THE CONFEDERATE STAKES OF AMERICAN LAW: THE PARTISAN RISK TO THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT CLAUSE AND A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN THE MAKING
By: Jordan Boudreaux, Volume 107 Staff Member Article IV, Section 1 of the Constitution requires that “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other state.”[1] Conceptually, the Full Faith and Credit Clause (“the Clause” or “Article IV”) provides several functions—the Clause prevents…
Continue ReadingFREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS SIDEWALKS: SUPREME COURT MAY TAKE AIM AT FIRST AMENDMENT FORUM BALANCING TEST IN KEISTER
By: John M. Stack, Volume 107 Staff Member Keister v. Bell is the latest major case petitioned to the Supreme Court to confront classifying the status of a public forum for First Amendment purposes.[1] While the Court is unlikely to grant certiorari, if they do I predict that they will fundamentally alter forum categorization under…
Continue ReadingI (DON’T) KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT: THE DANGERS OF DEEPFAKES
By: Ryken Kreps, Vol. 107 Staff Member[1] Deepfakes are images, videos, or audio clips created by artificial intelligence that show people doing whatever the deepfake creator wants to show them doing with eerie accuracy.[2] Part I of this Post discusses the background of deepfakes and the recent controversy surrounding them. Part II is intended to…
Continue ReadingHABITABILITY DEFENSE ON THE FRITZ: RENT POSTING REQUIREMENTS AND CHALLENGES IN MINNESOTA
Lucy Dougherty, Volume 107 Staff Member When tenants face an eviction for non-payment of rent in Hennepin County, they may have an affirmative defense to the eviction action if the landlord has broken the covenant of habitability.[1] The covenant of habitability is a statutory right in Minnesota which requires landlords “maintain the premises in compliance…
Continue ReadingCLARITY AT A COST: HOW NEW REGULATIONS MAY PUT WELL-INTENTIONED GUN OWNERS AT RISK OF CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CHARGES
By: Nick Grossardt, Volume 107 Staff Member At the end of January 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) promulgated a final rule outlining a series of factoring criteria for regulating firearms with affixed “stabilizing braces.”[1] Various models of these braces had been evaluated by the BATFE’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division…
Continue ReadingKEEP ROLLING: AFTER PROVIDING AUTOMATIC EXPUNGEMENT FOR CERTAIN MARIJUANA OFFENSES MINNESOTA SHOULD ENACT AUTOMATIC EXPUNGEMENT FOR OTHER CRIMINAL RECORDS
By: Abby Ward, Volume 107 Staff Member The racially discriminatory impact from the War on Drugs is clear,[1] and while marijuana legalization is one step in addressing the inequities of America’s criminal justice system, the work does not end there. States should also enact broader expungement reforms. This 2023 session, Minnesota is likely going to…
Continue ReadingCALIBRATING THE SCOPE OF DISCLOSURE: PREVIEWING THE SUPREME COURT’S OPPORTUNITY TO CLARIFY PATENT LAW’S ENABLEMENT STANDARD
By: Maxwell H. Terry, Volume 107 Staff Member While the technical subject matter of a patent can grow inordinately complex, the predominant theory underlying patent law is relatively straightforward. In exchange for the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention claimed by a patent, the inventor must disclose the invention to…
Continue ReadingTHE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT: WHAT CUMMINGS MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF CIVIL RIGHTS
By: Amy Cohen, Volume 107 Staff Member In what seems like a never-ending string of catastrophic rulings implicating our nation’s future and individual rights,[1] about ten months ago the Supreme Court laid down a major decision altering the availability of remedies for civil rights claimants that has largely gone unnoticed by the public. When petitioner…
Continue ReadingA CONVERSATION WITH THE CHIEF: A MODERN REFLECTION ON THE HAPPINESS, HEALTH, AND ETHICS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION WITH CHIEF JUDGE PATRICK J. SCHILTZ
By: Katheryn Furlong, Volume 107 Staff Member Dear Law Student: I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the profession that you are about to enter is one of the most unhappy and unhealthy on the face of the earth–and, in the view of many, one of the most unethical. The…
Continue ReadingLIFE-OR-DEATH LEGALESE: THE EXECUTION OF MATTHEW REEVES AND THE DIRE CONSEQUENCES OF POORLY TARGETED LEGAL DRAFTING
By: Earl Lin, Volume 107 Staff Member It is a well-known phenomenon that lawyers often communicate in their own “peculiar language . . . characterized by antique jargon, pomposity, affected displays of precision, ponderous abstractions, and hocus-pocus incantations.”[1] Indeed, lawyers are so notorious for their clumsy writing that a whole cottage industry of gag gifts…
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