Digital Commons Network^™

Courts, Science, And The Problem Of Accountable Knowledge: A Review Of Judicial Policy Making, Empirical Data And Scientific Evidence: Can Courts Manage The Twenty-First Century?, Rishabh Kachroo

Indian Journal of Law and Technology

This review reads Rob van Gestel, Jurgen de Poorter, and Edward L. Rubin’s edited volume titled Judicial Policy Making, Empirical Data and Scientific Evidence: Can Courts Manage the Twenty-First Century? as a timely intervention into the evidentiary and institutional demands placed on contemporary courts. It argues that the volume’s key contribution lies in treating courts as knowledge institutions and its strongest suit lies in showing the limits of judicial intuition, anecdote, and inherited legal categories in dealing with such disputes. While the volume is left wanting in its account of knowledge accountability, it would nonetheless be important for scholars of …

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. …

There Is No Free Benchmark: An Institutional View Of Legal Ai Benchmarking, Neel Guha, Andy K. Zhang, Christine Tsang, Christopher D. Manning, Julian Nyarko, Daniel E. Ho

Faculty Scholarship

Despite substantial excitement around the use of AI in law, little information exists on the performance and associated risks of the domain’s widely marketed tools. Recent work, for instance, has demonstrated the significant potential for “hallucinations” — wherein models make up facts, law, and precedent — leading Chief Justice Roberts to spotlight this risk in his annual report on the judiciary. We argue that there is a need for public AI benchmarking in law. First, relative to other AI application domains, the legal AI ecosystem lacks legibility — there is little information about the design and performance of many commercial …

Trial By Fire: Disaster Justice And Lessons Learned, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

Disaster Justice reflects the intersection of environmental justice and disaster law. The study of disaster justice is becoming increasingly essential as disasters become more frequent and devastating in the face of accelerating climate change. Disaster law is marked by statutes such as the federal Stafford Act and by theory such as the “disaster cycle” of readiness, response, and recovery. Environmental justice recognizes that the distribution of harms such as bad air or water quality may be distributed inequitably among groups such as low-income populations or racial minorities. In similar fashion, the adverse impacts of disasters may also be distributed inequitably …

Private Health Governance And The Environment, Lauren R. Roth, Ethan Thorpe

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it will no longer quantify harm to human health when evaluating pollution regulations, although it will continue to quantify compliance costs to private firms. At the same time, the healthcare sector has emerged as one of the nation's largest sources of environmental pollution, harming the health of communities it seeks to protect. Private actors in other industries have taken steps to reduce their environmental footprint without regulation, yet in healthcare private governance remains weak. This Article argues that stagnant public governance creates a unique opportunity to unify private environmental and health standards. Drawing …

Co-Matching: Towards Human–Model Collaborative Legal Case Matching, Chen Huang, Xinwei Yang, Yang Deng, Wenqiang Lei, Jiancheng Lv, Tat-Seng Chua

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent efforts have aimed to improve AI models in legal case matching by integrating legal domain knowledge. However, successful legal case matching requires the tacit knowledge of legal practitioners, which is difficult to verbalize and encode into models. This emphasizes the crucial role of involving legal practitioners in high-stakes legal case matching. To address this, we propose a collaborative matching framework called Co-Matching, which encourages both the model and the legal practitioner to participate in the matching process, integrating tacit knowledge. Unlike existing methods that rely solely on the model, Co-Matching allows both the legal practitioner and the model to …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Neurocognitive Performance And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) Among Latinx Asylum Seekers, Elsie A. Arias

Doctoral Dissertations

Asylum seekers are exposed to violence and traumatic events in their home countries at high rates, leading to mental health challenges such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD symptoms and comorbidities such as depression and alcohol misuse are associated with impacts to multiple domains of cognitive functioning among populations such as Veterans. However, the neurocognitive performance of Latinx asylum seekers who experience PTSD symptoms are under-documented in the current literature despite its meaningful impact on clinical care engagement and navigation of the legal process. This study utilized an exploratory, quantitative, cross-sectional design to examine whether higher levels of self-reported PTSD, …

Classical Liberalism And Property, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

Classical liberalism is characterized by several key attributes. Its central normative criterion is the well‑being of the individual, not some aggregate like society or the nation‑state. Individuals are presumptively regarded as responsible actors, capable of judging their own best interests and accountable for their actions that interfere with the well‑being of others. Because individuals are presumptively regarded as responsible actors, there is a strong preference for imposing only minimal obligations on them through the power of the state, and these usually involve general negative duties that are universal in character, chiefly to forbear from using force or fraud to interfere …

