Digital Commons Network^™

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The National Flood Insurance Program And Where We Go When The Next Storm Hits, Kevin Fitzpatrick

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

This article argues that what makes the difference in success between these two regimes is how strictly the scientific advice underlying catch limits the advice is adhered to, and the influences allowed unto decisionmakers in the catch limit negotiation process. Whereas the United States uses the scientific advice about the MSY as a strict upper limit in determining annual catch limits, the EU does not. This allows stakeholders in the EU’s CFP governance, in particular fishing industry actors, to influence regulators to raise TACs above adequately precautionary levels in the name of “balancing” sustainable fishing with short-term economic interests. The …

"Tac-Ing" On Coherence: Achieving Sustainable Baltic Sea Fisheries Management By Hooking Precautionary Science And Greater Transparency In Eu Total Catch Negotiations, Patrick Seroogy

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

This article argues that what makes the difference in success between these two regimes is how strictly the scientific advice underlying catch limits the advice is adhered to, and the influences allowed unto decisionmakers in the catch limit negotiation process. Whereas the United States uses the scientific advice about the MSY as a strict upper limit in determining annual catch limits, the EU does not. This allows stakeholders in the EU’s CFP governance, in particular fishing industry actors, to influence regulators to raise TACs above adequately precautionary levels in the name of “balancing” sustainable fishing with short-term economic interests. The …

Alaska's Hidden Gems: Advocating For The Protection Of Deep-Sea Corals, Both In The Courtroom And Beyond, Lauren Beizer

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Coral reefs are ecologically, financially, and aesthetically one of the world’s greatest resources. Off the coast of Alaska, many unique species of deep-sea cold-water corals exist and provide various public health benefits, contribute vital ecosystem functions to their surrounding environment, and serve as economic tourist attractions. Alaska’s corals reefs are exceedingly valuable to the earth due to their overall ecological value. However, these unique coral species significantly lack state and federal protections–which have recently been under consideration in several lawsuits at the federal level. American Oceans Campaign v. Daley and Oceana, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service et al., are …

From Vulnerability To Justice: Reframing Indigenous Disaster Recovery Through A Human Rights-Based Lens, Portia Ozioma Chigbu

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Indigenous populations regard their cultural identity as central to their way of life, and their traditional lifestyles often place them in remote areas, isolating them from mainstream society. This isolation creates a unique set of human rights challenges, such as limited access to healthcare, restricted political representation, housing insecurity, and poor living conditions, making them especially vulnerable compared to other groups. In the context of climate change and the rising frequency of natural disasters worldwide, these vulnerabilities become more protracted and intensified. Since Indigenous populations already face structural disadvantages before disasters strike, such events deepen their vulnerabilities, increase their risk …

Editorial, Olivier Moreteau

Journal of Civil Law Studies

For the first time since the pandemic, the Journal of Civil Law Studies returns to publishing two issues per year, enabling faster publication.

Complete V. 18.1

Journal of Civil Law Studies

Complete Issue

Sustainable Solutions For Food Security In Djibouti: A Renewable Energy Initiative, Michaëlle Arielle Kouakep Tsoh, Tsoh Ekassi Gilbert, Thierry Césaire Kenmogne, Brice Pinga Tcheugoué, Justin Kouamo

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

According to the World Bank Group, East African countries have fragile food systems and low agricultural production. Djibouti is among the most undernourished countries in Africa and is severely affected by freshwater scarcity. Households regularly face climatic shocks and high electricity costs. This literature review characterizes Djibouti’s food systems and food security situation, identifies and analyzes renewable energy technologies implemented to improve food security in the local context, and presents renewable technologies as sustainable solutions to food insecurity. The results show that rural households are more likely to be food insecure and that the Djiboutian government promotes sustainable energy solutions. …

Reconfiguring Civil Society Organization Governance Models For Social Inclusion And Sustainable Innovation: Practical Contributions Of The Tamuri Programme, Oussama El Hadfi, Mostafa Kharbachi

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

Today, civil society organizations (CSOs) play a decisive role in promoting social innovation and reducing inequalities, particularly in disadvantaged territories. Aware of their potential, several support and guidance schemes have emerged to strengthen their impact. The Tamuri programme, led by the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (MCISE) and co-funded by the European Union, is part of this dynamic through structured and personalized support for CSOs from diverse territorial contexts. Despite these efforts, many organizations still face difficulties related to governance, financial structuring and the sustainability of their actions. This article aims to analyze, through an empirical approach and …

