The Columbia Undergraduate Law Review (CULR) is Columbia University's premier undergraduate legal publication. CULR publishes long-form pieces by undergraduate students from across the globe in its print journal as well as original pieces by Columbia and Barnard undergraduates in its online journal and its roundtable, current events, and podcasting initiatives.
The goal of CULR is to provide Columbia University and the public with opportunities for the discussion of law-related ideas and the publication of undergraduate legal scholarship.
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Volume XX Issue III: Summer 2024
Featured Articles from our Online Division
New York City has always been known as the site of change, ambition, and hope. Now, it faces a profound crisis: New York City cannot house its people. The city’s towering skyline hides a grim reality—shelter, the most basic human necessity, has become a luxury beyond reach for many. This housing crisis casts a shadow not only over current residents but also over the thousands who dream of calling the city home. Forbes projects that by 2032, New York City will fall short by 500,000 housing units. New York City hardly stands alone; this problem prevails across the United States.
The Roberts Court has handed down a slew of consequential decisions since Donald Trump came into office, with the most recent critical cases being Snyder v. United States (2024) and Securities Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy (2023). These decisions represent a shifting attitude towards white-collar criminal prosecution––one where the onus is on prosecutors and regulatory agencies to go above and beyond, while financial criminals can more easily get away with their fraudulent acts. In Snyder, the Court ruled on the issue of bribing public officials; it held that there is a difference between bribes and gratuities, or tips, so the federal bribery statute cannot apply in the case of gratuities given for past actions that were never stipulated in a quid pro quo agreement. Similarly, in Jarkesy the Court sidestepped Congress and held that securities fraud cases must be heard by an Article III court with a jury instead of in an administrative hearing, as it typically would through the SEC. All in all, the Roberts Court has similarly decided in Percoco v. United States (2023), Kelly v. United States (2020), and McDonnell v. United States (2016). The Roberts Court has established a position of leniency towards white collar criminals, as demonstrated by its Trump-era rulings which limit the scope of prosecutorial authority and narrow interpretation of fraud statutes.
In 2024, the Clean Water Act (CWA) returned to the forefront of environmental law amid a new legal controversy within the Supreme Court. On October 16, the City and County of San Francisco challenged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Supreme Court over a pollution discharge permit reissued by the agency. This case comes in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Price Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024) to overrule the precedent of Chevron Deference, which allowed courts to defer the interpretation of ambiguous statutes to relevant agencies. In the past, the CWA has faced four separate challenges related to the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), representing a larger trend of reigning in the Act’s jurisdiction. Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s decisions in these cases were made with deference to the agency’s ecological judgments. However, ongoing questions regarding the scope of the CWA in the absence of Chevron Deference have become increasingly prevalent at the Supreme Court. Most recently the Supreme Court addressed these questions in the case of The City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency (2024). The Supreme Court’s pending decision, if based in legal precedent, will likely further restrict the agency’s interpretation of the law. This can potentially leave many formerly regulated waters unprotected by the CWA, with significant consequences for both water quality and flood prevention.
In 2020, the presidential election garnered the highest voter turnout in the 21st century, with an increase in ballots from 2016 to 2020 that totaled 17 million. Additionally, 69% of voters in 2020 used nontraditional voting methods, such as mail-in and early voting. With the outcome of the 2024 presidential election looming, the accessibility of nontraditional voting methods, specifically absentee ballots, is in danger as legislators and political groups seek to restrict these methods operating under the pretense of protecting election security, removing errors and delays, and the claimed “illegality” of these methods. Conservatives in states like Missouri and Pennsylvania have led legal challenges to limit widespread access to absentee ballots as statistics show Democrats are more likely to vote by mail. Recent state-level cases reveal attempts to suppress absentee ballot access, a development facilitated by the Supreme Court’s unsubstantiated ruling in Shelby County v. Holder (2013). The holding in this case disproportionately affects marginalized communities in the form of stricter ID requirements and more stringent mail-in conditions, especially in areas with historically low voter turnout.
