Digital Commons Network^™

Between The Sword And A Hard Place: Systemic Solutions To The Shortcomings Of The Missouri Public Defender System, Andrew A. Bohon

Missouri Law Review

“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.” The attempt to solve a problem can sometimes topple a functional system entirely. The striving to improve a thing can frustrate its purpose. Limping along under the guise of functionality, however, many sociopolitical processes hinder our progress. Something works, so we cling to it in fear of making it worse. The idea has been aphorized that perfect is the enemy of good. Although a quaint and conservative philosophy, there is a countertheory: “Good is the enemy of great.”

People Power And Police Policy: How Denying Intervenors In Pattern-Or-Practice Police Litigation Undermines Police Accountability, Alexander Lindenfelser

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Governing Global Gig Platforms In The Age Of Ai: When The Manager Is An Algorithm, David S. Lee, Felicia F. Chen Prosecution Development Fellow

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Gig workers are vulnerable to discrimination from the sharing economy platforms on which they work. This challenge is worsened by these platforms’ dependence on algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which are used to control and direct gig workers. These platforms also often operate globally, and discrimination embedded within their algorithms can be magnified when exported into new cultural contexts.

These platforms exercise significant influence over gig workers, but their for-profit nature means that their boards and directors often prioritize shareholder value over gig worker protection. This tension has led to intense debates, as platforms attempt to minimize the rights …

From Promise To Performance: Reforming Blended Finance For Scale, Perrine Toledano, Ana M. Camelo Vega, Tucker Wilke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Blended finance has the potential to help close the sustainable development financing gap. Strategically combining public and philanthropic capital to unlock private investment, it has proven to be an effective tool to de-risk impact investments. But without bold, structural reform, it risks remaining a niche tool – promising in theory, underperforming in practice. Drawing on over 65 expert interviews and in-depth analysis, this report from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) maps the systemic barriers preventing blended finance from operating at scale, and outlines a practical path forward. With bold leadership and coordinated reform, blended finance can become a …

The Reign Of Cerberus: International Law And Technological Innovation, Paul B. Stephan

Chicago Journal of International Law

This Essay sketches an informal theory of the impact of technological change on international economics, and hence international relations expressed as international law. The theory points to a policy trilemma, something that I call Cerberus in a perhaps futile attempt at an arresting metaphor. The Essay uses the trilemma to illuminate the general trends in technology policy we see playing out in China, Europe, and the United States. It argues that we have the privilege of witnessing an ongoing natural experiment in optimal technology regulation and legal policy, with no guarantee as to which approach will prevail.

Of course, like …

Decommissioning Offshore Oil And Gas Infrastructure: Report Of Proceedings, May 2, 2025 Offshore Decommissioning Workshop, Martin Lockman, Ashwin Murthy, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

On May 2, 2025, Ocean Conservancy and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law organized a workshop at Columbia Law School on offshore oil and gas decommissioning in the United States. The overarching goal of the workshop was to bring together offshore law and policy experts to outline a research and policy agenda for offshore decommissioning. Within this broad goal, we sought to (1) identify key opportunities to reform offshore decommissioning law in the United States, both in the short term and over the next decade, (2) identify knowledge gaps and highlight areas for future research, and (3) begin to …

The New Abortion Borders For Immigrant Women, Valeria Gomez

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Driving Financial Inclusion Through Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Methodology For Cbdc Implementation, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This publication outlines a methodology for the design, testing, and implementation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to advance financial inclusion. As an increasing number of central banks around the world explore this novel form of financial infrastructure, this paper focuses on the potential of CBDCs to address key access and price barriers in developing and emerging economies. CBDCs, especially retail ones, can offer unique opportunities for enhancing financial services accessibility, affordability, and usability for unserved and underserved populations, if implemented responsibly through a structured, inclusive and user-centric approach.

From Contamination To Consequence: Tracing Donna Lake’S Human Environmental History, Dean Kyne

Sociology Faculty Publications

The Donna Reservoir and Canal System (Donna Lake) in Texas has been a persistent source of environmental contamination for over a century, exposing surrounding communities to dangerous levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Originally built for agricultural irrigation, the system became a recreational fishing site before PCB contamination was discovered during public health investigations in the 1990s. This study examines patterns of demographic vulnerability, evaluates remediation efforts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and explores residents’ ongoing challenges related to toxic exposure. Using publicly available demographic data, EPA reports, and previous health assessments, the study analyzes variations in community characteristics …

An Old Law With New Tricks? The Prospects And Pitfalls Of Using The Antiquities Act Of 1906 To Shape Climate Policy On Federal Lands, Chick Hallinan

Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc

The Antiquities Act of 1906 empowers the president to declare a national monument on federally owned land, subject to constraints. As physical hazards enhanced by climate change endanger historically or biologically valuable objects and places, the Act can shape climate policy on federal land—extending the designation to new tracts and enhancing protections on existing monuments. This Note contends that climate change qualifies as a threat to federal public lands sufficient to trigger presidential authority to proclaim a national monument. Still, any such proclamation must account for the constitutional and statutory restraints that have some gravity on the president’s power to …

Response To Six Interlocuters On The Topic Of Neuroscience And Responsibility, Michael S. Moore

The Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues

I am very pleased to be afforded the opportunity to respond to the edited and revised versions of the six papers that were discussed at the Rutgers Symposium in honor of my recent book. Each of these six papers raise excellent points that can serve as the springboard for deeper exploration of some of the salient issues raised in my book, and it is my aim in this response to take advantage of that opportunity. I am quite appreciative for the spur to intellectual progress that these papers and this symposium represents. By-and-large scholarship is a solitary enterprise but occasions …

Navigating Sovereignty And Human Rights: A Legal Analysis Of Palestinian Detention Under Israeli Jurisdiction In Comparison To International Law, Amani Nidal Odeh

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines whether Israeli detention practices of Palestinians conform to or contravene Israeli domestic legislation and international legal standards using a doctrinal legal analysis. This thesis evaluates six key areas through four hypotheses: the detention of minors, geographic disparities (particularly Gaza), administrative detention procedures, the use of military courts, due process violations, and detention conditions. While Israeli domestic law formally authorizes these practices, the analysis finds they routinely violate crucial international legal norms, including the ICCPR, CRC, CAT, and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The use of secret evidence, prolonged administrative detention without trial, and discriminatory legal frameworks undermines the …

The Lawyer’S Obligation As Public Citizen, Gene R. Nichol

Mercer Law Review

It is an honor to participate in this symposium—at the Mercer Law School—which, to its great credit, is looking hard and thoughtfully at the lawyer’s professional role. I particularly admire the focus on the lawyer’s obligation as public citizen. Something we pay attention to, I’d guess, less frequently than other purported ethical charges. I’m grateful, too, that the Mercer Law Review would host this terrific conference. And I salute former American Bar Association (ABA) President Mary Smith’s leadership on these issues; especially her formation, in 2023, of the ABA’s Task Force for American Democracy, with Judge Michael Luttig and others, …

Current Events In Legal Classrooms: Enhancing Professional Identity Formation, Stevie Leahy

Mercer Law Review

In the Fall of 2023, educators were surveyed on their inclusion of “current events” in classroom spaces (“CE Survey”). The term current events was broadly defined as: “events that are happening in the world, including recent legal decisions (U.S. or global), political events that impact the operation of the legal system, and/or social events that impact your community. This definition is intended to be inclusive.” Based on nearly 100 responses, the results indicate that while the large majority of educators agreed that incorporating current events into instruction is vital, there are still many barriers to responsible inclusion of this type …

The Ministerial Exception And The Fair Labor Standards Act, William Grabas

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Local Impact Of The International Standardization Of Transitional Justice: Lessons From The Ugandan Case, Thomas Hansen

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

This Article examines how international transitional justice (TJ) standardization has influenced Uganda's TJ processes, exploring stakeholder perceptions, local implementation, and its implications for academics, policymakers, and practitioners.

Masthead, Gjicl Journal

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Nih-Moderna Public-Private Partnership: A New Contractual Model For Securing Innovation, Karen Sandrik

Texas A&M Law Review

The public–private partnership between the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) and Moderna was considered “one of the few bright spots of the pandemic.” Yet as the NIH–Moderna collaboration progressed at an unprecedented pace, going from vaccine development to FDA authorization in nine months, cracks began to appear in the partnership. Public trust in vaccinations wavered, multiple patent disputes arose, and global frustration erupted over Moderna’s lack of commitment to equitable access to the vaccine that was largely paid for by U.S. taxpayers. This Article argues that the parties’ contractual agreements did shockingly little to support or, indeed, set up the …

Building Bridges: Queer Rights In And Out Of The Courts, Kaz Lane

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

It is unclear whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from differentiating between people based solely on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This note_comment analyzes the Supreme Court’s tiers of scrutiny—rational basis review, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny—to argue that a new suspect class is warranted for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), triggering strict scrutiny for SOGI classifications. This analysis shows that a united SOGI class meets all of the characteristics associated with suspect classes, including a history of anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination and the irrelevance between SOGI and one’s ability to contribute to society. This …

Suspecting With Data, Mary D. Fan

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

Our pooled consumer big data, such as the pictures we post or the location history and keyword search trails we leave, are generating new ways to solve crimes. Much of the commentary on big data search strategies such as keyword, geofence, and facial recognition searches fixate on Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues rather than evidentiary safeguards. This Article breaks new ground by framing evidentiary guardrails for big data searches to reduce the harms of erroneous arrests, redress secrecy, and counteract the mystique of machine infallibility. Advancing beyond over-reliance on Fourth Amendment doctrine, this Article illuminates how evidence law and …

