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Volume 109 - Issue 6

The 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…

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Sidestepping 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…

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Banishing 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…

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From 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.…

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Help 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…

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Hello, 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…

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In 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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Freedom to Pray, Not to Protest

By Leah Reiss. Full Text. The Supreme Court has never definitively ruled on the constitutionality of curfews that target political activity. Historically, curfews have been very difficult to challenge. They suffer from mootness issues because they tend to be temporary in nature, so associated harms are also temporary. Likely as a result, challenges to curfews…

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Data Breach Class Actions: How Article III Standing Analysis Should Evolve After TransUnion, LLC v. Ramirez

By Caleb A. Johnson. Full Text. Data breaches have become a common occurrence for many people in America. Companies retain consumers’ personal information (SSN, DOB, bank account, credit card, biometrics, etc.) to better serve the consumers as well as to improve their company’s bottom line. Hackers get into those databases to fraudulently use existing consumer…

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Evolving Online Terrain in an Inert Legal Landscape: How Algorithms and AI Necessitate an Amendment of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

By Ellison Snider. Full Text. The consequences of online speech are undeniable, and yet, as the internet rapidly evolves, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230), the federal law most concerned with internet regulation, stays the same. The pervasive presence of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), sophisticated technologies used by platforms to autonomously…

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