On March 27, 2022, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador granted President Nayib Bukele’s request to declare a national state of emergency, informally declaring war on gangs in line with the iron fist policies that have dominated Latin American politics for decades. This legislative power is enshrined in the second section of Title II, Chapter I of the Salvadoran constitution, which limits the length of the state of emergency to 30 days. However, as of October 2024, it has been re-declared over twenty-four times. Under it, two percent of the adult population has been incarcerated, with human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, suspension of due process and free speech, and alleged prison torture, becoming institutionalized. This same pattern of state of emergency declarations and constitutional and human rights law deterioration has been seen throughout the region, including in Venezuela and Honduras. However, this backsliding can not only be attributed to antidemocratic leaders but also the language of provisions for states of emergency and the broader way in which national constitutions incorporate international laws. These two factors are crucial in determining the survivability of human rights. Serving as a useful counterexample to the Salvadoran case is South Africa’s constitution and case law, which was created in part to address the apartheid regime’s abuse of states of emergency.
As technology permeates every aspect of modern life, the legal frameworks meant to protect individual privacy are struggling to address the rapid advancements in digital tracking and artificial intelligence (AI). The recent dismantling of the Chevron deference has only exacerbated this legal uncertainty by shifting interpretive authority from specialized federal agencies to the state judiciary. The result is a fragmented, inconsistent landscape where outdated privacy laws are being applied by courts ill-equipped to police the complexities of modern technologies. Without uniform federal guidance, businesses are forced to navigate a patchwork of state rulings, while consumers are left vulnerable to privacy breaches. With only 20 out of 50 states having enacted privacy legislation, the removal of Chevron deference will open significant regulatory gaps, as increased legal scrutiny of federal agencies decreases their regulatory power. This leaves the correct application of legislation to court interpretation, creating fragmented privacy protections that harm consumers and businesses across multiple jurisdictions.
Local government is big government. Its allotted power affects every single American. The United States’ municipal governments employ around 14 million people, more than federal and all state governments combined. These mass political bodies are primarily governed by Home Rule or Dillon’s Rule, and evolving legal limitations of both theories define local government authority. The recent Supreme Court decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson removes a barrier for local governments looking to expand power, creating a political body that can maneuver legal challenges presented by the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause through Home Rule favorability.
The state of Oklahoma prides itself on being the “Home of Native America” because of its rich Native American history and large sums of reservation land — but what is this historically Native state doing to protect its citizens that live on designated reservation land? The state of Oklahoma was recently overturned in the 2020 court ruling entitled McGirt v. Oklahoma. This case emerged after a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, who was charged with multiple serious sex crimes, appealed his conviction by claiming that the state of Oklahoma had no jurisdiction in his case because of the location of his crimes — on Native land. In their historic decision siding against the state of Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, due to upwards of 40% of Oklahoma’s geography being defined as Native reservation land, independent Native governments have sovereign power over criminal cases on their land. The palpable result of this ruling was the revoking of all involvement from state governments. This decision of tribal jurisdiction outraged many Oklahomans because of a skyrocket in criminal activity; Cherokee courts alone saw a rise from 100 criminal cases per year to 4,000 criminal cases per year. In addition to this extreme increase in crime, Oklahomans were outraged because they believed this decision was a breach of the constitutional right for federalism. Article I Section VIII of the Constitution states that power should be divided between central and regional powers. Because the state of Oklahoma would no longer hold any precedent over criminal proceedings, Oklahoma residents felt as if Native governments were being given too much power over these matters with none of the checks and balances that come from divisions of legal power. This poses the concern of whether or not McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) has a constitutional precedent on the basis of federalism. When analyzing constitutional amendments, revisions of acts passed in favor of tribal jurisdiction, and more recent Supreme Court rulings, it is apparent that the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision is constitutionally in line with the definitions and demands of federalism.
Are new and upcoming artists protected from established artists copyrighting their music without credit, therefore devaluing their derivative works and hindering their career trajectory?
Copyright protection, derived from Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, encourages artists to create new works, profit off of these works, and retain exclusive rights, such as the right to control how their work is used or reproduced. Tension arises when an artist wants to create a new work inspired by a produced piece. The courts have heard several cases on this issue, such as Campbell V. Acuff-Rose Music (1994), which determined how the four parameters in the Copyright Act of 1976 can be used to evaluate Fair Use, or if the reuse of original material is legal. However, this is left to the judges' subjectivity as courts rule on a case-by-case basis. Copyright infringement therefore is ruled in some cases, but slips through the cracks in others. Often, exploitation occurs when prominent artists claim that they have fairly transformed an original piece, using legal resources to combat allegations of theft from upcoming artists.
