State Limitations on Secular School Curriculum: How the Lemon Test Models Scrutiny Over State Discretion
As of July 2021, at least twenty-six states have legislated restrictions on the teaching of critical theory concepts in K-12 public schools. Of these states, seven have passed bills set to go into effect this year. Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Tennessee have enacted curriculum restrictions, district fines, and course credit stipulations in an attempt to regulate the discussion of race, gender, and sexuality in classrooms. [1] The fundamental legal question regarding these laws is whether states are entitled to such discretion in school curricula. Pressure is mounting for the U.S. Supreme Court to review these bans due to conflicting analyses in the lower courts.
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The Evolution of the Legal Definition of Rape
Rape remains one of the most widespread crimes worldwide, affecting one in ten women. Rape has been criminalized in the majority of countries, yet most of the perpetrators remain unprosecuted. Under international humanitarian and criminal law, it is widely understood that rape violates several human rights such as the right to bodily integrity, the right to autonomy (including sexual autonomy), and the right to privacy. The definitions of rape that are most commonly accepted today are based on the lack of consent, rather than on the presence of physical force, and such definitions prove to be most inclusive of all rape victims and ensure the prosecution of all perpetrators. However, such definitions evolved over time, beginning with the acknowledgment of rape as a war crime, and still continues to be revised to address issues with defining marital rape as a crime.
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Sanchez v. Mayorkas and the Perilous Future of Migrant Rights in the United States
In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Sanchez v. Mayorkas (2021) that all immigrants who entered the country illegally cannot obtain green cards, regardless of having already held temporary protected status. This decision highlights the vague way that U.S. court systems define “legal entry” into the United States— an issue which is a major concern among immigration attorneys and migrants alike, as its definition and application has lasting effects on present and future migrant populations. It is important to inspect the potential human rights implications of the Sanchez decision on migrants. Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas does not directly contradict existing international immigration law, the dangerous legal precedent set in Sanchez highlights the United States’s critical need to take further steps towards compliance with existing human rights law as it pertains to migrants.
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Monetary Damages for Disability Discrimination: The First Step Towards Protecting the Right to Equal Access to Education
In the United States, access to a free public education is a right granted to all students, including students with disabilities. Specifically, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973) prevents any disabled individual from being discriminated against in federally-funded programs, including public schools. Likewise, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990 endows disabled children with the right to a quality public education by requiring schools to provide disabled children with accommodations and support services. Although children who suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are guaranteed that same right under Section 504 and IDEA, legal precedent regarding the intersection of TBI and education is scarce.
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fMRI v. the Frye & Daubert Standards of Evidence: Re-searching for the Truth
Although jurors are tasked as fact-finders in deciding criminal cases, the human brain is not inherently proficient in discerning truth-telling behavior. A 1991 study, for instance, revealed that Secret Service personnel were only able to detect liars about sixty-four percent of the time. Laypersons, who primarily comprise juries, fared worse, with accuracy rates no better than chance. Technology has attempted to fill this void by developing lie-detecting tests. However, from Lombroso’s 1895 pulse and blood pressure readings to Larson’s 1921 polygraph test, all existing pieces of technology have faced reliability concerns. Specifically, the scientific field of polygraph research likely will never progress far enough, as the “inherent ambiguity of the physiological measures” stifles any hope for improvement through further experimentation. To address these criticisms, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has taken center.
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Racially Restrictive Covenants Move Out of Homeowner Associations and Into Banks
While the pursuit of private property ownership is a distinctly American obsession, for many everyday Americans, this dream remains stubbornly elusive. Although the current housing market reflects increasing demand for property in a low supply market, the data consistently supports a historical truth: many consumers of color find themselves barred from obtaining real estate. In fact, Black Americans are statistically less represented than any other racial or ethnic group in the country, with only a 42 percent homeownership rate; Hispanic-Americans are only slightly ahead at 48.1 percent. [1] To this day, housing discrimination is among the most prominent examples of legal and industry-specific practices intended to spatially isolate racial and ethnic minorities. While the underlying intent to legally segregate homebuyers remains the same, the private institutions that engage in such discriminatory practices have morphed over the last few decades from homeowner associations (HOAs) to regional banks.
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The Paradox Of Right to Work Laws and International Human Rights Law
Right-to-work laws and the accompanying decline in unionization in the United States surfaced in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 (2018), where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public-sector union dues conflict with the First Amendment because such dues require workers to donate their money to public sector unions for political purposes.
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A Return to Public Square Trials? How Cancel Culture and Perp Walks May Undermine Trial Impartiality and Criminal Justice
A simple internet search of the term ‘cancel culture’ produces a series of daily stories on how online shaming has impacted an increasing number of individuals and companies, raising new social and legal questions. The term refers to the practice of withdrawing support or completely rejecting public figures or companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive, namely expressed through social media in the form of group shaming. This modern form of ostracism against someone who is ‘canceled’ depends, above all, on a judgement made in the court of public opinion. Unlike courts within a legally well-established judicial system, courts of public opinion rely on trends and opinions which may or may not be grounded in factual evidence.
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Vaccine Patents v.s. Public Domain in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The United States is currently experiencing an ongoing pandemic of the coronavirus disease. In an attempt to limit and mitigate the effects of the virus, multiple pharmaceutical companies have developed and begun widespread distribution of different vaccines, in compliance with federal regulations. In an effort to more effectively distribute vaccines and eliminate the threat of the virus, the federal government has the ability to invoke Section 1498 of Title 28 of the U.S. Code. The statute allows the government to directly control the manufacturing and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, provided that the patent owners are provided with appropriate compensation. Given the present circumstances and the detriment of the coronavirus pandemic on the country as a whole, as well as a wealth of historical precedent from previous similar national crises, it is more than appropriate for the American federal government to enact § 1498 and assume control over the production and administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
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