653Z Summer 2026 The Law Behind the Headlines

Retired OLLI attorneys will lead an insightful exploration of some of the most pressing legal issues shaping our world today. These sessions dive deeper into the laws and principles behind topics such as telecommunications and media, constitutional interpretation, the law of armed conflict, criminal and maritime law, and the evolving role of the Roberts Court. Drawing from many years of professional experience, OLLI members bring a rich understanding of their fields. These presenters will share their expertise in a specialized area of the law, offering participants a rare opportunity to learn directly from those who have practiced and studied the law. 

June 23: “Big Tech” Telecommunications Policy and Regulation. Steve Effros. This session will provide a broad overview of the intersection of policy and legal telecommunications questions relating to the development of statutory (political) and regulatory answers regarding broadcast, cable broadband, and AI. Why have we repeatedly failed to recognize the unintended consequences of the choices made? We’ll explore the circularity of the various efforts to control and guide the social, economic and business aspects of “Big Tech” through the lenses of effects on business development, creative (content) output, liability, copyright, and First Amendment impacts.

Steve Effros graduated from NYU Law in 1970 after having worked at ABC and NBC Network News and as a full-time staff writer at the New York Times. He spent five years at the FCC working with a team of lawyers who drafted the first federal rules on cable television and broadband communications. He was the CEO of one of the major national trade associations in Washington, D.C. representing cable and broadband interests for 23 years. He continues to write a column on “Big Tech” legal and policy issues, now in its 51st year.

June 30: “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity”. Vince Modugno. This session will cover the insanity defense used in criminal prosecutions. It will include a brief overview of its history, tracing the development of the defense and the various

legal tests that have evolved, including a review of the cases that have given rise to these tests. A few well-known cases will also be discussed. The instructor will also include examples of the use of this defense in cases he has handled. The defense is controversial and a lively discussion of its use is encouraged.

Vince Modugno is a retired attorney from Akron, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Akron School of Law and worked as a private practice attorney in a small group practice in Akron. His primary areas of practice were personal injury law representing injured plaintiffs and in criminal law where he represented defendants. Early in his career he also represented many mental health patients, involuntarily held in mental hospitals, in commitment hearings. He has been an OLLI member since 2011.

July 7: The U.S. Coast Guard and Maritime Law Enforcement: Past, Present, and Future. Deborah Dupree. This session is an overview of the domestic and international maritime customs as background for the creation of the U.S. Coast Guard on August 4, 1790, when Congress passed Alexander Hamilton’s recommendation to create the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. With the motto of “Semper Paratus”, the Coast Guard’s evolving missions now encompass a global presence tasked with the enforcement of international maritime agreements on shipping and environmental safety, drug and contraband interdiction, the safety and security of our borders and waterways, and rescue and humanitarian assistance at home and abroad. In this session participants will explore how maritime laws shape the Coast Guard’s ongoing missions and impact daily lives now and into the future.

Deborah Dupree attended Vanderbilt Law School. She practiced with legal services and was commissioned as a Coast Guard officer after her selection for a special U.S. Coast Guard recruitment program for experienced lawyers. For 11 years, she served as JAG in the Coast Guard, supporting small boat stations, air stations and operation bases, and boat (cutter) units in the Eighth Coast Guard District. Her areas of expertise include military criminal law, international maritime law, and environmental law.

July 14: The International Law of Armed Conflict. John Quinn. This class will review the history, development, and current state of the International Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC). From the beginning of organized human conflict, participants gave thought to acceptable and unacceptable practices in warfare. Unwritten understandings arose, leading to customary international law, and further development through domestic law, international treaties and conventions, and judicial decisions. Today LOAC is an extensive body of law, often honored in the breach, and often implicated in the actions of nations and non-state actors in regions such as the Middle East, Ukraine, and the Caribbean.

John Quinn is a retired U.S. Navy JAG Corps Captain. On active duty he headed the Navy’s International and Operational Law Office and served as executive assistant and special counsel to the General Counsel of the Navy. He later served as the SES deputy in the Navy’s Energy and Environmental Office, and as the associate administrator for Environment and Compliance in the Maritime Administration. John was commissioned via the NROTC program at Duke; earned a Juris Doctor degree at the Georgetown University Law Center and was awarded a Master of Laws degree (Environmental) at the GW University Law School.

July 21: John Roberts, The Man and His Court. Lillian Brooks. This class covers Chief Justice John Roberts’s background, including his early life, legal career, clerkships for two Supreme Court Justices, and work in the Reagan administration. It examines his conservative leadership and agenda as Chief Justice while at the same time asserting his belief in the necessity of the Court’s neutrality and reputation. The course will highlight some of the major cases from his time as Deputy Solicitor General and his historic decisions as the Chief Justice on voting rights, race discrimination, campaign finance, and presidential immunity. Attendees will acquire a better understanding of how Roberts’s Court makes its decisions.

Lillian Brooks earned her Juris Doctor at Atlanta Law school in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Master’s level classes in Public Policy at George Mason University. She began her legal career practicing criminal law before transitioning to family law in Georgia. In Virginia Lillian was appointed director of Court Services for Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. She managed probation and parole and family law matters and programs. She also served as a commissioner on the board of the Regional Detention Home and Shelter care facilities and has published several articles on juvenile justice reform. She is a former president of OLLI and currently serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University. 

July 28: The Constitution for Non-Lawyers: What Works and What Doesn’t. Doug Snoeyenbos. The class will begin with an overview of the document and its major amendments, and then discuss several of the most important provisions, including why the authors put them in, how they have functioned during our history, and how they are functioning (or not functioning) currently. Emphasis will be on accessible, non-technical explanations with historical precedents, and a clarifying discussion. Attendees should leave with an understanding of some of the choices faced by the authors, why they made the choices they did, and the effects of those choices on America today. Specific topics will include theories of Constitutional interpretation, the relationship between the legislature and the executive, the role of the judiciary, gun rights, impeachment, pardon power, and authority over the military.

Doug Snoeyenbos graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1986. Doug then served as a trial attorney with the Tax Division of the Department of Justice for 25 years, representing the United States in a broad variety of tax litigation in federal, district, and bankruptcy courts across the country. He went on to serve as general counsel for the United States tax court for seven years, where his duties included reviewing and commenting on draft opinions before they were issued. After retirement he became interested in and began studying Constitutional issues. He currently serves as coordinator for the OLLI Mason History Club.