Minnesota Law Now

In this episode of Minnesota Law Now, Dean William McGeveran speaks with Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, a leading international human rights scholar and faculty director of Minnesota Law’s Human Rights Center, about her work examining human rights and accountability in Minnesota and around the world.
The conversation begins with a reflection on how Professor Ní Aoláin first became interested in human rights while growing up in Ireland. From there, they turn to Minnesota, where Ní Aoláin serves on the Governor’s Council to Record the Truth of Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS on Minnesotans, known as the Minnesota Truth Council. They discuss the Council’s work to document the experiences and harms of Minnesotans and create a comprehensive public record of the operations. The discussion then focuses on Syria, where Ní Aoláin recently completed a mission as a Commissioner on the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Dean McGeveran and Professor Ní Aoláin explore the parallels—and important differences—between documenting human rights abuses in Minnesota and investigating violations in an international conflict, and what both experiences reveal about evidence, truth-seeking, human rights, the rule of law, and accountability.

In this episode of Minnesota Law Now, we bring together leading voices at the forefront of legal innovation to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping law, medicine, and our understanding of the human mind.  Dean William McGeveran speaks with Professor Daniel Schwarcz, Professor Francis Shen, and Professor Susan Wolf in a wide-ranging conversation about the opportunities and risks AI poses across legal systems, neuroscience, health care, and scientific research.

From questions about how AI tools can shape emerging ethical challenges in medicine, research, and human decision-making, the discussion examines AI's transformative potential while underscoring the importance of human expertise, ethical safeguards, and public accountability. Drawing on perspectives from AI's implications for human legal reasoning, law and neuroscience, and bioethics, the episode offers a multidisciplinary look at how society can harness AI's benefits while addressing the most pressing legal and ethical questions.

About Our Guests:

Daniel Schwarcz is the Fredrikson & Byron Professor of Law and a Distinguished University Teaching Professor. He is a leading scholar of insurance, financial regulation, consumer protection, and artificial intelligence, with recent research examining how AI is changing legal practice and legal education.
Francis Shen is the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, a Professor of Law, and the Solly Robins Distinguished Research Fellow. A pioneer in law and neuroscience, his research explores the intersection of neuroscience, AI, and the legal system, including the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies.
Susan Wolf is Regents Professor; McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy; Faegre Drinker Professor of Law; a Professor of Medicine; and Chair of the University’s Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences. She is a leading interdisciplinary scholar and bioethicist whose work examines the legal and ethical questions raised by advances in medicine, science, and technology.

In the latest episode of Minnesota Law Now, host Dean William McGeveran speaks with Minnesota Law professor James Coleman and Elise Harrington, assistant professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, about the data center boom—and their collaborative research aimed at helping communities make informed decisions about large-scale development proposals. 

Amna Akbar, Benjamin N. Berger Professor in Criminal Law, and Emmanuel Mauleón, associate professor of law — two leading scholars of critical legal thought — join Dean William McGeveran in a discussion about policing, social movements, abolition, and the tensions between state power and grassroots movements for justice — including the most pressing federal–state conflicts unfolding in Minnesota today.

From the deployment of federal immigration enforcement agents into Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of Operation Metro Surge to state-level investigations into federal conduct and pushback against federal funding actions, Minnesota has become a key battleground over law, coercive power, and democratic resistance. Recent events have included confrontations between federal agents and protesters, widespread protests against ICE operations, and legal action by Minnesota officials challenging federal tactics and seeking accountability for alleged misconduct by federal officers. These tensions highlight deep questions about the limits of federal authority, civil liberties, community self-determination, and the law’s role in both upholding and resisting state violence.

Amna Akbar, Benjamin N. Berger Professor in Criminal Law, and Emmanuel Mauleón, associate professor of law — two leading scholars of critical legal thought — join Dean William McGeveran in a discussion about policing, social movements, abolition, and the tensions between state power and grassroots movements for justice — including the most pressing federal–state conflicts unfolding in Minnesota today.

From the deployment of federal immigration enforcement agents into Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of Operation Metro Surge to state-level investigations into federal conduct and pushback against federal funding actions, Minnesota has become a key battleground over law, coercive power, and democratic resistance. Recent events have included confrontations between federal agents and protesters, widespread protests against ICE operations, and legal action by Minnesota officials challenging federal tactics and seeking accountability for alleged misconduct by federal officers. These tensions highlight deep questions about the limits of federal authority, civil liberties, community self-determination, and the law’s role in both upholding and resisting state violence.

In this episode of Minnesota Law Now, Professor Jill Hasday, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Centennial Professor of Law, and Professor Charlotte Garden, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett Professor of Law, sit down with Dean William McGeveran to break down the constitutional stakes of the SAVE Act — from voting access and equal protection to its disproportionate impact on women, particularly those navigating name changes. They also explore the law’s broader ripple effects, including potential consequences for labor and employment rights, workplace verification systems, and economic participation.

Dean William McGeveran sits down with Professor Emeritus of the University of Vermont E. Thomas Sullivan and former White House ethics counsel, Minnesota Law Professor Richard W. Painter, to discuss their book, The U.S. Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability. The conversation explores how presidential power in the United States has expanded through crises and political change, where constitutional and ethical limits still apply, and what meaningful accountability looks like in a modern presidency. Grounded in history, the book offers a clear framework for understanding the evolving balance between executive authority and the Constitution’s system of checks and balances.

Who defines presidential power — and how do responsibility and accountability shape it?

As the Trump administration aggressively asserts executive authority, long-standing assumptions about presidential power are being tested in real time. Professors Nick Bednar and Alan Rozenshtein analyze how executive actions, court challenges, and institutional resistance are redefining the presidency—raising urgent questions about constitutional limits, democratic accountability, and the durability of the rule of law.

When the president pushes the limits, will the Constitution hold?

Featuring: Professors Nicholas Bednar ’16 & Alan Rozenshtein, University of Minnesota Law School, with host Dean William McGeveran, William S. Pattee Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School