On October 8th, 2024, as Hurricane Milton barrelled towards Florida’s Gulf Coast, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor urged her constituents to escape from imminent death. However, at another press conference barely twenty-four hours before Mayor Castor’s statement, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis insisted that "nothing" was inhibiting Floridians from meeting the voter registration deadline of October 7th. This discrepancy was noted by the League of Women Voters of Florida and the State’s NAACP chapter, and the two groups promptly filed an emergency motion to extend the registration deadline. The motion argued that the state government’s refusal to extend the deadline, in light of Hurricanes Milton and Helene, was potentially disenfranchising tens of thousands of Floridians. Yet, this is not a new nor unique case.
The role of the judiciary has become a contentious debate in light of several controversial cases. Professor Richard Garnett asserts,“Judges do not have the power to enact legislation.” This statement, emphasized in the majority opinion of the precedent overturned by the Supreme Court, echoes a broader constitutional question: what powers truly belong to the judiciary? This question has come to the forefront as Dobbs v. Jackson (2022) overturned the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade (1973), which legalized abortion nationwide. The decision ignited debate over the Supreme Court’s role in defining fundamental rights—with some arguing that fundamental rights should be limited to those explicitly enumerated in the Constitution while others believe they can include rights implied by broader principles, such as privacy or dignity. This reveals longstanding tensions within American constitutional law.
In April of 2024, twenty-three state attorneys general signed a petition calling for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cease its use of disparate impact regulations, citing concerns of unlawfulness and “racial engineering.” These disparate impact regulations are a set of administrative rules that prohibit any programs receiving EPA funding from causing disproportionate negative effects towards certain groups of people based on race, color, or national origin. Disparate impact regulations are distinct from, yet exist alongside, regulations that prohibit intentional discrimination. Like other federal agencies with similar policies, the EPA bases these regulations on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Title VI contains two relevant provisions: § 601, which bars any programs or activities receiving federal funding from discriminating based on race, color, or national origin, and § 602, which enables federal agencies to effectuate § 601 by implementing policies regulating the behavior of said programs or activities.
In 1998, Congress passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in response to growing concerns over the dissemination of children’s personal information on the Internet. COPPA set privacy standards for websites directed toward children under thirteen, requiring websites to provide notice about data collection practices and to obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting a child’s personal information. At the time, this legislation was a groundbreaking move to protect children’s privacy in an emerging digital world. However, over two decades later, COPPA has proven inadequate in addressing the complex and evolving landscape of data collection technologies.
Mark Lanier in his closing statement of the landmark opioid litigation trial, Trumbull County v. Purdue Pharma L.P., pulled out a model bridge made of Legos. Lanier argued that one Lego could make the bridge topple down, attributing his anecdote to the many components of the opioid crisis: Though one misstep led to nationwide addiction, all are responsible in some way. Abuse of both prescription opiates and illicitly distributed pain medications has devastated American cities for decades and can be traced back to corporations marketing the “miracle drug” to vulnerable populations. The result of these corporations’ distribution and marketing of opioid products is still prevalent today, with opioid overdose deaths rising from 49,860 in 2019 to 81,806 in 2022. Opioid litigation in recent years has attempted to remedy the loss and damage caused by the epidemic worsened by opioid corporations. By applying public nuisance law, a doctrine not typically used in medical litigation, and targeting the responsibility of specific parties within the opioid distribution chain, plaintiffs may be able to successfully abate billions of dollars in damage.
Survivors of domestic violence find themselves trapped in the painful paradox of experiencing imminent danger in the very places that should offer safety. Legal safeguards, such as court-issued restraining orders, aim to offer protection, yet survivors remain vulnerable—an especially lethal reality when domestic abusers have access to firearms. In United States v. Rahimi (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court examined the contentious intersection between the danger to public safety posed by intimate partner violence and one’s Second Amendment rights. Examining the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8)—a provision of the Gun Control Act that restricts firearm possession by individuals under domestic violence protective orders—requires balancing historical interpretations of firearm laws with the contemporary realities of domestic violence, an issue far more visible and recognized today than in the past.
Every New Yorker has their own subway horror story: being packed like sardines on the 1 train after rush hour, getting stuck in a car without AC for 40 minutes, or encountering that one passenger who’s a little too comfortable talking to strangers. Yet a recent study revealed a more distressing scenario for the millions of commuters who rely on the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) services daily: exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution, linked to lung cancer and heart disease. Iron-infused inhalable particles known as PM 2.5 are thrown up into the air as trains screech into stations, creating a toxic environment for waiting passengers. Inside the cabins, outdated air filtration systems struggle to suppress the pollution.
