Digital Commons Network^™

How Did We Get Here?, Michael J. Klarman

Fordham Law Review

President Donald J. Trump’s second administration has transgressed basic rules and norms of democracy and the rule of law in myriad ways. Below, I have laid out my own top ten list of transgressions, though others could surely have made out a good case for their own “favorites.” It would not be difficult to come up with a longer list, yet the purpose of my Levine Lecture is less to describe where we are than to explain how we got here. Following an enumeration of Trump administration transgressions, my lecture turns to two questions. First, why have traditional checks on …

To Spend Or Not To Spend: Strengthening Congressional Oversight On Executive Impoundment, Grant Scherer

Emory Law Journal Online

The [H]ouse of [R]epresentatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose, the supplies requisite for the support of government. . . . This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.

James Madison, Federalist No. 58[1]

While the President may initiate the annual federal budget process with his or her budget request, the Constitution confers the “power of the purse” on …

International Animal Law, Tala Dibenedetto, Edie Bowles, Paula Cardoso, Daina Bray, Rajesh K. Reddy, Regina Paulose

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

The Fda’S New Clinical Decision Support Software Guidance And Its Implications For Artificial Intelligence, Sara Gerke

Utah Law Review

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the marketing of more than 1,400 AI-based products classified as devices under Section 201(h)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, many other AIbased products, including certain clinical decision support (CDS) software tools that provide recommendations to health care professionals about diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a disease or condition, have been placed on the U.S. market without FDA premarket review. On January 6, 2026, the FDA issued a revised CDS Guidance, which superseded the September 28, 2022 CDS Guidance. Shortly after, the …

Rebutting 38 False Claims About Solar, Wind, Electric Vehicles, And Battery Storage, Andrew Kieffer

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Achieving the United States’ ambitious emissions reduction goals depends in large part on the rapid adoption of wind and solar energy and the electrification of consumer vehicles. However, misinformation and coordinated disinformation about renewable energy is widespread and threatens to undermine the transition. In this report, the Sabin Center identifies and examines 38 of the most pervasive false claims about solar energy, wind energy, and electric vehicles, with the aim of promoting a more informed discussion.

Child Labor And State Constitutionalism, Andrew Hammond, Helen Hershkoff

Northwestern University Law Review

Almost ninety years after Congress banned “oppressive” child labor as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are pushing state legislatures to let them put children to work in dangerous poultry plants, at hazardous construction sites, and during late shifts on school nights. Perversely, calls to rollback federal protections are camouflaged in the rhetoric of parents’ rights, casting child labor regulation as intrusive, paternalistic, and even socialist—echoing the same corporate arguments used a century ago when the Child Labor Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went down in defeat. These arguments mask the desperate economic circumstances of a parent claiming …

Promoting Developmentally Informed Justice: A Developmental Assessment Referral Framework For Juvenile Transfer Decisions, Carly F. Colman

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The transfer of youth between juvenile courts and adult courts is one of the most consequential decisions made in the American legal system, as it will influence the youth’s legal outcomes, developmental trajectories, and long-term well-being. Advances in adolescent brain science show that there are many factors associated with youthful offending, including developmental immaturity, susceptibility to external influences, and ongoing neurobiological development—all of which are related to age, rather than being fixed criminal traits. Despite this growing body of evidence, legal decision-making in juvenile transfer and sentencing does not consistently incorporate individualized developmental data. This paper examines the important role …

History And Tradition Of Inequality, Advocacy, And Progress, Teri Dobbins Baxter

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned For The Independent Panel For Evidence For Action Against Amr From Previous International Science Panels: Stakeholder Views From The 2025 Lagos Workshop, Iruka N. Okeke, Anthony Mcdonnell, Ayodele A. Akinyele, Javier Guzman, Kevin Outterson

Faculty Scholarship

In September, 2024, the UN General Assembly assigned the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) the task of establishing an Independent Panel for Evidence for Action against AMR (IPEA). To promote stakeholder views and input around the constitution and functioning of this Panel, which could feed into the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat’s consultation process, we independently commissioned seven papers to examine the lessons that could be learned from other high-level scientific panels. We then convened 85 stakeholders, primed with the background papers. The Workshop, held in Lagos, Nigeria in April, 2025, drew representation from around the world, particularly low-income or …

Disrupting The Bonded Economy Of Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organised Crime Through Policy Change, Dellene Clark

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Emerging criminological research underscores how the economic drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation reinforce organised criminal markets while reproducing the structural vulnerabilities of those in prostitution. Using South Africa as a case study, this article argues that evidence-based legislative reform is necessary to confront the systemic conditions that enable exploitation. It contends that achieving substantive equality requires recognising the criminogenic role of sex‑buyer demand in sustaining trafficking pipelines and criminal profitability. The Swedish/Nordic demand‑reduction model illustrates how asymmetrical criminalisation can suppress demand, reduce reliance on trafficked persons, and diminish the financial incentives that underpin organised crime. Such an approach reorients …

