Greeting 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…
Continue ReadingThe Shale Oil and Gas Revolution, Hydraulic Fracturing, and Water Contamination: A Regulatory Strategy
By Thomas W. Merrill & David M. Schizer. Full text here. In the past decade, energy companies have learned to tap previously inaccessible oil and gas in shale and other impermeable rock formations with “hydraulic fracturing” (“fracturing” or “fracking”), pumping fluid at high pressure to crack the rock and release gas and oil trapped inside. This…
Continue ReadingThe Right to Quantitative Privacy
By David Gray and Danielle Citron. Full text here. We are at the cusp of a historic shift in our conceptions of the Fourth Amendment driven by dramatic advances in surveillance technology. Governments and their private sector agents continue to invest billions of dollars in massive data-mining projects, advanced analytics, fusion centers, and aerial drones, all…
Continue ReadingeHearsay
By Jeffrey Bellin. Full text here. This Article proposes a new “eHearsay” rule of evidence that will permit the admission, over a hearsay objection, of a broad spectrum of electronic out-of-court communications. The proposal builds on prior hearsay reform proposals, and also takes advantage of the fact that electronic statements are invariably recorded. Litigants’ ability to…
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