Articles, Essays, & Tributes
Green Gatekeepers
By LUCA ENRIQUES, ALESSANDRO ROMANO, AND ANDREW F. TUCH. Full Text. Products are routinely labeled “carbon neutral,” “recycled,” “biodegradable,” “ocean-friendly,” and “sustainable.” Bonds are marketed as “green” and mutual funds as “ESG,” while firms may pledge to become “net zero.” But are statements concerning environmental qualities reliable? It is often hard for consumers and investors…
Reconceptualizing “Background Principles” in Takings Law
By TIMOTHY M. MULVANEY. Full Text. Both libertarians and progressives rejoiced in the result reached by the Supreme Court in the 2023 matter of Tyler v. Hennepin County. This Article asserts that such unified celebration has overshadowed the extent to which the Supreme Court’s reasoning calls into question even our most foundational assumptions about the…
Taxing Sugar Babies
By BRIDGET J. CRAWFORD. Full Text. How people talk about tax reflects both personal beliefs and larger cultural attitudes. In many cases, whether and how a potential taxpayer understands their activities in tax terms may also reveal attitudes about themselves and the value that society assigns to those activities. This Article examines how sugar daddies…
Not-So-Special Solicitude
By KATHERINE MIMS CROCKER. Full Text. In a high-profile 2023 case about state standing to sue in federal court, Justice Gorsuch deemed it “hard not to wonder why” the majority said “nothing about ‘special solicitude.’” The silence was indeed surprising, for in a landmark decision several years earlier, the Supreme Court had declared that states…
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
When Food Turns Deadly
WHEN FOOD TURNS DEADLY: CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR RESTAURATEURS THAT DISREGARD PATRONS FOOD ALLERGIES By: Taylor Gess, Volume 101 Staff Member On January 28, 2016, the mother of a five-year-old girl used Panera’s online ordering system to purchase a grilled cheese sandwich for her peanut-allergic daughter.[1]…
Elon Take the Wheel
ELON TAKE THE WHEEL: MAJOR CHALLENGES THAT AUTONOMOUS CARS WILL PRESENT TO THE LEGAL SYSTEM By: Stephen Maier, Volume 101 Staff Member In May 2016, 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving a Tesla Model S in “Autopilot mode” when a semi turned in front of him.[1]…
Re-Introducing “Stop and Frisk” or Revisiting It?
RE-INTRODUCING “STOP AND FRISK” OR REVISITING IT? By: Anabel Cassady, Volume 101 Staff Member On the evening of August 20, 2008, Leroy Downs was stopped by two plainclothes officers outside his home while making a phone call to a friend.[1] Downs was a black male…
DACA on the Docket
DACA ON THE DOCKET By: Nicholas R. Bednar, Volume 100 Lead Articles Editor [1] On December 9, 2016, Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin introduced the Bridge Act, which would provide temporary protection for undocumented children and young adults who have received immigration benefits under President…
Frozen Embryo Forum Shopping
FROZEN EMBRYO FORUM SHOPPING: HOW CONFLICTS OF LAW INHIBIT THE LAWSUIT AGAINST SOFIA VERGARA By: Joseph T. Janochoski, Volume 101 Staff Member In December 2016, actress Sofía Vergara[1] was named as the sole defendant in a Louisiana lawsuit filed by her own frozen embryos.[2] The…
Inclusive Communities and the Question of Impact
INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES AND THE QUESTION OF IMPACT: PRO-PLAINTIFF? By: Lauren Clatch, Volume 101 Staff Member In the summer of 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Texas Dep’t of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. regarding the viability of disparate impact claims under…
Phasing Out Private Prisons Is an Important Symbolic Gesture
PHASING OUT PRIVATE PRISONS IS AN IMPORTANT SYMBOLIC GESTURE By: Claire Williams, Volume 101 Staff Member On August 18th, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would begin to phase out its use of private prisons, “either declin[ing] to renew that contract or substantially…
Creeping on the Constitution
CREEPING ON THE CONSTITUTION: FIRST AMENDMENT IMPLICATIONS OF THE 2016 CLOWN CRAZE By: Bethany Davidson, Volume 101 Staff Member On August 24, 2016, the property manager of an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina posted a concerning letter on residents’ doors.[1] The letter addressed multiple…
Is Auer Deference on the Way Out?
IS AUER DEFERENCE ON THE WAY OUT? By: Trevor Matthews, Volume 101 Staff Member In Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand, later reaffirmed in Auer v. Robbins, the Supreme Court announced a deferential standard of review for agency rules which interpret binding notice and comment…
Helping Others Die
HELPING OTHERS DIE: COMPARING POLICIES IN BELGIUM TO THOSE IN THE U.S. By: Ellie Bastian, Volume 101 Staff Member In the opening scenes of the Italian film Miele a woman makes her monthly journey from Europe to a Mexican pharmacy to buy Lamputin, a drug…