Trial By Fire: Disaster Justice And Lessons Learned, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

Disaster Justice reflects the intersection of environmental justice and disaster law. The study of disaster justice is becoming increasingly essential as disasters become more frequent and devastating in the face of accelerating climate change. Disaster law is marked by statutes such as the federal Stafford Act and by theory such as the “disaster cycle” of readiness, response, and recovery. Environmental justice recognizes that the distribution of harms such as bad air or water quality may be distributed inequitably among groups such as low-income populations or racial minorities. In similar fashion, the adverse impacts of disasters may also be distributed inequitably …

Made In America, Hidden By Ai: Ai Shopping Chatbots Reveal How Amazon And Walmart Hurt American Manufacturers And Deceive Shoppers, Erie Meyer, Zachary Harris

Center for Law and the Economy

This article investigates the capabilities of two AI shopping agents — Alexa for Shopping and Sparky, operated by Amazon and Walmart respectively — to identify country of origin for products on their respective platforms and flag potential “Made in USA” misrepresentations — where products with “Made in USA” in their title or listing have another country or “imported” listed as their country of origin. This article finds that (1) Amazon and Walmart have the technical capability to detect and flag “Made in USA” fraud; (2) “Made in USA” fraud appears to be common on both Amazon and Walmart; (3) Amazon …

Table Of Contents

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reimagining International Investment Law For The Age Of Minerals, Taylor Nchako

Washington and Lee Law Review

New technologies––from artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles to medical devices and consumer electronics––demand an ever-increasing amount of minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper. The United States requires these aptly named “critical” minerals to develop AI infrastructure, advance the clean energy transition, and remain economically competitive. As technology continues to advance at an astonishing pace, the U.S. has grown increasingly interested in securing critical minerals from sources in Africa. To obtain critical minerals, the U.S. must utilize investment treaties in its business dealings with African countries. At the same time, international investment law has garnered increased attention due to a …

Fur, Feathers, And Frameworks: The Federal Legal Landscape Of Animal Welfare In The United States And Switzerland, Michael Melch

Washington and Lee Law Review

The United States relies on a predominantly utilitarian, welfarist framework that regulates certain uses of animals while preserving their status as property. Switzerland embeds the concept of animal dignity in its constitutional and statutory law, formally recognizing animals as beings with intrinsic worth. This foundational divergence produces significant doctrinal and practical differences, including the breadth of species covered, the structure of legal obligations, and the normative goals of regulation.

This Note provides a comparative analysis of animal welfare laws in the United States and Switzerland, exploring their philosophical, legal, and practical dimensions. It examines the U.S.’s utilitarian approach, exemplified by …

Analyzing The Benefits Of Artificial Intelligence To Racially Inclusive Democracy, Spencer Overton

Utah Law Review

Over the past two decades—as the United States has grown more ethnically diverse—the U.S. Supreme Court has dismantled key voting rights protections, and state legislatures have erected a record number of voting restrictions. Largely oblivious to this growing gap in legal protections, several artificial intelligence (“AI”) optimists have claimed that AI can help usher in a more inclusive, participatory, and unbiased democracy. Such an outcome, however, is far from guaranteed. This Article is the first to comprehensively examine the extent to which AI—and the legal frameworks that regulate it—can advance racially inclusive democracy. It responds to the AI optimism literature …

Other People's Poverty, Emmanuel Hiram Arnaud, Shaun Ossei-Owusu

Faculty Scholarship

Puerto Ricans have a relationship with the United States that is historically unparalleled. They have been citizens of the United States since 1917, served in every major conflict since World War I, and have been influential members of American culture, politics, and society. Yet, Puerto Rico is not fully part of the United States. The island of 3.2 million people— more than the population of eighteen states—is a U.S. territory. This means the federal government wields its complete and largely unrestrained plenary power over the Island, often treating Puerto Ricans differently than the rest of the United States. This differential …

Classical Liberalism And Property, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

Classical liberalism is characterized by several key attributes. Its central normative criterion is the well‑being of the individual, not some aggregate like society or the nation‑state. Individuals are presumptively regarded as responsible actors, capable of judging their own best interests and accountable for their actions that interfere with the well‑being of others. Because individuals are presumptively regarded as responsible actors, there is a strong preference for imposing only minimal obligations on them through the power of the state, and these usually involve general negative duties that are universal in character, chiefly to forbear from using force or fraud to interfere …

Writing – Écriture, Peter Goodrich

Articles

This is the twentieth article in this series (and the fifth in volume 77).

