Law Commons^™

Will The Oecd’S Two-Pillar Solution Better The Global Economy?, Joon Young Lim

ERSJ Blog

There has been a massive tax competition among international society for the last couple of decades. Between 1985 and 2018, the global average statutory corporate tax rate fell from 49% to 24%. Some countries competed as tax havens and presented extremely low tax rates to foreign corporations which resulted in multinational enterprises (“MNEs”) shifting “close to 40%” of profits to tax havens. This raised concerns that such a trend is a “race to the bottom” where tax havens will have minimal tax revenue due to such low tax rates whereby MNEs pay less and less tax. During the same period, …

Discrimination In Incarceration: Incarcerated People Litigate To Witness The Solar Eclipse In New York, Mitchell Kevett

ERSJ Blog

The rights of incarcerated people have been historically overlooked and ignored in the United States, and this must change. It is critical for incarcerated people to be able to access and protect their rights because they are often exploited for free labor and receive little resources with which they can maintain their rights, which is part of what led the United Nations to issue a report finding that the United States has the “worst version of a racist criminal legal system.” Lawsuits and lobbying are two major means of expanding and protecting the rights of incarcerated people. In New York, …

Without Congressional Action, An 1873 Law Could Result In A National Abortion Ban, Hope Peraria

ERSJ Blog

On March 26, 2024, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine which involves Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) regulations of mifepristone, a drug that induces abortion. The case raises questions about the future of abortion access throughout the U.S. and, more broadly, the ability of courts to review and limit the FDA’s expert decision-making and regulating. During the oral arguments, two Justices were focused on a long-dormant law that could be used to ban abortion nationally with no action from congress: The Comstock Act.

This post was originally published on …

Assessing Standing In Fda V. Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine, Katie Negroni

ERSJ Blog

Last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. This case arose out of a challenge to the FDA’s authorization of mifepristone, one of the two drugs currently approved for use in medication abortions. The Supreme Court considered two issues: first, whether the respondents had Article III standing to challenge the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 actions with respect to mifepristone’s approved conditions of use, and second, whether the “FDA’s 2016 and 2021 actions were arbitrary and capricious.” In 2016, the FDA loosened restrictions around the authorization and use of mifepristone, including eliminating the requirement …

The Dormant Commerce Clause And The Dubious Constitutionality Of State Regulation Of Social Media, Charles Bachmann

ERSJ Blog

There is growing recognition in the medical community that social media applications are harmful to mental health, particularly for young people. Researchers have observed an inverse relationship between social media use and various measures of psychological well-being. The testimony of former Meta insiders like Frances Haugen and Arturo Béjar has brought the issue into the political mainstream, highlighting the fact that social media operators are aware of the harmful effects of their products. Although the exact mechanisms are still under study, the prevailing theories suggest that the very structure of social media applications promotes unhealthy, and potentially addictive, habits among …

Tenants’ Right To Counsel: Los Angeles Should Follow New York City’S Lead, Jacklyn Hadzicki

ERSJ Blog

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Are Frozen Embryos People Too? Unpacking The Alabama Supreme Court’S Controversial Ivf Ruling, Arielle Fetman

ERSJ Blog

In a landmark decision, the Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization (IVF) purposes qualify as embryos under the state’s anti-abortion laws. This ruling has profound implications for reproductive rights, reinvigorating discussion on the legal status of embryos. The cases at the center of this ruling involved three couples who brought wrongful death suits upon the accidental destruction of their frozen embryos at a fertility clinic. The court’s decision to classify these embryos as minor children, allowing parents to sue for their deaths, highlights the evolving legal landscape surrounding reproductive technologies.

This post was …

Kendra’S Law: The Troubling Reality Of Involuntary Assisted Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment In New York, Matt Donelian

ERSJ Blog

Mental health disorders are among the most formidable public health issues facing our world today. In New York, roughly one in ten individuals battles mental health issues severe enough to impede their functionality in critical domains of life such as work, education, and family. The journey to accessing essential mental health care is fraught with obstacles, including symptom-induced recognition barriers, societal stigmatization, and economic constraints—leading to a care paradigm that is both costly and exclusionary. Alarmingly, even the availability of care does not guarantee engagement as many individuals in need refuse to seek treatment.

