Substance over Symbolism: Do We Need Benefit Corporation Laws?
BY CHENG-CHI (KIRIN) CHANG. Full essay here. Benefit corporation laws have gained traction as mechanisms to integrate societal and environmental objectives into business operations, yet they are arguably superfluous within the existing legal framework. The prevailing belief that corporations must prioritize shareholder wealth above all is not a legal imperative, as evidenced by the flexibility…
Continue ReadingThe Supreme Court’s Opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy Has the Potential To Be Extremely Destructive
The Supreme Court’s Opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy Has the Potential To Be Extremely Destructive By Richard J. Pierce, Jr. Full essay here. In this essay, Professor Pierce describes the legal framework within which the Supreme Court decided whether an agency could adjudicate a class of disputes prior to its 2024 opinion in SEC. v…
Continue ReadingDefining Common and Individual Issues in Class Actions: What a Reasonable Jury Could Do
Defining Common and Individual Issues in Class Actions: What a Reasonable Jury Could Do By Aaron D. Van Oort and John L. Rockenbach Full essay here. The distinction between common and individual issues is the single most important concept in the modern class action, and it is the one that most bedevils courts in practice.…
Continue ReadingCurbing Gun Violence Under PLCAA and Bruen: State Attorney General–Driven Solutions to the Surging Epidemic
By David Lamb. Full Text. At the same time that the deadly toll of gun violence continues to grow in the U.S., now taking nearly 50,000 lives per year, federal lawmakers and courts have increasingly constrained government authorities’ tools for fighting the epidemic. Pursuant to a federal statute that the U.S. Congress enacted in 2005,…
Continue Reading“Proven” Safety Regulations: Massachusetts 1805 Proving Law As Historical Analogue for Modern Gun Safety Laws
By Billy Clark. Full Text. Concerned by the public health threats posed by certain firearms, the Massachusetts legislature enacts a law to set safety standards for firearms in the Commonwealth. Firearm dealers across the State, including some of the leading manufacturers of the day, not only follow the law’s safety standards, but they themselves also…
Continue ReadingRefining the Dangerousness Standard in Felon Disarmament
By Jamie G. McWilliam. Full Text. To some, 18 U.S.C. 922(g) is a necessary safeguard that keeps guns out of the hands of dangerous persons. To others, it strips classes of non-violent people of their natural and constitutional rights. This statute makes it a crime for certain classes of individuals to transport, receive, or possess…
Continue ReadingBounded Entities and (Some of) Their Discontents
By Saurabh Vishnubhakat. Full Text. In his new article An Organizational Theory of International Technology Transfer, Professor Peter Lee offers two richly detailed accounts at once. One is a novel theoretical framework of “bounded entities” that generalizes both from the classic theory of the firm and, of more recent vintage, from the knowledge-based theory of…
Continue ReadingAmerican Fiction: Overturning the Doctrine of Immigration Entry Fiction as Established in Shaughnessy v. Mezei
By Dahlia Wilson. Full Text. In 1886, the Supreme Court decided a case called Yick Wo v. Hopkins, which held that any person physically within the United States’ territory would enjoy the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status. In a racist and nationalistic reaction, this decision gave rise to…
Continue ReadingTwins at Bat(son), Strikes Are Out: Minnesota’s Opportunity to Restore Batson v. Kentucky by Eliminating Peremptory Strikes
By Samuel Buisman. Full Text. While the Supreme Court’s decision in Batson v. Kentucky is widely hailed by scholars and jurists alike as a triumph of American egalitarianism, time and trial have unmasked its protections as a paper tiger. Despite its purported protections against racially and sexually discriminatory peremptory juror strikes, the Court’s abysmal standard…
Continue ReadingPrivate-Law Attorneys General
By Molly Shaffer Van Houweling. Full Text. The Constitution empowers Congress to “promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” The founding-era Congress quickly exercised this power by enacting copyright and patent laws that track the constitutional…
Continue Reading