Law Commons^™

Tattoo Recognition Technology Is Gaining Acceptance As A Crime-Solving Technique, Samuel D. Hodge, Jr., John Meehan

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Tattoos offer a wealth of information gleaned through a simple visual examination. This visualization can help police evaluate the tattoo’s location, design, colors, and any other physical characteristics to identify the person captured on video surveillance. Tattoos are also helpful in identifying a corpse where more traditional tools such as facial features or fingerprints are unsuitable. Conventional databases, such as fingerprints, facial images, DNA profiles, and dental records, are of limited use if the victim or culprit does not have a profile on record. A person’s tattoos, however, are frequently recognized by many people, whether a family member, acquaintance, co-worker, …

The Case For The Inclusion Of Employee Relations Matters In Mandatory Disclosure And Reporting Requirements For Public Corporations, Derek J. Illar

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Public companies have no obligation to disclose and to report matters that pertain to equality in the workplace, the payment of wages and benefits, and health and safety issues—“employee relations matters”—under the current statutory and regulatory framework for the capital markets. The absence of this obligation significantly and glaringly handicaps shareholders and other market participants insofar as they are investing in public companies with a limited and distorted understanding of their operations that belies the historical and analytical justifications for mandatory disclosures and reporting. This Article posits that public corporations should publish information about employee relations matters because certain disclosure …

The Helms-Burton Act Backfires: Surprising Litigation Trends Following Title Iii’S Long-Feared Activation, Gergana S. Sivrieva

Northern Illinois University Law Review

On May 2, 2019, the Trump Administration made the historic decision to lift the suspension of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act for the first time since its enactment in 1996. Title III allows US nationals whose property was confiscated by the Cuban government to sue entities and individuals who now “traffic” in that property. Legal scholars believed this activation would trigger an avalanche of lawsuits; however, after two years of the law’s operation, only forty-some suits were filed, many by the same plaintiffs. Even more surprising is that instead of exposing foreign corporations that derive substantial benefits from the …

Comment: Online And Off-Label: Closing The Regulatory Gap In Online Direct-To-Consumer Drug Promotion And Prescribing, Kristina L. Bitzer

Northern Illinois University Law Review

The advent of telemedicine led to an evolution in healthcare delivery, making it possible for healthcare professionals to provide remote patient care, thus minimizing or eliminating the need for the patient to visit a physician’s office. Recently, online telemedicine has gained significant popularity, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Comment focuses upon online direct-to-consumer telemedicine platforms and their modern usage as one-stop-shops for acquisition of medical advice and medication. Specifically, this Comment explores prescription promotion and prescribing as done through these platforms with a special examination of off-label prescriptions. Several modern online direct-to-consumer telemedicine platforms offer prescription medications …

Illinois Childcare Parentage Law (R)Evolution, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

State childcare parentage laws, that is, laws designating parents for custody, visitation, parental responsibility allocation, parental decisionmaking and/or support purposes, have evolved dramatically in the past half century. The (r)evolution is due to major changes in both reproductive technologies and human conduct. Yet the (r)evolution is incomplete.

The (r)evolution is especially incomplete in Illinois. Recent statutory amendments in Illinois chiefly reflect the work of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in its 2000 model Uniform Parentage Act, not its 2017 Uniform Parentage Act. The latter better addresses the effects on childcare parentage of the changes in …

Plea Bargaining For The People, Daniel S. Mcconkie Jr.