What obligations does a country under war have to democracy? The question remains unanswered for Ukraine. In the case of Ukraine’s 2024 presidential election, the impact of martial law on the democratic process is particularly ambiguous. Currently, Ukraine is an aspiring liberal democracy; however, this contentious position depends on Ukraine’s commitment to upholding the democratic values of its peers. In its attempts to join international institutions such as the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Ukraine has strived to demonstrate its increasingly democratic governing mechanisms. However, after the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022, the Ukrainian government instituted martial law, which continues to present a dilemma for the Ukrainian people. Despite their understanding that wartime actions require increased legal flexibility, Ukrainian citizens are also entitled to democratic norms and privileges. Accordingly, Ukraine has a legal imperative to hold its 2024 presidential election because the cancellation of its election violates several international covenants and treaties and violates its own martial law due to the unlawful seizure of power.
Historically, the sunshine state has been America’s hotspot for beach-goers and citrus farmers, and now, adding to that list is a new accolade—the epicenter of America’s book ban craze. In 2023, nearly two thousand, seven hundred titles were targeted for restriction or removal in the state, almost double the state with the second-most challenges. The frequency of these bans is likely due to the ease of the removal process which was enacted and implemented by the Florida Senate’s House Bill 1069 (HB 1069). However, it seems some parents are resisting the censorship craze. In June 2024, three Florida parents filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Florida Board of Education. The plaintiffs allege that the State Review Process instituted by HB 1069 violates the First Amendment ban on viewpoint discrimination. These plaintiffs face opposition from state politicians and parent groups, both of which utilize the diction of ‘parental rights’ to establish a basis for their involvement in regulating student curricula. Such uses of ‘parental rights’ usually refer to a nebulous set of rights not defined in any legal context.
“Girlhood” is the decisive period of a young woman’s life in which she learns about her beliefs, the world around her, and most importantly, herself. For many young girls, this phase is propelled by having social experiences, developing familial relationships, and obtaining a consistent education to be properly equipped for the next chapter of their lives. Whether a young girl decides to pursue motherhood or search for an occupation or both, education is a crucial factor in a girl’s development. In Mozambique, going to school is a milestone for many girls and young women due to the social barriers that prevent them from regularly attending school, if at all. Since the country holds the fifth highest rate of child marriage in the world and the highest rate of child pregnancy in East and Southern Africa, many young women are forced to sacrifice their education to raise their family. In failing to provide safe, accessible education to its youth population, particularly its young women, Mozambique has violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While the country has attempted to alleviate these obstacles through signing treaties, declarations, and reincorporating alternative policies, these challenges have persisted and further hindered girls’ access to education.
In August 2017, a team of scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) successfully edited the DNA of a human embryo using CRISPR-Cas9, repairing a genetic defect that causes a debilitating disease. The excitement in the room was palpable as they witnessed a historic moment that could change the future of medicine. However, as they celebrated this scientific breakthrough, ethical questions loomed large. What if this powerful tool were used to create so-called “designer babies” or to enhance physical or cognitive traits? Who would regulate such profound capabilities?
In June 2022, the United States Supreme Court decided on the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ruling the United States Constitution does not guarantee women the right to an abortion. This landmark holding overturned decades worth of precedent set by Roe v. Wade (1973). Citing the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, the court in Roe recognized a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy with different standards of availability depending on the trimester. The Court decided Dobbs with a six-to-three vote, six conservative justices in the majority and the remaining three justices fervently dissenting. The decision returned the question of abortion accessibility to the states.
The digital age fosters ingenious yet unprecedented developments, such as using generative AI to streamline typical human resource processes. More companies are using generative AI to source and select candidates, assess current employees, and determine layoffs. However, under the guise of great efficiency and innovation lies an even greater ethical and legal problem: the use of AI technology to hire, assess, and fire employees creates a system that violates workplace anti-discrimination laws, negatively impacting minority groups.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to be the next major battleground for antitrust law, and the industry’s unprecedented expansion and high economic concentration pose a unique challenge to existing legal frameworks worldwide. The European Union (EU) stands out as a leader in the regulation of the digital economy, having already passed legislation that limits “gatekeeper” corporations (large digital platforms that provide core services like web browsing) in the form of the Digital Markets Act and bringing numerous suits against Big Tech companies for anticompetitive behavior.
