Digital Commons Network^™

Cruel Deference: State Narratives, Credibility, And Power In Convention Against Torture Adjudications, Amelia S. Mcgowan

Saint Louis University Law Journal

U.S. courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) have long treated the U.S. Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices as uniquely authoritative sources for determining country conditions in claims for immigration protection. In its 2025 precedential opinion Matter of A-A-R-, the BIA extended this deference to claims for protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). This decision and others like it raise the question: whose voice matters most when evaluating the likelihood that an applicant faces torture, and why?

This Article critically examines the evolution of the Country Reports’ authoritative role in U.S. protection …

The Odyssey Of Third Country Removal, Matthew Boaz

Saint Louis University Law Journal

In February 2025, a hotel in Panama became a focal point for international media when a group of several hundred asylum seekers from countries such as Iran, Turkey, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka were suddenly sent there from the U.S. without legal recourse or notice of their destination. The majority of the migrants agreed to repatriation to their home countries, but a significant number remain, seeking to navigate an asylum system that seems intent on denying relief, with few other options available. A short time later, a similar cohort arrived in Costa Rica with an eerily familiar tale to tell. …

Filling The Network Gap In Research Ethics: Analyzing Ethical Issues At Scale In Big Team Science, Susan Wolf, Gillian H. Roehrig, Timothy L. Pruett, Korkut Uygun, Claire Colby Mcvan, Evelyn Brister, Shawneequa L. Callier, Alexander M. Capron, James F. Childress, Rosario Isasi, Andrew D. Maynard, Kenneth A. Oye, Paul B. Thompson, Terrance R. Tiersch

Articles

Scientific research increasingly involves large, multidisciplinary teams networked across multiple institutions to develop new technologies. Despite the rise of complex research networks and big team science, there has been too little analysis to date of the ethical challenges facing these networks. The extensive literature on the ethical issues confronting individual researchers and small teams (the microlevel) and on the larger societal challenges flowing from research and new technology (the macrolevel) leaves a troubling gap in between, at the mesolevel of the research network involved in big team science. Yet the ability of complex networks to conduct research ethically—which is essential …

Advancing Neurotech Justice In Youth Digital Mental Health: Insights From An Interdisciplinary And Cross-Generational Workshop, Francis X. Shen, Craig W. Mcfarland, Donnella S. Comeau, Leo Anthony Celi, Benjamin C. Silverman, Sepideh Abdi, Mahsa Alborzi Avanaki

Articles

Researchers and clinicians are increasingly looking to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools to improve psychiatric care. Of particular promise is addressing the youth mental health crisis. Yet, the introduction of AI-enabled digital technologies for psychiatric treatment of young adults raises a host of ethical, legal, and societal issues (ELSI). To provide guidance in addressing these issues, we convened a two-day meeting at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University: Advancing Neurotech Justice in Mental Health: Insights from an Interdisciplinary and Cross-Generational Workshop. The meeting brought together a diverse cohort of 17 experts and 5 students …

The Ai Advocate: Tracking The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Trial Advocacy, John G. Browning

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In his annual State of the Judiciary address on December 31, 2023, Chief Justice John G. Roberts chose to focus on the use of generative AI. He cautioned that while AI "has great potential to dramatically increase access to key information for lawyers," its use "requires caution and humility" because of the risk of "dehumanizing the law." Chief Justice Roberts' timely warning, made at the height of concerns nationally about lawyers relying on fabricated case citations caused by the "hallucinations" of generative AI, could have just as easily been targeted not only to the legal profession generally, but to trial …

Ai Deference, Kevin Frazier

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Existing AI tools allow administrative agencies to chart a more aggressive regulatory path. AI can identify which statutes and regulations, if reinterpreted, would further the agency's agenda. AI can also draft new regulations and forecast their likely effects.

No laws explicitly ban agencies from using AI. In fact, successive presidential administrations have encouraged agencies to increase their use of AI. Cities and states have already been integrating AI into ever more substantive governance tasks. Governments around the world are likewise finding novel ways to incorporate AI into drafting, enforcing, and adjudicating laws. In short, it is a matter of when, …

Imprisoned Without A Verdict: The Constitutional Crisis Of Pre-Trial Solitary Confinement, Symone R. Gibbs

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Kalief Browder’s name endures as a chilling reminder of the human cost of pre-trial solitary confinement. His story reveals the constitutional paradox and moral failure at the heart of this practice: Individuals who remain legally innocent are subjected to one of the harshest punishments the state can impose. This practice strips people of their liberty twice over, first through incarceration itself, and again through prolonged isolation that inflicts devastating psychological harm. Despite its severity, the use of solitary confinement against pre-trial detainees remains largely overlooked in legal scholarship and reform, even as it undermines the presumption of innocence, exacerbates systemic …

The Broken Promise Of The Idea: How Delays And Disparities Undermine Special Education Rights, Silvia C. Montiel Morales

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted to guarantee children with disabilities the right to a free appropriate public education. In practice, that promise is too often broken. Students, especially those from low-income families and communities of color, wait months or years for evaluations, attend underfunded schools that lack qualified staff, and face systemic barriers to enforcing their rights. Meanwhile, families with resources can sidestep delays through private testing, attorneys, and advocacy, leaving others behind. This Note examines how systemic delays, underfunding, and inequities in special education services undermine children’s rights under the statute. It argues that these …

Bibliography On Indigenous Rights In Canada, 1995-2025, Leslie Haddock, Kent Mcneil

All Papers

No abstract provided.