Deporting Disability, Tania N. Valdez

Utah Law Review

Since the enactment of the earliest migration laws in the United States, people with disabilities have been targeted for exclusion and expulsion based on stereotypes that they are either dangerous or not productive. Although some of the pejorative language regarding disability in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) has changed over time, certain statutory provisions and the very structure of the INA still allow ableism to operate broadly in immigration adjudications. This Article focuses on the subtle, but pervasive, ways that immigration law disfavors noncitizens with disabilities. In particular, this Article examines ableism in the context of removal (commonly known …

Puhca 2.0, Joshua C. Macey

Utah Law Review

Many electric utilities today are vertically integrated and own both rate regulated (transmission and distribution) and competitive (generation) affiliates. This structure gives them incentives to make investments that favor their affiliated generators and shift risk onto captive ratepayers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state public utility commissions have adopted a variety of rules to address these concerns, including limits on affiliate transactions and functional unbundling requirements. Unfortunately, these requirements have failed to prevent utilities from using their control over grid infrastructure to benefit affiliates that participate in competitive markets.

This Article therefore calls for a structural solution: a …

Learning From Lochner: When Children Are Harmed By Technological Revolutions, Brooke Hodson Davies

Utah Law Review

Drawing on parallels from child labor reform in the Second Industrial Revolution, this Note argues that stopping Big Tech’s harm to children in the Fourth Industrial Revolution requires Congressional legislation and judicial avoidance of Lochnerian approaches to the Constitution. Like its Big Business predecessors, today Big Tech maximizes profits by harming kids, necessitating government intervention of this market failure. Despite noble attempts, state-based efforts have been rendered relatively ineffective due to legislative non-uniformity, interstate competition, and enforcement limitations. Likewise, federal regulations currently in place fall short and even shield Big Tech from liability. Consequently, Congressional action is urgently needed. Critically, …

Taking The Thumb Off The Scale: Rebalancing Parental And Children’S Rights To Empower Child Protective Services, Sebastian Wagner

Utah Law Review

This Note provides background on the current legal framework of state prevention of child maltreatment in the United States. It discusses parental rights and the Parental Rights Doctrine, child rights in the United States, and how states prevent child maltreatment through child protective service agencies.

This Note also explores the legal landscape surrounding the balance of parental rights and children’s rights in child welfare cases. One of the central issues in the current framework is how the Parental Rights Doctrine can significantly limit the state’s ability to intervene in cases where children are at risk. State intervention, governed by vague …

Reimagining International Investment Law For The Age Of Minerals, Taylor Nchako

Washington and Lee Law Review

New technologies––from artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles to medical devices and consumer electronics––demand an ever-increasing amount of minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper. The United States requires these aptly named “critical” minerals to develop AI infrastructure, advance the clean energy transition, and remain economically competitive. As technology continues to advance at an astonishing pace, the U.S. has grown increasingly interested in securing critical minerals from sources in Africa. To obtain critical minerals, the U.S. must utilize investment treaties in its business dealings with African countries. At the same time, international investment law has garnered increased attention due to a …

Fur, Feathers, And Frameworks: The Federal Legal Landscape Of Animal Welfare In The United States And Switzerland, Michael Melch

Washington and Lee Law Review

The United States relies on a predominantly utilitarian, welfarist framework that regulates certain uses of animals while preserving their status as property. Switzerland embeds the concept of animal dignity in its constitutional and statutory law, formally recognizing animals as beings with intrinsic worth. This foundational divergence produces significant doctrinal and practical differences, including the breadth of species covered, the structure of legal obligations, and the normative goals of regulation.

This Note provides a comparative analysis of animal welfare laws in the United States and Switzerland, exploring their philosophical, legal, and practical dimensions. It examines the U.S.’s utilitarian approach, exemplified by …

Litigating The Youth Mental Health Crisis: Mechanisms To Regulate Addictive Social Media Design, Talia Elliott

Washington and Lee Law Review

While social media offers real benefits to users, such as providing access to information and facilitating the free exchange of ideas, excessive social media use is associated with increases in anxiety, depression, and other serious mental-health harms. Social media platforms are designed to maximize profit by capturing user attention, resulting in interfaces that are dangerously addictive and prone to exposing users to harmful content. Currently, social media users alone bear the burden of navigating the dangers of social media. This is untenable. Young users, whose less developed brains leave them more vulnerable to addictive design features, find self-regulation especially challenging. …

Illusory Copyright And The Private Censorship Of Art History, Peter J. Karol

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

This article makes a simple but in its own way startling claim: much 20th century U.S. visual art is not protected by copyright. These works were regularly “published” when they were first exhibited for sale in commercial galleries, often marketed through contemporaneous illustrated catalogs, almost always without copyright notice of any kind. They were thereby placed in the public domain. What is remarkable is the extent to which this reality has been ignored by artist estates and foundations and other art industry players. They operate on the incorrect, self-serving and generally unexamined assumption that most 20th century American art is …

