Articles, Essays, & Tributes
Major-Questions Lenity
By JOEL S. JOHNSON. Full Text. Both the historic rule of lenity and the new major questions doctrine rest on a fundamental commitment to the separation of powers for important policy questions. In light of that shared justification, the logic of the major questions doctrine in the administrative-law context has much to offer lenity in…
The Economic Structure of Trade Secret Law
By TUN-JEN CHIANG. Full Text. The standard economic account of trade secret law focuses on providing incentives for creating new inventions. The incentive-to-invent theory, however, provides little explanation for why the key doctrinal features of trade secret law are structured the way that they are. For example, providing ex ante incentives to invent does not…
Insurers as Contract Influencers
By DAVID A. HOFFMAN & RICK SWEDLOFF. Full Text. Contract boilerplate degrading consumers’ litigation options is omnipresent, but a little mysterious. And that’s not just because no one reads it. We know that terms mandating arbitration, exculpating liability, requiring individualized litigation, and shifting risk have proliferated in the last generation. But consumer contracts’ production and…
Notes
Exempt but Not Immune: Why the Section 501(c)(3) Tax Exemption Amounts to Federal Financial Assistance and Demands that Private Schools Comply with Title IX
By ELLEN BART. Full Text. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance and ensures that federal funds are not used to support discriminatory practices. Independent, non-public, educational institutions try to escape compliance with Title…
Pressing Charges: Criminal Fees and the Excessive Fines Clause
By ANNEMARIE FOY. Full Text. Millions of people owe money to the government as a consequence of a criminal charge. But while some of that debt is tied to fines or restitution, much of it is levied as fees, or payments owed to the government for the administration of a defendant’s criminal proceedings. Criminal fees…
Immigration, Federalism, and the Invasion Clauses: Who Has a Seat at the Table in Disputes Over the State Power to Repel “Immigrant Invaders”
By MEGAN NIEMITALO. Full Text. In Arizona v. United States, the Supreme Court famously invalidated an Arizona statute that criminalized immigration violations and empowered state officials to enforce immigration law. Arizona seemed to settle the issue of whether states can regulate immigration for the following decade. In the last year, however, questions around the division…
Headnotes
Volume 110: Fall Issue
Exceptional Cases
By EMILY CAUBLE. Full Text.
Machine Gun Funk: The Unusual Analysis of “Dangerous and Unusual”
By GREGORY S. PARKS & VIVIAN BOLEN. Full Text.
Nipping it in the Bud: The Promise and Perils of Tort Litigation in Addressing the Health Harms of High-THC Products
By REBEKAH NINAN. Full Text.
Volume 108: Symposium Supplement
Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.
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…