Conversational Ai And Human-Centered First Amendment, Inyoung Cheong

Michigan Technology Law Review

Human-centered artificial intelligence (AI) is premised on the idea that humans must remain the ultimate locus of agency in technological systems. First Amendment jurisprudence has displaced this commitment. By extending speech protection to algorithmic architectures, the judiciary has forged a doctrinal shield that insulates corporate actors from the consequences of their products. Conversational AI deepens this crisis through intimate incursions into the epistemic and emotional registers of the self. Emerging approaches that anchor First Amendment coverage to the controllability or traceability of AI outputs offer no stable solution. Policy-level design choices such as safety guardrails and alignment processes can readily …

The Dog Days Are (Almost) Over: Pari-Mutuel Betting Laws And State Subsidies’ Roles In Upholding The United States’ Dog Racing Industry, Mary Grace K. Mcnamara

Student Works

No abstract provided.

How Robotics Can Reduce Occupational Injuries In Hospitals: Is Hipaa A Barrier?, Uwa Maher

Student Works

No abstract provided.

The Apathy Economy: Patents, Advertising, And Consumer Indifference, Gavin Milczarek-Desai, Derek E. Bambauer

UF Law Faculty Publications

Patents function as signals as well as rights to exclude. They inform competitors, investors, employees, and consumers about the invention and its owner. How this information affects consumers is not well understood. Existing studies disagree about how advertising a product or service as patented, or patent pending, affects the price consumers will pay. This Article offers the first major empirical study of that question and finds that consumers behave with surprising rationality: they will not pay any price premium for a patented product. A product’s patent status conveys little information about whether it is superior to competing offerings. The results …

Racing To Safety: Tax Policy For Ai Safety-By-Design, Mirit Eyal-Cohen, Yonathan Arbel

SMU Law Review

The White House recently announced its vision of artificial intelligence (AI) policy: AI development is a race and America must win it. To that end, a new America’s AI Action Plan directs federal agencies and states to remove regulatory barriers to AI development and accelerate innovation. This approach leaves limited room for regulatory measures that would address the safety risks of powerful AI systems: their behavior in novel domains remains unpredictable, their decision-making opaqueness, and their alignment with human values is uncertain. While experts warn of large-scale accidents, policymakers find themselves in a bind: Regulate AI and cede ground to …

'This Little Game:' Holding Social Media Platforms Liable For Their Hand In Securities Fraud Through Section 230 Reform, Casey Rosen

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Making The Law Work: Protecting Classical Ballet Choreographers' Artistic Legacies Through Copyright And Estates Laws, Alice Darakhchava

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Creating A Responsible Authorship Culture In Science: Anchoring Authorship Practices In Principles Of Transparency, Credit, And Accountability, Susan Wolf, Véronique Kiermer, Sofia Adams, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Joerg Heber, Mohammad Hosseini, Ana Marušić, Beau Nielsen, Magdalena Skipper, Geeta K. Swamy, Yensi Flores Bueso

Articles

Authorship remains the primary currency of academic credit and a cornerstone of research integrity, yet current practices often fail to reflect the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of modern science and questionable authorship practices persist. We argue that addressing these shortcomings is a collective responsibility shared by researchers, journals, research funders, scholarly societies, and research institutions. We examined authorship guidelines issued by journals and research institutions and found that their recommendations to researchers are highly variable. We propose that fostering a responsible authorship culture requires a shared, principle-based framework grounded in transparency, credit, and accountability. These three interconnected principles highlight when …

Making Room For Cultural Humility In An Anti-Dei Space, Shelley Ward Bennett

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This Article analyzes the intersection of state anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) laws and the American Bar Association (ABA) Standard 303(c)’s cross-cultural competency education mandate and offers suggestions for how these policies can coexist. The surge in anti-DEI laws issued in twenty states over the last four years has created challenges and uncertainty for public law schools and their professors seeking to include cultural competency instruction in their curriculum. Though some have expressed concerns that the requirements of state anti-DEI laws and Standard 303(c) may conflict, this Article proposes that such a conflict should not be presumed because Standard 303(c) …

Reimagining Self-Regulation In Sexual Misconduct Complaints: Trust Through Transfer, Allyson M. Mcbride

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

To increase trust in the judiciary’s ability to self-regulate, any formal complaints about a judge should not be handled by a colleague down the hall, but a judge from a different circuit. In this Comment, I propose automatic transfer out of circuit to improve the handling of sexual misconduct complaints specifically. I first describe the different ways judicial conduct is regulated in the federal system. I then discuss the problem of sexual misconduct in the judiciary. Finally, I outline why it is problematic for judges to adjudicate complaints about their intra-circuit colleagues and recommend that all complaints be automatically transferred …

