Digital Commons Network^™

What's Freedom Got To Do With It? Occupational Freedom And The Illusion Of Choice, Bojan Perovic

Georgia State University Law Review

This Article critically examines the concept of occupational freedom, arguing that the legal right to choose and pursue a profession, as enshrined in many constitutional systems, remains largely theoretical for vast segments of the population. While legal frameworks recognize occupational freedom, socioeconomic barriers, systemic discrimination, and cultural norms continue to impede genuine access to professions. Using historical examples like the exclusion of women from the legal profession or racial segregation under apartheid, this Article illustrates how law can act as both an instrument of oppression and a tool for progress.

Through a comparative analysis of case law from Germany, South …

Digital Domination: How Technology Threatens Privacy Rights, Kirsten Zonkowski

NSU Undergraduate Law Journal

This paper examines how rapid technological advancements have outpaced existing legal protections for privacy rights in both the U.S as well as world-wide. By analyzing landmark Supreme Court cases and federal legislation, it highlights the vulnerabilities individuals face from digital surveillance, data mining, and third-party data collection. The paper argues that current legal frameworks are fragmented and outdated, calling for comprehensive reforms. Recommended solutions include adopting federal privacy legislation modeled after the GDPR, passing a constitutional amendment to safeguard digital privacy, and implementing mandatory transparency and accountability measures for technology companies. These reforms are essential to preserving individual freedoms in …

Examining The Impact Of Legalized Sports Gambling On Ncaa Athletes' Welfare And Game Integrity, Reem Al Jaradi

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the effects of legalized sports gambling on NCAA player welfare and the integrity of competition through a mixed-method analysis of NCAA reports, academic literature, and media sources. Data disclose that although the overall prevalence of gambling among student-athletes has decreased, these individuals are demonstrating more detrimental behaviors, including solitary gaming and incurring substantial losses in a single day. The emphasis on internet abuse associated with betting results has escalated, especially during prominent tournaments. The NCAA's instructional programs and data-monitoring agreements are compromised by ethical issues surrounding data monetization and varying state gambling rules. The research contends that …

Countering The Demand Side Of Foreign Bribery: An Analysis Of The Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, Noah Buyon

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

The United States has long criminalized bribery of foreign officials but not bribery by foreign officials. Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), an American may be criminally liable for paying a bribe to another country's official, but the official commits no corresponding crime. The official might face criminal charges if they launder the proceeds of the bribe through the United States and could find themselves the target of Executive Branch sanctions for their corrupt behavior. But until 2023, the United States largely left the official's punishment, if any, to the official's home country. Then, Congress passed the Foreign Extortion …

A Matter Of Public Concern: Wright V. Dorsey And The Need For Speech Protections Beyond Anti-Slapp Law, Henry Valentine

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

Wright v. Dorsey, a recent defamation case, demonstrates the limitations of anti-SLAPP ("Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation") law and the need for supplemental speech protections. Joshua Wright, an antitrust law practitioner and former professor, sued Elyse Dorsey and Angela Landry for defamation. Dorsey and Landry had claimed that Wright used his position as their professor (and later employer) to pressure them into non-consensual sexual relationships; Wright acknowledged their relationships but claimed they were fully consensual, and that stating otherwise was defamatory. Anti-SLAPP law failed to protect Dorsey and Landry even though Wright's lawsuit was ultimately a SLAPP. To better protect …

Front Matter, New Mexico Law Review

New Mexico Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unfinished Business: Twenty-First Century Questions Posed By Ambiguities In The Upper Colorado River Basin Compact And The Law Of The River, Eric Kuhn, Katherine H. Tara, John Fleck

New Mexico Law Review

The Law of the River, particularly those components relating to Upper Colorado River water allocation, usage, and measurement, is rife with ambiguities and uncertainties. In the twenty-first century, facing a future with less water, these ambiguities pose serious problems. The ongoing process for the development of the Post-2026 Colorado River Operating Guidelines presents an ideal opportunity to address these issues. This Article gives a brief history of the Law of the River, with an eye toward the origins of the stream depletion theory, beneficial consumptive use, and tribal water allocations. The authors then explore potential approaches to addressing the challenges …

Prisoners, Patients, And Privatization: Accountability For Corrections Contractors Under The New Mexico Civil Rights Act, Mayalyn Durham

New Mexico Law Review

New Mexico dedicates significant resources to incarceration—particularly with respect to prison medical care. Although New Mexico has mostly transitioned away from privately operated prisons, the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) continues to contract with various corporations to provide health services in state-owned prisons. Not surprisingly, the private contractors’ cost-saving measures often result in the provision of grossly inadequate healthcare that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Prisoner litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, however, is fraught with substantive and procedural barriers to recovery. The New Mexico Civil Rights Act (NMCRA or “the Act”) provides an avenue of …

Dean Samuel Lander Prince Files, 1946-1959 - Guide, Samuel Lander Prince

Prince, Samuel Lander (1946-1959)

No abstract provided.

