Digital Commons Network^™

Originalist Arguments In Free Speech History, Samantha Barbas

Texas A&M Law Review

Contrary to what historians and legal scholars have often assumed, originalism has played an important role in American free speech history. During the 1950s, originalist interpretations of the First Amendment as prohibiting the crime of seditious libel became popular in legal argumentation, court rulings, and in popular culture more generally. The reason for the popularity of these arguments was the Red Scare. Liberal lawyers, judges, and scholars deployed originalist arguments in their battles against government anti-Communist measures. They argued that the original meaning and purpose of the First Amendment was the ban on punishment for criticism of the government, and …

Memory Warriors, Pluralists, And Abnegators In Constitutional Interpretation: An Essay On Jack Balkin's Pluralist Originalism In Memory And Authority, Jed Handelsman Shugerman, Zachary Shugerman Handelsman

Texas A&M Law Review

One of the most compelling and generative aspects of Jack Balkin’s Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation is its synthesis of constitutional theory, history, and the growing field of the “politics of memory,” and especially the concept of the “memory entrepreneur.” The book project itself is entrepreneurial, if you will, in its cultivating, connecting, and building from different disciplines, academic languages, and national narratives (in that the “politics of memory” is already such an international and interdisciplinary field itself).

Sakdiyah Ma’Ruf’S Stand-Up Comedy: Humor And Social Critique In The Digital Age, Fitrizal Rahmadhian, Shuri Mariasih Gietty Tambunan

International Review of Humanities Studies

Stand-up comedy can challenge dominant discourses and dismantle stereotypes. This research focuses on an Indonesian female stand-up comedian, Sakdiyah Ma’ruf. Using textual analysis, the study investigates recorded performances available on YouTube between 2014 and 2025. Sakdiyah addresses critical social issues, including religious fundamentalism, terrorism, sexism, and gender-based violence. The study explores how she constructs her comedic persona through narratives of personal identity and social critique, and how she employs humor to negotiate sensitive topics while remaining acceptable to diverse audiences. Findings reveal that her themes remain consistent across performances, while her humor strategies, including structured narratives, deliberate word choices, and …

The Role Of Mass Media In Reportig Natural Disastersn: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Gunther-Kress Photojournalism Of The Great Eastern Japan Disaster In The Yomiuri Shinbun Daily 11-13 March 2011, Moh Gandhi Amanullah, Faruk Faruk, Budi Irawanto

International Review of Humanities Studies

This article examines the role of the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shinbun in covering the great East Japan disaster on March 11-13, 2011. This study uses a quantitative and qualitative approach, with content analysis methods and Gunther-Kress multimodal critical discourse analysis methods on 98 photos published by the newspaper. The results show that the newspaper published a special edition twice, with photos that did not show photos of the deceased victims, creating a distance between the reader and the subject. Most of the photos were taken from a distance, indicating a lack of interaction and showing that the victims did not …

Reinterpreting The Kutika Manuscript: A Buginese Ethnoecological Perspective, Rahmatia Ayu Widyaningrum, Priscila Fitriasih Limbong, Titik Pudjiastuti, Mamlahatun -. Buduroh -

International Review of Humanities Studies

This article offers a reinterpretation of the Kutika manuscript from a Buginese ethnoecological perspective. Departing from a philological study of the Lontara’ Kutika text in the National Library of Indonesia (PNRI) collection (code VT 129), this research examines how Buginese communities articulate their interaction with nature through this manuscript. The Kutika text has generally been understood merely as a book of time calculation, yet its background is imbued with philosophical values that show how the Buginese talk to nature, read signs, and treat nature as an equal element rather than a mere object. Using the framework of human ecology, this …

Between Stigma And Survival: Life Narratives Of Vietnamese Brides In China, Weikang Pu, Mina Elfira

International Review of Humanities Studies

The phenomenon of cross-border marriages between Vietnamese women and Chinese men is often reduced by mainstream media to simplified stereotypes—depicting them as victims of human trafficking, impoverished women seeking economic escape, or submissive "imported brides." Such depictions obscure the everyday realities through which these women confront and negotiate social stigma in a foreign socio-cultural environment. Drawing on narrative interviews with ten Vietnamese brides living in different regions of China, this study examines how stigma is experienced and negotiated through everyday survival strategies. Using a qualitative narrative approach, this research explores how participants respond to stigma through practices such as economic …