A Decade Of Change: Technology’S Impact On Negotiation Deepens In The Age Of Ai, Noam Ebner

Journal of Dispute Resolution

When people consider the notion of negotiation changing, they tend to look first toward that magnificent negotiation construct, “the table.” Here are some immediately apparent areas of table-novelty: • There is often a screen on our table, rather than another person sitting across from us. • The table we “go” to negotiate at is not in our office or that of our counterpart; rather, it is a communications system such as email or an online platform developed by a third-party provider. • The table, in its online-platform form, sometimes structures process and facilitates communication in ways that our trusty old …

Artificial Intelligence, Real Humans, And The Art Of Lawyering: Reflections From Practice, Jenna Homeyer

Journal of Dispute Resolution

René Descartes famously stated, “I think, therefore I am.” As artificial intelligence (“AI”) increases in prevalence throughout society and the field of law, we might ask ourselves, who are we if we allow AI to think for us? This symposium began with a question about the interplay between artificial intelligence and the human skills present in the art of lawyering. After using AI in my legal practice for the past two and half years, I can attest that there remains a very human skill set that is necessary to the art of good or effective lawyering. AI can be a …

Mirror, Mirror On My Screen, Can You Feel Like A Human Being?, Lauren A. Newell

Journal of Dispute Resolution

We cannot go anywhere without encountering artificial intelligence (AI) these days. AI has infiltrated our phones, our cars, and our washing machines. It is with us in doctors’ offices, at the drive-through, and at sporting events. It has taken over our calendars and our inboxes and our videoconferences, and it would like to help us brush our teeth, too.

Justice After Atrocity: Lessons From Rwanda And Cambodia For Contemporary International Law And Conflict, Jennie Hubbard

Journal of Dispute Resolution

In the aftermath of mass atrocity, the question facing survivors and policymakers is not whether societies will rebuild but how rebuilding will address truth, justice, and memory. Modern transitional justice systems trace institutional and normative roots to the post—World War II order, most famously embodied by the Nuremberg Trials, which first established that individuals could be held accountable for crimes against humanity. Nuremberg did more than punish Nazi officials; it articulated a legal and moral principle that the international community could, and sometimes must, assert jurisdiction to address mass crimes when domestic systems fail. Despite that precedent, global reactions to …

Beyond City Limits: Access To Adr And Child Client-Directed Counsel In Missouri’S Rural Family Courts, Reghan Matlock

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Reba McEntire once sang, “Don’t trust your soul to no backwoods southern lawyer”—a warning that still echoes in today’s debates about rural justice and representation. The catchy murder ballad captures a story driven by dramatic family ties and a broken justice system. While the song exaggerates for effect, it taps into a realistic concern: an existing divide in access to justice between rural and urban communities. This divide impacts all areas of law, including family law—where concerns about confidentiality and privacy are heightened because small communities make it difficult to shield sensitive matters from public view. The divide is troubling, …

Reforming Mediation: The Hidden Inequities Shaped By Race, Gender, And Power, Victoria Seever

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Courts and policymakers often promote family dispute resolution as a faster, less adversarial alternative to traditional litigation. Yet for many women of color, the mediation table often replicates the same racial and gender power imbalances that the legal system claims to mitigate. Family Dispute Resolution (“FDR”) often fails women of color by reinforcing racialized and gendered power imbalances. Alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”), especially mediation, presents both an opportunity and a risk in divorce, custody, and intimate partner violence (“IPV”) cases. IPV cases become especially difficult with the various laws in different states that govern how mediation should be used and …

July 2026 Mda At Your Service — Who Can Supervise Dental Assistant Radiography Training In Michigan?, Mda Membership Department Staff

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This Q&A feature provides practical guidance on common professional and licensing questions for Michigan dentists. It clarifies that any licensed dentist can supervise required dental assistant radiography training, highlighting the MDA's online program. The article also offers advice for new dentists looking to connect with colleagues through local societies and the "New Doc Connection" online hub. Additionally, it outlines the mandatory steps for updating a professional license after a legal name change and directs members to valuable MDA resources for navigating dental insurance contracts and third-party payer agreements.

