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The Old Hand Problem

By Xiao Wang | January 31, 2023

By Xiao Wang. Full Text. Senior status is a special form of retirement for federal judges. When a judge takes senior status, they open a vacancy on their court, yet continue to hear and decide cases. Most active judges today eventually go senior. Yet many do not do so the very moment they become eligible.…

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Article

Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help

By Christiana Ochoa, Kacey Cook, and Hanna Weil | January 31, 2023

By Christiana Ochoa, Kacey Cook, and Hanna Weil. Full Text. Rural communities in every windblown and sun-drenched region of the United States are enmeshed in legal, political, and social conflicts related to the country’s rapid transition to renewable energy. Organized local opposition has foreclosed millions of acres from renewable energy development, impeding national and state-level…

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Article

“Can You Hear Me Now?”: The Right to Counsel Prior to Execution of a Cell Phone Search Warrant

By Nathaniel Mensah | January 31, 2023

By Nathaniel Mensah. Full Text. As advances in technology allow law enforcement to gain ever more expansive surveillance powers, the criminal justice system scrambles to keep up. The Fourth Amendment has been the primary vehicle through which modern criminal procedure has adapted to new technologies. That limited approach risks undue harm to criminal defendants and…

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Article

Americans, Beyond States and Territories

By Tom C.W. Lin | January 31, 2023

By Tom C.W. Lin. Full Text. For over a century, the law has systemically marginalized over three million Americans living in the unincorporated Territories of the United States. The law has long defined the Territories homogenously and subserviently to States. It has segregated the rights and privileges of citizenship between those living in States and…

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Article

Public Law, Private Platforms

By Andrew Keane Woods | January 31, 2023

By Andrew Keane Woods. Full Text. Our law—both our constitutional law and much of our statutory law—has long drawn a fraught distinction between public and private domains. Indeed, debates about the public/private distinction date as far back as liberalism itself. But today’s private digital platforms strain that distinction to a new degree. Platforms have become…

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Note

School Curricula and Silenced Speech: A Constitutional Challenge to Critical Race Theory Bans

By Dylan Saul | January 31, 2023

By Dylan Saul. Full Text. In 2021, conservative politicians, activists, and media personalities ignited a culture war over teaching critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. Something about this manufactured conflict struck a chord with American voters: school board meetings have devolved into screaming matches, education became a critical wedge issue in elections across the…

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Note

An (Un)reasonable Expectation of Privacy? Analysis of the Fourth Amendment When Applied to Keyword Search Warrants

By Helen Winters | January 31, 2023

By Helen Winters. Full Text. In the “digital age,” perpetual changes in technology have brought increased opportunities for exchanges of personal data between individuals and third parties. Often, this information-sharing is a necessity to fully participate in modern society. Yet, investigative techniques such as reverse keyword search warrants have called into question the applicability of…

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Articles, Essays, & Tributes

The Old Hand Problem

By Xiao Wang. Full Text. Senior status is a special form of retirement for federal judges. When a judge takes senior status, they open a vacancy on their court, yet continue to hear and decide cases. Most active judges today eventually go senior. Yet many do not do so the very moment they become eligible.

Deals in the Heartland: Renewable Energy Projects, Local Resistance, and How Law Can Help

By Christiana Ochoa, Kacey Cook, and Hanna Weil. Full Text. Rural communities in every windblown and sun-drenched region of the United States are enmeshed in legal, political, and social conflicts related to the country’s rapid transition to renewable energy. Organized local opposition has foreclosed millions of acres from renewable energy development, impeding national and state-level

“Can You Hear Me Now?”: The Right to Counsel Prior to Execution of a Cell Phone Search Warrant

By Nathaniel Mensah. Full Text. As advances in technology allow law enforcement to gain ever more expansive surveillance powers, the criminal justice system scrambles to keep up. The Fourth Amendment has been the primary vehicle through which modern criminal procedure has adapted to new technologies. That limited approach risks undue harm to criminal defendants and