In the past few months, a new tough-on-crime approach to justice has led Louisiana to pass legislation eliminating parole and resuming electric-chair executions — which have not been used since the state moved to lethal injections in 1991 — but in June, the state enacted a new law that threatens to set ethical standards of criminal justice back centuries. As of August 1, 2024, Louisiana is the first state to allow surgical castration as a punishment for sex crimes.
In the rapidly evolving realm of technology, generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a revolutionary force, fundamentally altering industries and redefining our understanding of creativity. However, As AI experiences rapid growth and exerts a profound influence across various sectors, legal questions surrounding the patentability of AI-generated works have come to the forefront. This explosion in AI’s creative capabilities comes with a legal conundrum: can AI-generated art and ideas be subject to patent protection?
As of January 2024, the United States government formally recognizes five hundred and seventy four Native American tribes. While this may appear to be an insignificant, bureaucratic tally, federal recognition is actually quite important: in obtaining it, tribes become eligible for specialized benefits and an elevated degree of autonomy. As such, given the coveted nature of these privileges, it should come as no surprise that indigenous communities are in constant legal competition to secure them. In fact, in recent years, nearly every Supreme Court docket in recent memory has included at least one indigenous-related case. Most recently, the Court heard arguments in Arizona v Navajo Nation (2023), which dealt with the United States’ obligation to provide water to the Navajo tribe.
Following the publicized police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans, there was a nationwide resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. As community members organized marches and other forms of civil disobedience on social media, notably X (formerly known as Twitter), organizers grew concerned that law enforcement officers were using X as a medium to collect information on these protests. Specifically, they claimed that the information would be used in order to arrest participants or quell protests via social media surveillance. Surveillance is “the act of observing another in order to gather evidence” and is a frequent method used by law enforcement to gather evidence for an investigation. With the fears of covert surveillance via social media, Black American community members are now concerned about their privacy rights when engaging in protest, assembly, and expression–acts protected by the First Amendment. Law enforcement’s utilization of X and digital data from other social media sites as a form of surveillance should be considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s right to privacy of protestors.
When adopting their new constitution in 2008, Ecuador became the first country to recognize the legal personhood of nature, or Pachamama. Specifically, Chapter 7 “Rights of Nature” ensures the “maintenance and regeneration of [nature’s] life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes” and calls for “[a]ll persons, communities, peoples and nations” to protect this right. This clause in the Constitution has provided a legal pathhood for the conservation of nature; theoretically, any person can act as a representative of Ecuador’s environment and file a lawsuit to prevent the harmful degradation of a specific body or region.
Featured Roundtable Contributions
The Clean Air Act of 1970 gives the Environmental Protection Agency the power to set national air pollution guidelines known as National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). In 2015, the EPA made the NAAQS for ozone stricter. However, due to the possibility of cross-state air pollution where upwind states could prevent downwind states from achieving the new NAAQS, the EPA proposed a transboundary Good Neighbor Plan. The provision calls for upwind states to reduce ozone-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from industrial facilities to “result in cleaner air and better health for millions of people living in downwind communities.” The twenty-three upwind states were then required to submit individual State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to reduce their respective emissions. However, the EPA rejected twenty-one of these plans and subsequently decided to implement (or, as the states would see it, impose) its own Federal Implementation Plan to meet the NAAQS. The FIP triggered a legal challenge from three states and several trade associations, requesting a court to temporarily stay the EPA rule, arguing that the emission controls were “arbitrary or capricious.” Twelve of the original twenty-three upwind states have already been granted stays from lower courts.
Privacy law stands at the intersection of individual rights, government regulation, and societal norms, shaping the landscape of healthcare, reproductive rights, and personal freedoms. In today's world, where advancements in technology and shifts in political landscapes continuously redefine the boundaries of privacy, grasping the significance and dynamic applications of privacy law is growing increasingly crucial. This roundtable explores three distinct realms where privacy law exerts its influence: gender-affirming healthcare, abortion rights, and government surveillance.
The role of international organizations in regulating and enforcing global conventions and agreements is both potent and tenuous. On the one hand, institutions such as the United Nations and the European Union are backed by the power of legal jurisdiction over all states that subscribe to their authority. On the other hand, because this authority stems from the states themselves, the institutional capacity to meaningfully intervene and adjudicate in state matters is, to a certain extent, perpetually unsettled. This constant tension between legal mandate and practical capacity defines many international organizations. One of the many sensitive issues these organizations and conventions must tackle is the question of limits to the right to privacy, which has become a flashpoint in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic given the unprecedented level of data sharing and public health monitoring that states have undertaken to address the public health crisis.
