Digital Commons Network^™

Public Duties For The New City, Sarah L. Swan

Michigan Law Review

The first job of a government is to protect its people, and, in the United States, the government ostensibly performs this job through the police. But policing in America is deeply dysfunctional, as the police not only provide inadequate protection from violent crime, but simultaneously engage in outright acts of brutality against the citizenry. As awareness of these practices has swept across the nation, legal scholars and policymakers have offered numerous reforms and remedies to help solve policing’s problems. The responses have tended to focus on the top of the legal pyramid, using the big hammers of the federal government, …

Essays On Public Policy, Justin Craig Heflin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first chapter examines the impact of Red Flag Laws on homicide rates and suicide rates. Red Flag Laws seek to implement gun control measures by allowing the removal of firearms from individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others. Using a two-way fixed effects (TWFE) difference-in-differences (DiD) estimations, I demonstrate a negative and plausibly causal relationship between a state implementing a Red Flag Law and homicide rates. While there is also a reduction in suicide rates, I am unable to make causal claims. This study is the first to empirically examine Red Flag Laws, with an eye towards …

Britney’S Prerogative: A Critical, Constitutional View Of Conservatorships, Devraat Awasthi

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arbitrating Social Media Content: A Framework For Banning High-Profile Users Through Third-Party Arbitration, Rachel Gershengoren

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

No abstract provided.

Improving New York City's Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate For Public Sector Workers: A Collaborative Framework For Labor-Management Relations In High Impact Circumstances, Chelsea Hill

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

No abstract provided.

Financial Security Mechanisms To Cover Biodiversity Damage Resulting From The Use Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Michael Faure, Minzhen Jiang

Emory International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Firearms Law And Scholarship Beyond Bullets And Bodies, Joseph Blocher, Jacob D. Charles, Darrell A. H. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

Academic work is increasingly important to court rulings on the Second Amendment and firearms law more generally. This article highlights two recent trends in social science research that supplement the traditional focus on guns and physical harm. The first strand of research focuses on the changing ways that gun owners connect with firearms, with personal security, status, identity, and cultural markers being key reasons people offer for possessing firearms. The second strand focuses on broadening our understanding of the impact of guns on the public sphere beyond just physical safety. This research surfaces the ways that guns can create fear, …

Distinguishing Juvenile Law And Juvenile Education: Undoing The School-To-Prison Pipeline Approved In In Re S.F., Anna Manogue

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

“Progressive” Prosecutors And “Proper” Punishments, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

After decades of relative inattention to prosecutorial elections, academics and activists recently have focused on “progressive prosecutors” as a promising avenue for criminal justice reform. That said, the growing literature on progressive prosecutors reflects little clarity about what makes a prosecutor “progressive.” Recent campaigns suggest disparate visions of how to operationalize “progressive prosecution.” In this chapter, I describe four ideal types of progressive prosecutor: (1) the progressive who prosecutes, (2) the proceduralist prosecutor, (3) the prosecutorial progressive, and (4) the anti-carceral prosecutor. Looking to sentencing policy as a case study, I examine how these different ideal types illustrate different visions …

Prosecuting The Crisis, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

Over the past decade, activists and academics have celebrated the rise of the so-called “progressive prosecutor” movement. District attorney candidates—often former public defenders or civil rights lawyers—have promised to use prosecutorial discretion to address the injustices of the criminal system. A proliferation of such campaigns, and the electoral successes of some of these candidates have raised questions about progressive prosecution: what does it actually mean to be a progressive prosecutor? Does progressive prosecution work? Do progressive candidates follow through on campaign promises? And, how enthusiastic should defense attorneys, reformers, and critics of the carceral state be about progressive prosecution? The …

Punishment Externalities And The Prison Tax, Sheldon Evans

Scholarship@WashULaw

Punishment as a social institution has failed to live up to the quixotic ideals of theory and has descended into the practice of mass incarceration, which is one of the defining failures of this generation. Scholars have traditionally studied punishment and incarceration as parts of a social transaction between the criminal offender, whose crime imposes a cost to society, and the state that ensures the offender repays this debt by correcting past harms and preventing future offenses. But if crime has a cost that must be repaid by the offender, punishment also has a cost that must be repaid by …