College of Law Faculty Publications

Our criminal justice system must be democratic enough to allow for significant citizen participation. Unfortunately, our current system cuts the people out. Instead of juries, plea bargaining professionals like prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges decide most cases. Plea bargaining does efficiently process cases but, in addition to its well-known coercive aspects that warp case outcomes, ignores what I call “criminal justice citizenship.” This refers to the people’s privilege to participate on an equal basis in the criminal justice system. That participation strengthens our democracy, shores up the legitimacy of the system, and helps to ensure that the system, within constitutional …

No Consensus: Patchwork Remedies And The Health Crisis Linked To Ethylene Oxide Medical Sterilization Facilities, Staci L. Vazquez

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This article strives to provide an overview of the environmental health crisis surrounding medical sterilization facilities and examine the variety or “patchwork” of legal solutions involved. Part II of the article will discuss the dangers of ethylene oxide (EtO), how it is used for sterilization of medical equipment, and the health impacts that occur when emissions of the chemical are released into communities. Part III will explain how ethylene oxide is regulated, as well as the framework of federal, state, and local regulations. Part IV will demonstrate what happens when these mechanisms fail by discussing a recent environmental health crisis …

A History Of Elector Discretion – Part Two, Michael L. Rosin

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In its opinion in Chiafalo v. Washington, the Supreme Court disposes of the actual history of elector discretion as too inconsequential to merit its serious analysis. A history of elector discretion not only includes a history of the electors who exercised discretion when casting electoral votes, it also includes a history of commentary on the role of electors as the Constitution was created and, more importantly, as Congress was attempting to amend it. The Court almost completely ignores this history. When Congress crafted the Twelfth Amendment in 1803 it recognized that “the right of choice [of president] […] devolve[s] upon” …

Stepping Towards Justice: The Case For The Illinois Constitution Requiring More Protection Than Not Falling Below “Cruel And Unusual” Punishment, Andrea D. Lyon, Hannah J. Brooks

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In these tumultuous times, when our nation is trying to not only navigate a global pandemic, but also actually reckon with its long history of institutional racism, mass incarceration, and devastation of poor communities and communities of color, the cry for criminal justice reform is loud and getting louder, particularly regarding sentencing, and it is time for Illinois to require its courts to commit to doing more in accordance with our constitution. In this article, the authors examine the legislative and constitutional history of Illinois, the effects of a series of recent decisions made in the context of the sentencing …

Sanctuary Cities And Counties For The Unborn: The Use Of Resolution And Ordinances To Restrict Abortion Access, Jennifer L. Brinkley

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Santa Rosa County in Florida is the first county in Florida to be designated as a pro-life sanctuary. Florida joins other states--including Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, and Utah--in passing resolutions and ordinances declaring localities as sanctuaries for the unborn. Some localities declare life begins at conception, ban abortion services (including access to emergency contraception), classify abortion as murder with malice aforethought, label pro-choice organizations as criminal enterprises, and create civil causes of action against abortion providers and those who assist women in obtaining an abortion. Most of the localities that have enacted the ordinances and resolutions have small …

From Video Gaming To Underage Gambling: Illinois’S Options In Addressing The New Loot Box Monetization Model, Katlin D. Kiefer

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This Comment proposes that loot boxes should be regulated as gambling within the United States, particularly in Illinois. Part I provides a factual background and history on the practice of loot boxes. Part II sets forth the legal precedent of gambling in the United States overall and then in Illinois specifically. Part III covers the current case law that exists around loot box adjacent mechanics and summarizes the general court perspective on the matter. Part IV proposes that courts interpret the contents of loot boxes to be “things of value” within the meaning of most gambling statutes as a means …

The Constitutional Limits On Custodial And Support Parentage By Consent, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

Prompted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws through its Uniform Parentage Acts, and by the American Law Institute through its Family Dissolution Principles and its Restatement Draft on Children and the Law, recently U.S. state legislators and judges have spurred a revolution in parentage laws. In particular, lawmakers have expanded parental custody opportunities and parental support obligations for those without biological (actual or presumed) or formal adoptive ties by recognizing ever-increasing forms of legal parentage by consent. Lawmakers have revolutionized parentage in some startling ways, as by deeming women to be parents under written paternity laws …

