Digital Commons Network^™

Can Commercials Be Art? An Analysis Of Intellectual Property Preawareness In The Barbie Era, Shreya Kalidindi

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

The note examines the evolution of advertising, particularly native advertising, and critiques the inadequacy of current regulatory frameworks in addressing its deceptive potential. It highlights how modern advertising practices, such as product placement in films like Barbie, blur the line between commercial speech and artistic expression, challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ability to protect consumers. The analysis argues that strengthening existing regulations is insufficient and advocates for empowering consumers to make informed decisions, as the legal system struggles to keep pace with innovative advertising strategies.

No Knock? No Case: Prosecutorial Deterrence As A Countermeasure To No-Knock Warrants, Tamika Griffin Moses

Law Faculty Publications

The high-profile deaths of Amir Locke and Breonna Taylor ignited a national debate surrounding the legitimacy of no-knock warrants. Their deaths are part of a cycle of reaction and inaction that permeates this debate. As the impacted communities and segments of the populace respond by demanding that federal and state legislatures abolish or severely restrict the use of no-knock warrants, they are met with inaction. The legislative bodies have failed to pass laws banning the warrants and judges continue to sign them. This inaction continues to undermine the public’s trust in law enforcement and challenges the legitimacy of a democracy …

The Untold History Of "Harmful Interference" In The Regulation Of Radio Frequency Communications, Peter A. Tenhula, Carl R. Frank

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Law-Following Ai: Designing Ai Agents To Obey Human Laws, Cullen O'Keefe, Ketan Ramakrishnan, Janna Tay, Christoph Winter

Fordham Law Review

Artificial intelligence (AI) companies are working to develop a new type of actor: “AI agents,” which we define as AI systems that can perform computer-based tasks as competently as human experts. Expert-level AI agents will likely create enormous economic value but also pose significant risks. Humans use computers to commit crimes, torts, and other violations of the law. As AI agents progress, therefore, they will be increasingly capable of performing actions that would be illegal if performed by humans. Such lawless AI agents could pose a severe risk to human life, liberty, and the rule of law.

Designing public policy …

The Debate On Trying Minors Who Commit Adultlike Offenses As Adults: A Middle-Ground Contribution, Philip C. Aka

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Mired In Meyer'S Mischief A Century After Fabrication Of Constitutional Parents' Rights, James G. Dwyer

Faculty Publications

The seminal Supreme Court decisions Meyer v. Nebraska and Pierce v. Society of Sisters, now commemorated on their centenary anniversary, are odd doctrinal ducks. They are both still routinely cited as the foundation for ascribing to persons on whom the state has conferred legal parent status a right under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. (According to Westlaw, judicial citation count for Meyer now nears 3000, and secondary-source citations have surpassed 7000.) It is a constitutional right to force states to confer on them greater legal power than the state is otherwise inclined to …

Tribal Health Self-Determination: The Role Of Tribal Health Systems In Actualizing The Highest Attainable Standard Of Health For American Indians And Alaska Natives, Vanessa Ann Racehorse

Publications

In this Article, I explore the concept of Tribal self-determination in the context of systems that serve American Indian and Alaska Native communities. I investigate the vast health disparities that exist in Tribal communities, as well as the history and current legal framework for the provision of health care in Indian Country. Part of this discussion also provides information on the federal laws and policies that have fractured the traditional lifeways of Native communities and contributed to the disparate health outcomes that now exist. I also provide background on the fundamental federal laws and policies, particularly the Indian Self-Determination and …

From Gods To Google, Rebecca Aviel, Margot Kaminski, Toni M. Massaro, Andrew Keane Woods

Publications

The First Amendment has become a significant barrier to sensible technology regulation. The conventional explanation for this is the Court's deregulatory turn in free-speech law. But the Lochnerization story is incomplete. The Court's profound solicitude for religious speakers plays a central role in the current digital-free-expression landscape. By protecting the speech of certain religious dissidents, the Court has created a set of constitutional entitlements that logically extend to technology firms. Along the way, the Court has eroded its ability to apply the First Amendment sensibly to novel technologies.

This Feature draws the doctrinal through line from gods to Google. We …

Loyalty Disarmament And The Undocumented, Pratheepan Gulasekaram

Publications

Since the Supreme Court's District of Columbia v. Heller decision in 2008, lower federal courts have wrestled with Second Amendment claims raised by categories of people excluded from gun possession. Among those cases, several have been brought by noncitizens challenging their prosecutions under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), the federal criminal ban on possession by unlawfully present noncitizens. In the post-Heller § 922(g)(5) cases, judges have opined on whether unlawfully present noncitizens were among "the people" who had the right to bear arms and whether the government regulation met the appropriate level of constitutional scrutiny. More recently, however, the Supreme Court …

Suspicion, Deference, And The First Amendment, Helen Norton

Publications

No abstract provided.