Presentations: Pennsylvania's Environmental Rights Amendment And Environmental Justice, Samantha Phillps Beers, John C. Dernbach, Emma H. Bast, Margaret O. Murphy

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

A Beacon Trying To Signal Heading: The Ninth Circuit Interprets The California Whistleblower Protection Act In Killgore V. Specpro Professional Services, Llc, Naseem Memari

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Ecocentric Environmental Justice: Why We Should Go There And How We Can Get There, Jillian R. Houle

Pace Environmental Law Review

Environmental justice is necessary. It forces us to grapple with the fact that environmental burdens and benefits have been disproportionately divvied up across arbitrary race- and income-based lines, asks “what are you going to do about it?”, and offers solutions and answers to the problems it identifies. Everyone benefits from environmental justice. At the same time, environmental protection is necessary. Not only does environmental protection, by definition, protect the biotic and abiotic components of the natural world, but it further serves to protect humans, who unequivocally rely on the natural environment to sustain their collective life. Everything – living and …

Back To The Future For Climate Liability, Anthony Moffa

Pace Environmental Law Review

The Polluter Pays Principle has been a central tenet of environmental policy for decades. It provided an economic justification for compelling cleanups through the Superfund law (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)). However, outside of that context, it has not been explicitly cited as the chief justification for much environmental law in the United States—until now. The principle has recently been invoked in state climate lawmaking. Last year, Vermont and New York became the first states to enact laws that impose liability on fossil fuel producers for climate change harms, invoking the Polluter Pays Principle and Superfund …

Montana Environmental Information Center. V. Montana Department Of Public Service Regulation, Sadie Giles

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Montana Environmental Information Center v. Montana Department of Public Service Regulation provides insight into the discretion of the Public Service Commission and its impact on renewable energy development in Montana, especially in the wake of the repeal of the Renewable Power Production and Rural Economic Development Act. This case evaluates the Commission’s decisions to grant waivers to NorthWestern Energy for its 2015 and 2016 renewable energy purchase obligations under the Act. The Court found the Commission’s decisions were arbitrary and unsupported by substantial evidence and appropriate reasoning. Montana’s renewable portfolio standards had proven effective in promoting renewable energy and economic …

Session 3: Conference Spotlight- Politics In A World Of Ai Misinformation: Regulatory Approaches, Richard Painter, Mark Verstraete

SITIE Symposiums

Considering developments regarding AI-generated media, fake news, and impersonations, panelists discuss the challenges in regulating AI-generated media, particularly in the context of deepfakes and political misinformation. Panelists discuss the evolution of content from a text-based presentation to video-based manipulations, along with broader concerns, including the role of social media platforms, how platforms are becoming more focused, confirmation bias of individual voting publics, and the potential conflicts of interest in regulating AI-generated content. Panelists suggest solutions involving a proactive method to warn the public about AI-generated misinformation. Further, the panelists also call for greater inter-disciplinary collaboration to develop flexible and forward-thinking …

Session 2: The Cases For Industry Self-Regulation And Government Regulation Of Ai, Boaz Ashkenazy, Kevin Bartholomew, Kevin De Liban, Christopher Yoo

SITIE Symposiums

In Session Two of the SITIE 2025 Symposium titled “The Cases for Industry Self-Regulation and Government Regulation of AI,” moderated by Seattle University Technology Ethics Initiative Director and Professor Onur Bakiner, the panelists discuss their perspectives and experiences with AI regulation. They share observations about the industry and delve into the topics of AI complexity, concerns around accountability, the shift to agentic AI, the current state of AI regulation, existing legal guardrails, and their outlook on AI regulation.