Regulatory Innovation Through Authority: An Analysis Of India’S Central Consumer Protection Authority’S Functioning (2020–2025), Gaurav Pathak, Mohit Yadav, Anush Ganesh

International Journal on Consumer Law and Practice

This article presents the first comprehensive empirical analysis of India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), since its establishment in 2020, based on an examination of 165 orders across 118 cases through 2025. The study fills a critical research gap by systematically analysing CCPA’s enforcement patterns, procedural efficiency, and regulatory evolution. The unique dataset reveals that CCPA has fundamentally transformed India’s consumer protection landscape through a distinctive dual approach that combines reactive enforcement with proactive regulation. This study finds that 72 per cent of cases were initiated suo moto, indicating a paradigm shift from complaint-driven to preventive market surveillance and that …

A Review Of Juvenile Solitary Confinement In The United States: Why Developmental Science Supports Banning Isolation Of Youth, Morgan R. Wagner, Krystia Reed, April Thomas

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

The use of solitary confinement in carceral settings has been prevalent in the United States for as long as the justice system has been in place. The practice of isolating people who are incarcerated from the general prison population was adopted in the juvenile justice system as well, despite the system’s purported focus on rehabilitation. This paper reviews the developmental psychological literature suggesting that solitary confinement can harm adolescents in a variety of ways (psychological, psychosocial, and physical). We then discuss the prevalence of juvenile solitary confinement in federal and state courts. Finally, considering this research, we identify goals for …

Legal Deserts Over Time, Cory L. Dodds

Maine Law Review

Legal deserts—counties with exceptionally low attorney availability—shape housing stability, personal safety, health outcomes, and economic security in rural communities. Yet, national scholarship has not yet determined whether attorney scarcity is transient or durable and relies largely on cross-sectional snapshots and population-based headcounts benchmarked to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) threshold of one attorney per 1,000 residents. These measures can obscure temporal dynamics, overstate functional supply, and embed contested normative assumptions about adequacy. This Article offers a national, longitudinal, and definition-sensitive analysis of legal deserts using county-level data from the forty-eight contiguous states at three observation points. Attorney supply is measured …

From Vulnerability To Justice: Reframing Indigenous Disaster Recovery Through A Human Rights-Based Lens, Portia Ozioma Chigbu

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Indigenous populations regard their cultural identity as central to their way of life, and their traditional lifestyles often place them in remote areas, isolating them from mainstream society. This isolation creates a unique set of human rights challenges, such as limited access to healthcare, restricted political representation, housing insecurity, and poor living conditions, making them especially vulnerable compared to other groups. In the context of climate change and the rising frequency of natural disasters worldwide, these vulnerabilities become more protracted and intensified. Since Indigenous populations already face structural disadvantages before disasters strike, such events deepen their vulnerabilities, increase their risk …

Sustainable Solutions For Food Security In Djibouti: A Renewable Energy Initiative, Michaëlle Arielle Kouakep Tsoh, Tsoh Ekassi Gilbert, Thierry Césaire Kenmogne, Brice Pinga Tcheugoué, Justin Kouamo

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

According to the World Bank Group, East African countries have fragile food systems and low agricultural production. Djibouti is among the most undernourished countries in Africa and is severely affected by freshwater scarcity. Households regularly face climatic shocks and high electricity costs. This literature review characterizes Djibouti’s food systems and food security situation, identifies and analyzes renewable energy technologies implemented to improve food security in the local context, and presents renewable technologies as sustainable solutions to food insecurity. The results show that rural households are more likely to be food insecure and that the Djiboutian government promotes sustainable energy solutions. …

Other People's Poverty, Emmanuel Hiram Arnaud, Shaun Ossei-Owusu

Faculty Scholarship

Puerto Ricans have a relationship with the United States that is historically unparalleled. They have been citizens of the United States since 1917, served in every major conflict since World War I, and have been influential members of American culture, politics, and society. Yet, Puerto Rico is not fully part of the United States. The island of 3.2 million people— more than the population of eighteen states—is a U.S. territory. This means the federal government wields its complete and largely unrestrained plenary power over the Island, often treating Puerto Ricans differently than the rest of the United States. This differential …

Bodies In The Beds: How Reits, Private Equity Firms, And County Hospitals Monetize Nursing Home Residents As Real Estate Acquisitions, Daniel L. Hatcher

All Faculty Scholarship

Nursing home residents have become monetized targets of real estate acquisitions. Established in 1960, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) were envisioned as allowing individuals to invest in commercial real estate without owning properties. That seemingly innocuous investment idea has led to the growth of a behind-the-scenes empire of little-understood conglomerates of REITs buying up nursing homes and other healthcare facilities across the country. Capitalizing on tax-exempt income incentives, exploiting “triple-net” leasebacks, funneling profits through subsidiaries, and shielding ownership and assets from the liability of operations, the corporatized owners extract cash from facilities and leave harm in their wake. And to …

Protecting Dependent Children In Bankruptcy, Michael D. Sousa, L. Alexis Whitley Esq.