Anchoring’S Absurd Influence On Judging, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Arkansas Law Review

Society demands much from its judges. Notably, judges should never be illogical or inconsistent. The heart of what we expect of a judge is to apply the law to the facts in a logical and consistent way. The human mind, however, is not a giant syllogistic machine. People are obviously capable of using deductive logic, but decades of research on judgment and choice indicate that commonly used cognitive strategies to make decisions do not conform to the dictates of deductive logic. People rely on mental shortcuts, rather than logic. These shortcuts can be efficient and useful, but they do not …

The Rise Of Options Contracts In Sports, The Post-Murphy Regulatory Conundrum, And Implications On Federalism, Scott Barboza

UNH Sports Law Review

The Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy v. N.C.A.A. dismantled the federal prohibition on state-authorized sports betting and returned its primary regulatory authority over to the states. Following Murphy, states adopted widely varying sports-betting regimes. At the same time, advances in financial technology and the growing popularity of prediction markets created a new form of event-based speculation operating outside the traditional sportsbook model. Platforms such as Kalshi began offering “yes-no” contracts tied to sporting outcomes through federally regulated exchanges overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, framing such products not as wagers, but as financial derivatives governed by the Commodity Exchange …

Deepfake: A Practice On The Edge Of Legality, Bouthaïna Aaziz

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

Deepfakes – hyperrealistic videos manipulated using deep learning algorithms – raise significant legal challenges touching on human rights and legal governance. A deepfake usurps the identity of its victim to exploit their credibility and reputation. This article examines the applicable legal framework, first identifying pre-existing rules from Moroccan law (civil liability, personal data protection under Law No. 09-08, criminal provisions of the Penal Code and Press Law No. 88-13) that can be applied to deepfakes, and then advocating for the adoption of an adapted legal framework. The author distinguishes between creative deepfakes (requiring informed consent) and manipulative deepfakes (requiring criminal …

The Legal Challenges Of Blockchain In Relation To The Legal Professions, Hind Tak-Tak, Hanane Jalal

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

Blockchain technology was initially conceived as a disintermediation tool based on algorithmic trust, aiming to challenge the traditional role of trusted third parties in legal and economic relationships. By relying on distributed, immutable, and transparent ledgers, blockchain claims to offer an alternative to centralized institutions, particularly in the fields of evidence, contracts, and authentication. However, a legal analysis demonstrates that this promise of disintermediation remains largely relative. While blockchain enables technical certification of data and the automated execution of obligations through smart contracts, it does not ensure valid contract formation, effective protection of the weaker party, or compliance with the …

Gender Perspective(S): Lessons From International Human Rights Law To Defend Against Pregnancy Related Prosecutions, Megan Osadzinski

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

The criminalization of pregnancy outcomes—such as miscarriages, abortion, obstetric emergencies, and stillbirth—is a violation of fundamental human rights guarantees; including the right to a fair trial when read in conjunction with the right to equality and the right to health. This article outlines state obligations under international human rights law toward women charged in pregnancy prosecutions, translating them into national criminal defense strategies using a gender perspective. Using intersectional theory, this article calls for the use of a gender perspective to challenge such prosecutions as unlawful gender-based discrimination and a gendered violation of due process, using the case study of …

Unfriending The Kids: The Problematic Race To Childproof Social Media, Randolph A. Robinson Ii

Cleveland State Law Review

A growing number of states have recently enacted new laws with the goal of protecting young people from potential harm allegedly caused by social media use. These laws are diverse in their approaches but broadly seek to limit youth access to social media platforms by imposing age verification and parental consent requirements. These laws directly implicate the First Amendment rights of both young users who will no longer be able to access speech or speak on social media platforms as well as adult users who must now submit to age verification to access these quintessential forums for political discourse.

