14 Oct 2015

Why Don’t Pro-Life Advocates Champion Contraception?

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb considers why pro-life advocates often do not champion contraception. Colb looks at two philosophical approaches to morality—deontology and consequentialism—to better understand this observed phenomenon. Continue reading →

Posted In: Philosophy and Ethics, Reproductive Law

Analysis and Commentary by Sherry F. Colb

25 Sep 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Donald Trump’s Woman Problem

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses the sexism Donald Trump displayed during the night of the second Republican presidential debate. Colb points out that Trump’s words reveal his hateful and exploitative attitude toward women and is hopeful that people are prepared to vote accordingly. Continue reading →

Posted In: Politics

16 Sep 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Ohio Considers Banning Abortions Motivated by Down Syndrome

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses an Ohio bill currently under consideration that would ban abortions motivated by the presentation of Down syndrome by an embryo or fetus. Colb argues that a woman’s right to make decisions over her bodily integrity includes the right to make a decision on a basis that some or most people might find offensive. Continue reading →

Posted In: Reproductive Law

1 Sep 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Who Counts as a Woman? The Court of Arbitration for Sport Provides an Answer

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses possible implications a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that a woman’s having a naturally high level of testosterone in her body is insufficient grounds for barring her from competing in women’s athletics. Continue reading →

Posted In: Other Commentary

19 Aug 2015 Sherry F. Colb

The Sixth Circuit Says No to “Butt Dial” Privacy

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb analyzes a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit holding that when a person with a cellphone inadvertently calls a third party, thereby exposing personal communications, the caller retains no reasonable expectation of privacy in the matters disclosed for purposes of the federal Wiretap Act. Continue reading →

Posted In: Constitutional Law, Privacy

5 Aug 2015 Sherry F. Colb

What Reactions to the Undercover Planned Parenthood Video Tell Us About Our Values

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb draws upon the outrage many people felt in response to a video allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal body parts and tissue from abortions (video that was subsequently revealed to be edited so as to be intentionally misleading) in order to discuss a different area in which tissue and parts are bought and sold without evoking such broad outrage. Continue reading →

Posted In: Philosophy and Ethics, Reproductive Law

16 Jul 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Delayed Trials for Fairer Outcomes?

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a proposal by Adam Benforado, author of Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Justice, that one way to improve the criminal justice system would be to conduct and record trials outside of the jury’s presence, then to show edited versions of the recordings to juries after all of the evidence has been presented. Colb explains how this proposal could potentially improve the system and addresses some potential obstacles to its implementation. Continue reading →

Posted In: Courts and Procedure, Criminal Procedure

2 Jul 2015 Sherry F. Colb

What City of Los Angeles v. Patel Might Tell Us About Abortion

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Los Angeles v. Patel, in which the Court held facially unconstitutional a statute requiring hotel operators to record, keep, and disclose upon demand by law enforcement certain information about their guests. Colb argues that the Court’s reliance on Planned Parenthood v. Casey to find the statute unconstitutional reinforces the link between substantive and procedural privacy. Continue reading →

Posted In: Constitutional Law

18 Jun 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Is There a Moral Duty to Disclose That You’re Transgender to a Potential Partner?

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb considers arguments for and against a moral duty by transgender individuals disclose their transgender status to potential sexual partners before having relations. Continue reading →

Posted In: Philosophy and Ethics

10 Jun 2015 Sherry F. Colb

The Shrinking Fourth Amendment: Heien v. North Carolina

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses the potential downsides of the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding earlier this year in Heien v. North Carolina, in which the Court held that a police officer could, consistent with the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures, stop a driver for a behavior that the officer mistakenly but reasonably believes is illegal. Continue reading →

Posted In: Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure

19 May 2015 Sherry F. Colb

The Appearance and Reality of Cruelty in Glossip v. Gross

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses actual versus perceived cruelty in the administration of capital punishment, as raised recently during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Glossip v. Gross. Continue reading →

Posted In: Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure

5 May 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Justice Alito Asks Whether Non-Romantic Couples Should Have the Right to Marry: Absurd Question?

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a question Justice Samuel Alito asked during oral argument last week in the same-sex marriage cases—whether non-romantic couples should have the right to marry. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law

29 Apr 2015 Sherry F. Colb

When Religious Airline Passengers Ask Women to Move

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses the competing values at issue when an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man on an airplane requests not to be seated next to a woman who is not his wife. Continue reading →

Posted In: Civil Rights, Philosophy and Ethics, Speech and Religion

9 Apr 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Competing Values in the Conviction of a Woman for Feticide

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a recent criminal case out of Indiana, in which a woman was convicted and sentenced for feticide. Colb argues that while the situation as a whole is a tragedy, it also highlights a failure of the State of Indiana to have empathy for women in pain whose circumstances call for mercy rather than a pure retributive impulse. Continue reading →

Posted In: Criminal Law, Reproductive Law

2 Apr 2015 Sherry F. Colb

How Breast Exams Are Like Dog Sniffs

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb compares medical screening tests with dog sniffs for narcotics with respect to their propensity to yield Type I errors—also known as false positives. In particular, Colb references Justice Souter’s dissenting opinion in Illinois v. Caballes, in which he opined that the possibility that dogs would incorrectly indicate the presence of narcotics and lead to an invasive search meant that such dog sniffs constitute searches for Fourth Amendment purposes. Continue reading →

Posted In: Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure

18 Mar 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Considering Miscarriage in a Pro-Choice Frame

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses how a pro-choice position on the issue of abortion might be reconciled with the position that a mother may rightfully grieve over a miscarriage. Continue reading →

Posted In: Philosophy and Ethics, Reproductive Law

4 Mar 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Pediatrician Refuses to See Baby of Lesbian Couple

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a Michigan pediatrician’s decision not to see as a patient the infant child of a lesbian couple. Continue reading →

Posted In: Health Law, Philosophy and Ethics

18 Feb 2015 Sherry F. Colb

The U.S. Supreme Court Considers Extending a Traffic Stop for a Dog Sniff

Sherry Colb, law professor at Cornell University, discusses a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court will decide whether, after completing a routine traffic stop, a police officer may briefly delay the release of the driver to permit a dog to sniff for narcotics. Continue reading →

Posted In: Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure

4 Feb 2015 Sherry F. Colb

Why Mental Health Clinician Empathy Seems to Vary With the Cause of a Patient’s Disorder

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses the observed phenomenon of mental health clinicians’ empathy varying with the cause of the patient’s disorder, and compares this occurrence with juror empathy. Continue reading →

Posted In: Criminal Procedure, Other Commentary

21 Jan 2015 Sherry F. Colb

New York State Bans Tattoos of Companion Animals

Cornell University law professor Sherry Colb discusses a recent New York law that bans tattoos of companion animals and compares it to a hypothetical law banning other types of animal cruelty. Continue reading →

Posted In: Philosophy and Ethics

Sherry F. Colb

Sherry F. Colb is Professor of Law and Charles Evans Hughes Scholar at Cornell University. Colb teaches courses in constitutional criminal procedure, evidence, and animal rights. She has published articles in a variety of law reviews, including Stanford, Columbia, N.Y.U., and G.W., on such topics as privacy from police searches, incarceration, reproductive rights, and why courts are more offended by wrongdoing that results in concrete rather than abstract harm. Colb has also published a book about sex equality in the Twenty-First Century, entitled When Sex Counts, and a book about veganism entitled Mind If I Order the Cheeseburger?. Before beginning her career in law teaching, Colb clerked for Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and her A.B. summa cum laude and valedictorian from Columbia College.

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