Digital Commons Network^™

Transcending Tradition Through Inclusive Online Pedagogy, Areto A. Imoukuede

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Empathy By Design: Rethinking Law School Engagement For Critical Thinking In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence, Jon M. Garon

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Online Inclusivity: Mission And Best Practice, Colin P. Marks, Zoe Niesel

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Illegal Corporate Cultures, Elise Bernlohr Maizel

Duke Law Journal

Culture is a powerful force in corporate compliance. Corporate culture shapes how employees behave, dictating whether, when, and how they follow the law. Cases arising out of cultural failures often involve public harm—plane crashes, poisoned rivers, tainted cancer drugs, and collapsed mines. Before these awful outcomes, however, the corporations that caused these harms fostered cultures that permitted the disregard of legal commands and public commitments. Managers disparaged safety regulations. Messages about profits and production drowned out messages about compliance and safety. Yet, there is a gap between all we know about the power of culture and our understanding of corporate …

Two Truths And A Lie: A Proposal To Suppress The Risks Of Child Testimony, Avery Garrett

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Burdens Of Proof In Criminal Procedure, Eve Brensike Primus

Duke Law Journal

The Supreme Court's haphazard approach to allocating burdens of proof in criminal procedure has created a system in which constitutional rights can be rendered meaningless simply because defendants are required to prove things they cannot possibly know. Even though allocations of the burden of proof often drive litigation outcomes, the Court has failed to establish clear burden allocation structures for cases arising under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, leaving lower courts split about how to allocate the burdens. When the Supreme Court does allocate burdens, it often does so without explanation or consideration of key factors. Recent Supreme …

The Political Theories Of The Legal Realists, Dan Priel

All Papers

A popular view about the legal realists is that, either knowingly or inadvertently, they advanced ideas inconsistent with traditional values, democracy, and the rule of law. Another view about them suggested that the realists had no political theory: they only offered a descriptive (empirical) theory of adjudication, albeit one that has normatively “quietist” implications. In this essay, I challenge both views. I argue that there were two legal realist camps whose jurisprudential ideas presupposed two quite different political theories. One group of legal realists consisted of public utilitarians who were consciously inspired by Bentham, wanted to turn legal and political …

#Falseflag: Exploring Themes In Conspiracy Theory Tweets Regarding The Robb Elementary School Active Shooter Event, Madison K. Doyle, Carolyn Willis

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Little is known about the content of conspiratorial posts on social media, specifically regarding active shooter events. This study explores the content of conspiracy theory tweets during the six months following the active shooter event at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. 194 tweets were analyzed. The analysis resulted in two main themes: False Flag and Hypothesized Reasoning. These themes represent the similarities and variations in content among the tweets. In line with research suggesting that people are most vulnerable to conspiratorial thinking when trying to explain unusual and unsettling events, results indicate that many posts were attempting to provide …

“Oh, Are You Gay?”: An Exploration Of Lgbtq+ Students’ Lived Experiences With Microaggressions And Finding Safety On A University Campus, Christina Policastro, Courtney Crittenden, Jadon Clark, Rileigh Arrington

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Studies demonstrate that LGBTQ+ college students experience explicit and covert discrimination with research documenting various microaggressions reported by university students whose gender and/or sex identities are minoritized. Building off existing models of LGBTQ microaggressions, the current study adds to this literature by utilizing focus groups to explore campus safety perceptions among a sample of U.S. undergraduate students who identify as LGBTQ+. Findings highlight the diverse microaggressions experienced by students at the interpersonal and environmental level. Moreover, the results displayed the mechanisms students employed to avoid or disengage from situations where microaggressions may be encountered, as well as underscored ways in …

Are Cyber-Investigators Resilient In The Face Of Adversity? An Inductive Qualitative Analysis Exploring Investigators’ Perceptions Regarding The Challenges And Successes In Online Crime Police Investigations, Julien Chopin, Camille Faubert, David Décary-Hétu, Benoît Dupont, Jerry Ratcliffe, Aili Malm

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Cybercrime investigations continue to pose a significant challenge for most law enforcement agencies. Specifically, these investigations present knowledge, legal, and forensic challenges that hinder police officers’ ability to successfully complete their tasks and develop a sense of well-being on the job. Studies have shown that in the face of such adversity, individuals exhibit a positive coping capacity known as the resilience process. In this research, we set out to improve our understanding of both the difficulties police officers face when investigating online crimes and their ability to cope by analyzing their perceptions of success. To do this, we conducted interviews …

