Digital Commons Network^™

Dei: Definitely Earned It–A Review Of Contemporary Dei Initiatives Against Emerging Legal Frameworks, Joseph Cremona

UC Law Journal

Since 2024, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs have ignited a volatile political debate. Fierce opposition continues to attack their very existence. On one hand, proponents of DEI programs argue that such initiatives are a pivotal mechanism for ensuring that historically marginalized communities receive professional opportunities in America. On the other hand, opponents of DEI insist that these programs are detrimental because they prioritize the advancement of minority groups at the expense of their majority counterparts. With the recent enactment of multiple executive orders by President Trump, DEI programs have become the target of a plethora of lawsuits. These legal …

The Music & The Movement: Race, Rhythm, And Social Justice, Renee Nicole Allen -- Associate Professor Of Law

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

From Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” to J. Cole’s “Be Free,” music has played a vital role in energizing social justice movements and elevating the legal and social issues facing Black people. An examination into the legal, historical, and social contexts for the music created during ten key movements in Black history reveals the role of lyrics and rhythm. Through the lens of music, ten movements—Freedom, Lynching, the Great Migration, Civil Rights, Black Power, Black Feminism, Police Brutality, Mass Incarceration, Black Love, and Black Lives Matter—demonstrate that Black music is more than entertainment. It is …

The Icj’S Advisory Opinion On Climate Change, Maria Antonia Tigre, Maxim Bönnemann, Antoine De Spiegeleir

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This open-access edited volume offers the first comprehensive analysis of the International Court of Justice’s 2025 Advisory Opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, one of the most consequential developments in international climate law since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners from across public international law, human rights law, environmental law, and global governance, the book examines how the Court reframed climate change as a matter of binding legal obligation rather than political discretion.

The contributions explore the Opinion’s articulation of state duties under treaties, customary international law, and general …

Constitutional Obiter Dicta On Male-Male Sex And Fundamental Rights In Singapore, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore Court of Appeal held a law prohibiting male–male sexual intercourse (s 377A of the Penal Code) unenforceable on non-rights-based grounds. The court's remarks about the rights to life and liberty (including whether sexual orientation is mutable), freedom of expression, and equality are obiter. But they are significant, since in Singapore, there are few constitutional rights cases and the courts focus on spelling out the limits to executive and legislative power without necessarily striking down exercises of such power on rights grounds. Indeed, the obiter dicta prompted the Legislature to repeal s 377A. Given the repeal, the obiter dicta …

Evaluating The Impact Of Policy In Theatre: The Influence Of Public & Political Policy On The Theatrical World, John Q. Rhodes

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the second half of the twentieth century, there is distinct evidence to exhibit a direct correlation between daily occurrences and in matters of public policy. This paper serves to analyze the impact of U.S. public policy on theatrical practices. To provide a detailed and targeted analysis of the exponential impact public policy had upon the theatrical industry, this examination will look at theatre beginning in 1961 and will extend towards the current administration of President Donald Trump and is organized in ten-year segments. Each decade will be generalized for its direct or indirect changes that occurred within the period …

Building A Restructuring Hub: Lessons From Singapore, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article seeks to analyze the legal, market, and institutional features needed to become an international hub for debt restructuring. To that end, it examines the strategy adopted by Singapore as well as the market and institutional factors generally found in other leading legal and financial centers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. It is argued that in jurisdictions that have traditionally had creditor-oriented insolvency systems, such as Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong, one of the primary challenges when enhancing the restructuring framework for debtors is ensuring that the insolvency system remains protective …

The Rhetoric Of Conceptual Metaphors In The Textbook Al-'Arabiyya Bayna Yadayk For Non-Native Speakers: A Cognitive Approach, Fawzi Ali Ali Soileh

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

This research, entitled The Rhetoric of Conceptual Metaphors in the Textbook Al-'Arabiyya Bayna Yadayk for Non-Native Speakers: A Cognitive Approach, aims to examine the textbook prescribed for non-native learners at King Khalid University. The study explores the communicative dimension and the cognitive power that contributed to the construction of the book, in an attempt to answer a fundamental composite question: How did the cognitive mind construct its own metaphorical world within Al-'Arabiyya Bayna Yadayk? And what conceptual metaphors extended their influence in shaping this textbook? The key finding is the experts' sound awareness in addressing the needs of this diverse …