This post was originally published on …

California Court Supports The End Of Free Passes In Sexual Harassment Claims, Emily Hall

ERSJ Blog

In response to the #MeToo movement, California took significant legislative steps in 2018 to address sexual harassment within the state. Specifically, the legislature passed Senate Bill No. 1300, which amended California’s Fair Housing and Employment Act to declare the state’s “intent with regard to application of the laws about harassment.” One particular enactment, § 12923, signified a concerted effort by California lawmakers to address the pervasive issue of workplace harassment and underscored the state's commitment to fostering environments free from harassment and discrimination. By explicitly declaring the legislative intent concerning the interpretation and enforcement of anti-harassment laws, the statute sought …

The Oregon Drug Battle: Is Measure 110 Making A Difference?, Olivia Cohen

ERSJ Blog

The Oregon Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, also known as Measure 110, was passed in November 2020 to address Oregon’s addiction and overdose problem. Measure 110 was designed to implement a more humane approach to handling drug addiction. While drug possession is typically charged as a misdemeanor, Oregon’s new law reduces the charge to a civil infraction. When the police observe an individual with a small amount of drugs, a citation and $100 fine is issued instead of an arrest. This fine can then be waived if the individual calls a support line and completes a “social service needs …

The Unwelcoming Bench: Understanding Hostile Architecture’S Potential Legal Issues, Jenna Rosenstein

ERSJ Blog

On January 12, 2024, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson to resolve the issue of whether an Oregon city’s regulation on public camping constitutes “cruel and unusual” punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The City of Grants Pass enacted three different ordinances that “prohibit sleeping on public sidewalks or streets and camping on streets, parks, or other publicly owned property.” If violated, the offender is “subject to civil citations and can be barred from entering a city park for 30 days. The challengers, three unhoused city residents, sought to block the …

Path To Progress: The Smarter Sentencing Act's Potential To Redefine U.S. Sentencing Norms, Emily K. Abrams

ERSJ Blog

Over the past fifty years, the United States has witnessed a staggering increase in its prison population. Between 1973 and 2009, the nation’s prison populations increased seven-fold, at one point growing at a rate of eight percent annually. According to 2023 estimates, roughly 1.9 million individuals were incarcerated in the United States. This stark reality has fueled national discourse on the issue of mass incarceration and contributing policies such as sentencing practices. One such sentencing practice that impacts mass incarceration is statutory mandatory minimums.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice website …

Banning Trans Student-Athletes Won't "Save Women's Sports", Laura Tierney

ERSJ Blog

In the past few years, a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has been passed in the House of Representatives and state legislatures. As of February 2024, twenty-five states have laws or regulations which ban “transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.” With deceiving names like the “Save Women’s Sports Act” and the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023,” these laws discriminate against trans student-athletes, purportedly in the name of fairness and women’s empowerment .The stark reality is that these bills do nothing to cultivate fairness and safety for student-athletes and do not further …

Can The Ada Protect Persons With Disabilities In Their Ability To Get To Work?, Jack Gatcliffe

ERSJ Blog

James Kimmons worked at a Charter Communications call center. He suffered cataracts in both eyes, which made it difficult to drive in the dark. Kimmons requested a modification to his work schedule, seeking permission to work earlier hours so he could commute home in the daylight. Notably, the work-schedule accommodation Kimmons sought is one that many other Americans may need, as 22.8% of all working age adults are considered accommodation-sensitive and 47% to 58% “of those who would actually benefit from a workplace accommodation do not receive one.” His employer granted his request for a short period of time but …

The Irs Audits An Easy Target — The Poor, George Galan

ERSJ Blog

In 2018, Natassia Smick and her husband filed their income tax return showing earnings of about $33,000. They expected a refund, $2,000 of which is attributed to the Earned Income Tax Credit. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a tax credit “for working people with low and moderate incomes. It boosts the incomes of workers paid low wages while offsetting federal payroll and income taxes.” The EITC aims to reduce poverty, and in 2018, the credit “lifted about 5.6 million people above the poverty line.” Smick, like many other families, relied on her tax refund to help pay her …

A Band-Aid Solution: New York's Proposal To Address The Maternal Health Crisis, Emily Glazier