Expert Governance Of Online Speech, Brenda Dvoskin

Scholarship@WashULaw

In a world of fundamental disagreements about how social media companies should govern speech, it is striking that nearly everyone agrees that online speech governance should be based on human rights. The human rights project for content moderation proposes that social media platforms align their own internal speech policies with international human rights law (IHRL). It seeks, I argue, a system of expert governance: one in which a corporate technocracy applies a set of exogenous principles imagined as objective and global. Ultimately, this governance model shifts power to experts under the illusion of empowering the people.

To support these claims, …

Estados Unidos Mexicanos V. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. Et Al.: How American Exceptionalism Emanates Beyond Its Borders, Maleah Riley-Brown

Minnesota Journal of International Law, Vols. 28:2 onward (2019-present)

No abstract provided.

Interest Convergence In Immigration Law And Theory, Richard Delgado, Allen Slater

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Fiduciary Duty In The Age Of Algorithms, Alfred R. Cowger Jr.

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The Age of Algorithms will soon have a seismic impact on fiduciary law and thus, on the fiduciary duty of directors and officers. On one hand, corporate fiduciaries will have access to Artificial Intelligence-based tools which may make their jobs more efficient, more accurate, and more effective. As a result, fulfilling fiduciary duties will be easier, and the use of these tools may significantly lower the exposure of corporate fiduciaries to claims of breaching fiduciary duties. However, artificial intelligence (AI) may be a double-edged sword because those attractive tools will create new standards corporate fiduciaries must meet to fulfill their …

The Under-Policing Of Crimes Against Black Women, Lisa Avalos

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Factors That Influence Jury Verdicts In Police Use Of Force Cases, Christopher M. Bellas

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Carceral Control: A Nationwide Survey Of Criminal Court Supervision Rules, Kate Weisburd

Faculty Scholarship

The day-to-day operation of criminal court supervision—including probation, parole, and electronic ankle monitoring—is understudied and undertheorized. To better understand the mechanics of these systems, this study comprehensively analyzes the rules governing people on criminal court supervision in the United States. Drawing on the analysis of 187 public records from all fifty states, this study documents how criminal court supervision functions and impacts daily life. In particular, this study examines the various ways that supervision rules limit or restrict privacy, bodily autonomy, liberty, dignity, speech, and financial independence. This study also explores the nature and prevalence of supervision rules across the …

Surveillance And Policing Today: Can Privacy And The Fourth Amendment Survive New Technology, Artificial Intelligence And A Culture Of Intrusion?, Jon L. Mills, Caroline S. Bradley-Kenney

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

We are on the verge of a surveillance state. New technologies enable intrusions unimagined two decades ago. Our current culture voluntarily provides intimate personal details that are available to the world and to law enforcement. Current interpretations of Fourth Amendment privacy protections are failing to protect individuals from this brave new world. This Article describes the current state of technology, culture, and deficiencies in the law. We propose a specific test that can provide a workable approach to current and emerging intrusions. That test expands upon existing theories, like the mosaic theory and a reformation of the third-party doctrine, but …

Autonomous Archaeological Authority: The Future Of Drone Use And Privacy Laws In Cultural Heritage Preservation, Kara Anderson

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Since ancient times, humanity has placed high value on natural and cultural phenomena, with Philo of Byzantium recording the first list of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” as early as 225 B.C.E. Similarly, modern world leaders continue to recognize the value of these and more sites through preserving them as United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites. With the advancement of drone technology, researchers now employ drones to aid preservation efforts since drones can enter dangerous and humanly-inaccessible spaces, provide detailed images of sites the human eye cannot see, and assist governments in identifying …

When Federal Standards Crash And Burn: The Need To Distinguish Aviation Product Liability Claims From In-Air Operations Cases, Olivia Cahill

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

If you are injured in an aviation disaster or lose a loved one in a plane crash, may you seek recovery under state law? Do federal regulations provide adequate opportunities to compensate aviation crash victims? These are questions few people think to ask themselves. A more common query is what entity regulates the more than 16 million flights that occur yearly in the U.S., and how do you know whether the aircraft you fly on are safe?