Americans, Beyond States and Territories

By Tom C.W. Lin. Full Text. For over a century, the law has systemically marginalized over three million Americans living in the unincorporated Territories of the United States. The law has long defined the Territories homogenously and subserviently to States. It has segregated the rights and privileges of citizenship between those living in States and

Public Law, Private Platforms

By Andrew Keane Woods. Full Text. Our law—both our constitutional law and much of our statutory law—has long drawn a fraught distinction between public and private domains. Indeed, debates about the public/private distinction date as far back as liberalism itself. But today’s private digital platforms strain that distinction to a new degree. Platforms have become

Notes

An (Un)reasonable Expectation of Privacy? Analysis of the Fourth Amendment When Applied to Keyword Search Warrants

By Helen Winters. Full Text. In the “digital age,” perpetual changes in technology have brought increased opportunities for exchanges of personal data between individuals and third parties. Often, this information-sharing is a necessity to fully participate in modern society. Yet, investigative techniques such as reverse keyword search warrants have called into question the applicability of

School Curricula and Silenced Speech: A Constitutional Challenge to Critical Race Theory Bans

By Dylan Saul. Full Text. In 2021, conservative politicians, activists, and media personalities ignited a culture war over teaching critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. Something about this manufactured conflict struck a chord with American voters: school board meetings have devolved into screaming matches, education became a critical wedge issue in elections across the

Headnotes

Tattoos, Norms, and Implied Licenses

By Aaron Perzanowski. Full Text. This Essay considers the legal questions raised by a recent flurry of tattoo copyright disputes and their intersection with industry norms. In particular, Perzanowski argues that public displays, reproductions, derivative works, and other uses of tattoo designs fall within the scope of a broad implied license when they are employed

De Novo Blog

THE CONFEDERATE STAKES OF AMERICAN LAW: THE PARTISAN RISK TO THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT CLAUSE AND A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN THE MAKING

April 7, 2023

By: Jordan Boudreaux, Volume 107 Staff Member Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution requires that “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other state.”[1] Conceptually, the Full Faith and Credit Clause (“the Clause” or “Article IV”) provides several functions—the Clause prevents…

FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS SIDEWALKS: SUPREME COURT MAY TAKE AIM AT FIRST AMENDMENT FORUM BALANCING TEST IN KEISTER

April 6, 2023

By: John M. Stack, Volume 107 Staff Member Keister v. Bell is the latest major case petitioned to the Supreme Court to confront classifying the status of a public forum for First Amendment purposes.[1] While the Court is unlikely to grant certiorari, if they do I predict that they will fundamentally alter forum categorization under…

I (DON’T) KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT: THE DANGERS OF DEEPFAKES

April 5, 2023

By: Ryken Kreps, Vol. 107 Staff Member[1] Deepfakes are images, videos, or audio clips created by artificial intelligence that show people doing whatever the deepfake creator wants to show them doing with eerie accuracy.[2] Part I of this Post discusses the background of deepfakes and the recent controversy surrounding them. Part II is intended to…

HABITABILITY DEFENSE ON THE FRITZ: RENT POSTING REQUIREMENTS AND CHALLENGES IN MINNESOTA

April 3, 2023

Lucy Dougherty, Volume 107 Staff Member When tenants face an eviction for non-payment of rent in Hennepin County, they may have an affirmative defense to the eviction action if the landlord has broken the covenant of habitability.[1] The covenant of habitability is a statutory right in Minnesota which requires landlords “maintain the premises in compliance…

CLARITY AT A COST: HOW NEW REGULATIONS MAY PUT WELL-INTENTIONED GUN OWNERS AT RISK OF CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CHARGES

March 31, 2023

By: Nick Grossardt, Volume 107 Staff Member At the end of January 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) promulgated a final rule outlining a series of factoring criteria for regulating firearms with affixed “stabilizing braces.”[1] Various models of these braces had been evaluated by the BATFE’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division…