The adjudicative capacity of human judges, and hence the outcome of a process of legal dispute resolution, can be impacted by a great number of circumstances – the judge’s reliance on intuition, their personal beliefs, and even how long ago they last ate. [1] The proposition of (metaphorically) seating Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the bench is thus, prima facie, attractive, because, surely, computers can be more objective than human beings. A commonly held view by proponents of using AI in an adjudicatory role is that algorithms are more objective because they are thought to overlook ancillary characteristics like gender and race, which are generally not relevant to the legal question at hand, and towards which humans hold implicit biases. [2] Moreover, using AI in an adjudicatory capacity could potentially help in lowering the costs of administering justice, and streamline dispute resolution; indeed, this was the motivation behind Estonia’s use of AI to resolve certain small-claims cases. [3] AI then seems like a panacea to the twin ills of inefficiency and non-objectivity in judicial decision making. However, there are compelling pragmatic and principled reasons, both pragmatic and principled, against involving AI in the judicial decision making process.
Concerning the responsibilities of medical professionals and the rights of their patients, medical law primarily covers issues of negligence, ethics, and confidentiality. [1] With its far reaching scope, medical law has long been addressed, beginning with the Hippocratic Oath in the Greek classical period. [2] This oath addresses several concerns of medicine, particularly focusing on a doctor’s duty to care for their patient to the best of their ability, uphold doctor-patient confidentiality, and instruct future generations of doctors. [3] Though the Hippocratic Oath remains valuable in the medical profession, medical law in the United States has been particularly shaped by landmark cases on negligence, medical malpractice, and confidentiality. Such cases set important precedent both for medical jurisprudence as well as for the medical profession as a whole.
In 1735, Peter Zenger was put on trial for publishing newspapers critical of the New York colonial governor. His lawyers defended him on the grounds that truth and veracity superseded libel, stating “the exposing of public wickedness…is a duty which every man owes to truth and his country.” [1] Zenger was acquitted, and thereby set a precedent for freedom of speech and liberty of the press in the annals of American history. However, at the turn of the century, anxieties over a war with France complicated the issue, and the precedent was ignored by the now-infamous Alien and Sedition Acts. Passed by the Federalist in 1798, the acts were a series of four laws designed to fracture their political opposition by criminalizing any perceived criticism or subversion of the government. The logic used to justify these civil oppressions was the exigent circumstances of a potential war—that age-old societal plague that has captivated our fascination and horror for millenia, the harbinger of revolution, empire, and atrocity.
As the mental health crisis in the United States grows, the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety have more than tripled since the coronavirus pandemic began. [1] The question of what legal protections exist for those with mental illness within the realm of healthcare is more prevalent than ever. There are certain protections in place through the ADA for individuals suffering from mental health illnesses such as blocking employers from discriminating against individuals with mental illness conditions, right to privacy of medical information, and providing accomodations when needed. [2] Since the inception of the ADA, there have been great strides in the implementation of the ADA’s provisions within covered entities. However, many barriers still existed despite the implementation of the ADA. Stemming from inadequate provisions in the policy itself, the ADA failed to mandate parity between mental and physical disability benefits.
The legal history of the recognition of labor rights consists of judicial balancing between employers’ business interests and laborers’ interests in fair labor practices. In post-revolutionary labor combination cases, union members were fined because English common laws were still in use––under which making labor combinations was an indictable offense. [1] In the case Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842), seven journeymen in Massachusetts were charged for forming a union. [2] The Massachusetts Supreme Court established that labor combinations were not inherently illegal unless an organizations’ goals or practices were themselves fraudulent, false, forceful, or otherwise “criminal or unlawful.” [3] Later, The Supreme Court In re Debs (1895) upheld the federal government’s ability to use injunctions against labor strikes. [4] In 1894, employees of a railroad car manufacturer went on strike and disrupted business in the Chicago area. [5] Strike leaders refused to halt their activities after an injunction was issued in federal court. On appeal, the Supreme Court sided with the employers to protect the public’s interest in interstate commerce. [6]
Integral to a strong republic is the existence and protection of its secrets. Failing to safeguard sensitive information could endanger the safety and security of a nation, as well as that of its citizens. Throughout history, nations across the globe have kept secrets — whether they involve the preservation of military strategies, intelligence, or covert communications, making sure that a country’s secrets stay secret is critical to the establishment and conservation of their power.
