be experiencing traumatic “moral injuries” manifesting as greater anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide risk.
• On August 25, Rachel published an Op-Ed in MS Now: Pete Hegseth wants to turn Stars and Stripes into a Pentagon mouthpiece. Here, Rachel discusses Secretary Hegseth’s purge of leadership for “insubordination” at The Stars and Stripes military newspaper. Rachel explains how these moves violate the First Amendment and federal statutory law, all in an effort to transform the storied newspaper into a propaganda vehicle for the Trump Administration.
• On August 19, Rachel was quoted in this Mid Hudson News piece for her military expertise regarding conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
• On August 18, Rachel sat for an interview with Al Arabiya English, a major Saudi-owned international TV news channel and the largest English-speaking network in the Middle East, to discuss issues plaguing deployed service members on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
• On August 14, Rachel published an Op-Ed in MS Now: USS Abraham Lincoln sailors and their families deserve compassion from Pete Hegseth, not denial. In this piece, Rachel highlights how lacking leadership at the Pentagon is hurting our warfighters, reflected in at least one sailor’s attempt to jump from an aircraft carrier.
• On August 4, Rachel published an Op-Ed in MS Now: The military’s request for ‘creative’ ideas in Iran is an admission of failure. Here, Rachel focuses on the bleak outlook for the Iran War. She discusses how rhetoric affects and shapes reality, highlighting disturbing and harmful rhetoric emanating from the Trump Administration since the outset of the war.