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Austin Sarat

Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

Austin Sarat is interested broadly in the cultural and social life of American law. He is currently pursuing several lines of research, among are the American values and beliefs revealved by state killings. Sarat uses the death penalty as a lens through which to view ideas about responsibility and blame, pain and its proper uses, race and fairness, mercy and the possibilities of redemption. Sarat recently completed a book-length study of the decline of executive clemency in capital cases and a study of race and capital punishment in the United States.

Sarat's research also focuses on the cultural life of law or law in popular culture. He is now writing a book entitled Hollywood’s Law: What Movies Do for Democracy. This book examines movies about law from 1950 to 2000 in order to understand how these films contribute to the development of democratic citizenship.

At Amherst College, Sarat teaches an introduction to Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought and a first-year Seminar, Secrets and Lies, and a class about murder.

Harris and Pence dodge tough questions in VP debate – experts react

Oct 09, 2020 07:18 am UTC| Politics

Vice presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Mike Pence sat far apart and separated by Plexiglass for the only 2020 vice presidential debate, held in Utah on Oct. 7. Their exchanges were more civil than the presidential...

Could President Trump be impeached and convicted – but also reelected?

Oct 02, 2019 03:06 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

The launching of an official impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trumps conduct has sailed America into largely uncharted waters. While there have been demands for the impeachment of many presidents, just three...

Is full transparency good for democracy?

Feb 08, 2018 13:03 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

With the approval of President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives released the so-called Nunes memo on Feb. 2. In it, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes describes alleged abuses of surveillance...

People keep voting in support of the death penalty. So how can we end it?

Jun 23, 2017 17:53 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

Ending the death penalty in the United States wont be easy. After death penalty abolitionists slowly pushed toward its elimination for years, supporters of state killing have mounted a fierce effort in the courts and at...

Economy

UK Stocks Slide as Labour Leadership Tensions and U.S.-China Talks Shape Markets

British stocks closed lower on Friday as political uncertainty surrounding the U.K.s ruling Labour Party pressured investor sentiment and weakened the pound for a fourth straight session. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.61%, while...

Cuba Weighs $100M U.S. Aid Offer Amid Fuel Crisis

Cuba said Thursday it is open to considering a $100 million humanitarian aid proposal from the United States, though officials remain doubtful about President Donald Trumps broader intentions as the island struggles...

Asian Currencies Slide as Strong U.S. Data Boosts Dollar and Fed Rate Hike Expectations

Asian currencies weakened on Friday as stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data pushed the dollar higher and reinforced market expectations that the Federal Reserve could maintain a hawkish monetary policy stance through...

Japan Inflation Outlook: Firms Eye Summer Price Hikes Amid Rising Energy Costs

Japan could experience another wave of widespread price increases this summer as companies respond to surging energy costs linked to tensions in the Middle East, according to a Bank of Japan (BOJ) report released Friday....

US Expects China to Boost Purchases of American Farm Products After Trump-Xi Summit

The United States expects China to commit to purchasing double-digit billions worth of U.S. agricultural products following a high-level summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing,...

Politics

Ukraine Begins Major POW Swap as 205 Soldiers Return from Russian Captivity

Ukraine has successfully brought home 205 service personnel from Russian captivity in the first phase of a large-scale prisoner exchange with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed on Friday. The operation marks a...

Matthew Wale Elected Solomon Islands Prime Minister After No-Confidence Vote

Matthew Wale has been elected as the new Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands after lawmakers voted out former leader Jeremiah Manele in a no-confidence motion last week. The Solomon Islands parliament selected Wale on...

Rubio Urges China to Release Jimmy Lai and Political Prisoners

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is seeking a positive response from China regarding repeated appeals for the release of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and other political detainees....

US Hosts Israel-Lebanon Talks as Ceasefire Deadline Nears

The United States described the latest Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington as productive and positive as diplomats pushed to prevent renewed escalation ahead of a fragile ceasefire deadline. U.S. officials confirmed that...

Pentagon Halts Planned U.S. Troop Deployment to Poland Amid Europe Force Review

The Pentagon has reportedly canceled plans to temporarily deploy 4,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland, according to two U.S. officials, raising fresh concerns over the future of American military presence in Europe under...

Science

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey

NASAs Artemis II mission launched Wednesday, marking humanitys return to crewed lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era. Carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, this historic 10-day mission...

NASA's Artemis II Mission: First Crewed Lunar Journey Since Apollo

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

Technology

Applied Materials Forecasts Strong Q3 Revenue as AI Chip Demand Accelerates

Applied Materials posted record fiscal second-quarter revenue on Thursday and issued a stronger-than-expected forecast for the third quarter, fueled by rising global investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure and...

Anthropic Nears $30 Billion Funding Round at $900 Billion Valuation

AI startup Anthropic is reportedly close to securing a massive $30 billion fundraising deal that would value the company at approximately $900 billion, according to a Financial Times report published Friday. The new...

Nvidia’s China AI Chip Sales Remain Frozen Despite U.S. Approval

Nvidias efforts to expand AI chip sales in China remain stalled even after the U.S. approved several Chinese technology giants to purchase the companys H200 processors. Although around 10 Chinese firms, including Alibaba,...

Alibaba Stock Surges After Strong Q4 Earnings Boosted by AI and Cloud Growth

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (HK:9988) saw its Hong Kong-listed shares jump sharply on Thursday after the Chinese e-commerce and technology giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings driven by strong momentum in...

SoftBank Shares Slide Despite Record Q4 Profit Fueled by OpenAI Investment

SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) shares dropped sharply on Thursday despite the company reporting blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings, as investors grew increasingly concerned about the Japanese tech giants expanding...