Visual And Linguistic Representations And Cultural Meanings Of Bali In Rednote Videos By Bi Lu Si Bruce (2025), Yang Yang, Mina Elfira

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study examines the media presentation of Bali on the Rednote platform, and explores how content creators can build Bali into an idealized tropical lifestyle space. The research selects four videos related to Bali produced by Rednote content creator Bi Lu Si Bruce (Hong Kong House Tour Original as the object of analysis, and uses qualitative research methods combined with semiotic analysis to investigate Cultural symbols conveyed in video visual images and language narratives. The research draws on Hall’s (1997) Cultural Representation theory, Urry’s (1990) Tourist Gaze theory, MacCannell’s (1976) Staged Authenticity theory, and Lefebvre’s (1991) theory of the production …

French-Indonesian Speech Sound Interference In Quality Comparison Of Otter And Descript’S Automatic Transcription, Muhamad Raihan Maulana Putra Mulya, Myrna Laksman-Huntley

International Review of Humanities Studies

Since COVID-19, Zoom has become the primary distance communication platform integrated with automatic transcription tools such as Otter and Descript. However, meetings involving non-native French speakers can generate sound interference that reduces transcription accuracy. This study compares the automatic French transcription quality of both tools in corporate online meetings affected by interference from native Indonesian speakers. The data consists of online meeting recordings of Indonesian speakers in French based on the textbook, Affaires.com. The analysis applies Weinreich’s (2010) interference theory, Le Querler’s (1994) word class theory, Word Error Rate, and Tholly et al.’s (2025) severity levels of automatic French transcription …

The Archaeology Of Alienation: Representation Of Death For The Mentally Illness In Lawang, Malang, Aninda Diandra Rahmadewi, Irmawati Marwoto Imj

International Review of Humanities Studies

Alienation as a novelty in archaeological research which in this study aims to explain how mentally illness patients are buried at Lawang Mental Hospital as an alienation and how the representation of the graves of patients with mentally illness. Alienation is a form of experience by individuals who are marginalized from society, one of which is people with mentally illness. Alienation in mentally illness does not only occur during their lifetime, but continues until they die. Lawang Mental Hospital, built in 1884, is the only mental hospital that has a special cemetery for mentally illness patients. The method used focuses …

Preserving Cultural Memory And Identity Of Eviction Through Digital Archives: A Case Study Of @Tamansarimelawan Instagram Account, Zulfi Al Hakim, Himawan Pratama, Mochamad Aviandy

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study examines how the Instagram account @tamansarimelawan plays a significant role in preserving collective memory and the identity of marginalized groups through digital archives. In the context of the Taman Sari urban village community, which resisted land eviction for the construction of row houses in Bandung, this research explores how Instagram as a social media platform contributes to the formation and maintenance of collective memory and community identity. Using content analysis of the @tamansarimelawan account, the study investigates the mechanisms through which social media functions as a digital repository, a medium for fostering a sense of belonging and continuity, …

From The “Paris Of The East” To Modern Phnom Penh: Colonial Legacies In Cambodian Urban Planning, Jin Ke, Ade Solihat

International Review of Humanities Studies

Phnom Penh was once known as the “Paris of the East,” serving as a major urban center in Indochina during the French colonial period. Colonial authorities shaped the city through functional zoning, planned street networks, and European-style architecture, all of which reflected hierarchies of power embedded in urban space. Despite the extensive destruction caused by the Khmer Rouge regime and subsequent postwar reconstruction, traces of colonial urban planning and architectural heritage remain clearly visible in the contemporary development of Phnom Penh. This study adopts a literature-based approach combined with historical analysis, spatial analysis, and architectural case studies to examine how …

Public Perception Of Pedestrian Space In Industrial Zones: A Case Study Of The Pulogadung Industrial Zone, Herlina Merinda, Hayati Sari Hasibuan, Sri Setiawati Tumuyu

