Digital Commons Network^™

Strengthening Ethical Ai: Counteracting Racism In Predictive Policing, Nicholas Giaquinto

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Incarcerated Infants: The Mothers And Infants Nurturing Together Program And New Jersey’S Obligation To Care For Its Children, Hayley G. Friedman

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Trained, Trusted, And Vetted, But Still Unarmed: The Army Is Bucking Congress And The Court By Continuing To Prohibit Concealed Carry, Major Jonathon L. Krisko

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not “a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.” We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment …

Remarks On The College Athlete As Employees In The Name, Image, And Likeness Landscape, Dan Nash

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Complying With Title Ix In The Nil Era, Benjamin Moyer

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

On July 1, 2021, college athletics forever changed when the NCAA allowed college athletes to receive financial compensation for the use of their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) in endorsements and other marketing engagements. While NIL has empowered college athletes and enabled them to profit from their athletic abilities, it has also thrown the college sports industry into chaos. The House v. NCAA settlement agreement, which was officially approved on June 6, 2025, was expected to establish better guardrails for universities. However, the agreement’s approval may only increase universities’ exposure under Title IX. Part of the House settlement agreement enables …

It’S Gone To The Dogs: The Need For Regulation In Professional Service Dog Training, Crystal J. Elsner

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Currently, no state requires professional service dog trainers to pass any test or obtain any occupational licensure to prove their competency. While the Americans with Disabilities Act and its implementing regulations do not require that dogs complete a professional training program to be considered service dogs, many individuals with disabilities choose to use such programs. The unregulated nature of the industry allows inexperienced individuals to market themselves as professionals, which can harm not only the dogs receiving training but also the humans that will eventually take them home. Further, the lack of industry oversight leaves room for bad actors to …

The Future Of Title Ix After House V. Ncaa, Abigail Perkiss

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In October 2025, attorneys representing current and former Division I college athletes filed preliminary briefs in the Ninth Circuit, calling on the appellate court to reverse the settlement in House v. NCAA,¹ which in April 2025 turned intercollegiate athletics on its head. The brief argued that the terms of the settlement stand in violation of Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments, the legislation that prohibited sex-based discrimination in education programs and related activities that receive federal funding. According to the settlement terms, 90 percent of the backpay is earmarked to fund men’s football and basketball players, 5 percent …

Advocating For Cause: The California Recall Process Needs A Purpose, Mary-Beth Moylan

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Democratic systems and the tools that sustain them need to operate by the people and for the people with consideration to the realities of the era in which they exist. The use of direct democracy, and in particular the recall process, in recent decades suggests that what was once a progressive reform intended to ensure good government has now become a political tool for stoking partisan disruption. It is time for a close look at how and why some states continue to allow for recall and the circumstances under which a recall election should be called. During the COVID-19 pandemic, …

A Level Playing Field: Title Ix, The House Settlement, And A Sustainable Solution For College Athletics, Delaney Sniffen, Kirk Wolff

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Collegiate student-athletes are increasingly viewed as employees by scholars, judges, and the market, though not yet by colleges or Congress. As stakeholders press Congress to clarify, universities must balance NLRA labor rights for athletes who likely meet the employee test with Title IX obligations tied to federal funding; neither can be sacrificed. This Essay traces gender discrimination that constrained women’s sports; explains why many athletes satisfy the NLRA employee test; and underscores Title IX’s central role in women’s equal participation. It shows how recognizing athletes as employees would modify the Title IX analysis and create tension between collective bargaining and …

Legislative Debate-Attributed Suicidality Among Lgbtq+ Adults: The Buffering Effect Of Community Belongingness, Keith J. Watts, Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Laneshia R. Conner, Nicole Campbell, Louis G. Baser, Dekeitra Griffin, Sydney P. Howard, Missy Spears, Justin X. Moore

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Background: In recent years, the sociopolitical landscape in the United States has shifted due to an increase in state-level legislation regarding LGBTQ+ rights, a trend that has been particularly pronounced in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. While the mental health impacts of enacted laws are increasingly documented, a critical gap remains in understanding the psychological toll of the legislative debates themselves—the prolonged periods of public discourse surrounding the restriction of rights. Methods: Utilizing data from the 2025 Queer Kentucky Survey (N = 817), this exploratory study examined the association between LGBTQ+ community belongingness and acute suicidality attributed specifically to anti-LGBTQ+ legislative …

A New Playbook: The Procedural Resilience Of Oregon’S Rooney Rule In The Wake Of Students For Fair Admissions V. Harvard, Jada I. Cook

