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Plea Bargaining And The Destruction Of Procedural Justice: A Theoretical And Empirical Critique Of Fairness In The U.S. Legal Sphere, Emma Scillitani

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the legal process of plea bargaining as it currently operates within the criminal justice system in the United States. Through both an empirical and theoretical evaluation of this procedure, it analyzes how plea bargaining exists in practice and whether it can be considered a fair mechanism of case resolution. This project investigates the practice on a molecular level through its presence at a county-level court jurisdiction, which represents broader structural implications of the national legal system. Furthermore, it identifies three central factors that drive the overutilization of plea bargaining: power asymmetry, information, asymmetry, and case processing time. …

Constitutional Structures In Private Law And The Example Of Waste Law, Jill M. Fraley

Scholarly Articles

This Article proposes three criteria for when a private law mechanism performs a structural constitutional function: when it constrains present authority in the name of future stability, when it disperses enforcement to avoid centralized authority, and when it has structural entrenchment to avoid ordinary displacement. While many private law doctrines contain constitutional resonances or echo rights, the core of constitutional law is the power structure—a precondition for the protection of those rights. Constitutional structures have three key components: self-binding through time, separation and diffusion of power, and entrenchment beyond ordinary politics. For a private law doctrine to do more than …

Immigration Policy Priorities In The Carter And Reagan Administrations, Sulgi Kim

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

Historically, immigration policy has been important for the United States. It has shaped the nation’s economy, demographics, and political landscape. In each presidential administration, immigration has been addressed differently, shaped by a combination of political, economic, and international factors. While scholars such as Higham (1956), Zolberg (2008), and Pineau and Waters (2016) have examined the events leading up to and the effect of various immigration policies, the literature has not focused on a critical actor in immigration policy: the president. This thesis asks what factors shaped the immigration policy priorities of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan? This study used …

Finding Aid Of The James Z. George Autograph Album Collection

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

The James Z. George Autograph Album contains signatures of members of the U.S. House of Representatives circa 1886 and a collection of signatures of delegates at the Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1890.

Iceberg Ethos: Credibility And Hemingway In Predictive Legal Writing, Brad Desnoyer

Faculty Works

In predictive legal writing, credibility is not inferred from conclusions alone. It is constructed sentence by sentence. Analytic correctness is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Supervising attorneys read prose as evidence of intellectual control, treating disciplined style as proof of substantive mastery. Yet legal writing scholarship has largely framed clarity as a matter of pedagogy or professionalism rather than as a structural theory of ethos.

This article reframes predictive writing as institutional rhetoric. Within the hierarchical environment of law practice, cognitive fluency governs professional trust: writing that is easy to process yet disciplined in reasoning reads as competence. Drawing …

The Federal Rules Of Evi-Dance: Exploring And Reimagining Evidence Law Through Music, And Proposing Amendments To Rule 604, Brian C. Potts

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Criminal Law—What Was Its Intent? First Circuit Presumes Mens Rea For Machinegun Provision, Ignoring Congress’S Purpose—United States V. Pérez-Greaux, 83 F.4th 1 (1st Cir. 2023), Allison O’Heany

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

How Equity Changes, Samuel L. Bray

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

In Trump v. CASA, the Supreme Court decisively rejected universal injunctions and offered a major decision about the law of equity. This Article grapples with a central question raised by CASA: if equity is not static, then what counts as legitimate innovation? This Article argues (1) that equity, in order to perform its functions, must have the capacity to innovate; (2) that any innovation should be in keeping with those functions and with equity’s own principles; and (3) that the primary stewards of the law of equity are the courts, not Congress. The vulnerabilities of Grupo Mexicano on these points …

A Third Possibility: The Press Clause At The Founding, Matthew L. Schafer

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

With the rise of history and tradition at the Supreme Court, scholarship purporting to define historical fact is likely to have outsized influence on the development of constitutional law. Underdeveloped constitutional rights like the First Amendment’s Press Clause are especially susceptible to such influence as they lack a precedential counterweight. While Press Clause jurisprudence is shallow, historical research about the Press Clause is not. For decades, scholars who have considered the Press Clause’s historical meaning have generally concluded that the record is quite vague, and, for that reason, cautioned against absolutist conclusions as to its original understanding. …

A Third Possibility: The Press Clause At The Founding, Matthew L. Schafer

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

With the rise of history and tradition at the Supreme Court, scholarship purporting to define historical fact is likely to have outsized influence on the development of constitutional law. Underdeveloped constitutional rights like the First Amendment’s Press Clause are especially susceptible to such influence as they lack a precedential counterweight. While Press Clause jurisprudence is shallow, historical research about the Press Clause is not. For decades, scholars who have considered the Press Clause’s historical meaning have generally concluded that the record is quite vague, and, for that reason, cautioned against absolutist conclusions as to its original understanding. More recently, though, …