International Review of Humanities Studies

Addressing the difficulties of sustainable development, the Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung encounters the challenge of becoming more inclusive in constructing infrastructure for walkers by creating paths that are friendly for pedestrians As walking serves as an important sustainable and healthful means of transport, having pedestrian pathways can enhance how the public views pedestrian accessibility in their workplace. This, in turn, can promote the use of more eco-friendly public transport options. This research aims to explore how the public views pedestrians in industrial zones, with the goal of promoting spaces that are friendly to walkers. The study utilized a quantitative method …

Gotong Royong As Political Praxis: Collective Responsibility And Democratic Action, Donny Gahral Adian

International Review of Humanities Studies

This research explores gotong royong, an indigenous Indonesian concept of mutual cooperation, as an alternative political culture in the face of liberal individualism and capitalist competition. Drawing from the philosophical legacy of Soekarno, Indonesia’s founding president, the research situates gotong royong not merely as a traditional value, but as a dynamic political principle grounded in tolerance, solidarity, and social justice. Soekarno’s vision of democracy transcends procedural liberalism by emphasizing equal capabilities, not just equal opportunities, thereby addressing the structural and cultural barriers that hinder political participation for marginalized citizens. Through a comparative lens, the article juxtaposes the atomizing effects …

The Use Of The Term Ukhti On Social Media Platform X In Indonesia, Indah Putri Sobada, Wiwin Triwinarti

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study traces the semantic transformation of the lexicon ukhti within Indonesia’s digital landscape. The term ukhti ( أُ خْ تِي ), derived from Arabic and meaning “my sister,” was initially used as a form of biological kinship address, later evolving into a fictional kinship address. However, in its current usage, the term increasingly conveys exclusivity and produces stereotypical perceptions of Muslim women. This study focuses on the use of ukhti on Indonesia's Social Media Platform X, examining how its meaning has become more specific and how this shift affects the representation of diverse Muslim female identities. Therefore, this study …

Korean Dramas As A Catalyst For South Korean Cultural Diplomacy: A Dacade Of Influence In Indonesia (2015-2025), Imelda Sari, Filia Filia Dr., Rostineu -- Rostineu

International Review of Humanities Studies

This research explores the role of Korean dramas (K- dramas) as a catalyst for South Korea’s cultural diplomacy in Indonesia over the decade 2015–2025, emphasizing how major drama releases contribute to strengthening soft- power influence. In early March 2024, Netflix premiered the Korean drama “Queen of Tears,” which quickly rose to the top of the Non- English Global TOP 10 list for the week of March 25–31, recording 93.8 million viewing hours. The drama reached top- 10 rankings in 68 countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and India. This global achievement represents the culmination of a decade- long …

Discourse And Ideological Strategies In Presidential Campaign Speeches Of Mr Peter Obi, Richard Oliseyenum Oliseyenum Maledo, Rita Ejiro Enisire

International Review of Humanities Studies

Studies on political speeches in Nigeria have focused essentially on the speeches of political office inaugural speeches and speeches of political office holders, while not much appears to be done on the speeches of candidates who did not succeed in the election. Thus, this study undertakes a critical analysis of discourse and ideological strategies in the presidential campaign speeches of Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, in the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. Mr Peter Obi's speech in Akwa Ibom State is purposively selected as our data for this study, and Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach to …

Keeping Children Safe: Bring Kayden's Law To Ohio, Christina Woods-Tsiperson

Akron Law Review

After decades of punishing murder-suicide headlines, a growing body of evidence now corroborates what female domestic violence survivors have said for years: that family courts deciding child custody cases disproportionately reject mothers’ allegations of domestic violence and paternal child abuse. From prominent legal scholars to local family law attorneys (and increasingly, investigative reporters), many modern voices contend that mothers specifically face a litany of obstacles in court, including heightened judicial suspicion that they are “parental alienators,” a widespread minimization of coercive control, and state legal standards that  emphasize shared parenting over child safety.

