Media Relations Office

The New York City Council is currently voting on a plan to close Rikers Island by 2026 and replace the complex with four new jails in Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens. Christopher Wildeman, policy analysis and management professor, studies the consequences of mass imprisonment for inequality, with an emphasis on families, health, and children. He says the the plan to close Rikers would be a major step forward in improving confinement conditions for those incarcerated in New York City.

Human Ecology

Law, Government & Public Policy

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Israeli citizens went to the polls this week to vote in an election that long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hoped would give him and his Likud party a governing mandate. However, the election resulted in no party securing enough seats in parliament to form a government. Uriel Abulof, visiting professor at Cornell University’s Government Department and senior lecturer of politics at Tel-Aviv University, says that the election is an indication that Netanyahu’s political strategy did not pay off and may have cost him his leadership role.

Law, Government & Public Policy

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The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, legislation that sets the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050, has been sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and could be signed as early as tomorrow.

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

Agriculture and Life Sciences

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Law, Government & Public Policy

New York State

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This week the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a proposed revision which could drastically change regulations for genetically-modified crops. Matthew R. Willmann is the director of the Plant Transformation Facility at Cornell University and has 25 years of plant science research experience, having studied plant transformation and genome editing to improve crop plants. He says the revision will lower costs, lead to a broader range of genetically-engineered plants, and reduce time for improved plants to reach growers which will allow agriculture to be more reactive in response to climate change and plant diseases.

Agriculture and Life Sciences

Food & Agriculture

Law, Government & Public Policy

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Doug Kriner, professor in Cornell University’s Government Department and author of the book “Investigating the President: Congressional Checks on Presidential Power,” says that the Mueller report is likely to represent just the beginning of investigations that will threaten President Donald Trump’s presidency.

Law, Government & Public Policy

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North Korea dominated the foreign policy section of Trump’s address to the nation, on Tuesday, with the announcement of a new summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam at the end of the month. Sarah Kreps, professor of government at Cornell University, is an expert on international conflict. Her recent research focuses on how matters of foreign policy affect Trump’s approval rating. She says that compared to a Democrat, Trump faces less political risk as he negotiates with North Korea.

Law, Government & Public Policy

International

Arts and Sciences

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Barry Strauss, military and naval historian and a professor in humanistic studies at Cornell University, comments on the potential for a U.S. Space Force.

Law, Government & Public Policy

Arts & Humanities

Arts and Sciences

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Drew Margolin, professor of communication at Cornell University, comments on possible regulation of social media companies.

Computing & Information Sciences

Law, Government & Public Policy

Agriculture and Life Sciences

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Robert Howarth, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University and faculty fellow at Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, comments on the Trump administration's proposed plan for coal emissions.

Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

Law, Government & Public Policy

Agriculture and Life Sciences

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Sidney Tarrow, professor emeritus of government and adjunct professor of law at Cornell University comments on the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, which occurred 50 years ago June 5.

Arts & Humanities

Law, Government & Public Policy

Arts and Sciences

Law School

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