Chatgpt In Teaching English As A Foreign Language: Teacher And Learner Perspectives, Sameiha Alhussain N Khawaji

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

This study investigates ChatGPT as a supplementary tool in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education through surveys of 150 teachers and 350 learners in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Results show that ChatGPT improves language proficiency by providing personalized feedback, conversational fluency (72% of users reported improvement), writing scores by 22% and vocabulary through contextualized practice. Teachers found it useful for lesson planning and administrative tasks. However, challenges such as plagiarism risks (15% of cases), occasional inaccuracies and cultural insensitivities especially in idiomatic and formal language use require ethical guidelines and human oversight. For example, Asian participants noted mismatches …

Identity Salience Of Organizational Culture: The Intersection Of Racial And Occupational Identities In High-Risk Professions, Sarah Espinosa

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Despite decades of effort, issues of race and color in organizations remain unresolved. Representative Bureaucracy (RB) has been a necessary but insufficient response to these challenges. While RB promotes diversity and inclusion, it struggles to address deeper issues of equity and justice, which are seen in the persistence of police brutality, even with increased representation of officers of color. This dissertation will propose a new theoretical approach to address the shortcomings of RB, a framework for the Identity Salience of Organizational Culture (ISOC). The ISOC framework seeks to build beyond RB to explain how the culture of high-risk professions with …

What Is The Measure Of Success For A Constitutional Law Casebook?, Erwin Chemerinsky

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In this Essay, I want to address four topics: how I came to write my constitutional law casebook; my goals for my Constitutional Law class and how the book facilitates achieving them; the challenges in writing a constitutional law casebook; and thoughts about the future of constitutional law casebooks.

There are many different constitutional law casebooks on the market because there are countless different ways of teaching the subject. There is no right way or best way to teach this or any other subject in the law school curriculum. I am describing my approach to teaching a subject that is …

What Should A Constitutional Law Casebook Be?, William Funk

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

What is the purpose of a “casebook”? It is not a “hornbook,” designed to summarize or explain the law in a specific area, generally aimed at law students or lawyers to provide a straightforward statement of the law. It is not a “treatise,” a comprehensive, systematic exposition of the law in a particular field, involving an in-depth analysis and interpretation of the law. And it is not a “study aid,” supplementary material designed to help students do better in their classes. It is the book used by professors in their classes. For professors of constitutional law, it is a tool …

Teaching Firearms Law: One Big Opportunity And Three Pedagogical Challenges, Joseph Blocher, Jacob D. Charles, Darrell A.H. Miller

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court’s groundbreaking 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller ushered in a new era for the Second Amendment: one in which the right to keep and bear arms, long dormant as a matter of practical impact and even “embarrassing” as a matter of legal scholarship, vaulted into the front ranks of constitutional law. The Court itself has only revisited the Amendment a few times since then—albeit once by revolutionizing the doctrine. Meanwhile, lower courts have issued thousands of decisions giving shape to the right, while scholars have generated work that is increasingly deep, diverse, and challenging. …

Generational Impact: How U.S. Government Generative A.I. Use Reinvigorates Copyright-Based Takings Concerns, Sophia Tully

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Note argues (1) that the unique character of government copyright infringement supports a copyright holder’s use of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, as opposed to reliance on the Copyright Act for downstream Gen A.I. suits; (2) that Gen A.I. developers may wage similar claims once asserting authorship rights and copyright over their outputs; and (3) that the viability of federal government copyright infringement as a regulatory taking could change the way legal actors deal with copyrighted material. More modestly assessed, an answer on whether the Takings Clause protects copyrights would offer much needed guideposts as intellectual property …

From Policy To Practice: How Institutional Interpretations Of Ferpa Shape The Campus Safety Conversation, Britney Deaver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a foundational federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records. FERPA includes exceptions—such as for health and safety emergencies—that institutions may interpret and apply in varied ways. This qualitative study explores how higher education professionals across diverse institutional contexts conceptualize and apply the health or safety exception, and how those interpretations influence campus safety practices and policy-making. Through semi-structured interviews with compliance officers and administrators, the research examines the intersection of federal policy, institutional culture, and individual judgment.

