The new science of measuring happiness has transformed self-help. Now scholars suggest it could transform society — from tort law to urban planning to medical care. WUSTL law professors Samuel Bagenstos and Margo Schlanger co-wrote a law review article in 2007 suggesting that the emphasis on lost enjoyment of life in jury awards actually makes it harder for the plaintiff to recover.

References:

1. May 10, 2009 — Perfectly Happy in the The Boston Globe

In some cases the Justice Department can intervene to make state-run institutions comply with civil rights laws. The statute is known as CRIPA -- the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. WUSTL law professor Margo Schlanger, who used to work on CRIPA cases as a Justice Department attorney comments.

References:

1. March 30, 2009 — Settlements In Mental Health Cases Face Scrutiny in the NPR All Things Considered

Prison culture dictates that inmates stick with their own kind, associating almost exclusively with other inmates from their race or ethnic group, defending them to the death if necessary. And that is why prison officials, inmates and scholars are uneasy as California's prison system prepares to introduce a formal policy desegregating its double cells, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that prisoners may not be routinely segregated in cells by race. The ruling has ramifications for state correctional systems nationwide.
WUSTL law professor Margo Schlanger, who specializes in incarceration litigation, comments.

References:

1. March 21, 2006 — California prisons uneasily prepare to desegregate cells in the Wall Street Journal

Los Angeles County jail officials separated black and Hispanic inmates, began transferring troublemakers out and brought in clergy to try to restore peace after a week of racially charged brawls they feared would continue to erupt through the weekend. Margo Schlanger, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said she saw no constitutional problem in using segregation as a last resort. "If the alternative to a temporary race segregation is a riot, where people get hurt, then yeah, you can do that," she said.

References:

1. Feb. 11, 2006 — Black, Hispanic Inmates Separated in L.A. in the Associated Press