In Defense of Pickering: When a Public Employee’s Social Media Speech, Particularly Political Speech, Conflicts with Their Employer’s Public Service
By Abby Ward. Full Text. With the rise of social media and the United States’ increasing political polarization, public employees take to social media to post about political issues such as race and policing. But when public employees make posts on political issues in an inflammatory or controversial way, public employers often discipline or fire…
Continue ReadingAmericon Dream: Social Pressures and Lackluster Regulation Allow Multi-Level Marketing Companies to Function as De Facto Pyramid Schemes
By Lindsay R. Maher. Full Text. The entrepreneurial spirit goes to the heart of the American Dream. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Put your nose to the grindstone. If you could just be given the tools to get started, you, too, can make something of yourself with hard work and perseverance. This mindset drives…
Continue ReadingThrouples and Family Law
By Philip de Sa e Silva. Full Text. As throuples and other forms of polyamorous relationships gain visibility and acceptance, courts will have to confront the legal issues that will likely arise when a throuple forms and when it dissolves. How should courts determine child custody for three equally situated parents? How should courts divide…
Continue ReadingThe Press Clause Needs Teeth: The Case for Strengthening Constitutional Press Protections at Protests
By Ryan Liston. Full Text. Journalists and the government have often had a tense relationship because of journalism’s watchdog role. In recent years, that tension has reached a boiling point. Law enforcement arrested journalists at an unprecedented rate in 2020, primarily while they were covering racial justice protests after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered…
Continue ReadingSidestepping the Escherian Stairwell: Explicit Establishment as a Method for Circumventing Qualified Immunity’s Constitutional Stagnation
By Earl Y. Lin. Full Text. In recent years, the doctrine of qualified immunity (QI) has gained increased prominence in the public consciousness. Prior to the murder of George Floyd and the resulting nationwide racial justice protests and uprisings, this Supreme Court–made doctrine—and the ways it shields law enforcement officers from legal accountability—was a relatively…
Continue ReadingBanishing Federal Overstep: Why Protecting Tribal Sovereignty Justifies a Narrow Reading of the Indian Civil Rights Act
By Randa Larsen. Full Text. At the heart of this Note is the need to preserve Tribal sovereignty. This Note focuses on a lesser-known issue currently being debated in circuit courts: whether Tribes should be permitted to banish Tribal members from their ranks without submitting to the scrutiny of federal courts. Recently, there has been…
Continue ReadingFrom Powell to Present: Defining the Right to Counsel Beyond Rothgery
By Amy M. Cohen. Full Text. Every morning in jails across America, new arrestees are woken up and ushered into a courtroom to be heard on their re- lease. Some might be coming down from a high, dealing with the consequences of binge drinking, or distressed about what this arrest might mean for their future.…
Continue ReadingHelp Me Sue a Gun Manufacturer: A State Legislator’s Guide to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and the Predicate Exception
By Evan Dale. Full Text. Gun violence has become one of the central issues of our time. The number of gun violence victims, gun homicides, and mass shootings break all-time American records nearly every year. As the number of victims of gun violence rises, victims have tried—and largely failed—to hold gun manufacturers civilly liable for…
Continue ReadingHello, World? Domestic Software Patent Protection Stands Alone Due to Uncertain Subject Matter Eligibility Jurisprudence
By Maxwell H. Terry. Full Text. In the last sixteen years, software-related inventions have en- compassed the majority of all utility patents issued in the United States. Further, studies estimate that spending within the global information technology market will grow to $4.6 trillion in 2023, as industries such as data security, cloud computing, and artificial…
Continue ReadingIn Defense of (Mental) Hearth and Home: Challenges to § 922(g)(4) in the Wake of New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen
By Zachary M. Robole. Full Text. Individually, discussions about mental illness and firearm possession are at the forefront of American discourse. Intriguingly, the intersection of the two issues produces provocative social and legal questions. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4) bans those who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution from owning a firearm. This ban is…
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