CMC Senior Theses

This article evaluates the constitutionality of Oregon’s codified Rooney Rule considering the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard. Passed in 2009, the Oregon mandate requires public universities to include at least one minority applicant in the interview process for all head coaching vacancies. By analyzing the architectural origins of the Rooney Rule within the National Football League (NFL) and the systemic racial exclusion it sought to dismantle, this research explores whether interview-stage mandates, that are applied at the state level, can survive the rigorous application of the strict scrutiny standard. …

The History Of Mass Incarceration And Its Implications, Evan Sevaly

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I develop a model to answer four questions about US incarceration: why did incarceration increase between 1973 to 2009, why have incarceration figures experienced an overall decrease since then, and what explains their oscillation, why has the penal system consistently incarcerated marginalized groups at disproportionate rates, and why is the US an incarceration outlier compared to other industrialized countries? I split the competing explanations to these questions into four schools of thought: the perspective that neoliberalism caused mass incarceration, the perspective that surpluses in finance capital, land, population, and state capacity caused mass incarceration, the perspective that …

Policy Recommendations To Reduce False Confessions By Juveniles In Wrongful Conviction Cases, Rohit R. Iyer

CMC Senior Theses

This research focuses on false confessions by juveniles in the United States justice system. False confessions are statements made by suspects during investigations in which individuals provide statements to investigators admitting to a crime in which they had no part. In these cases, individuals often spend years, if not the entirety, of their lives behind bars for crimes they did not commit. False confessions are the result of a number of systemic factors that will be discussed in this paper. While relatively rare, they are one of the largest blemishes in the U.S. justice system. Juveniles – individuals below the …

The Future Of U.S. Higher Education: Equity Implications Of Shifting Immigration Policies, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

This report examines the impact of U.S. immigration policies on higher education and international students from 2000 to 2025. It traces five major policy eras, from the post- 9/11 security overhaul and Obama-era expansion to the restrictive turns of 2017–2020 and 2025, and analyzes how shifting regulations have influenced enrollment patterns, economic contributions, and student well-being. Despite hosting more than 1.1 million international students in 2023–2024, the U.S. share of the global student market has fallen from 20% to 16%, underscoring how policy volatility and restrictive measures weaken national competitiveness. Drawing on federal data, scholarly research, and institutional reports, this …

The Dead Hand And Frozen Lives: Embryonic Personhood And The Disruption Of Property Interests, Emma Miloglav

Fordham Law Review

Advances in assisted reproductive technology and the expansion of fetal personhood laws are colliding with a body of property doctrine built on assumptions about reproduction that no longer hold. In LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, P.C., the Supreme Court of Alabama held that extrauterine embryos—fertilized and frozen in a laboratory—are “children” under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. LePage represents a dramatic extension of fetal personhood.

This shift carries profound consequences for trusts and estates. If frozen embryos are treated as legal persons, they may qualify as heirs under intestacy statutes and as beneficiaries of wills, …

“Because We Take Our Values To War” Analyzing The Views Of Un Member States On Aidriven Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, Rangita De Silva De Alwis

Chicago Journal of International Law

In paragraph two of its resolution 2 on lethal autonomous weapon systems, pursuant to U.N. General Assembly resolution 78/241, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to solicit the views of Member States and Observer States regarding lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Specifically, the request encompassed perspectives on addressing the multifaceted challenges and concerns raised by LAWS, including humanitarian, legal, security,

The Path To Abundance: The Legal, Policy, And Political Challenges Of An Abundance Agenda, Eric Biber

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

A range of public intellectuals and academics have argued that America is increasingly unable to advance major projects, such as housing, renewable energy, and innovation, because of legal obstacles such as judicial review and regulatory requirements. In response, the abundance movement has called for legal reforms to speed up project development. The abundance movement has identified real problems that require solutions. Unfortunately, the movement also faces political and legal challenges as well. Reform will require difficult tradeoffs, which will be politically difficult. Abundance reforms will likely not be politically popular, and will be particularly hard to implement in a polarized …

A Green Supply Chain Or A Greenwashed Ad Campaign? Supply Chains, Environmental Marketing, And The Energy Transition, Meredith A. Wegener

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Building upon prior research and scholarship, this Article is a study into supply chain environmental marketing, the Federal Trade Commission, and the evaluation of potential changes to the Green Guides under the umbrella of the global energy transition. While prior legal scholarship has addressed details of environmental marketing such as fashion, recycling, or agricultural practices, this Article brings this work forward and addresses the collective challenge the global supply chain creates for all environmental claims across industries in truthful environmental marketing.