The tragic Boeing 737 MAX crashes initiated a federal oversight investigation into the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Industry whistleblowers revealed severe lapses in …

Houston Security Camera Ordinance: Reasonable Safety Measure Or Orwellian Surveillance, Clint Nuckolls

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

A new ordinance went into effect in Houston, Texas in July 2022, which looks to leverage technology and require certain businesses to install surveillance cameras at their own cost and turn footage over to the police on demand without a warrant. The ordinance specifically requires bars, nightclubs, convenience stores, sexually oriented businesses, and game rooms to install surveillance cameras, with accompanying lighting at all places where customers are permitted, keep the cameras running at all times, even when the business is closed, and store the footage for at least thirty days, all at the expense of the business owners. The …

From Liberation To (Re)Criminalization: Dobbs V. Jackson Women’S Health Organization, Bodily Autonomy, And The Expansion Of State Rights, Robin S. Maril

SMU Law Review

For more than a generation, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the constitutionally protected right to an abortion, and, in turn, the dignity-affirming power of reproductive autonomy and its role in designing one’s own destiny. The Court’s endorsement of the liberatory value of bodily autonomy in Roe v. Wade, as later affirmed in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, rejected attempts to justify restrictive prohibitions on abortion as valid exercises of state police powers. However, the Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization threatens to fundamentally redefine the boundaries between the rights of individuals and those of …

(Gun) Tag, Congress Is It!, Robert E. Wagner

SMU Law Review

The current majority of the Supreme Court has significantly increased access to firearms. In last year’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, the majority curtailed legislative options for protecting U.S. citizens from the danger presented by unfettered access to life-threatening weapons. The majority refused to acknowledge the danger inherent in firearms and the substantive difference in function between an antique flintlock and an AK-47. The Court’s refusal to consider the change that technology has brought to firearm capabilities has resulted in a dramatically reduced ability for any legislation to address the danger of firearms in a …

Thompson V. Clark And The “Reasonable” Policing Of Marginalized Families, Anna Arons

Faculty Publications

This Article uses the experience of Larry Thompson, the plaintiff in Thompson v. Clark, 142 S. Ct. 1332 (2022), to examine the absence of privacy for poor families, particularly poor Black, Latinx, and Native families, in the United States. Mr. Thompson may end up remembered in legal history as a victor, as the Supreme Court lowered the barriers to bringing malicious prosecution claims and reinstated Mr. Thompson’s own previously dismissed malicious prosecution claim. Yet before securing this victory, Mr. Thompson lost a slew of other Fourth Amendment claims against the police. Mr. Thompson’s claims arose from state agents’ warrantless …

Victim-Offender Mediation: A Missing Component Of A Multi-Pronged Approach To Reduce New York City Subway Crime, Elizabeth Neuburger

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

No abstract provided.

All The Way To Hell: An Artist's Legal Descent Into The Underworld Of Oil And Gas, Madison S. Marlow

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

Eliza Evans’ project, All the Way to Hell, employs a novel legal strategy to challenge Oklahoma’s permissive fracking regulations by fragmenting mineral rights among thousands of co-owners, aiming to disrupt the forced pooling process. While her approach highlights systemic legal and environmental issues, the state’s industry-friendly framework and regulatory capture present significant barriers to meaningful change. The note argues that Evans’ activism underscores the need for legislative reform to balance individual property rights with environmental protection.

Making Justice Available For Victims Of Sexual Misconduct Within The Prison System, Emma L. Bruder

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note advocates for amending the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to include a private cause of action, enabling survivors of sexual misconduct in confinement to seek judicial remedies. This amendment would enforce their Eighth Amendment rights and address the limitations imposed by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), which hinders access to justice for incarcerated individuals.

Children Sentenced As Adults, Vanessa F. Hernandez Levin

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

The Tripartite Model Of Facial Recognition: Bridging The Gap Between Privacy, Public Safety, Technology And The Fourth And First Amendments, Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid, Kyle Fleming

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.