Articles, Essays, & Tributes
If Lived Experience Could Speak: A Method for Repairing Epistemic Violence in Law and the Legal Academy
BY TERRELL CARTER and RACHEL LÓPEZ. Full text. Terrell Carter grew up only a stone’s throw from Drexel University, the institution of higher learning where the other coauthor of this Article, Rachel López, would find her academic home years later. Even as a child, Terrell remembers feeling like other institutions that were miles away, like…
Informed Bystanders’ Duty to Warn
By GILAT J. BACHAR. Full text. Should bystanders with credible knowledge about prospective harm owe a duty of care to future victims? This urgent question comes up in various contexts, from former employers who withhold information about a serial harasser to data brokers who are silent about stalkers that track personal information. Under established common…
Lawyering in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
By JONATHAN H. CHOI, AMY B. MONAHAN, AND DANIEL SCHWARCZ. Full text. We conducted the first randomized controlled trial to study the effect of AI assistance on human legal analysis. We randomly assigned law school students to complete realistic legal tasks either with or without the assistance of GPT-4, tracking how long the students took…
Repurposed Energy
By ALEXANDRA B. KLASS & HANNAH WISEMAN. Full Text. Wildfires, weather extremes, and other conditions induced partially by climate change add urgency to the project of accelerating the clean energy transition from fossil fuels to zero-carbon energy infrastructure. Yet the hurdles to accomplishing such a massive industrial-scale transition are daunting. Indeed, large renewable energy generation…
Reconstruction, and the Unfulfilled Promise of Antitrust
By BENNETT CAPERS and GREGORY DAY. Full Text. Wealth inequality remains as wide, and as troubling, as it was a half-century ago. While scholars have offered various explanations, there is a contributor that has escaped serious scrutiny: state monopoly power. It is not just that there is a long history of states and municipalities using…
Notes
Definite Convictions: United States v. Alt and the Seventh Circuit’s Prohibition on Defining “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”
By SAMUEL BUISMAN. Full Text. The Seventh Circuit prohibits judges and attorneys from defining “beyond a reasonable doubt” to jurors. While United States v. Alt crystalized this prohibition in early 2023, the circuit has effectively banned definition of the phrase for much longer. Yet, a growing consensus of psychological research into the standard reveals that…
As Punishment for Arrests: Involuntary Servitude Under the Housekeeping Exception to the Thirteenth Amendment
By ELISSA BOWLING. Full Text. The Thirteenth Amendment reads: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Yet, in contemporary American jails and prisons, pretrial detainees have been forced to perform…
May Contain Peanuts, Eggs, and a “Natural” Solution: How to Challenge Food Manufacturers’ Harmful Use of Precautionary Allergen Labels
By JJ MARK. Full Text. Food allergies are one of the most pressing health issues of our time. Around thirty-three million Americans currently have food allergies, thirteen million of which are severe or life-threatening. These numbers continue to increase at alarming rates, with an estimated one in thirteen children being diagnosed with food allergies every…
Headnotes
Defining Common and Individual Issues in Class Actions: What a Reasonable Jury Could Do
Defining Common and Individual Issues in Class Actions: What a Reasonable Jury Could Do By Aaron D. Van Oort and John L. Rockenbach Full essay here. The distinction between common and individual issues is the single most important concept in the modern class action, and…
The Supreme Court’s Opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy Has the Potential To Be Extremely Destructive
The Supreme Court’s Opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy Has the Potential To Be Extremely Destructive By Richard J. Pierce, Jr. Full essay here. In this essay, Professor Pierce describes the legal framework within which the Supreme Court decided whether an agency could adjudicate a class…
Substance over Symbolism: Do We Need Benefit Corporation Laws?
BY CHENG-CHI (KIRIN) CHANG. Full essay here. Benefit corporation laws have gained traction as mechanisms to integrate societal and environmental objectives into business operations, yet they are arguably superfluous within the existing legal framework. The prevailing belief that corporations must prioritize shareholder wealth above all…
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
The Implications of Jennings v. Rodriguez on Immigration Detention Policy
The Implications of Jennings v. Rodriguez on Immigration Detention Policy By: Kelsey Lutz, Volume 103 Staff Member Alejandro Rodriguez, a Mexican citizen, came to the United States with his family as an infant.[1] He had been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for nearly twenty years…
Free to Drink Local?
Free to Drink Local? Supreme Court Will Decide Whether Liquor Retailer Durational Residency Requirements Are Valid By: Gina Tonn, Volume 103 Staff Member The maxim “Drink Local” is achievable for many beer and liquor connoisseurs these days.[1] But can state law require that consumers’ only option…
Proportional Representation
Proportional Representation: Ending Partisan Gerrymandering Without the Courts By: Aaron Stenz, Volume 103 Staff Member Representative democracy is as American as apple pie. It is enshrined in the foundational texts of our nation.[1] It is an abstract ideal and the functional foundation of our government, and…
Losing My Religion (and My Money)
Losing My Religion (and My Money): How the Church of Scientology Contractually Limits Its Ex-Members’ Ability to Fight the Church in Court By: Paige Papandrea, Volume 103 Staff Member The Church of Scientology enjoys an unsavory reputation with the general public, in part due to…
JUDICIAL RECUSAL IN THE POST-CITIZENS UNITED WORLD
JUDICIAL RECUSAL IN THE POST-CITIZENS UNITED WORLD By: Bryan Mette, Volume 103 Staff Member I. CITIZENS UNITED AND CAPERTON In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal limits on independent expenditures by corporations holding that it was unconstitutional under the First Amendment to prohibit political speech based…
ARE ALL DEFENDANTS “DEFENDANTS”?
ARE ALL DEFENDANTS “DEFENDANTS”? HOME DEPOT U.S.A., INC. V. JACKSON AND THE QUESTION OF THIRD-PARTY COUNTERCLAIM DEFENDANTS’ REMOVAL POWERS By: Travis Panneck, Volume 103 Staff Member The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to hear arguments in Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. v. Jackson.[1] The case has been described as “an…
Fourplex City
Fourplex City: Local Politics and Neighborhood Values By: Sarah Trautman, Volume 103 Staff Member In 2017, a super-liberal field of mayoral candidates split the Democratic-Farmer-Laborer party endorsement with vying platforms that each addressed affordable housing as a top issue.[1] Jacob Frey ultimately leveraged his track record…
Democratizing Democracy
Democratizing Democracy: A Private Right of Action Under the Help America Vote Act Would Improve Election Accuracy and Restore Voter Confidence By: Jack Davis, Volume 103 Staff Member Confidence that a person’s vote will be accurately and honestly recorded is confidence in democracy itself. The recount…
Men Fear False Allegations. Women Fear Sexual Misconduct, Assault, and Rape.
MEN FEAR FALSE ALLEGATIONS. WOMEN FEAR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, ASSAULT, AND RAPE. By: Jackie Fielding, Volume 103 Staff Member “Why do men feel threatened by women?” . . . “They’re afraid women will laugh at them.” . . . “Why do women feel threatened by men?”…
Hi, Fidelity
‘Hi, Fidelity’: States’ Rights to Control Faithless Electors By: Tim Lovett, Volume 103 Staff Member Introduction The 2016 election had the most faithless electors of any presidential election in modern American history, with seven electors casting votes for individuals different from the candidates who won…