ERSJ Blog

A pregnancy-related death is a death “that occur[s] within one year of pregnancy.” In the United States, approximately 700 women die each year as a result of pregnancy or pregnancy-related complications. Notably, pregnancy-related mortality rates are significantly higher for Black and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women. Even in the face of high income levels, Black women in America face a disproportionately higher risk of pregnancy-related death. In New York, such disparities are even more prominent: Black women are “over four times more likely to die from childbirth-related complications.” In New York City, Black women are “nine times more …

How Summary Eviction Proceedings Fail Individuals Facing Housing Discrimination, Katherine Alonzo

ERSJ Blog

Every year, over three million American households are threatened with eviction from their homes. The consequences of eviction are “dire” and affect “every facet of life” that go beyond someone’s physical safety and livelihood. For instance, evictions may leave people unhoused, “[fracture] the integrity of their families, [crush] their livelihoods, [damage] their mental and physical health and their safety, [deprive] them of their place in community and, ultimately, [tear] apart the fabric of their communities.” While Americans of all backgrounds face evictions, there are often large racial, ethnic, and gender disparities among those who face eviction with Black Americans, women, …

My Body, My Data: California's Attempt To Protect Reproductive And Fertility Data, Yeniliz Peguero

ERSJ Blog

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs that there is no constitutional right to an abortion, many became concerned about data collected by fertility and menstrual cycle apps. Specifically, users, privacy experts, and even legislators feared that data collected by these apps “could provide a deep well of evidence for states seeking to track and potentially arrest anyone seeking or receiving an abortion. Katharine Kemp’s analysis of twelve popular fertility apps within the United States and abroad revealed the unsafe data practices of some of these apps. These apps allow users to log information including when they had sex, if …

A Broken System: How New York City Is Failing Transgender Inmates, Skylar Corby

ERSJ Blog

In June 2019, Layleen Polanco, a transgender woman awaiting trial at Rikers Island because she could not afford $500 bail, was found dead in her solitary confinement cell. After an investigation that took an extensive period of time and external pressure to complete, New York City’s Board of Correction found that Polanco died from an epileptic seizure, which corrections officers entirely missed due to their neglect and lack of properly timed monitoring checks. This prompted public outrage and a wave of protests surrounding not only Polanco’s death, but also the extreme levels of violence faced by trans women, especially those …

The Urgent Issue Of Suicide In Nyc Jails, Kathleen Leuty

ERSJ Blog

Half of the people currently detained in New York City jails have a mental health diagnosis. Since 2020, the number of incarcerated people with a serious mental illness in New York City jails has nearly doubled—from 672 to 1,207 people. The medical support offered to those in jail suffering from mental illness, however, has not seen corresponding growth. The number of medical appointments missed by those incarcerated in New York City is staggering: “the monthly number of missed medical visits has spiked by 21%, from 9,259 in August 2022 to 11,176 in June 2023, outpacing growth in the jail population.” …

The Roe Repeal Behind Bars: Prison Pregnancies In A Post-Dobbs World, Hani Fish-Bieler

ERSJ Blog

165,000 women are estimated to be incarcerated in the United States. These are disproportionately women of color, as Black women are incarcerated at a rate two times higher than that of white women. Around 58,000 pregnant individuals are processed into jails, prisons, and other detention facilities in the United States every year. Approximately 6 to 10 percent of women are pregnant when they enter prison or jail, and about 1400 newborns are born to women in custody. This population has been and will continue to face the challenging effects of the Supreme Court’s 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade in …

Does Speaker Johnson's Election Forewarn Federal Anti-Lgbt Legislation?, Gerald Dryden

ERSJ Blog

On October 25, 2023, fourth-term Representative of Louisiana Mike Johnson was elected Speaker of the House. Within three weeks, he laid the groundwork to avoid the feared projected partial government shut down. So why does Johnson consistently score a zero on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard? The answer has long caused controversy: Speaker Johnson is ardently anti-LGBTQ+.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice website on November 17, 2023. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

The Uncertain State Of Navajo Water Rights After Arizona V. Navajo Nation, Ezra Littlewood

ERSJ Blog

Between 30-40% of Navajo households lack access to running water, and many households haul water from communal wells, which is expensive and time-consuming. Navajos use approximately one-tenth as much water as the average American household. To this day, the Navajo Nation has been unable to get its water rights quantified and converted into usable water for its citizens despite the Navajo Reservation’s founding treaty implicitly reserving “necessary water to accomplish the purpose of the Navajo Nation.”