The Invisible String: How Litigation Funders In Patent Suits Pose A National Security Risk, Cosette Mclaughlin

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This Note will address why the Supreme Court should modify Rule 7.1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to require third-party litigation funding (TPLF) funders and agreements to be disclosed to the judge and the opposing party. This amendment would mitigate the national security risk posed by foreign adversaries acting through TPLF in patent suits by eliminating the veil of secrecy. The semiconductor industry acts as an illustration of the benefits of this modification.19 In addition, if TPLF funding were required to be disclosed to all involved, conflict identification would become significantly easier. Full transparency in patent litigation TPLF …

Discrimination In The Trademark Id Manual, Rachael Dickson

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Using evidence drawn from the USPTO’s treatment of 221 identifications submitted for inclusion in the Trademark ID Manual (including 43 this Author submitted on their own and as part of a team), this Article, the first ever written on the ID Manual, argues that the USPTO’s administration of the Manual systematically disadvantages trademark applicants offering lawful but socially disfavored goods or services, such as those relating to cannabis, sexual health, or “vice.”

By deliberately refusing to include identifications of goods and services relating to entire categories of commerce in the ID Manual, the USPTO imposes higher costs, greater uncertainty, and …

A Golden Opportunity For New York: Caveat Emptor And Revised Mckinney's 465, Grady Miller

NYLS Law Review

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For centuries, the doctrine of caveat emptor has governed New York residential real estate transactions, rewarding sellers who do not disclose material defects affecting the property, and punishing unsuspecting buyers who fail to exercise due diligence. To alleviate the doctrine’s inherent unfairness to buyers, the New York …

Emden V. Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston, Beau Van Der Meulen

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Colonel William J. Hoynes Award, Notre Dame Law School

Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards

The Hoynes Prize, is a gift of Dean William James Hoynes, 1878, LL.D. 1888, first dean of the Notre Dame Law School.

To the graduating law class member who has the best record in scholarship, application, deportment, and achievement.

Edward J. Kelly Prize In Elder Law, Notre Dame Law School

Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards

The Elder Law Prize is intended to advance the study of elder law and to encourage and assist Notre Dame Law students who may have an interest in this field. This award is given annually to the NDLS student who has written the best essay, article, or legal brief on a topic relating to elder law. Due to a gift from the Retirement Research Foundation on behalf of Mr. Ed Kelly, the winner of the award will receive a monetary prize.

Alvin Mckenna Alumnus Of The Year Award, Black Law Students Association, Ndls

Student, Faculty, and Staff Awards

Presented by BLSA to a graduate who distinguishes him/herself with the African American legal community and through support of BLSA programs & activities. The honoree also demonstrates a commitment to service through active involvement within the community.

Our Clients’ Rights On Mute: Virtual Court, Due Process, And Judicial Discretion, Beena I. Ahmad, Julia Elhai

City University of New York Law Review

The use of videoconferencing as a substitute for in-person appearances began in immigration proceedings in the mid-1990s. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, its use expanded significantly in the criminal and civil contexts, when both state and federal courts invested heavily in the technology needed to conduct proceedings remotely. As we have exited the pandemic, courts have eagerly embraced virtual proceedings to reduce their overburdened dockets. Drawing from our experiences in federal and state court, we argue that judges should not be granted discretion to proceed by videoconferencing.

We posit that there is too great a danger that the …

The Prohibition Of Force Is The First Principle Of International Humanitarian Law, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

This article tracks the decline of respect for the prohibition of force, IHL, and human rights law. At the same time, it will clarify the inter-relationship of the three bodies of international law relevant to armed conflict. The article also considers why presidents first began to “abandon peace.” The evidence indicates that a major reason involves the influence of realist political theory. Realism asserts that national security is attained by amassing and demonstrating superior military capability. A president who follows the theory will defy the law against the use of force. Following realism is also at odds with the empirical …

Dan Subotnik—Three Encounters And One Strong Memory, Honorable Robert S. French

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rescued Before He Was Born – Dan Subotnik’S Journey In Utero Out Of Nazi-Occupied Europe, Olivia Mattis

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eulogy For Daniel Subotnik דניאל עזרא בן אליעזר ואהובה Died–March 8 / 29 Adar 1, 57, Rabbi Wayne Franklin