Prosecution In The Eyes Of The Justice-Involved: A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach, Belén Lowrey-Kinberg

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Community based participatory research (CBPR) centers the voices of community members in the research process. Long used in the field of healthcare, criminal justice researchers have employed CBPR only in limited contexts, and never in the context of prosecution research. This paper reports on findings from a CBPR study that employed focus groups with justice-involved individuals to identify their perceptions of the pre-trial process, prosecutors’ priorities, and recommended directions for research. The findings from these focus groups were used as the basis for developing interview questions for prosecutors, which were subsequently implemented in two larger research projects examining prosecutor discretion. …

Communication Inhibitors: Dilemmas In Community Partnerships Amidst Mental Health Crises In Texas, Alessa Juarez, Kendra N. Bowen, Johnny Nhan

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Community partnerships between police departments, social services, and healthcare providers continue to struggle in various ways, with mental health crisis response remaining a primary yet fragmented service delivery. Using the nodal governance perspective, this paper provides qualitative insight into the existing communication and resource barriers between law enforcement personnel and social service providers in a large urban county in Texas. Four key themes are presented: staff and resource availability, continuity of care, staff personnel and characteristics, and communication efficiency. Policy implications are also discussed, with the study’s findings supporting the prioritization of building stronger communication between existing social service providers, …

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Significant Montana Cases, Isabella Fossum, Emily Howke

Montana Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Montana Supreme Court – The Statistics, Henry Bowers, John Carr

Montana Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Recent Modifications In Egyptian Building Regulations On Urban Development And Socioeconomic Conditions Over The Past Decade, Mohamed M. Abohelal

Journal of Engineering Research

Over the past decade, Egypt has witnessed significant transformations in its urban regulatory framework, particularly through successive amendments to the Unified Building Law No. 119 of 2008. These legislative changes, implemented in 2015, 2021, and 2024, reflect evolving state strategies to manage urban growth, streamline construction processes, and address challenges in regulatory compliance. The 2015 amendments sought to enhance administrative coordination and facilitate permit acquisition, while the 2021 reforms imposed stringent restrictions on building height, coverage ratios, and facade dimensions, provoking widespread controversy due to their misalignment with local urban realities and economic capacities. In response to ensuing public and …

Ai-Enabled Autonomous Weapons And Human Control: Part Ii: Human Control And Military Commanders, Lena Trabucco

International Law Studies

This article is the second installment of a three-part series exploring human control throughout the entire life cycle of an autonomous weapon system (AWS). The series aims to understand the decision-making process and identify key decision-makers to see how human judgment is embedded into an AWS's parameters. Each article in this series focuses on a different stage of the life cycle. The first article discussed the roles and responsibilities of software developers and designers during the design and development phase. This article looks at the role of commanders in decision-making related to AWS deployment. The third article in the series …

Too Scared To Use: Living Wills And Orderly Liquidation Of Too-Big-To-Fail Financial Institutions, Jeffery Y. Zhang

Law & Economics Working Papers

The term “too big to fail” became ubiquitous following the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis. Lawmakers, regulators, and scholars wondered if there was a better way forward than issuing an array of ad hoc bailout packages to large financial institutions. Congress, in enacting the Dodd-Frank Act, sought to address the concern by creating a new regulatory framework to resolve large financial institutions in an orderly manner.

First, Congress required too-big-to-fail institutions to file “living wills,” essentially planning documents that describe the institution’s path to a safe failure under the Bankruptcy Code—a failure that would not impact system-wide financial stability. Second, Congress …

Season 2 Episode 5: Quitting Ain't Easy, Sara Gras

Season 02

Where there is gambling, there are addicted gamblers. Gambling addiction is more than just an economic problem – it can have a profoundly serious impact on the lives of individuals who are affected – but the research on, and funding for treatment of, compulsive gambling is only a fraction of what is available for substance use disorders. The rapid growth of sports betting has created a new challenge in this space, impacting a new demographic of young men. This episode provides some foundational information about gambling addiction and recovery as a foundation for a discussion of responsible gaming and industry …

‘Not The Usual Gig’: The Personal Scope(S) Of Application Of Directive 2024/2831 On Improving Working Conditions In Platform Work, Nicola Countouris, Valerio De Stefano