Burnout Doesn't Frighten Me, Meredith A.G. Stange

College of Law Faculty Publications

This past semester we all taught during an unprecedented worst-case scenario, moving our courses online at the literal drop of a hat. Although I know my experience is not unique, from March to the end of the semester in May, I felt like I was just treading water. I realized that feeling unsure of myself, feeling disconnected from my students, and feeling like I was just treading water really was not me. In fact, I had not felt this way in the classroom since my first few years of teaching. Those were days I did not want to revisit because, …

How The Biden Administration Can Empower Local Climate Action, Sarah Fox

College of Law Faculty Publications

The Biden Administration entered office amid a flurry of executive orders and announcements, no small part of which focused on environmental actions. More specifically, the Administration entered with the stated intention of addressing the climate crisis through a variety of measures that include executive action as well as possible federal legislation. For the federal government to be focused on climate action for the first time in four years is an unequivocally positive change. However, the Biden Administration will certainly encounter many roadblocks to fast action, including delays inherent in regulatory rollback and rulemakings, political hurdles and expenditure of political capital …

Nongendered Childcare Parentage, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

In the United States today, self-identified women increasingly can become childcare parents without giving birth, without genetic ties, and without formal adoption. Self-identified men increasingly can become childcare parents without marriages to those giving birth, without genetic ties, and without formal adoption. Furthermore, legal parentage more frequently arises other than at birth. Parentage under current law can be founded on preconception acts, on acts occurring during another person's pregnancy, and on acts occurring long after birth to another. Further, parenthood is becoming available to those whose gender self-identity changes and to those who do not gender identify. With the (r)evolution …

Innocent Losses Of Constitutional Rights, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

Some individuals innocently lose constitutional rights, both substantive and procedural, both enumerated and unenumerated, both fundamental and nonfundamental. One can also innocently lose non-constitutional rights. Innocent losses occur when individuals lose rights though they have not acted in any way to prompt such losses as by acting through direct or implicit waivers, in apparent ways, or through agents. Findings of compelling state interests, rationality, or other sufficient government justifications do not accompany innocent losses

This Article begins by demonstrating how the courts have sanctioned innocent losses of varying rights. It reviews, by way of example, the common authority doctrine in …

Global Legal Ethics And Corporate Social Responsibility: Where’S The Beef?, Heidi L. Frostestad

College of Law Faculty Publications

This Article identifies the newer global soft law norms in international business transactions and unique synergies between cultural competency and corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) for corporate lawyers. With the advent of widespread and varied corporate human rights abuses in various contexts, the international community has struggled with appropriate responses to deter harmful corporate action. The United States and its corporate actors are subject to hard U.S. laws, such as those federal and state laws attempting to prevent international human trafficking, environmental harm, use of underage workers, and foreign corrupt practices. This Article provides an overview of the global epidemic of …

The Missing Indian Affairs Clause, Lorianne Updike Toler

College of Law Faculty Publications

Congressional plenary power over Native Americans sits in direct conflict with tribal sovereignty. Scholarship and case law justifying plenary power run the gamut from finding an expansive preconstitutional federal plenary power over Native Americans to narrowly reading the Indian Commerce Clause to limit congressional power to trade alone. All claim historical legitimacy, but none has been able to explain why the Indian Affairs Clause from the Articles of Confederation failed to appear in the Constitution or, conversely, why the new federal government never limited itself to regulating Indian trade. The combination of the unexplained textual shrinkage and disharmony between text …

Why Localizing Climate Federalism Matters (Even) During A Biden Administration, Sarah Fox

College of Law Faculty Publications

After four years of a Trump Administration hostile to action on climate change, the United States is now under the leadership of the Biden Administration, which acknowledges the scope of the global climate crisis and has a number of proposals for addressing it. For now, the Democratic par-ty also controls both houses of Congress. All of that is good news for progress on climate change. It does not mean, however, that the federal government will be immediately poised to solve the climate challenge. First of all, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to continue to occupy a tremendous share of federal …