Digital Commons Network^™

Employee Speech V. Workplace Values: A Defense Of At-Will Employment And Private Employer Regulation Of Political Speech, Isaac Mamaysky

Duke Law Journal Online

The public policy underlying at-will employment—and particularly our collective interest in freedom of choice in the employment relationship—weighs in favor of allowing employers to regulate their employees' political activities and thus align personnel decisions with organizational values.

Beginning with an exploration of the laws that somewhat limit employers' ability to regulate their employees' political activities, this Essay considers the National Labor Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, state anti-discrimination laws, state laws governing captive audience meetings, and state employment protections for political activity.

This Essay applies these laws to three increasingly prevalent employer practices: (1) prohibiting employees …

"I'M Guilty, But I'M Not A War Criminal!": Fixing Treaty Crimes, Dyllan M. Taxman

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

This Article examines the Supreme Court's test for treaty crime constitutionality against the gauntlet of time and application. Treaty crimes are criminal behavior violating statutes penalizing private individuals for disobeying the terms of an international treaty obligation. The current treaty crime test from Bond v. United States has produced inconsistent results resting on shaky constitutional grounds. This Article proposes a new test relying on constitutional delegations of authority and treaty drafting history to determine when a treaty crime statute violates the Tenth Amendment. It measures the new test's effectiveness by applying the test to cases in which the Bond test …

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 …

Codifying Capital: Legal Power, Racial Hierarchy, And The Gendered Dynamics Of Law, Tavia Andrew

University Honors Theses

This paper analyzes how law operates as a structuring force within racial capitalism by applying Austin Turk's "law as power" framework. It explores how legal institutions not only reflect but actively reproduce racial and gender hierarchies through their functions. Drawing from foundational work by Cedric Robinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Angela Harris, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and others, this paper defines racial capitalism as a system in which economic exploitation is inseparable from racial and gender domination. The first section contextualizes the emergence of racial capitalism and its intersection with gender, emphasizing how bodies are commodified and governed through legal regimes. The core …

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 …

Teleopathy And The First-Year Law Student: The Challenges And Unhealthy Consequences Of An Unbalanced Pursuit Of A Valid Purpose, Jerome M. Organ

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Democratic Lawyering: Upending The “Hidden Curriculum” To Prepare New Lawyers For A New World, Eduardo R.C. Capulong, Andrew King-Ries, Monte Mills

The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning

Multiple heightening crises reveal the deficiencies and contradictions of legal education, in particular the values it imparts. Perpetuating myths about U.S. democracy and rule of law, the enduring formalist, liberal legalist cast of law school is increasingly at odds with students’ lived experiences. As liberal democracy and the rule of law falter, no longer is relying on the “hidden curriculum” or the historically nebulous and mythical narratives of the law and our legal system sufficient to prepare tomorrow’s lawyers for the challenges faced by our profession. Instead, with a boost from ABA Standard 303, this article draws on the tradition …

Curative Identity Formation Themes To Counteract Law School’S Hidden Curriculum, Aric K. Short

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 …

Tripping Over "Trips"; International Inequities In Critical Phamaceutical Access, Michael Gomez

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

Directed by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right (TRIPS) of 1995 is the most comprehensive international policy on the creation, protection, definition, and transfer of International Property Rights (IPR). This policy was particularly damaging for underdeveloped countries when it came to the trade and importation of name-brand drugs, as TRIPS inherently expedited the unethical process of evergreening drug patents. As a result, the agreement forced many vulnerable regions— such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC)— to become dangerously dependent on foreign generic drug imports, predominantly from India. This paper analyzes the …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Center For Civil Rights And Critical Justice In Support Of Petitioner, Melissa Lee, Jessica Levin, Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic

Center for Civil Rights and Critical Justice Advocacy

No abstract provided.

2025 Commencement Exercises, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Commencement Programs

Order of Exercises

Processional:

Felix Wu, JD, PhD, Vice Dean, Professor of Law, Herald

Presiding:

Selma Botman, PhD, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Yeshiva University, Chief Marshal

Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, President, Yeshiva University

National Anthem:

Cantor Ira W. Heller, JD, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2008

Remarks:

Melanie Leslie, JD, Dean, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Class of 1991

Commencement Address:

Hon. Caitlin Halligan, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals

Student Remarks:

Koral Bahat and Denise Pasi, LL.M. Class Speakers, Class of 2025

Talia N. Raoufpur, J.D. Class Speaker, …

Is It Time To Scrap Stare Decisis?, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii

Articles

Shortly after returning to the presidency, Donald Trump terminated several independent federal officers, prompting legal action by employees who occupied government positions covered by statutory for cause removal protections long held constitutionally permissible and valid. Eventually, one or more suits alleging unlawful termination owing to the removal without cause will reach the Supreme Court to be decided on the merits. Having steadily narrowed the Humphrey’s Executor line of cases that insulate these officers, the Court now seems poised to displace that precedent entirely. In isolation, the overruling would mark a seismic doctrinal shift and major advance in legal conservatism's pursuit …

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

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

No abstract provided.