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can We Talk—Really Talk—About Critical Race Theory? What A Game For All Ages Can Teach Us, Dan Subotnik

Touro Law Review

This essay may shock many readers. What it tries to do is look more closely than usual at the underpinnings of American racial discourse in the hope of leaving its readers, by its end, more willing than before to speak openly and listen carefully to people who disagree with them on the fraught subject of race. Wouldn’t many of us academics like to engage in a more open-minded sort of interracial conversation with a greater variety of our peers than we usually do? And yet it never seems to happen. Do any of us, black or white, feel we can …

Son Of Orwell, Chesterton, And Mill, Stephen B. Presser

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Revisiting “Of Arms And The Militia: Gun Regulation By Legislatively Defining ‘Ordinary Military Equipment’”, Edward J. Curtis ,Jr.

Touro Law Review

In 2021, I published an article arguing that semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic handguns, among other weapons, could be most effectively regulated by defining the “ordinary military equipment” that the states’ militia members were expected to produce in the event they were called to service. I based my argument on the rationale employed by the United States Supreme Court in its 1939 decision in United States v. Miller, which upheld the National Firearms Act of 1934.

High Stakes And Random Rewards: A Critical Look At Loot Boxes And Illegal Gambling, Brian T. Wersan

Touro Law Review

Since their inception in the mid-2000s, loot boxes have been legal and virtually unregulated in the United States. Ever-growing mountains of evidence demonstrate the harms of loot boxes, but their structure has not yet been found to be in violation of any current U.S. gambling law, leading to a complete lack of recovery for victims. Certainly, if people experience harm, a legal avenue providing justice must exist. While other avenues are referenced, this Note ultimately argues that loot boxes can be interpreted by courts to satisfy the elements of, and thus, violate multiple state gambling laws, revealing a path to …

If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You): Billy Joel Lyrics In Legal And Medical Scholarship, Seuli Bose Brill, Christian H. Brill

Touro Law Review

Law and medicine are often considered to be among the least accessible professions, partly because of the heavy use of non colloquial jargon. This article examines more than 150 instances in which Billy Joel’s lyrics have been used to improve the accessibility of legal and medical scholarship. Legal and medical professionals have used the words of the “Piano Man” to discuss a variety of topics—everything from civil procedure to property rights and the COVID-19 pandemic to colorectal surgery. Nontraditional communications techniques of this type do not just contribute to the body of legal and medical scholarship; they also help professionals …

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: How The New York Appellate Division Slowed The Progress Of Judge Cardozo’S Effort In Macpherson V. Buick Motor Co. To End Privity’S Stranglehold Over Negligence Claims In Product Injury Cases, Jeffrey A. Van Detta

Touro Law Review

This article aims to tell the story of how the various Departments of the New York State Appellate Division sometimes helped—and just as often hindered—the development of the product injury law in the wake of MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co. (1916). Hailed for loosening the privity requirement that barred persons injured by products from suing manufacturers and suppliers for negligence, MacPherson has become the stuff of legal legend. No one put it more picturesquely than Dean William L. Prosser, who in a justly famous law review article described privity as a “citadel” and presented MacPherson’s author, Judge Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, …

The Role Of Legal Uncertainty, Risk, Institutional Size, And Mission In Presidential Selection: Is The Trend To Lawyer-Presidents An Unmitigated Good?, Nora V. Demleitner

Touro Law Review

This Article builds on Patricia Salkin’s May It Please the Campus which documents the extent to which legally trained persons have led U.S. institutions of higher education since colonial times. It explains the perennial attraction of lawyer-presidents despite substantial changes in legal training, in the professional formation of attorneys, and the transformation of higher education, especially with the rise of the modern research university, governmental investment, and heightened regulation of colleges and universities. Governing boards are increasingly attracted to the skills ascribed to lawyers and their personal characteristics, including the common law appreciation for slow change. This Article highlights how …

A Matter Of Life And Death: Give Me All Of Your Money And I'Ll Give You Healthcare, Shilanka I. Lewis

Marquette Law Review

The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) is a federal mandate requiring states to recover costs of long-term care and related services provided to Medicaid beneficiaries from their estates after death. This Article explores the core arguments supporting and opposing MERP, offering a balanced analysis of its ethical, legal, and economic dimensions. Proponents argue that estate recovery ensures fiscal responsibility by recouping taxpayer dollars and preventing wealth transfer from those who received public assistance to their heirs. Proponents contend that MERP upholds the principle that Medicaid is a need-based program and a payor of last resort. Conversely, critics argue that MERP …