De Novo Archive
De Novo is the newest addition to the Minnesota Law Review family. The blog serves as a forum through which the staff, editors, and alumni of the Minnesota Law Review can contribute to legal thought and academic debate.
A NEW TAKE ON TAKINGS: BIG PHARMA’S CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES TO BIDEN’S INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
By: Marie Lundgren, Volume 108 Staff Member I. BACKGROUND In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act, marking the largest expansion of benefits in the 38-year history of U.S. public healthcare.[1] When the Medicare program was first enacted in 1965, it covered hospital stays (under Part A), physician office visits (under Part B), and pharmaceuticals…
Continue ReadingREADY, AIM, FIRE? EVALUATING THE FUTURE OF LIABILITY FOR THE FIREARMS INDUSTRY DURING NEW-WAVE PLCAA LITIGATION
By: Will Roberts, Volume 108 Staff Member I. MECHANISMS FOR FIREARMS INDUSTRY LIABILITY In 2005, Congress enacted the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) which significantly shielded members of the firearms industry from civil liability for over a decade.[1] PLCAA prohibits “civil action[s] . . . brought by any person against a [firearms]…
Continue ReadingCONVENIENT OR CONFRONTATIONAL?: SAMIA WIDENS CONSTITUTIONAL LOOPHOLE
By: Mark Hager, Volume 108 Staff Member On June 23, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Samia v. United States, the latest in a line of cases regarding the use of non-testifying co-defendant confessions in joint criminal trials.[1] Together, these cases operate as a loophole to the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment.[2]…
Continue ReadingTHE FIGHT FOR PRIVACY: CALLING FOR BROAD ONLINE PRIVACY REFORM IN THE AGE OF BEING CHRONICALLY ONLINE
By Lea Chapoton, Volume 108 Staff Member In the wake of 2022’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization[1] decision and the ensuing barrage of state laws limiting abortion access, online discussions surged with strategies for maintaining reproductive freedom in potentially hostile circumstances. One popular piece of advice urged deletion of period tracking apps because companies…
Continue ReadingSUPREME SPECULATION: WHAT ORAL ARGUMENTS HINT ABOUT HOW JUSTICES ARE LEANING IN CAMPOS-CHAVES V. GARLAND
By Hans Frank-Holzner, Volume 108 Staff Member On January 8, 2024, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Campos-Chaves v. Garland,[1] a consolidation of three immigration cases concerning the statutory notice requirements the government must meet before it can order a noncitizen removed without a hearing.[2] Under the government’s reading, the Immigration and Nationality Act…
Continue ReadingBETTING ON THE FUTURE: DISCUSSING PATHS FORWARD FOR MINNESOTA TO LEGALIZE SPORTS BETTING
By Benjamin Albert Halevy, Volume 108 Staff Member From pull-tab vending machines at bars to tribe-owned casinos sporting slot machines and blackjack tables, Minnesota is no stranger to gambling within its borders. Yet, sports gambling, the fastest growing sector of gaming, remains wholly illegal within the state.[1] Whether it be through direct legislation or through…
Continue ReadingDE-TRUMPING THE 2024 ELECTION? REVIEWING MINNESOTA’S ROLE IN THE MOVEMENT TO BAN DONALD TRUMP FROM THE BALLOT
By Callan Showers, Volume 108 Staff Member On November 2, 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether Donald Trump can lawfully appear on Minnesota’s ballots in the 2024 Presidential election due to his participation in efforts to overthrow the 2020 election, culminating in the January 6, 2021 siege on the Capitol.[1] Six…
Continue ReadingA HAZY FIVE HOURS: MINNESOTA SHOULD NOT REINVENT THE WHEEL IN ADDRESSING THC BEVERAGES IN RESTAURANTS
By Shannon Schooley, Volume 108 Staff Member In 2023, Minnesota legalized recreational cannabis.[1] Although Minnesota followed twenty-two states and the District of Columbia in doing so,[2] its legal landscape presents unique regulatory challenges.[3] Minnesota’s full-scale recreational legalization comes on the heels of a partial legalization in 2022 for edible, low-potency, hemp-derived THC products that unleashed…
Continue ReadingNO PLACE LIKE HOME . . . UNLESS YOU CAN’T GET IN: THE LACK OF NON-DELIVERY PROTECTIONS FOR MINNESOTA TENANTS
By Cheyenna González Pilsner, Volume 108 Staff Member On August 2, 2023, Identity, a new housing complex near the University of Minnesota, notified its tenants they would be unable to move in on the lease-given day of August 27, 2023, citing construction delays.[1] This notice came one day after tenants were required to pay their…
Continue ReadingMICHIGAN’S NEW POINT OF NO RETURN: EVOLVING AGE RESTRICTIONS ON MANDATORY LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
By Chad Berryman, Volume 108 Staff Member In July 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court decided People v. Parks, in which it held that mandatory life without parole sentences for eighteen-year-olds convicted of first-degree murder violate the Michigan Constitution’s prohibition of cruel or unusual punishment.[1] This ruling went beyond prior U.S. Supreme Court decisions such as Miller…
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