Findings reveal a range of interpretations shaped by institutional risk …

Signaling Through National Security Lawmaking, Weijia Rao

Faculty Scholarship

An often-overlooked element of the ongoing TikTok saga is China’s export control law, which prohibits the sale of TikTok’s core content recommendation algorithm without prior approval from the Chinese government. This law is just one example of the extensive national security lawmaking China has undertaken in recent years. Closely paralleling similar institutions in the U.S., China has established a comprehensive national security legal framework that authorizes the government to restrict exports, sanction foreign entities, screen foreign investments, and block transactions involving cyber infrastructure.

Why turn towards legality when China has the ability to employ these actions without a formal legal …

Genocidal Accusation, Steven Arrigg Koh

Faculty Scholarship

To accuse of genocide — what does it mean? Genocidal accusation is ubiquitous today, evident more in the public square than in any courtroom. At first glance, such accusation seemingly relies on a central assumption: genocidal accusation is critical to preventing atrocity. This Article argues that this widespread assumption is incomplete, obscuring genocidal accusation’s dual nature. In fact, genocidal accusation encompasses not only laudable atrocity prevention (for example, the Rwandan genocide), but also problematic punitive, carceral discourse that brands the “other” as morally polluted (such as President Putin’s Ukraine invasion). It is thus challenging to evaluate such accusation in the …

Missing Children Discrimination, Itay Ravid, Tanisha Brown

Faculty Publications

The problem of missing children in America—many of whom are victims of crime—has haunted society for decades. In response, a range of laws and policies have emerged, culminating in the nationwide adoption of the AMBER Alert system in the early 2000s. While often hailed as a success, this Article reveals a sad truth: Not all children benefit equally from AMBER. In particular, missing Black children are systematically underserved by the system, which ultimately contributes to the disproportionate impact of the missing children crisis on Black communities. While this issue received limited scholarly attention, states have recently started recognizing it. In …

The Supreme Court Is About To Hear A Case That Could Rewrite Internet Access, Michael Goodyear

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Transdisciplinary Perspectives On Ai: The Fourth Annual Conference Of The European Culture And Technology Laboratory, Connell Vaughan, Ioana Madalina Moldovan, Silivan Moldovan, Noel Fitzpatrick

Books/Book Chapters

The fourth annual conference of the ECT Lab+ was hosted by Technical University of Cluj-Napoca over two days in October 2024 at the Cluj Innovation Park. The conference brought together experts from the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Technology, and other fields to discuss and reflect on the advent of Artificial Intelligence and how the associated technologies are transforming how we live, work and study. Under the title Transdisciplinary perspectives on AI: Alternative Histories, Current Practices and Possible Futures the conference moved beyond simplistic technophila and technophobia to consider whether we can co-evolve with these new technologies which combine machine learning …

Privacy And The Right To (Dis)Connect, Hugh Collins

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

The rise of remote work and modern communications technology has blurred the boundaries between work and personal life, leaving many workers perpetually on call with little time for rest or personal activities. In response, some jurisdictions have adopted a “right to disconnect,” often framed as a ban on work communications during certain hours. However, such proposals are flawed: they are unnecessary, as workers already possess the legal right to ignore work communications outside contractual hours, and impractical, as many feel pressured to remain connected due to workplace norms and career concerns. This article argues for a reconceptualisation of the “right …

Lost In Translation: Is Data Protection Labour Law Protection?, Michele Molè

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

This article critically examines how the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) defines and applies the legal categories of “data subject” and “data controller” within employment relationships. Under the GDPR, employers who collect and process personal data are classified as data controllers, while employees are designated as data subjects. However, this article argues that such a “translation” of data protection categories, rights, and obligations into the regulation of workplace dynamics requires closer examination. The focus is on evaluating whether the GDPR’s rights and obligations for data subjects and data controllers accurately capture the agency and interests of employee and employer …

Liability, Property, And Inalienability Rules In Employee Data Regulation, Matthew T. Bodie