Dangerousness And The Undocumented, Pratheepan Gulasekaram

Publications

The Supreme Court's most recent Second Amendment opinion, United States v. Rahimi, centers the question of dangerousness in right to bear arms challenges. There, the Court upheld 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), the federal criminal prohibition on possession of firearms by those subject to a civil domestic violence order, opining that legislatures could regulate the right to bear arms of those who were proven credible threats to public safety. Rahimi, however, left open the question whether dangerousness might be imputed to an entire group, absent individual determinations of threat or danger. The several lower federal court cases adjudicating 18 U.S.C. § …

Yars 18(32)

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

YARS Vol. 18(32)

Public Protest And Civil Unrest, Timothy Zick

Faculty Publications

Governments and officials must respond to protest-related civil unrest. How they do so is both an index of official respect for dissent and a measure of how committed governments are to democratic accountability. This Article examines official responses to civil unrest in connection with several recent high-profile demonstrations. In general, it concludes that governments and officials have relied on aggressive and increasingly draconian measures to quell protest-related civil unrest. Among other things, they have invoked emergency powers and used aggressive protest policing methods; dispatched federal agency personnel and threatened to deploy military forces to police demonstrations; enacted successive waves of …

Against The Sliding Scale, Alan J. Meese

Faculty Publications

Gavil and Salop claim that the Chicago School’s “conservative critique of antitrust law” has peddled numerous pro-defendant economic assumptions, misleading courts in their assessment of alleged exclusionary conduct. The resulting legal standards, they say, require plaintiffs to adduce too much evidence to establish a prima facie case, for instance, producing false negatives and thus allowing restraints that injure purchasers to avoid condemnation. Drawing on decision theory, they propose reforms to the rule of reason analysis applied to exclusionary agreements to extirpate the Chicago School’s baneful influence. In suggesting these reforms, they hope sometimes to alter the parties’ respective burdens of …

Carceral Bonds, Tyler E. Dougherty

Faculty Publications

Over the past 50 years, the U.S. financed a massive physical and fiscal expansion of prisons via the municipal bond market—with devastating results. This project is the first to shine a light on the role of municipal debt in state-level carceral decision making, spotlighting the ways that the municipal bond market affects states’ capacities to incarcerate.

This Article argues that the two primary controls of states’ use of the carceral bond market—(1) market discipline and (2) states’ fiscal constitutions—are particularly ineffective at limiting states’ spending on prisons. This failure to restrain states’ spending through the carceral bond market enables private …

Mechanisms For Including Publics In Administrative Governance, Nina-Simone Edwards

Library Scholarship

This project’s fourth concept paper rethinks public participation in administrative processes. Although participation mechanisms are theoretically designed to enable those affected by regulations to influence their development, it is often extremely difficult for members of the public to meaningfully engage with agencies. After discussing institutional failures of current participation mechanisms, this report develops a set of principles to guide the redesign of public participation mechanisms. These include involving publics earlier in the process, building both public and regulatory capacity for meaningful, two-way communication, and reframing expertise as a public good.

The paper then proposes specific mechanisms to optimize communication between …

Tribal Authority To Issue Search Warrants To Non-Tribal Entities Or On Non-Indian Land Within Reservation Boundaries, Ivy K. Chase

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jurisprudence Of Problem-Solving Courts: A Study Of Structure, Success, And Sociological Theory, Lauren M. Boos

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In response to the failures of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, Problem-Solving Courts (PSCs) have emerged as alternatives to traditional prosecution. These courts employ therapeutic-informed and rehabilitative practices aimed at addressing the root causes of criminal behavior. While widely regarded as more effective than traditional courts, PSCs have developed largely without a formal theoretical foundation. This is notable given their alignment with Sociological Jurisprudence (SJ) and Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ), which view the legal system as a vehicle for promoting individual and community well-being.

Despite being celebrated as therapeutic innovations, PSCs often embody these principles unevenly. Using …

California, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

In general, California may be the most hospitable state to public sector collective bargaining. The basic rules are far more favorable to placing matters within the scope of mandatory subjects than any other state. There are, however, serious differences in how police and non-police bargaining is treated.

• Choice of Forum for Police. Under California’s public sector collective bargaining law, most unions and employers must resolve their conflicts about the scope of bargaining through California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). For police only, however, the parties can also bring the disputes to court.
• Los Angeles Labor Relations. The scope …

Illinois, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

As compared with other states, the Illinois Labor Relations Board (“ILRB” or “Board) is unusually protective of the right to bargain. The Board is more protective still of the ability of police unions to bargain over employer decisions. In the last several years in cases involving the Chicago Police Department, the Board has moderated somewhat by, in key cases, refusing to issue a decision but rather holding the matter “in abeyance.” A few highlights follow:

• Only Police Have the Right to Interest Arbitration. The Illinois Labor Relations Act requires police bargaining units to resolve contractual impasses through interest arbitration. …

The Uptake Puzzle In Expungement Of Criminal Records, Jessica K. Steinberg, Elenore Wade

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Expungement has an uptake problem. A recent explosion of state-level rights allows people with felony convictions to expunge their criminal record, but only 1 to 6 percent of eligible people avail themselves of the remedy. Expungement is a powerful policy tool that promotes social and economic reintegration. It also serves a dignitary purpose, allowing people with criminal records to unshackle themselves from past mistakes. One might assume people would rush to court to clear their records. That the opposite is occurring—and new laws are idling on the books—suggests that rights-creation in this space has not been efficacious. This demands a …