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

A Bone To Pick: Back To The Basics In Food Product Liability With A Necessary Reformation Of The "Hybrid" Negligence Standard, Clay Cutteridge

Cleveland State Law Review

Ohio does not use the traditional negligence standard in determining negligence in food product liability cases. Instead, Ohio uses what is called the hybrid test. The hybrid test analyzes what a consumer would reasonably expect to find in their food, and Ohio courts consider the naturalness of an object to the food it is in to be the determinative factor: natural objects should be reasonably expected and cannot give rise to successful claims of negligence. This hybrid test fails to consider that food is complex, and consumers often cannot know what to reasonably expect in the food they buy. The …

Breaking Down Barriers To Giving: Policy Reform Needed To Protect Donors, Volunteers, And Food Charities, Ally Depriest

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Charitable organizations often depend on public support to fulfill their missions. This is especially true in the charitable food system, a network of nonprofit organizations, including food banks, pantries, and meal programs, which provide no-cost food to those in need. Within this system, volunteers, donors, and food charities each play an important role, such as donating surplus food, directing traffic at food drives, stocking local pantries, and preparing and serving meals at soup kitchens. Together, they provide both hope and nutrition to those in need. Without this public support, many food charities would be unable to operate. Encouraging public participation …

The Soil Crisis In Modern Food Systems: Rethinking Agricultural Land Use, Antonia Moure Richard

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Feeding a larger world while preserving the resource that makes agriculture possible—soil—poses a governance problem. By 2050, food systems must support 9.8 billion people even as prevailing practices continue to degrade soils that are non-renewable on human timescales. Technological fixes (e.g., vertical farming, hydroponics) may complement production, but they cannot substitute for soil at scale. The question that follows is simple: are current uses of soil compatible with the future needs of food systems? This article argues that without a shift in governance, short-run productivity gains are achieved by drawing down the soil asset, thereby undermining long-run food security and …

Necessary Biosafety Precautions For Patented Gmos: Ramifications Of Inconsistent Parties Between The Cartagena Protocol And Trips Agreement, Lauren Clements

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Genetically Modified Organisms (“GMOs”) compose a class of potentially patentable biotechnology that are prominent in international markets. Developed countries like the United States, function as leading producers of these patented GMOs and therefore play a significant role in their development and transnational export. Minimum protections for these forms of biotechnology are outlined in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS Agreement”), which permits the patenting of GMOs that ultimately enter the stream of international commerce. Notwithstanding the potential risks GMOs present to the environment, public health, and the economy, the TRIPS Agreement fails to address any form …

All Education Is Not Created Equal: How The Texas School Choice Bill Violates The State Constitution By Using Public Dollars To Fund Private Discrimination, Alexandra J. Morrison

Tulsa Law Review

No abstract provided.

Savoring Food Safety: California Stirs The Pot For Safer Food Additive Standards While The Fda's Recipe Loses Its Flavor, Paige Rufolo

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Health" In Hems Means Complete Well-Being, Claudia E. Tordini, Richard S. Franklin

ACTEC Law Journal

This article focuses on the definition of “health” as used in the ascertainable standard exception of Internal Revenue Code § 2041(b)(1)(A), most frequently articulated in trusts as “health, education, maintenance and support” (HEMS). It is clear that a discretionary power to distribute for one’s own health is permitted without causing a taxable general power of appointment, but there is a dearth of authority indicating the meaning of health for this purpose. This article provides the research and foundation for understanding that health as used in HEMS is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the …

Good Intentions, Mixed Messages: Considering Mental Health In Attorney Discipline, Sarah J. Schendel

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

The legal profession urges struggling lawyers to seek help—but what happens when those same lawyers become the subject of discipline? As mental health challenges among lawyers become more widely acknowledged and understood, the disciplinary systems that govern the profession remain uneven and opaque in their treatment of mental health as a mitigating factor. This Article presents the first comprehensive review of over a decade of disciplinary decisions and admonitions in Massachusetts, focusing on how mental health is considered during sanctioning and whether current standards meaningfully reflect the profession’s stated commitments to fairness, public protection, and attorney well-being.

The analysis reveals …

Wellness Disputes, Maria Cudowska

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Changing The Definition Of Medical Expenses To Include Preventative Health: The Phit Act, Amy Bantham, Tom Richards, Mike Goscinski

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Should All Entry Points To Wellness Be Regulated Equally? What Mapping Existing And Emerging Entry Points Reveals, Tanya E. Karwaki

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Illness/Wellness, Ableism & Perfectibility In The Tax Code, Diane Klein Kemper

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.