Education In Advance Care Planning: A Novel Equity-Based, Interprofessional Service-Learning Approach, Dorothy Yam, Sriya Kudaravalli, Elizabeth A. Mulvaney, Leslie Scheunemann, Grace W. Orsatti

Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education

Introduction: Despite health sciences graduate schools emphasizing service-learning and interprofessionalism, they often struggle to integrate these values into the curricula effectively. Advance care planning is inherently interdisciplinary and presents an opportunity to address equity gaps through service-learning. This report describes a novel interdisciplinary service-learning initiative for graduate student trainees, focused on advance care planning in underserved communities.

Methods: After targeted training, teams of medical, law, and social work students, and professionals from their respective fields, took part in two Life Planning Fairs in historically underserved neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Using a form developed by the Allegheny County Bar Association …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Climatologist Mann's Defamation Suit Victory: Can It Resolve The Crisis Of Expertise, David S. Caudill

Faculty Publications

When a jury awarded one million dollars in punitive damages to climatologist Michael Mann, in his defamation suit against writer Mark Steyn (who accused Mann of scientific fraud), it was newsworthy, even surprising, because opinions regarding scientific matters are rarely actionable. And yet it was not seen as a groundbreaking event in terms of legal doctrine, since the outcome was easily justifiable— Steyn’s accusation was provably false. However, even if the Constitutional contours of defamation law did not change, the Mann verdict has far-reaching implications for a major contemporary social phenomenon, namely the so-called crisis of expertise, a term identifying …

Research Misconduct Sebagai Suatu Tindak Pidana Penyebaran Berita Bohong: Sebuah Tinjauan Hukum Pidana, Kemal Fikri Royadi, Monte Carlo Faza Harissa

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Research is one of the gates to uncover wisdom in scientific disciplines. In its implementation, it is often found that there are various interests underlying the research. These various interests also have their own purpose to the extent that it can influence the results of the research which can have implications to form a research misconduct. This research aims to review the national criminal law regarding this behavior by examining the relevant act’s articles as well as scholarly dogmatics due to the absence of laws regulating this matter. The method used in this research is juridical-normative using conceptual approach and …

The Objective Observer: The Washington State Supreme Court's Remedial Aspirations And Experience On The Ground, David B. Owens

Washington Law Review

The Washington State Supreme Court has adopted an “objective observer rule” for addressing whether race impacted jury selection and extended this rule to evaluating all aspects of Washington courts, including jury trials. The objective observer rule allows courts to evaluate whether decisions in those courtrooms could be viewed as the result of racial bias, even where there is no evidence of specific racial animus and in the absence of racial slurs. The rule, which covers a form of disparate impact, has now existed for over half a decade. This Article outlines the Washington State Supreme Court’s development of the objective …

The Gift Of Public Funds Bogeyman, Noah Purcell, Michelle Saperstein

Washington Law Review

Washington’s “gift of public funds” doctrine is frequently misunderstood in ways that impede innovative ideas aimed at remedying some of our state’s most intractable problems. This doctrine arises from article VIII, sections 5 and 7 of the Washington Constitution, which prohibit state and local governments from gifting assets or loaning credit. While the Washington State Supreme Court historically applied these provisions in restrictive and confusing ways, the Court’s modern jurisprudence recognizes that the doctrine is inapplicable to funding expended for any of the many “fundamental purposes” of government. Even where a government program does not fall under this broad category, …

Attempting To Resolve The Felon-In-Possession Prohibition Circuit Split: The Second Amendment Historical Analogue Test After United States V. Rahimi, Chloe E. Bonds

Mercer Law Review

The Second Amendment provides, “[a] well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The inception of this amendment was rooted in the Founding Fathers’ Enlightenment ideals and disapproval of the English Crown’s “standing armies.” In founding-era America, the militias were not composed of professional soldiers but instead of local citizens with the aim of providing common defense. The main concern surrounding the ratification was that the Second Amendment would give too much power to the federal government and result in the same …

Sustainability And Human Dignity Rights, James R. May

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Humans In Nature: Creating Our New Reality Through Ecological, Cultural, Global, Ethical, And Legal Reform, John Head

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fair Labor Standards Act's Fading Promise To Workers With Disabilities, Jessica Rigby

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Looking For The Public In Public Law, Nikhil Menezes, David E. Pozen

University of Chicago Law Review

The “public” is everywhere and nowhere in contemporary public law. Everywhere, in that the term is constantly invoked to justify and explain existing arrangements. Nowhere, in that serious attempts to identify a relevant public and elicit its input are few and far between. Scholars and officials depict the U.S. public as playing myriad roles in governance—checking, guiding, approving, repudiating—without offering an account of how public preferences are formed or how they exercise influence on questions of interest.

This Article seeks to identify and call attention to the foundational dilemmas underlying this disconnect, to clarify their normative contours and intellectual history, …