Critical Praxis For Transnational Movement-Lawyering, Kelsey Jost-Creegan

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article seeks to identify new ways to respond to critiques of international human rights practice as hierarchy-reproducing, extractive, and imperialist. It proposes one model for how human rights lawyers can better work in solidarity with oppressed communities organizing around common grievances: transnational movement-lawyering. While the framing of community-led lawyering has become rapidly popularized in the human rights field, work remains to ensure that this theoretical and discursive shift translates into a transformation of the day-to-day mechanics of human rights practice. This Article seeks to identify concrete ways to apply critical theory and participatory methodologies to human rights practice. Part …

The Housing Crisis In The Republic Of Ireland With A Comparison To Spain’S Housing Crisis, Claire O'Brien

Ohio Northern University International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Oil Exploration In Guyana And Its Impact: A Closer Look At The Labor Sector & The Environmental Policies, Camilla Leonard

Ohio Northern University International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Shackles Or Safeguards?: Tailoring Ndas And Noncompetes To Protect Interests Without Imposing Uniform Restraints, Nadia Brenden

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

To better understand the implications of the FTC’s sweeping proposal and the need for a state-by-state approach, the following sections dive into the legal, historical, and comparative foundations of restrictive covenants, trace their evolution across jurisdictions, and explain why states—not federal agencies—are best positioned to strike the right balance. Part II provides an overview of legal doctrines governing the transmission of proprietary information, a history of the early applications of employment contracts, and a comparative analysis of international noncompete standards. Part III describes how different jurisdictions apply trade secret, contract, and employment law to protect business interests through enforceable agreements. …

Cybersquatting: Does Re-Registering Trademarks Fall Under The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act?, Taylor Heath

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

This paper will explain the arguments whether the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) prevents cybersquatting from re-registering a domain name, or if the ACPA only prevents cybersquatters from being the first to register a domain name, and concludes that due to the clear intent of the Act and the definition of register, the Act should be interpreted to cover all registrations. Part II provides relevant background including the pre-ACPA laws. Part III provides a detailed explanation of the ACPA, including Congress’s intent, the Court’s breakdown, and the existing law. Part IV provides the relevant case history prior to the circuit …

Crystal Clear Disparities: The Failure Of Sentencing Guidelines And How They Repeatedly Contribute To Systematic Racism In The United States, Makayla Perez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Labor Monopsony And Antitrust Enforcement: A Distorting Mirror, Geoffrey A. Manne, Brian C. Albrecht, Dirk Auer

DePaul Law Review

No abstract provided.

Who Owns The Wind: The Absence Of Community Wind Farms In California, Sky Berry-Weiss

Master's Projects and Capstones

Community ownership structures for wind farms have been around for decades, particularly in European countries, due to high socioeconomic benefits. Given these significant benefits, one might expect community wind to thrive in the United States—especially in a state like California, which prides itself on progressive climate policy and renewable energy leadership. Yet utility-scale community wind remains largely absent from research on California’s energy system, raising questions about its existence in the state. To pinpoint how many utility-scale community owned wind farms are in California, this study surveys every operational wind turbine in the state. After classifying each wind farm by …

The Connection Between An Unequitable Distribution Of Care Responsibilities And A Widening Gender Nutrition Gap In Latin America, Alexis Nicole Bodlak

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The notion of care refers to activities that satisfy the basic needs of existence and reproduction. Within rural communities, care work such as the production and preparation of food contributes to food security at the household level. Care work supports the paid workforce, allowing workers to focus on commercial productive activities that generate economic income in rural communities. Women perform 6.3 to 29.5 more hours per week than men in unpaid care work, reducing their time for income-generating activities and personal nutrition management. Affecting their economic independence and ability to access and consume nutritious food. Studies show that in food-insecure …

Inclusive Workforce Development For An Equitable Low-Carbon Transition, Shannon Sanchez-Youngman, Gabriel Pacyniak, Melanie Sayuri Sonntag, Addison Fulton

Natural Resources Journal

The shift to a low-carbon economy will require a massive build out of low-carbon technologies, which in turn will require millions of new laborers with specific skills. Similarly, the decline of fossil-fuel industries will require retraining and new job opportunities for laborers in these fields. At the same time, there is an emerging scholarly focus on a “just transition” to a low-carbon economy. This essay conceptualizes inclusive workforce development as a key component of a just transition. Inclusive workforce development promotes policies that reach and effectively serve the broadest possible range of people and communities. In particular, inclusive workforce development …