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

Legal protections for workers’ data have usually taken the form of privacy protections designed to deter data processing that is excessive or invasive. Such protections generally fall into the category of liability rules, under which rights can be infringed as long as compensation is provided for the violation. As Guido Calabresi and A. Douglas Melamed have described in “Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral,” liability rules are contrasted with either property rules that prevent the involuntary transfer of rights or inalienability rules that prohibit rights transfers altogether. This article explores how property rules and inalienability …

Clark Cnty. Sch. Dist. V. Dist. Ct. (Angalia B.), 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 58 (Nov. 26, 2025), Shahana Polselli

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Clark Cnty. Sch. Dist. v. Dist. Ct. (Angalia B.) holds that routine emails on a school district’s server are not accessible education records under federal and state law, unless intentionally maintained as institutional student records.

Gill V. Gill, 141 Nev. Adv. Op. 58 (Nov. 26, 2025), Shahana Polselli

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Einat Albin

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

PRIVACY PROTECTION has become an increasingly complex and controversial issue, fuelling academic and policy discussions, particularly in relation to new technological advancements. On one hand, there are concerns arising from new technologies becoming the “Big Brother” who is “watching you,” to borrow George Orwell’s iconic phrase from his dystopian novel 1984 — a true panopticon, a modern system of power infringing upon individual liberty, autonomy, and dignity. Concerns also arise from the blurring of boundaries between work life and private life, a phenomenon closely associated with these technologies, which encroach on individuals’ private spheres. On the other hand, some argue …

Bring Your Own Device — Now Hand It Over! Rescuing Workers’ Privacy During Data Searches, Virginia Mantouvalou, Michael Veale

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

Technological advancements pose serious threats to workers’ privacy. This article focuses on practices that greatly blur the line between workers’ private life and life at work, such as the practices of “bring your own device,” and linking cloud storage to personal and work devices. The first sees workers allowed to use personal devices for work-related activities, potentially for several employers. The second sees workers using online storage for personal and professional reasons, linking this storage to personal and work devices. Such practices can be useful for workers. However, they also present challenges for workers’ privacy, particularly when other legal frameworks …

Privacy As Professional Identity, Einat Albin

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

This article explores an important course of action to safeguarding privacy in the workplace, grounded in the professional identity of workers and their corresponding moral and ethical duties towards clients or patients. Described as “privacy as professional identity,” this concept is developed through two key contributions. First, the article argues that workers who are ethically and legally obligated to protect the confidentiality and privacy of their clients or patients — such as psychologists and lawyers — also inherently safeguard their own personal privacy. This argument is substantiated through illustrative examples and anchored in theoretical frameworks concerning the right to privacy. …

Data-Driven Collective Rights, Tomer Shadmy

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

Technological asymmetries in data-driven workplaces increasingly shape power dynamics between employers and employees. This article argues that safeguarding workers’ rights requires transforming collective labour rights into collective technological capabilities. Rather than viewing data rights narrowly as privacy issues, it reframes them as central to broader labour protections. As artificial intelligence enhances employers’ ability to monitor and exploit worker data, workers must be equipped with tools to analyse and act on their collective data. Employers now extract significant value from aggregated personal data, positioning workers as unwitting data providers and limiting workers’ agency. While current laws focus on individual data rights, …

Comment - Reflecting On Privacy’S Perceived Omnipotence And The Lost Role Of Equality In Regulating Working Time, Arianne Renan-Barzilay

Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal

“PRIVACY AND THE RIGHT TO (DIS)CONNECT” (Collins, 2025) is a beautifully written and captivating work concerning the enmeshment of personal and work time amid the always-on work culture. It argues that while the industrial era created a space and time configuration for work at the factory, information and communication technologies have dissolved previous divisions, essentially moving us back to feudal times. Now, we are always at the beck and call of the master, but with a digital “DING”: an email, text, or WhatsApp from employers, clients, and co-workers, transgressing formerly held boundaries of space and time allotted for work and …

Protecting Platform Workers In The European Union, Jeremias Adams-Prassl, Antonio Aloisi, Nicola Countouris, Valerio De Stefano, Silvia Rainone

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.