What is truth-in-advertising in environmental marketing, given the global path of consumer products? In Part I of this Article, …

The Lost Mines Of Appalachia: How Revitalizing Abandoned Coal Mines Can Revitalize A Region, Jonathan Gharib

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Since the decline of coal, which began in the late 1980s, Appalachia has been left with thousands of abandoned coal mines that act as a stand-in for the state of the region as a whole. This stands in not only for the economic decline of the region, but also as a stand-in for the people of the region who also perceive themselves to have been abandoned. The future status, both legal and economic, of these abandoned mines that once helped to fuel Appalachia’s growth is unclear. Despite the muddied history of both Appalachia and these mines, with the proper legal …

Environmental Insurance And Esg: A Mismatch Or An Unlikely Pair?, Mycah Kindle

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Environmental insurance is something that is becoming increasingly important in the corporate sphere. Similarly, there has been an uproar in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement. ESG ratings are becoming the norm in corporate America as a way to quickly assess a corporation through using a variety of factors. This Note will argue that a company’s ESG rating should be a main consideration when insurers are underwriting their environmental insurance policies. This Note will argue that by linking a company’s ESG ratings with their environmental insurance, it may lead to more sustainable practices and accountability from corporate America.

Part …

Nova Law Review Full Issue Volume 50, Issue 3

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Are You Your Expert's Keeper? Assessing The Impact Of Generative Ai And Expert Testimony, Hon. John G. Browning

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ensuring Ai Adequacy For Class Members, Alissa Del Riego

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Access Denied: Closing The Construction And Renovation Loopholes In Disability Design, Lidia Menbaeva

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Human Or Machine? Evaluating Authorship In The Age Of Generative Ai, Risauris Sanz-Garcia

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Built To Collide? Antitrust Risks And Gender Equity Tensions In The House V. Ncaa Settlement, Alex Strickland

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cold Comfort: Japan’S “Comfort Women” Litigation Under Transnational Law, Timothy Webster

Faculty Scholarship

Transnational human rights litigation has emerged as a powerful tool to remediate state and corporate abuses. Courts, however, rarely evince the same enthusiasm for these lawsuits as practitioners, scholars, and activists. For the past thirty-five years, “comfort women,” or survivors of wartime sexual exploitation, have used transnational litigation to seek redress from the Japanese government. Yet they have lost nearly all their cases. This Article uses ten “comfort women” lawsuits from Japan to test the limits of transnational human rights litigation. While judges rarely found for the comfort women, their verdicts nonetheless advanced the redress issue by showing the illegality …

Peeking Inside The Black Box: Discovery In Fair Housing Act Cases Arising From Ai Decision Making, Jessica Mahon Scoles

Faculty Scholarship

In today’s real estate market, more housing decisions are being automated. If artificial intelligence renders a biased decision, will the person impacted have any legal recourse? Commentators have expressed concern that the proprietary nature of AI will allow defendants in discrimination lawsuits to avoid discovery, effectively shielding their decision making from judicial scrutiny. This article examines whether AI and algorithm-related information is the discovery black box that some fear it to be.

Addressing the issue in the context of Fair Housing Act (FHA) litigation, the article argues that concerns about access to AI and algorithm-related discovery are overstated. In real …

The “Multi-Normative” Biological Weapons Convention: A Study Of The 2022 Article V Meeting In Geneva, Robert Lawless

Emory International Law Review

In September 2022, States parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) held a Formal Consultative Meeting in Geneva pursuant to Article V of the Convention, following Russia’s allegations that the United States and Ukraine had developed biological weapons in violation of BWC prohibitions. Although largely overlooked in public discourse, the Geneva meeting provides a revealing example of the BWC in practice. This article examines the Geneva meeting to assess the Convention’s normative role in contemporary international relations. It argues that States parties reaffirmed their commitment to the BWC’s core prohibition against the hostile use of biological agents against humans. Moreover, …

Unbundling 17 U.S.C. § 1202: Construing The Law’S Scope In Light Of Its Text, Purpose, And Remedies, Samuelson, Pamela, Stallman, Erik, Urban, Jennifer M.

Santa Clara Law Review

The Ninth Circuit will soon decide if five anonymous programmers can claim as much as $9 billion in statutory damages from OpenAI and GitHub for violations of an obscure law outlawing infringement-enabling removal or alteration of “copyright management information” (CMI). This Article closely analyzes that law, which is codified as §1202 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The law is remarkable in several respects. Statutory damages available for §1202 violations far exceed those available for actual copyright infringement. Copyright infringement need not be alleged, let alone found, for liability under §1202 to attach. Indeed, it is not even necessary …