In order to understand the legal means that allow us to keep our governments accountable for environmental damage, it is crucial to have a holistic perspective on the evolutions and historical foundations of environmental law.
Environmental litigation is based on a recently established legal framework. Indeed, most major environmental statutes were passed between the late 1960s and early 1980s, with the most significant pieces of legislation passed during the Nixon administration. [1] On January 1, 1970, Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act, an important first step in the emergence of national environmental goals and policies. Later that year, Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has since become a key institution in environmental law. Two of the most important laws governing the EPA were passed by Congress over the next two years: The Clean Air Act of 1970, which directs the EPA to set standards for what kind of pollutants may be released into the air, and the Clean Water Act of 1972, which instructs the EPA to set standards for what pollutants may be released into lakes, streams, and rivers. Although this legal framework is fairly recent, it has been quite static: the US has gone almost 30 years without major new environmental legislation. This inactivity, attributable to the growing partisanship of the environmental issues, means that while the climate crisis is rapidly accelerating—the last five years in human history were the five hottest on record—we are currently handling environmental crises with decades-old legislation.
The perception of humanitarian intervention has recently shifted from a mere subset of international law governing the use of force to a legitimate, legal reason for war. Using humanitarian intervention as a justification for foreign interference has become increasingly commonplace in the international arena. However, despite its widespread application, the use of this justification remains highly controversial; critics point out that the humanitarian label runs the risk of masking the hidden geo-political motivations of nations.
The beginning of the Biden Administration was characterized by a distinct shift away from the immigration policies of the Trump Administration. Namely, President Biden’s recent temporary guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sought to redefine the grounds for deportation. These provisions centered around deporting individuals who recently crossed the border, pose a threat to national security, or have committed “aggravated felonies.”
We are the only country with a written constitution that does not prohibit discrimination based on sex,” Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA-14) noted before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 17. Speier spoke moments before the body voted on H.J. Res. 17, an effort intended to remove the ratification deadline on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The three-sentence resolution will reach its 98th birthday this year. After Virginia ratified the amendment in 2020, it finally has the required thirty-eight states to theoretically pass.
In the midst of a global pandemic, signs of hope have started to emerge from beneath the shadow of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 has killed millions and fundamentally changed the world, but there is cause for optimism with the development and implementation of life-saving vaccine technology. Faced with an unprecedented public health crisis, experts agree that the quickest way for the world to return to normal conditions involves vaccinating as many people as possible, establishing herd immunity, and decreasing the transmission of COVID-19.
Across the United States, states have taken steps to address homelessness, ranging from the enforcement of state supreme court decisions to the passage of sweeping legislation. At the same time, individual state legislatures have become battlegrounds for homelessness rights in states that attempt to reduce the visibility of homeless individuals rather than address the systemic issues behind the rise in homelessness. To this end, many states have resorted to indirect anti-homelessness legislation, including laws and ordinances that ban loitering and begging. This Roundtable addresses state laws on homelessness, the intersection of judicial activism and homelessness, the 19th century roots of UK law on homelessness, and the path toward decriminalizing homelessness.
Abortion is one of the most intimate and difficult choices many women make at least once in their lives. Indeed, almost one in four American women have an abortion by age 45. Opponents of abortion, however, claim that Americans have long opposed this medical practice and frame Roe v. Wade as an “anomaly.” However, the history of abortion in the United States reveals how common and necessary the procedure has been. This Roundtable explores abortion law prior to Roe v. Wade, the Roe v. Wade case itself, abortion law following Roe v. Wade, and the future of abortion law.
U.S. legislative acts pertaining to health care rights have historically limited undocumented immigrants’ access to such benefits. While alternative paths to access are available at the moment, they are far from sufficient for undocumented immigrants seeking treatment. This Roundtable explores the existing healthcare rights of undocumented immigrants, barriers to further access, and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on these rights.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an autonomous international tribunal that is authorized to condemn individuals responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. Established by the Rome Statute in 2002, the ICC is the first and only international court with such jurisdiction. One hundred and twenty-three countries have signed on to the Rome Statute, which establishes the court’s jurisdiction, structure, and telos to “guarantee lasting respect for the enforcement of international justice.” This Roundtable explores the role of the ICC in international law, its promising aspects and shortcomings, and the future of the institution.
