October 13, 2020
Media Advisory: U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing
Southern Illinois University Carbondale has several experts available to assist reporters and news crews with perspective on the political aspects of the confirmation hearing of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The experts’ specialties include political polarization, judicial decision making, presidential politics and more.
Those experts – from the Department of Political Science and the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute – with contact information to arrange for interviews, include:
- Benjamin Bricker, associate professor of political science, is now teaching a University Honors Program class on the 2020 elections. He also teaches courses in constitutional law and administrative law. His research interests include judicial decision making and political polarization. He can be reached at 202-664-3873 or brickeb@siu.edu.
- Scott Comparato, associate professor of political science, teaches courses in judicial process, constitutional law, civil liberties and criminal rights, and his research interests include judicial decision making and state supreme courts. He can be reached at 618-453-1154 or scompara@siu.edu.
- John Jackson, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute visiting professor, has more than four decades of political expertise and research in presidential politics, campaigns and elections. He can be reached at 618-303-1240 or jsjacson@siu.edu.
- John T. Shaw, director, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, spent 26 years in Washington, D.C., covering Congress and economic issues for Market News International before his arrival at SIU Carbondale in 2018. He has been a guest on the PBS NewsHour and C-SPAN. He can be reached at 618-453-4009 or shaw@siu.edu.