Articles, Essays, & Tributes
States as Shields
By LINDSAY F. WILEY. Full Text. State laws that aim to shield providers of reproductive health and gender-affirming care from the punitive actions of out-of-state officials raise thorny questions. Can the federal courts, Congress, or the Trump Administration require New York officials to enforce a Texas ban on abortion or gender-affirming care against a New…
AI Companions and the Lessons of Family Law
By CLARE HUNTINGTON. Full Text. Virtual friends and lovers powered by artificial intelligence are rapidly moving to the center of our emotional and social lives. Millions of people turn to AI companions every day for conversation, romance, sexual intimacy, therapy, and education. AI companionship holds promise, potentially reducing loneliness, supporting people without access to mental…
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Comparative Constitutional Analysis of Whistleblowing Speech, the Government’s Managerial Domain, and the Imperatives of Democratic Self-Government
By RONALD J. KROTOSZYNSKI, JR. Full Text. Since issuing its 1968 landmark decision in Pickering, which first recognized that the First Amendment protects government employees’ speech about matters of public concern, the U.S. Supreme Court has proceeded to whittle away First Amendment protections for government employees. The Justices have done so by adopting a series…
Securitizing the University
By MARYAM JAMSHIDI. Full Text. Since October 7, 2023, public and private actors have doubled down on efforts to securitize the American university. In large part, these initiatives aim to quash a vocal pro-Palestine movement that has become highly visible across U.S. campuses since October 7th. In targeting this group, these efforts have variously treated…
Notes
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Headnotes
Commodification, Precarity, and Identity: A Review of Professor Bridget Crawford’s Taxing Sugar Babies
By TESSA DAVIS. Full text.
The Liminality of Transactional Relationships
By VICTORIA J. HANEMAN. Full Text.
Tax Talk and Taxing Sugar Babies
By BLAINE G. SAITO. Full Text.
John Roberts’ Supreme Court: The Triumph of Partisanship and Ideology Over Precedent
By DAVID SCHULTZ & JACOB BOURGAULT. Full Text.
Critical Curriculum Design: Teaching Law in an Age of Rising Authoritarianism
By RACHEL LÓPEZ. Full Text.
A Great American Gun Myth: Race and the Naming of the “Saturday Night Special”
By Jennifer L. Behrens and Joseph Blocher. Full Text. At a time when Second Amendment doctrine has taken a strongly historical turn and gun rights advocates have increasingly argued that gun regulation itself is historically racist, it is especially important that historical claims about race…
Refining the Dangerousness Standard in Felon Disarmament
By Jamie G. McWilliam. Full Text. To some, 18 U.S.C. 922(g) is a necessary safeguard that keeps guns out of the hands of dangerous persons. To others, it strips classes of non-violent people of their natural and constitutional rights. This statute makes it a crime…
“Proven” Safety Regulations: Massachusetts 1805 Proving Law As Historical Analogue for Modern Gun Safety Laws
By Billy Clark. Full Text. Concerned by the public health threats posed by certain firearms, the Massachusetts legislature enacts a law to set safety standards for firearms in the Commonwealth. Firearm dealers across the State, including some of the leading manufacturers of the day, not…
Curbing Gun Violence Under PLCAA and Bruen: State Attorney General–Driven Solutions to the Surging Epidemic
By David Lamb. Full Text. At the same time that the deadly toll of gun violence continues to grow in the U.S., now taking nearly 50,000 lives per year, federal lawmakers and courts have increasingly constrained government authorities’ tools for fighting the epidemic. Pursuant to…
De Novo Blog
CHANGE THE SYSTEM, NOT THE WOMAN: ADDRESSING WORKPLACE INEQUITIES STEMMING FROM THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
By: Alyssa Shaw, Volume 109 Staff Member If the progress towards closing the gender wage gap continues on the trends of the last few years, women will not be compensated equally to men until at least 2067—over a century after the passage of the Equal…
HOW RFK’S RECENT COURT BATTLES TO GET ON (AND OFF) THE BALLOT EXEMPLIFY WHY A THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATE WILL NEVER WIN THE PRESIDENCY
By: Sophia Antonio, Volume 109 Staff Member Former presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK), dominated the summer news cycle with bizarre controversies. [1] RFK dropped out of the presidential race, where he ran as a third-party candidate, on August 23rd and endorsed former President…
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…
READY, 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]…
CONVENIENT 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…
THE 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…
SUPREME 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…
BETTING 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…
DE-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…
A 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…