Following the widely publicized murder of seven-year-old …

The Law Through The King U.S. (Procedural) Judicial Activism From A European Perspective, Cesare Cavallini

Akron Law Review

This essay explores the phenomenon of judicial activism in the United States, focusing particularly on procedural aspects, from a comparative perspective influenced by the civil law tradition, especially the Italian legal system. While American legal discourse often criticizes judicial activism as an overreach by the judiciary—sometimes calling it “imperialist” in relation to recent Supreme Court decisions—this work reinterprets the concept through the more subtle mechanisms of procedural intervention. I argue that activism should not be viewed solely through the lens of constitutional interpretation or resistance to precedent. It should also consider judicial actions that reshape procedural norms, such as pleading …

Elite Bankruptcy, Laura N. Coordes

BYU Law Review

“The influence of bankruptcy lawyers over bankruptcy law seems almost inevitable.” —David Skeel

In Debt’s Dominion, David Skeel wrote that bankruptcy professionals have played a key role in shaping U.S. bankruptcy law. He predicted that these professionals would continue to shape the bankruptcy process long into the future. Today, we can see that Skeel’s prediction has come true. Although Congress has yet to overhaul the Bankruptcy Code, bankruptcy professionals have succeeded in their own form of overhaul by creating what this Essay calls “elite bankruptcy:” a type of bankruptcy accessible only to the rich and powerful. Elite bankruptcy is practiced …

(Re)Individualizing Criminal Law, Itay Ravid

Faculty Publications

Criminal law purports to care about the individual culpability of those committing crimes. Individual mental states or defenses based on one’s beliefs are considered foundational to moral responsibility and criminal conviction. The expansion of algorithmic risk assessment tools in the criminal legal system, however, threatens these principles, changing the criminal law subject from an autonomous individual to merely a predicted object. This Article argues that risk assessment tools—now functioning as gatekeepers at both the entry and exit stages of the criminal process, from predictive policing to compassionate release eligibility—have shifted the criminal system away from its foundation in individual culpability. …

Modes Of Liability For Ai-Enabled Crimes In International Criminal Law, Antonio Coco

International Law Studies

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies become increasingly embedded in human activity, the question of individual accountability for AI-enabled international crimes grows more pressing. This article examines how established doctrines of individual criminal responsibility under international criminal law—particularly the modes of liability recognized in the Statute of the International Criminal Court and in the jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals—may be applied to human actors who interact with AI systems in the commission of core international crimes. Through four hypothetical scenarios, the article explores varying forms of human involvement—from programming to deployment—and assesses whether existing modes of liability, such as perpetration, instigation, …

Consumers, Laborers, And Antitrust, Oh My! Why Labor Considerations Should Be Examined In Antitrust Law Through The Lens Of U.S. V. Bertelsmann Se & Co. Kgaa, Jodi Nicole Kain

University of Miami Business Law Review

Imagine the disappointing feeling of walking into a bookstore and finding shelves filled with only a narrow and non-diverse selection of titles. This feeling nearly became a reality when the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) won an action blocking a proposed merger between mega publishing houses Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster in the case United States v. Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA (2021) (“Bertelsmann”). The DOJ claimed that the merger would harm consumers by reducing the diversity of books available and directly harm authors—the creative labor force—by limiting competition for publishing deals and suppressing their compensation. For the first …

Reliance, Misplaced: Restoring The Text Of The Antifraud Provisions Of The Federal Securities Laws In Sec Enforcement Actions, Christopher R. Mills

University of Miami Business Law Review

The antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws are statutory sledgehammers. Those who violate them can face severe sanctions, including ruinous monetary penalties and others that can effectively bar firms and individuals from the securities industries. The Securities and Exchange Commission is authorized to enforce these provisions with the full weight of the federal government. And the SEC does so vigorously.