Investment Law, Justice, And Sustainable Development, Frank Emmert, Begaiym Esenkulova

GHEA21 Open Educational Resources

This book is focused on international investment law, justice, and sustainable development. It is intended as a study and research resource for anyone interested in investment law and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). It is widely recognized that states receiving foreign direct investment (FDI) often greatly benefit from it, as FDI is one of the driving forces of economic development. Nevertheless, FDI can also cause environmental harm, social unrest, a ‘race-to-the-bottom’ in regulatory standards as well as other negative consequences, if not properly regulated. As FDI may have a double-edged impact, both positive and negative, it is important for states not …

Tiktok, The First Amendment, And Regulating Speech On The Internet, Marriah Binek

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

State V. Roman, 335 A.3d 782 (R.I. 2025)., Kylie Rau

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Re N.O., 336 A.3d 29 (R.I. 2025)., Salvamarie Alifonso

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toxic Exposure, Judy Ann Clausen

UF Law Faculty Publications

Service members are often exposed to toxins in service. When they file claims for disability compensation, they struggle to link their diseases to toxic exposure while serving. Congress stepped in to ease their burden by creating presumptions, relieving the veterans of the burden of proving a nexus between the exposure and their disease. In 2022, Congress enacted the PACT Act which expanded presumptive service connection for veterans whose service involved exposure to toxic substances. But, for veterans whose conditions do not fall within these presumptions, problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) benefits adjudication system make it difficult to …

Child Exploitation Through Online Sharing: “Sharenting” And The Role Of The Pediatric Provider, Stacey Steinberg, Cameron Rosenthal

UF Law Faculty Publications

The alarming trend of “sharenting” highlights the need for increased vigilance in protecting children from online exploitation. When parents share intimate details about children’s lives on social media, they may inadvertently expose them to danger. Pediatricians are equipped to safeguard children from parental abuse and neglect; however, they are less prepared to protect children from harm caused by parents online.

When parents exploit children on social media, pediatricians face challenges in protecting patients while also following laws that maintain parental autonomy. Using a child welfare framework, this article defines these online harms and proposes strategies for protecting children from exploitative …

Property Law As History, Michael Allan Wolf

UF Law Faculty Publications

Because property law and history are so inextricably intertwined, it has become even more important for law professors to share with students and colleagues the ways in which knowledge of history unlocks difficult concepts, suggests workable solutions to contemporary puzzles, and makes very dry concepts—destructible contingent remainders, running covenants, privity, and the Rule in Dumpor’s Case—much easier to digest.   Sampling from the doctrinal menu of a typical first-year property course--adverse possession, present estates and future interests, landlord-tenant, concurrent interests, servitudes, land transactions, eminent domain, regulatory takings, and zoning--this article identifies two aspects of the law of property as history, using …

Brace For Impact: Castleman, Bruen, Rahimi, And The Collision Course Of Domestic Violence And Gun Violence Jurisprudence, Gill, Colleen

Santa Clara Law Review

In June 2022, the Supreme Court articulated a new standard of judicial review for Second Amendment cases in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. Though the Court claimed that Bruen’s “history and tradition” standard was consistent with previous Second Amendment analyses, lower courts struggled to apply it. Two years later, the Court revisited Bruen for the first time in United States v. Rahimi. However, Rahimi came with a unique set of facts – at its core, it was a case about domestic violence restraining orders.

This Note uses Rahimi to showcase the limits of the history …

Coming Out, Eliot T. Tracz

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Interrogating The Facts Of The Case, Anna Roberts

Indiana Law Journal

Buried within many criminal judicial opinions is the origin of their “facts”—the interrogation room. Criminal law pedagogy should expose this origin. If we treat the alleged product of interrogation as “what happened,” as criminal cases (and professors) sometimes do, we obscure the ways in which interrogators are trained to incriminate and to co-create confessions. We also risk obscuring subsequent layers of reporting by police, prosecutors, or judges.

Recent scholarly literature urges criminal law professors to teach differently, warning that we distort, sanitize, and bolster the carceral state when we erase governmental agents and bypass procedure. Treating the “facts of the …

Misinformation And The Jury, Gustavo Ribeiro

Indiana Law Journal

This Article bridges critical gaps between the growing body of social science research on misinformation and the persistent challenges jurors face in evaluating potentially unreliable evidence in courtrooms. Misinformation—a pervasive issue undermining decision-making in democratic societies—mirrors the difficulties jurors encounter in distinguishing truth from falsehood amid compelling but unreliable evidence. The consequences of such challenges are dire: wrongful convictions, racial disparities, and the erosion of public trust in the legal system.

This Article is the first piece of legal scholarship to provide a comprehensive discussion of current research on the psychological mechanisms underlying susceptibility to misinformation—such as the illusory truth …