Chevron Was Not, And Cannot Be, Overruled: The Dullness Of Loper Bright, Edward L. Rubin

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

As expected, the Supreme Court declared, in Loper Bright Enterprises. v. Raimondo, that "Chevron is overruled." But the Court did not understand the decision that it claimed to overrule. It focused its criticisms on Chevron's notorious two-step test, but failed to recognize that the decision is a major conceptual advance – the first clear judicial recognition that statutory interpretation is the initial and invariably necessary stage in the process by which administrative agencies enforce the law. Chevron thus revealed a reality that the current Court is powerless to alter. Most administrative statutes are not the normative declarations of the pre-administrative …

The Captive Audience Doctrine Today, R. George Wright

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Examining County-Level Implicit Stereotypes And Prejudice As Predictors Of Racial And Gender Disparities In Incarceration Across The United States, Emma Elizabeth Lee Money

Dissertations and Theses

Background: This dissertation investigated the role of local macropsychological factors - specifically, county-level implicit racial bias and implicit gender stereotyping - in shaping inequalities in incarceration across the United States. Despite overall declines in incarceration, trends in the incarceration of women and people of color (particularly Black women) show disparities compared to White men. Regional aggregations of implicit biases have been proposed as robust markers and drivers of systemic inequalities and are examined in current research.

Research Questions: Three overarching research questions (RQ) guided this dissertation: RQ1 tested the relationship between county-level implicit racial bias and proportions of Black (relative …

Self-Compassion And Law Student Professional Identity Formation, Janice L. Craft

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

The American Bar Association’s Standards for Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar require law schools to provide students with “substantial opportunities” for “[t]he development of a professional identity.” The Standards do not require a particular curriculum or mode of instruction but offer two guideposts for legal educators: one, that “professional identity focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society,” and two, that professional formation “should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice.” The guidance and concomitant …

Standard 303(B)(3) Meets Standard 303(C)(1): Laying The Foundation For Professional Identity Formation & Antiracism In Law Student Orientation Programming, Teri A. Mcmurtry-Chubb

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Transforming The Law School Matrix, Susan L. Brooks

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

The Hidden Curriculum And The Discounting Of Students’ Identity: The Sources Of Disaffection And The Challenge In Formation Of Professional Identity, Cliff Zimmerman

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Symposium Introduction: Interrogating The Hidden Curriculum: Implications For Formation Of Professional Identity, David I.C. Thomson

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Vaccination Mandates And Civil Liberties, Sophia Choti

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

Vaccination mandates in the United States sit at the crossroads of public health and individual freedoms, a complex and often controversial intersection. The enforcement of immunization policies has a long history of legal and ethical scrutiny, balancing the state's responsibility to protect its citizens with the constitutional rights individuals hold dear. The COVID-19 pandemic reignited this debate, amplifying existing tensions and presenting new challenges. This analysis argues that while vaccination mandates are constitutionally valid and essential for safeguarding public health, they must be designed with care to respect individual liberties and address modern challenges such as misinformation, inequities, and public …

Beyond The White Coat: The Fight For Equal Healthcare By Minorities, Morgan Robinson

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

Systematic oppression through medical discrimination has left a high rate of death in the minority community, with Black women having 2.6 times the rate of maternal mortality than White women. Medical professionals ignore minorities at a higher rate than White people. People of Color have been used as testers for medical professionals and reap the generational trauma of it, such as subjects of the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment passing it to their children. Even more, doctors today are taught that Black people have a “higher pain tolerance than other races,” so their symptoms are often dismissed. Legal solutions must be implemented …

Serial Killer Terminology And Its Effect On Criminal Trials, Alice Gnesin

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

The terminology used during court proceedings plays a pivotal role in shaping the legal outcomes and sentencing for serial killers. This study examines how specific language, mainly terms such as "serial killer," impacts sentencing severity. By analyzing cases involving serial killers and the terminology used, there is a proven correlation between terminology and sentencing. For example, Ted Bundy (30 confirmed murders) and Jeffrey Dahmer (17 confirmed murders) were both investigated by Robert Ressler—who pioneered FBI profiling and coined the term "serial killer." The term was extensively used within their trials, impacting their sentencing. This can be compared to John Wayne …

Pace Financing: A Legal Guide To Energy And Water Efficiency Funding, James P. Cargas

PEEL Alumni Scholarship

No abstract provided.

“Any Black Man Will Do”: A Transparency Framework For Eyewitness Identification In The Facial Recognition Technology Era, Ariam O. Kiflemariam

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.

(Environmental) Justice For All: Rethinking Environmental Disaster Remedies, Alyssa Umberger

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.