Note: Blocking Blocks at the Border: Examining Standard-Essential Patent Litigation Between Domestic Companies at the ITC
By Matthew Norris. Full text here. The United States International Trade Commission was created to protect domestic industry and American workers from illegal foreign trade practices. Increasingly, domestic companies have turned to the ITC seeking relief for the infringement of standard-essential patents (SEPs) by other domestic companies. In exchange for having their patented technologies adopted as…
Continue ReadingGovernment Nonendorsement
By Nelson Tebbe. Full text here. What are the constitutional limits on government endorsement? Judges and scholars typically assume that when the government speaks on its own account, it faces few restrictions. In fact, they often say that the only real restriction on government speech is the Establishment Clause. On this view, officials cannot endorse Christianity…
Continue ReadingCasual Ostracism: Jury Exclusion on the Basis of Criminal Convictions
By Anna Roberts. Full text here. Statutes in forty-eight states permit the exclusion of those with felony convictions from criminal juries; thirteen states permit the exclusion of those with misdemeanor convictions. The reasons given for these exclusions, which include the assumption that those with convictions must be embittered against the state, do not justify their…
Continue ReadingTattoos & IP Norms
By Aaron Perzanowski. Full text here. The U.S. tattoo industry generates billions of dollars in annual revenue. Like the music, film, and publishing industries, it derives value from the creation of new, original works of authorship. But unlike rights holders in those more traditional creative industries, tattoo artists rarely assert formal legal rights in disputes over…
Continue ReadingSpeech, Citizenry, and the Market: A Corporate Public Figure Doctrine
By Deven R. Desai. Full text here. Corporate speech is out of balance. Corporations now enjoy expanded speech rights, but the ability to speak about corporations is restricted. This situation must change. That corporations are people for First Amendment questions is a fait accompli. We can debate the merits or wisdom of that fact, but the…
Continue ReadingGreeting the Future with an Outstretched Hand
By President William J. Clinton. Full text here. Volume 98’s lead piece is by President William J. Clinton. President Clinton’s Essay emphasizes the importance moving forward in our interdependent, global economy, and addressing some of the major challenges we still face. The piece brings into focus important goals we need to continue striving for, including equality,…
Continue ReadingNote: That’s My Baby: Why the State’s Interest in Promoting Public Health Does Not Justify Residual Newborn Blood Spot Research Without Parental Consent
By Allison M. Whelan. Full text here. Ninety-eight percent of infants born in the United States undergo blood tests to screen for a variety of genetic conditions as part of mandatory state newborn screening programs. These “newborn blood spots” (NBS) are frequently stored by state health departments after the initial tests are complete. Recent lawsuits in…
Continue ReadingNote: Moving Past Preemption: Enhancing the Power of Local Governments over Hydraulic Fracturing
By Rachel A. Kitze. Full text here. Technological improvements to a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing have opened up access to a century’s supply of natural gas across the United States. The cities and towns that sit above these vast deposits, however, are increasingly concerned about the transformative effect of the fracking industry on their…
Continue ReadingGenetically Modified Food Fight: The FDA Should Step Up to the Regulatory Plate so States Do Not Cross the Constitutional Line
By Morgan Anderson Helme. Full text here. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) leaped into the spotlight last year with California’s Proposition 37, which proposed mandatory labeling for all foods containing GMOs. Consumers argued they have a right to know what’s in their Cheerios. Manufacturers fought back that such state labeling laws would be expensive and unwieldy, and…
Continue ReadingThe Merchants of Wall Street: Banking, Commerce, and Commodities
By Saule T. Omarova. Full text here. This Article examines the principal legal, policy, and theoretical implications of a transformative—but so far unrecognized—change in the banking industry: the emergence, over the last decade, of U.S. financial conglomerates as leading global merchants in physical commodities, including crude and refined oil products, natural gas, coal, base metals, and…
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