Dec 13, 2024
1 min
The CNN story, “Trump’s evasion of January 6 accountability will echo for next four years and generations to come,” features an interview with Professor of Constitutional Law James Sample.
The piece focuses on special counsel Jack Smith’s motions to drop federal charges against President-elect Donald Trump for mishandling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The dropping of the charges reinforces Trump’s belief that he will have almost unchecked authority when he is sworn in to office in January.
“For Donald Trump, his strategy of delay, delay, delay and then win the election to do away with the litigation, proves to be one of the ultimate success stories,” said Professor Sample. “It’s certainly a win in terms of avoiding accountability, which means it is a loss for the rule of law that it took so long to bring these cases to trial that they never in fact got to trial before the election.”
Professor Sample regularly comments on voting rights and constitutional issues in leading media outlets.
1 min
Jase Bernhardt, associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, recently joined FOX Weather to talk about his research that offers a virtual reality simulation of being caught in a rip current and teaches ways swimmers can navigate to safety.
1 min
Professor James Sample of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University continued to provide legal analysis for national and regional media this month, appearing on ABC News, MSNBC’s MS Now, CNN, Sirius XM and Newsday to discuss developments involving executive power, federal investigations, election law, and high-profile litigation. Across these appearances, Professor Sample examined legal disputes surrounding President Trump’s proposed anti-weaponization fund, Department of Justice investigations and enforcement actions, election administration and redistricting battles, and questions involving government ethics and accountability. He also provided analysis of major court proceedings, including litigation involving OpenAI and Elon Musk, as well as broader issues at the intersection of law, politics, and democratic governance. Full story: https://lawnews.hofstra.edu/2026/06/10/professor-james-sample-provides-legal-analysis-for-abc-news-cnn/
1 min
Beyond bad luck, could there be a reason why recent weekends have been more rainy than the rest of the week? From the start of spring to the end of May, it rained on half, or 10, of 20 weekend days. By comparison, it rained one-third of the 46 workweek days. Newsday interviewed Jase Bernhardt, associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, to see if there is a scientific explanation for the frequently soggy Saturdays and Sundays. According to the National Weather Service, data collected over five, 10 and 40 years found that rain was not any more frequent on weekends than weekdays. It also found no statistically significant change in the overall occurrence of rain events. “You try to slice up these data sets in all these different ways, and inevitably, you will find random patterns that at first seem like something meaningful.” But often, he said, “when you peel back the data, look at an appropriate sample size, you realize it goes away, there wasn’t anything actually meaningful here.”
Check out some other posts from Hofstra University
1 min
Jase Bernhardt, associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, recently joined FOX Weather to talk about his research that offers a virtual reality simulation of being caught in a rip current and teaches ways swimmers can navigate to safety.
1 min
Professor James Sample of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University continued to provide legal analysis for national and regional media this month, appearing on ABC News, MSNBC’s MS Now, CNN, Sirius XM and Newsday to discuss developments involving executive power, federal investigations, election law, and high-profile litigation. Across these appearances, Professor Sample examined legal disputes surrounding President Trump’s proposed anti-weaponization fund, Department of Justice investigations and enforcement actions, election administration and redistricting battles, and questions involving government ethics and accountability. He also provided analysis of major court proceedings, including litigation involving OpenAI and Elon Musk, as well as broader issues at the intersection of law, politics, and democratic governance. Full story: https://lawnews.hofstra.edu/2026/06/10/professor-james-sample-provides-legal-analysis-for-abc-news-cnn/
1 min
Beyond bad luck, could there be a reason why recent weekends have been more rainy than the rest of the week? From the start of spring to the end of May, it rained on half, or 10, of 20 weekend days. By comparison, it rained one-third of the 46 workweek days. Newsday interviewed Jase Bernhardt, associate professor of geology, environment, and sustainability, to see if there is a scientific explanation for the frequently soggy Saturdays and Sundays. According to the National Weather Service, data collected over five, 10 and 40 years found that rain was not any more frequent on weekends than weekdays. It also found no statistically significant change in the overall occurrence of rain events. “You try to slice up these data sets in all these different ways, and inevitably, you will find random patterns that at first seem like something meaningful.” But often, he said, “when you peel back the data, look at an appropriate sample size, you realize it goes away, there wasn’t anything actually meaningful here.”