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice website on November 9, 2023. The original post can …

Maine's Right To Food: A Symbolic Right Or A Practical Right?, Tess Bedingfield

ERSJ Blog

In November 2021, Maine became the first U.S. state to adopt a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to food. The amendment passed by a wide, bipartisan margin of 61% to 31% and states that "[a]ll individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing." Although many states have protected constitutional rights to hunt, fish, and farm, Maine’s constitutional amendment is the first to adopt such broad language enshrining food as an unalienable right. Prior to …

The United States Must Do More To Protect Immigrants From Legal Fraud, Olivia Hendelman

ERSJ Blog

Earlier this month, counsel for Fareed Heera filed a complaint seeking review of his permanent residence (i.e. green card) application, on the grounds that Heera was victimized by his attorneys. The federal government denied Heera’s application due to fraud and misrepresentation. Heera’s counsel argues that law firms deceived Heera on two separate occasions when they filed petitions containing factual misrepresentations of which Heera was not aware. The complaint further explains that Heera did not intend to commit fraud by using misrepresentations; rather, he was preyed upon when relying on his attorneys to navigate a legal process unfamiliar to him. Ultimately, …

The Importance Of Fair Vetting Procedures For Iranian Refugees, Andrea Shahrabani

ERSJ Blog

Iranians seeking refuge in America endure excessive vetting procedures which have become even more challenging in recent years, particularly under the Trump Administration. Fair vetting practices are critical in light of the current political climate in Iran. Under U.S. law, a refugee is someone who is located outside of the United States and has a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Iranians have grappled with political turmoil and oppression for over four decades which has significantly affected their ability to emigrate to the United States. Recent events have …

It’S Legal But Is It Harmful? Marijuana Education Needs A Major Boost, Avi Kiel

ERSJ Blog

Throughout the country, states are changing their marijuana laws at a dizzying pace. New York legalized recreational marijuana for those over 21 in March 2021, positioning itself to become one of the largest markets of legal cannabis in the nation. Missouri citizens voted to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2022, Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana in May 2023, and Ohio citizens will vote this November whether the state should follow this strong trend. It seems like Pennsylvania is on track to permit adult-use cannabis, with Democrats taking control of the state legislature and Governor Shapiro signaling …

The Failing Prison Health Care System: Texas Policy Decides That Chewing Is Not A Medical Necessity, Adeline Beattie

ERSJ Blog

The United States has the highest number of incarcerated people in the world, accounting for roughly 25% of the world's total population. Texas leads the country for total number of incarcerated individuals in a U.S. state, with 133,772 incarcerated individuals as of 2021. The American prison system acts as a magnifying glass, highlighting how egregious the consequences of America’s failing late-stage capitalist institutions can be. Perhaps one of the more glaring examples of America’s institutional failure is the prison healthcare system. Every year that a person spends in prison cuts down their life expectancy by two years. Hundreds of incarcerated …

The Legal Implications Of Anti-Lgbtq+ Curriculum Laws, Isabel Ortega-Romero

ERSJ Blog

Last March 2022, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis passed and enacted the Parental Rights in Education Act, which then became known as the infamous “Don't Say Gay” bill. The bill bans instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity “before the 4th grade and requires such instruction to be ‘age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The language of the bill itself is vague and broad and doesn’t provide clarity about the law’s compliance with non-discrimination and first amendment rights. Critics argue that the statute doesn’t define the meaning of “classroom instruction” or what constitutes “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate” instruction, which leaves questions regarding the …

Spendthrift Trusts: The Tension Between Testamentary Freedom And Public Policy Concerns, Hailey Dobin Reichel

ERSJ Blog

In 1875, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Miller delivered the opinion of the court in a case pertaining to the construction of a woman’s trust created for her children. The matter focused on a provision in the testamentary trust that stated that the trust would terminate with respect to a son’s interest if he were to go bankrupt or insolvent, and that the resulting funds were to be collected by the trustees. Despite arguments presented to the court about how this inclusion acted as an attempt to evade notions of bankruptcy law, Justice Miller upheld the provision of the trust.

This …