Articles & Book Chapters

This article examines the complex and innovative personal scope of the EU Platform Work Directive 2024/2831, highlighting its dual framing around the concepts of ‘platform workers’ and the broader category of ‘persons performing platform work’. The authors explore how the Directive partially departs from traditional binary distinctions between employees and self-employed persons by introducing a more nuanced regulatory approach anchored in both labour law and data protection law. The article analyses the scope of key provisions of the Directive, showing how it confers many protections beyond the confines of the employment relationship. It critically evaluates the potential interpretive tensions between …

Prosecutor Transparency Project: Racial Disparities Study (Washtenaw County, Michigan), Grady Bridges, J. J. Prescott

Law & Economics Working Papers

This report investigates and estimates racial disparities in prosecutorial decision-making in the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office (WCPO) from 2017 to 2022. The analysis relies on currently available data resources at the WCPO and examines decision-making at four different junctures in the prosecutorial process: 1) case approval (i.e., warrant authorization) and charge selection, 2) habitual-offender designation (under Michigan law), 3) plea bargaining, and 4) diversion and deferral opportunities. Racial disparities appear most visibly at the earliest stages of the criminal justice process, with People of Color substantially overrepresented in the warrant requests the WCPO receives from law enforcement. The data further …

Restoring Chevron Deference By Statute, Scott Dodson

Duke Law Journal Online

This paper details a solution for legislatively restoring Chevron deference: amend the APA to direct lower federal courts to give deference to reasonable agency decisions but retain nondeferential judicial review by the U.S. Supreme Court. This solution restores most of the practical benefits of Chevron by giving agencies flexibility to implement congressional policy directives with the expertise they have acquired, by maintaining stability in administrative regulation, and by relieving lower federal courts of the burdens of nondeferential review. And retaining nondeferential judicial review in the Supreme Court will preserve the constitutional role of the judicial branch to say what the …

Death By Incarceration: Juvenile Life Without Parole Is Always Cruel And Unusual, Elizabeth Wehby

Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Scholars In Support Of Petitioners, Laura A. Heymann, Alfred C. Yen

Briefs

No abstract provided.

Reflections On The “Pore Space Estate”, Joseph A. Schremmer

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

The Meaning Of “Other Minerals” And Other Incidents Of Mineral Ownership, Monika U. Ehrman, Colton Franks

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Ai-Enabled Autonomous Weapons And Human Control: Part I: Human Control And Machine Learning Design And Development, Lena Trabucco

International Law Studies

At the center of the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous weapon systems (AWS) is the challenge of human control. AI has the potential to reshape the boundaries of military capabilities. In particular, the increasing sophistication of AWS necessitates a deep examination of the balance between machine autonomy and the role and requirements of human decision-makers. In pursuit of this balance, the concept of meaningful human control emerged. It is a concept born of necessity and offers a platform to reexamine and redefine the scope of human involvement in critical and time-sensitive decision-making. MHC has become a defining feature …

Full Issue

Indian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Who Pays For Cheap Speech? How Economic Shifts In The News Industry Shape Defamation Law, Michaela Paquette

The Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review

This article examines how the internet and the rise of “cheap speech” have transformed the media industry, disrupted traditional economic incentives for responsible journalism, and exposed the limitations of current defamation law. It argues that the New York Times v. Sullivan “actual malice” standard, while appropriate for the professionalized and objective media environment of the mid-20th century, no longer sufficiently supports robust public discourse in the digital age. This article proposes incorporating journalistic standards into defamation analysis as an evidentiary tool to better distinguish between mere negligence and actual malice while preserving core First Amendment considerations. By realigning legal incentives …

Biting The Hands That Feed Us: Immigration Policy, Enforcement, And The Structural Vulnerability Of Agricultural Labor, Claire Kelly

The Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review

The United States agricultural sector heavily relies on migrant labor, with undocumented workers composing a substantial share of the workforce. As the Trump Administration initiates its mass deportation policy, this article examines the far-reaching economic and legal consequences that such actions would impose on American agriculture. Mass deportation not only threatens to destabilize food production and inflate food prices, but it also exposes the longstanding legal neglect of farmworkers, whose labor protections remain fragile or non-existent under current U.S. law. This article analyzes the exploitation of agricultural workers embedded in the United States’ history, critiques the inadequacies of current programs …