By: Avery Bennett, Volume 105 Staff Member  INTRODUCTION Recently, mounting scrutiny and criticism of technology companies’ business practices have led to well publicized calls for investigations and probes into potentially anticompetitive behavior.[1] Amid these calls to curb the industry’s power, state officials have revealed a coordinated effort to contain anticompetitive practices by technology companies,[2] particularly…

By: Jordan Francis, Volume 105 Staff Member Depending on who you ask, we have either handed the levers of public discourse over to the maleficent interests of “Big Tech,” thereby making the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world the arbiters of truth and justice, or we have abandoned all control and given misinformation and hate speech…

By: Marra Clay, Volume 105 Staff Member The American intellectual property system has a single primary goal: to encourage creators to make new things that benefit society in exchange for an exclusive right to use and license the creation for a limited time.[1] The United States government currently lacks authority to mandate most intellectual property…

By: Dina Kostrow, Volume 105 Staff Member Until recently, Florida was one of only a few states in which citizens convicted of a felony permanently lost the right to vote.[1] In 2018, it looked like the tide was turning. A 64.55% super-majority of Florida voters approved Amendment 4, which restored the right to vote for…

By: Julia Potach, Volume 105 Staff Member On July 14, 2020, the federal government executed death row prisoner, Daniel Lewis Lee, and carried out its first federal execution in 17 years.[1] One year earlier, former Attorney General William Barr cleared the way for the government to resume executions when he directed the Federal Bureau of…

By Zach Krenz, Volume 105 Staffer The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) makes arbitration clauses enforceable. Section 2, which outlines the breadth of the Act, states that arbitration provisions in contracts “involving commerce . . . shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable. . . .”[1] Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act exempts certain categories of…

By: Mollie Wagoner, Vol. 105 Staff Member In the wake of the pandemic, Congress issued two rounds of payments, commonly referred to as stimulus checks, to a large swath of the American public in an attempt to offset the economic struggles caused by COVID. While on its face this seems like a relatively straightforward government…

By: Miriam Solomon, Volume 105 Staff Member  In B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District, the plaintiff, a sophomore in high school, was removed from the school cheerleading team after the team coaches learned of a post B.L. made on Snapchat. After participating on the school’s junior varsity cheerleading team during her freshman year, B.L. tried…

Brandie Burris, Volume 105 Staff Member and Incoming EIC for Volume 106 INTRODUCTION             Although elected officials and community leaders regularly celebrate Minnesota’s recognition as a leader in public education,[1] these awards and statements hide the true picture.[2] In reality, Minnesota’s public schools, even in “progressive” Minneapolis, continually fail Black, Brown, and Indigenous children.[3] Too…

By: Annika Beck, Volume 105 Staff Member The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a variety of antisocial behaviors, from profiteers filling warehouses with disinfectants[1] to tenants demanding sexual favors from clients who are behind on rent.[2] Now that COVID-19 vaccines are available for those at highest risk of infection, one more antisocial behavior must be added…