Rules And Laws For Civil Actions 2026, Stella Burch Elias, Derek T. Muller, Jason Rantanen, Caroline Sheerin, Maya Steinitz

Books

Rules and Laws for Civil Actions is an open-access resource for law students containing the U.S. Constitution, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Evidence, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and selected federal and state statutes. The book was created by a team of faculty members at the University of Iowa College of Law to supplement the study of Civil Procedure, Evidence, Constitutional Law, and other law school courses. In addition to containing the official text, each legal source found in Rules and Laws for Civil Actions is accompanied by an introductory section written by an Iowa Law professor …

Confession And Confrontation, William Ortman

Scholarly Works

The constitutional law of confessions has a critical blind spot. In theory, the law serves two interests. First, it protects the autonomy of suspects by stipulating that they can be questioned while in custody only with their consent. Second, it restrains official misconduct by forbidding interrogation methods that overbear a suspect's will. Even if the law adequately safeguards those interests, something is missing: reliability. As false confessions emerge as a major source of wrongful convictions and as social scientists expose how standard interrogation tactics prompt innocent people to confess, the Supreme Court and conventional wisdom insist that the reliability of …

What's In A Name? Policing, Juliet., Shanée Brown

Scholarly Works

Child welfare" and "child protection" are misnomers. These terms do not accurately depict the investigatory nature of the system purported to help families, or at the very least, save endangered children. Contrary to public opinion, the "child welfare system" comprises of state actors who police parents and children. It is the naming of this system that convinces the public that these agencies are excised from the category of law enforcement, persuading many that the agencies engage in social work and not police work. Calling the system what it really is-family policing-is a step toward achieving justice for families adversely impacted …

Perfecting Our Submission? Mann And Trump, Ruffin And Roberts, Joseph S. Miller

Scholarly Works

Presidential power is vast, both under law and in practice. Who holds presidents accountable, and by what means? Courts wrestle with these intertwined questions of power and accountability. The majority opinion in the 2024 presidential immunity case, Trump v. United States, is eerily resonant, rhetorically, with a notorious judgment enhancing one person’s power over others by shielding that power utterly from criminal-law accountability. That judgment, from 1829, is Judge Thomas Ruffin’s infamous slavery-law opinion for the North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Mann. I juxtapose the two opinions, which share jarringly similar claims about the nature of power, rule, …

Perfecting Our Submission? Mann And Trump, Ruffin And Roberts, Joseph Scott Miller

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Presidential power is vast, both under law and in practice. Who holds presidents accountable, and by what means? Courts wrestle with these intertwined questions of power and accountability. The majority opinion in the 2024 presidential immunity case, Trump v. United States, is eerily resonant, rhetorically, with a notorious judgment enhancing one person’s power over others by shielding that power utterly from criminal-law accountability. That judgment, from 1829, is Judge Thomas Ruffin’s infamous slavery-law opinion for the North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Mann. I juxtapose the two opinions, which share jarringly similar claims about the nature of power, rule, …

Carceral Bonds, Tyler E. Dougherty

Lewis & Clark Law Review

Over the past 50 years, the U.S. financed a massive physical and fiscal expansion of prisons via the municipal bond market—with devastating results. This project is the first to shine a light on the role of municipal debt in state-level carceral decision making, spotlighting the ways that the municipal bond market affects states’ capacities to incarcerate.

This Article argues that the two primary controls of states’ use of the carceral bond market—(1) market discipline and (2) states’ fiscal constitutions—are particularly ineffective at limiting states’ spending on prisons. This failure to restrain states’ spending through the carceral bond market enables private …

Last Resort: Advocating For Rhode Island To Adopt A More Comprehensive Homeless Bill Of Rights In The Wake Of Grants Pass V. Johnson, Casey Rivera

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Unreliable Reporter, Jon J. Lee

Faculty Articles

As part of the legal profession’s tradition of self-regulation, attorneys have an ethical obligation to ensure that those within it are fit to practice. Given the gravity associated with accusing another lawyer of misconduct, it is not surprising that many are reticent to speak up. But what would happen if attorneys were pressured to vigorously pursue sanctions against their opponents, even if those sanctions may be unwarranted? President Trump’s recently-issued memorandum arguably does just that, mandating the Attorney General to seek court and disciplinary sanctions for lawyers and law firms that appear to violate ethics rules. This Essay explains how …

Flight Path To Accountability: A Legal Comparison Of Boeing’S Shortcomings, Airbus’S Successes, And International Aviation Safety Regulations, Riley M. Wagstaff

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Investigations following two separate and deadly crashes of Boeing 737 8 Max aircraft revealed that America’s most trusted manufacturer had failed to notify pilots and airliners alike of a new Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, commonly known as MCAS. What had first seemed like an accident unfortunately had a deeper and traceable history. Through relatively new United States legislation, Boeing was essentially permitted to oversee their own operations and grant airworthiness certifications for their own aircrafts. This practice is wholly unlike the detailed certification process of the European manufacturing giant, AirBus, by the European Aviation Safety Administration (EASA). This comment sheds …