The College Tax Scam: Addressing University Exploitation of The 501(c)3 Tax Status
In the past decade, the tax-exempt status held by higher education institutions has come under increased scrutiny. In 2016, Congress sent a letter to private institutions with endowments over $1 billion, challenging the increase in tuition at rates far above inflation, despite these institutions’ large and growing assets. [1] A significant portion of this growth in college endowments has come from huge land-holdings, with universities paying essentially no property tax as they are 501(c)3 organizations. For example, while imposing massive tuition increases, Columbia University has become the largest landowner by number of addresses in New York City, owning 209 properties, with the next largest private property-holder being New York University (NYU). [2] Columbia and other universities' commercial land holdings illustrate that their organizations are not being exclusively operated as academic or research centers and, therefore, lack justification for 501(c)3 benefits. However, the most egregious display of 501(c)3 status abuse still lies in the college sports complex.
Read More
Teaching the Vote: The Right to Civic Education and Cook v. McKee
Education is the “very foundation of good citizenship,” wrote Justice Earl Warren in his 1954 opinion for Brown v. Board of Education. [1] Nearly twenty years later, in Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), Chief Justice Warren Burger wrote that “some degree of education is necessary to prepare citizens to participate effectively and intelligently in our open political system.” [2] Often, however, public school curricula lack civic education requirements, and thus do not adequately prepare citizens to understand and engage with the United States’ democratic system of government.
Read More
The Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Examining the Legality of US Interference
The Russian invasion of Ukraine initiated this past February was the culmination of significant regional tension that had been brewing for several years. Ukraine regained independence when the Soviet Union fell in 1991. A decade later, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) began expanding further into Eastern Europe; in 2004, former Soviet states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia became members of the organization. NATO also adopted an “Open Door Policy,” meaning that any European State that wishes to embody the principles of NATO and its treaty can apply to join the organization. These developments implied that Ukraine, as a post-Soviet European state, could also one day join NATO—such a possibility was first put on paper at the 2008 Bucharest Summit. At this summit, the allies reaffirmed Ukraine’s right to determine its own security dispositions, a right that Russia had also accepted through treaties such as the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1997. [1] The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine thus raises the question of whether the United States is legally allowed to interfere in the event that Russia takes over Ukraine; this question arises due to the conflict behind US military intervention. [2] Due to the violation of the law of aggression during armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the principle of collective self-defense, the United States is legally able to intervene in the conflict of the Russian occupation of Ukraine.
Read More
Current Events | International Humanitarian Law Amid Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
On the morning of February 24, Russian forces invaded Ukraine ending diplomatic efforts to resolve post-Cold War disagreements between NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) members and Russia, the superpower built from the remnants of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). [1] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has confirmed 925 casualties as of March 17 and proposed that the real number could be higher. [2] The conflict has prompted a massive refugee crisis in Europe, with nearly 3.4 million people having fled the war, over 2 million of whom have taken shelter in Poland. [3] This has prompted the Council of the European Union to implement a temporary protection for refugees and asylum seekers fleeing from the war by augmenting “[residence rights], access to the labour market and housing, medical assistance, and access to education for children.” [4] The World Economic Forum estimates that 16 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the conflict, [5] and the UN Security Council has repeatedly raised concerns about the blockage of emergency relief channels that would lead to a worsening of the humanitarian crisis. [6] Amid the rapidly increasing number of military and civilian casualties, families’ time-sensitive need for humanitarian assistance, and the destruction of crucial infrastructure and health services, the relevance of international humanitarian law as well as its protection and punishments are of timely importance.
Read More
Is the Gang Database Unconstitutional? An analysis of the 1988 STEP Act against Fourth Amendment Rights
As the New York City Department of Investigation continues its three-year probe of the New York Police Department’s gang database, questions are being raised about the database’s constitutionality. To determine the constitutionality of the database, we have to look at the decades-long practice of criminalizing gangs in the United States and what implications it has had for policing. In order to prosecute gangs, the term itself must firstly be defined. Yet the term “gang” in U.S. law remains full of ambiguity. As such, while the penalties for alleged gang members are harsh, the grounds on which gang affiliation is determined are unclear—as is demonstrated by an analysis of gang-prosecution laws across the country.
Read More
Fighting Gentrification: Litigation is Not “the Only Source of Support”
Harlem is a cultural Mecca for Black America, giving birth to some of the most celebrated musicians, artists, writers, and activists in history. However, as Columbia University grows larger and larger in its population and wealth, it has been looking to expand further into West Harlem. This expansion threatens the important history of Harlem and its residents, as the community, which would be displaced by further encroachment, is what makes Harlem, Harlem. Many Harlem residents fear that the expansion of Columbia’s campus, in addition to destroying several acres of historic buildings, will cause an influx of higher income residents, increasing rent prices and pushing out many of the Black and brown residents who have lived in Harlem for generations and depend on affordable housing. Harlem is just one of many lower-income neighborhoods of color facing the reality of gentrification at the hands of municipal governments and private developers, begging the question of if and how the legal system might protect marginalized communities from the whims of the rich, white, and powerful.
Read More
Raise the Bar on Raise the Age: Ending Child Prosecution in Adult Courts
New York’s recent Raise the Age legislation, passed in 2017 and phased in over the following two years, has symbolized a commitment to reforming the youth criminal justice system in New York State. Prior to Raise the Age, sixteen- and seventeen-year old defendants were prosecuted in adult courts, where they were subject to longer sentences and permanent criminal conviction records that made it difficult to reenter society. The new legislation changes the age at which youth under eighteen can be tried as adults in criminal court. While Raise the Age is an important step forward, it did not change the process for youth charged with violent felonies, still requiring their automatic prosecution as adults.
Read More
What is a “Refugee”? Expanding the UN Refugee Convention in the Face of Climate Change
Over the next few decades, anthropogenic climate change will force hundreds of millions from their homes in a migrant crisis of unprecedented proportions. As global temperatures rise, a series of “slow onset” environmental catastrophes has been set in motion; in many regions of the world, fresh water is becoming scarce, agricultural productivity is declining, and rising sea levels are producing higher storm surges. [1] Modeling the effects of these and other factors—such as heat stress, more extreme weather events, and the loss of habitable land—on “livability,” the World Bank predicts “climate change ... could force 216 million people ... to move by 2050.” [2] While some of these displaced individuals may migrate to safer regions within their home countries, many will choose to move to countries less economically affected by climate change. Ensuring that these future migrants receive government support is necessary to guarantee that they can secure a livelihood and find community in their new homes.
Read More
Why Title 42 Expulsions Hold No Legal Merit
The immigration policy of the United States has shifted in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Title 42, a rarely-invoked section of the United States Code created in 1944, was revitalized by the Trump and Biden administrations to swiftly expel migrants due to alleged fears of the spread of COVID-19. [1] Despite the policy’s revitalization, however, current legal challenges to Title 42 show that there is no legal basis for such expulsions within its language. In particular, the disproportionate application of the policy at the southern border of the United States serves as evidence of racist motivations behind Title 42 expulsions.
Read More