Diversity is an exalted concept for many reasons, ranging from its practical relevance to operational performance, to its broad promise of social inclusion. It is this latter appeal that has rendered diversity, in the eyes of many, a veritable democratic ideal. This Roundtable explores how affirmative action became such an explosive national debate, beginning with Bakke, continuing through Harvard College, and projecting into the future.
While platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter have resisted being labeled as publishers, their decisions over what and what not to moderate increasingly mirror the domain of editorial organizations. Compounding the issue is these companies’ outsized influence as intermediaries, and even gatekeepers, for human expression. In general, legislators have exempted social platforms from responsibility for what their users publish. This Roundtable will explore the development of the law that cements this protection: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
This Roundtable focuses on Harris Funeral Homes. We first provide a history of Title VII and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, then proceed to contexualize Harris Funeral Homes by drawing upon related LGBTQ+ discrimination cases, and finally conclude with analysis and its implications.
The question of executive power has plagued the United States since its inception. Historically, power has been vested in the legislature, but modern presidents have bucked precedent by using executive orders to establish government agencies, skirt laws which they disagree with, and to issue unprecedented immigration policies.
This roundtable discussion will present the legal history and analyze recent court cases pertaining to executive power so that we might present a reasonable picture of its future. The Founding Fathers originally imagined the United States as a nation with strong national legislature with power primarily vested in state governments.
It is important to recognize the structures responsible for this dramatic shift from state-local rule to national rule and from legislative governance to executive governance if we are to properly prepare for the repercussions of those realignments. If we are not careful during this liminal phase, unnecessary power may become vested in offices where it does not belong, putting American democracy and life as we know it at risk.
Featured Current Events Articles
On February 29, 2024, the Court of Appeal of Quebec issued a judgment on the constitutionality of Bill 21 (An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State) that immediately sparked outrage among civil liberties advocates. The controversial bill, passed by the National Assembly of Quebec in 2019, bans teachers, law enforcement officers, judges, and some other public employees from wearing religious symbols at work. This most recent ruling not only upheld the bill but also overturned an exemption that the Superior Court of Quebec had previously granted to staff of English schools in 2021. The dispute will likely move to the Supreme Court of Canada, with several organizations filing for leave to appeal. The Court of Appeal of Quebec’s ruling on Bill 21 ultimately highlights the manner in which the ambiguous language of Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enables the violation of basic rights across Canada.
From TikTok dance challenges to live footage of global events, social media is an information distribution powerhouse, inevitably occupying the phones of all age demographics. However, this status is tainted by the widespread concern over its overconsumption primarily among younger people. In 2023, the National Institutes of Health published a research report that hypothesized strong correlations between social media usage and youth mental health concerns. As a result, many state legislatures have felt compelled to enact legislation restricting social media accessibility. State-issued bans that target minors between the ages of 13 and 18 infringe on the Fourth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which protects parental rights to make decisions relating to their children’s care and education. In addition, state governments’ efforts to restrict social media usage in education reveal viewpoint discrimination that threatens free speech rather than effectively addressing youth mental health challenges.
The “Safety of Rwanda Act”, also referred to as the UK-Rwanda Migrant Deal or the MEDP (Migration and Economic Development Partnership), was passed by the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament on April 25, 2024, despite the UK Supreme Court holding that the deal was unlawful in November of 2023. This Migrant Deal controversially legalized the deportation of asylum seekers, who entered the UK illegally, to Rwanda. This received backlash from the public and legal scholars, who claimed that the MEDP could place asylum seekers in unsafe living conditions and put their livelihoods at risk.
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Featured Episode: Know Your Rights: How To Avoid The Copyright Cost of Being a Black Creator (Part 1)
by Madison Brianna Garrett and Saiya Palmer
In this inaugural episode of the "Low of the Land" Know Your Rights edition, Madison Brianna Garrett interviews Jasmine Johnson Parker, an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University School of Law teaching Entertainment and Social Media Law, concerning the modern implications of intellectual property law for Black creators on social media platforms. Tune in to the first part of this two-part series to learn more about the extent to which intellectual property law has been shaped by the power of social media content creation as well as to hear Professor Parker’s advice on how Black creators can best protect their online content.
Healthcare has long been a contentious issue in American law. Questions concerning jurisdiction, who bears the burden of insurance, and issues within it ought to be handled (if at all) have plagued the American public consciousness for decades. Everything changed, however, with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA was a carefully negotiated, bipartisan solution to deficiencies in the then current system which revolutionized health care as we know it.