These …

From Maps To Meadows: Ecologically Literate Zoning And The Regeneration Of Wildlife Habitats, Jonathan Rosenbloom

Cleveland State Law Review

For more than a century, zoning has shaped the American landscape, often at the expense of wildlife and ecosystems. Rooted in legal doctrines that treated animals as property and nature as a raw material, zoning codes have fragmented habitats, erased migration corridors, and accelerated biodiversity loss. At the same time, federal protections are narrowing, leaving critical gaps in environmental governance. This Article argues that local governments possess both the authority and the obligation to respond. By embedding ecological principles into zoning—through conservation districts, wildlife corridor protections, wetland buffers, pollinator protections, dark skies, wildlife fencing, habitat restoration, and others—municipalities can transform …

Misinterpreting Immigration Law, Michael Kagan

New Mexico Law Review

Although Congress bears primary responsibility for the convoluted nature of America’s immigration laws, immigration law has been rendered even more incoherent through inconsistent interpretation. During the reign of Chevron deference, the federal courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and various Attorneys General pushed in different directions, with textualist, libertarian, and restrictionist impulses holding sway on different major interpretive questions. The result is that immigration law is more internally incoherent and more divorced from popular opinion than is necessitated by the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The end of Chevron deference offers some potential for the federal courts to …

Boycott Governance, Carlos Berdejó

New Mexico Law Review

Despite the power they wield in modern society, corporations are hardly democratic institutions. Their governance structure is designed to further the interest of a narrow set of stakeholders, leaving little room for safeguarding the interests of other constituencies. Moreover, the power to manage corporate affairs rests in the hands of a few individuals who enjoy broad discretion and face limited accountability. This decision-making structure fosters an environment that favors the pursuit of profits at the expense of the interests of those who lack access to the corporate governance framework. Since infiltrating this governance mechanism to influence a firm’s decision-making is …

Animal Ethics And The Lowest Common Denominator, John O. Adenitire

Animal Sentience

This commentary assesses the pragmatic framework proposed in Jonathan Birch’s The Edge of Sentience (2024). Celebrating the book's exceptional clarity, scientific rigor, and profound real-world impact on UK legislation, I nevertheless have some questions about the method by which Birch arrives at his policy recommendations for animal protection. In seeking an overlapping consensus between deeply divergent ethical and credal viewpoints, the framework risks defaulting to a minimalist, lowest-common-denominator standard of protection for animals. Birch also risks drawing the standard even lower by including serious academic positions in animal ethics that deny moral status for animals altogether. A rights-based approach offers …

The Impact Of International Trade Liberalization On Oil And Gas Management Policies In Developing Countries: A Case Study Of Indonesia, Bagus Satrio Utomo, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Suyono Thamrin, Donny Yusgiantoro

Indonesian Journal of International Law

This study aims to analyze the impact of international trade liberalization on oil and gas management policies in developing countries, with a focus on Indonesia as a case study. As a country rich in natural resources, Indonesia faces challenges in maintaining sovereignty over the management of its national oil and gas industry amidst commitments to international trade agreements such as the GATT/WTO. Through a qualitative approach and analysis of international agreement documents, national regulations, and oil and gas industry data, this study finds a significant influence of trade liberalization principles on oil and gas management policies in Indonesia. The results …

The Soil Crisis In Modern Food Systems: Rethinking Agricultural Land Use, Antonia Moure Richard

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Feeding a larger world while preserving the resource that makes agriculture possible—soil—poses a governance problem. By 2050, food systems must support 9.8 billion people even as prevailing practices continue to degrade soils that are non-renewable on human timescales. Technological fixes (e.g., vertical farming, hydroponics) may complement production, but they cannot substitute for soil at scale. The question that follows is simple: are current uses of soil compatible with the future needs of food systems? This article argues that without a shift in governance, short-run productivity gains are achieved by drawing down the soil asset, thereby undermining long-run food security and …

Closing The Gaps: Reforming Maryland Controls On Veterinary Antimicrobial Distribution, Samantha Capaldo, Kerry Mcclaughry

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Antimicrobials have been used in livestock and other food animals in the United States (“U.S.”) since the late 1940s. An antimicrobial is “[a]ny natural, synthetic, or semisynthetic substance that can eradicate or prevent the growth of microbes,” including “[a]ntibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antiviral medications.” Antimicrobial use in food animals is subject to a complex statutory and regulatory framework at both the state and federal levels. Antimicrobial use in food animals has been widely criticized for contributing to antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections in humans. In response to this criticism, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and several states, including Maryland, have …