An Analysis Of Gender-Inclusive Dimensions In Climate Change Policy Frameworks In Zambia, Mwelwa Kunda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Effective climate policy must recognise how men and women differently contribute to, and benefit from, resilience efforts, as this strengthens gender equity and the sustainability of adaptation measures. This study examines the extent to which Zambia’s climate change policy framework integrates gender considerations and translates them into actionable commitments. Using the Vulnerability-to-Resilience framework, it conducts qualitative content analysis of 14 national policies, plans, and strategies spanning climate change, gender, energy, agriculture, forestry, water, and disaster management. A structured coding framework assesses gender inclusion, implementation and enforcement mechanisms, recognition of gendered climate impacts, and identified challenges and opportunities. Code frequencies and …

#Metoo Vs. Anti-Dei, Nicole Porter

Faculty Publications

Nine years ago, the entire country was talking about the #MeToo movement, which can be credited with the unseating of hundreds of powerful men and changing the way we talk about and address sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2026, continued progress of the #MeToo movement might be threatened by a new movement-the Trump Administration's attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This article discusses the ways in which the #MeToo movement conflicts with the anti-DEI movement. Specifically, it addresses how employers will respond to pressure to dismantle DEI programs, offices, and training, and how those responses will affect …

Insurgent Until Proven Innocent: Land, Power, And The Right To Defend Rights, Kelsey Jost-Creegan

Michigan Journal of International Law

As the climate crisis intensifies, advocates worldwide have stood up to defend their communities, territories, and environment. In response, they have faced violent retaliation. This repression persists despite evolving international, regional, and national-level legal frameworks around the “right to defend rights” and the “right to protection.” This article begins by providing a comprehensive overview of this evolving legal landscape. Against this backdrop, the article examines the tactics and architectures of violence used to repress land and environmental defenders through the lens of counterinsurgency theory.

The article proposes a typology of counterinsurgent violence including: surveillance; stigmatization; criminalization; arbitrary detention; infiltration; cooptation; …

Privacy, Paternalism, And Standing In Health Professions Regulation, Anthony Sangiuliano

Dalhousie Law Journal

When investigating whether a doctor has behaved unethically while treating a patient, professional regulatory colleges may search patients’ confidential medical records without patients’ consent. I argue that this practice is not paternalistic, nor does it usurp patients’ standing to decide for themselves whether to sacrifice their privacy to hold the doctor to account for professional wrongdoing. College investigations that non-consensually invade patient privacy do not express disrespect for patients’ agency because they aim to mitigate harm to the broader public. Unlike criminal prosecutions of doctors which uphold moral values pervading the public at large, college investigations enforce ethical standards within …

A Qualitative Study Of Key “Regulatory” Factors Influencing Patient Access To Medical Assistance In Dying In Canada, Ruthie Jeanneret, Eliana Close, Jocelyn Downie, Ben P. White

Dalhousie Law Journal

Medical assistance in dying (“MAiD”) was legalized federally in Canada after the landmark case, Carter v Canada (AG), 2015 SCC 5. Bill C-14 introduced a federal legislative framework for MAiD in 2016, which was amended by Bill C-7 in 2021. Some Bill C-7 amendments directly responded to the decision in Truchon c Canada (PG), 2019 QCCS 3792. Other amendments responded to several factors identified as barriers to patient access, including the requirement for two independent witnesses, the 10-day reflection period, and the requirement to provide final consent at the time of administration of MAiD medication. However, emerging literature identifies that …

Aboriginal Title In Former French Colonies: Reaching Back Before The Assertion Of French Sovereignty, Ghislain Otis

Dalhousie Law Journal

A substantial part of Canada was colonized by France well before the British arrival in the mid-eighteenth century. This article examines the effect of the assertion of French sovereignty on the Aboriginal title regime recognized under British-Canadian law.

In Part I, the author identifies a trend in the jurisprudence whereby courts assess the Indigenous territorial situation existing at the time of the British assertion of sovereignty, rather than at the time of French sovereignty, for the purpose of applying the exclusive control criterion underlying the recognition of Aboriginal title. The author then demonstrates that this approach creates significant difficulties for …

Operational Agency: A Permeable Legal Fiction For Tracing Culpability In Ai Systems, Anirban Mukherjee, Hannah H. Chang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Modern artificial intelligence (AI) systems act with a high degree of independence yet lack legal personhood—a paradox that fractures doctrines grounded in human-centric notions of mens rea and actus reus. This Article introduces Operational Agency (OA)—a permeable legal fiction structured as an ex post evidentiary framework—and Operational Agency Graph (OAG)—a tool for mapping causal interactions among human actors, organizations, and AI systems. OA evaluates an AI’s observable operational characteristics: its goal-directedness (as a proxy for intent), predictive processing (as a proxy for foresight), and safety architecture (as a proxy for standard of care). OAG operationalizes that analysis by embedding these …