Even though the antifraud provisions target fraud, for decades lower courts and the Commission have held that the Commission can establish violations of them without any evidence that anyone was misled. They have done so by concluding that, unlike …

Reprioritizing International Patent Law, John R. Thomas

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Over the past half-century, rapid technological change and globalization have reshaped innovation and intellectual property, yet the foundational international agreements anchoring the global patent system have remained essentially unchanged. The drafters of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) viewed these agreements as dynamic instruments that, through procedural coordination, would rationalize international patent administration. The Paris Convention has resisted reform for decades, however, while the PCT has failed to achieve its goals of reducing examination workloads and fostering worksharing among national patent offices. It now exacerbates the very inefficiencies it sought to …

Policing Agency Data Trusts, Barry Friedman

Northwestern University Law Review

Policing agencies are indiscriminately collecting, retaining, and using vast quantities of personal data from people who are suspected of no unlawful conduct whatsoever. This has caused expressions of concern or caution from many quarters, including—notably—the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). In a declassified report, the Office of the DNI stated that massive amounts of data are being collected “on nearly everyone that is of a type and level of sensitivity . . . that could be used to cause harm to an individual’s reputation, emotional well-being, or physical safety.”

This practice of universal data collection presents a conundrum. As many …

Electoral Due Process, Michael S. Kang

Northwestern University Law Review

Hyperpartisanship has hit century-long highs in American politics and is emboldening state government attempts to undermine election outcomes by using control over state lawmaking structure to strip away authority, and sometimes outright unseat, partisan opponents after they win elected office. Even as traditional norms against such moves have eroded, the Supreme Court has taken a pro-partisanship turn in removing judicial checks against such moves under equal protection and constitutional structure. This Article proposes shifting from challenges under those doctrines to a new approach under electoral due process for confronting this new generation of antidemocracy. Federal due process law restricts the …

From Kickbacks To False Claims: The Causation Consequences Of The 2010 Anti-Kickback Statute Amendment, Daniella Stoltz

University of Chicago Legal Forum

The 2010 amendment to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) sought to strengthen federal healthcare fraud enforcement by clarifying that Medicare and Medicaid claims submitted to the government “resulting from” AKS violations constitute false claims under the False Claims Act (FCA). However, two words, “resulting from,” have created a deep circuit split over the requisite causation standard. The First, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits require but-for causation, demanding proof that false claims would not have been submitted but-for the illegal kickback. The Third Circuit adopted a looser standard, requiring only some evidence of the illegal kickback and the submitted claim. Rather than focus …

The T+0 Imperative: Modernizing Markets By Shortening The Settlement Cycle, Julia Schreder

University of Chicago Legal Forum

In January 2021, the GameStop short squeeze exposed a major vulnerability in the U.S. financial regulatory system: the T+2 settlement cycle. During the GameStop event, the two-day lag between trade execution and settlement amplified volatility, strained firms like Robinhood, and ultimately limited investor participation. As part of its response, the Securities and Exchange Commission moved from two-day to one-day settlement.

But many of the conditions that led to the GameStop short squeeze persist. Existing securities laws are inadequate to contend with a rapidly evolving online, retail trading landscape. Retail investors are easy targets for bad actors and are frequently left …

False Claims, Real Threats: Cybersecurity Noncompliance And The False Claims Act’S Materiality Standard, Charlotte Bairey

University of Chicago Legal Forum

This Comment examines the challenges of applying the False Claims Act’s (FCA) materiality standard to cybersecurity noncompliance by federal contractors. Although the Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative seeks to hold government contractors accountable for misrepresenting their adherence to federal cybersecurity standards, courts have inconsistently applied the “holistic” framework for determining materiality established by the Supreme Court in Universal Health Services v. Escobar. Cybersecurity-related FCA claims face unique obstacles when it comes to showing materiality because noncompliance is widespread, national security interests complicate the government’s payment decisions, and government agencies may continue contracting with noncompliant entities out of necessity. This …

Killer Heat: The Disaster Fema Refuses To Own, Robert R.M. Verchick

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Extreme heat, also known as a “heatwave,” is by far the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States.1 In 2023, extreme heat took 2,300 lives—more than all the deaths attributed to hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires, winter storms, and floods combined. Harms from extreme heat, which are especially severe in disadvantaged communities, will only increase as the climate continues to break down. Despite these facts, in more than 70 years of comprehensive disaster response, no president has ever declared a “major disaster” based on extreme heat, nor has the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ever recommended he do …