University of Wisconsin–Madison

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Wang (2024), “Embedded Supervision: China’s Prosecutorial Public Interest Litigation Against Government”

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Yueduan Wang. “Embedded Supervision: China’s Prosecutorial Public Interest Litigation Against Government.” Regulation & Governance, (2024): 1-41. This study challenges the assumption that diminished institutional autonomy necessarily weakens legal oversight in authoritarian regimes. Focusing on prosecutor-led public interest litigation in China, it shows that legal professionals can, under certain conditions, enhance their influence over state agencies …

Wang and Xia (2024), “State-Sponsored Activism: How China’s Law Reforms Impact NGOs’ Legal Practice”

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Yueduan Wang and Ying Xia. “State-Sponsored Activism: How China’s Law Reforms Impact NGOs’ Legal Practice.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 49, no. 1 (2024): 451–77. This study explores how attorneys and law-related NGOs navigate legal opportunities in China amid ongoing democratic backsliding. Following “law-based governance” reforms that professionalized the judiciary, expanded legal aid, and granted …

Judicial misconduct complaint filed by Justice Dept. against Judge James Boasberg is dismissed

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A federal appeals court judge, Jeffrey Sutton, dismissed a judicial misconduct complaint the United States Department of Justice filed against James Boasberg, ruling that the department failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations that he made improper remarks about Donald Trump during a closed-door meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The …

A California lawyer takes the civil rights fight home to Minneapolis

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In this column, Anita Chabria profiles James Cook, an Oakland civil rights lawyer who has been spending months in Minneapolis helping people swept up in a federal crackdown—protesters, immigrants, and even U.S. citizens—often pro bono. The piece argues that while street clashes dominate headlines, the quieter legal battle over detentions, due process, and government transparency …

Venezuela announces amnesty bill that could lead to mass release of political prisoners

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Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez announced an “amnesty” bill that, if approved by the ruling party–controlled National Assembly of Venezuela, could lead to the release of hundreds of people detained for political reasons, including opposition figures, journalists, and human rights activists. The announcement came amid heightened political turmoil following the U.S. seizure of then-president Nicolás …

Judge in Minnesota tries to keep Trump administration in check during crackdown

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A federal judge in Minneapolis sharply criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for repeatedly failing to follow court orders in lawsuits filed by people arrested during the Donald Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz said the government has not complied with nearly 100 court orders since January 1 across dozens of …

Supreme Court rules Polish government unlawfully removed judicial officials

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Poland’s Supreme Court has ruled that the justice minister, Waldemar Żurek, and his predecessor, Adam Bodnar, acted unlawfully when they removed three judicial disciplinary officials—Piotr Schab, Przemysław Radzik, and Michał Lasota—before their fixed terms expired. The court’s professional liability chamber said the ministers lacked a clear statutory basis to dismiss them early, emphasizing that public …

Statement of ABA President Michelle A. Behnke Re: Shootings in Minneapolis

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On January 26, 2026, American Bar Association President Michelle A. Behnke issued a statement responding to the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both U.S. citizens, during encounters with immigration agents in Minneapolis. Behnke emphasized that “this level of violence is not normal” and urged a fair, open government investigation to establish the …

Police credit cooperation for arrests in attacks on judge and his wife

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In Lafayette, police and state/federal partners announced the arrests of five suspects tied to the Jan. 18, 2026 shooting of Steven Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, who were both wounded but are expected to fully recover. Investigators say the attack was targeted at the judiciary and linked to an alleged plot to derail an …

Report of the Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer (2026) — United States

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This report, published for the 16th International Day of the Endangered Lawyer (24 January 2026), examines growing threats to the independence, safety, and professional freedom of lawyers in the United States. Traditionally seen as a strong rule-of-law democracy, the U.S. has been selected as the 2026 focus country due to escalating political, institutional, and administrative …